Abortion and gender issues make headlines. Allow me to share a poignant, satirical story I have read lately.

A young girl announced to her boyfriend she had become pregnant. She was afraid he would want to abort the child but, instead, he proceeded to make their engagement official. They were soon married and eagerly awaited the birth of their child.

The young man was eager to have a son. During one of the regular medical check-ups, the doctor said there was good news: it was a boy and he was healthy. The bad news was that the child would be gay.

They were shocked and upset. What would it be like to raise a gay son? Gay people were not accepted at all in their country. Gay teens were five times more likely than heterosexual youth to end up hospitalised or victims of suicide attempts. Victimisation at school was rampant and often led to greater risk of substance abuse. What kind of life would their son have as a gay person?

They were dumbstruck and confused. They talked things over. They knew they were not ready to raise a gay child. How could they cope with such a stigma and stress if ever he would kill himself?

They reluctantly decided to abort the baby. That was indeed the best thing to do in the circumstances, they believed. They were glad they had found out and, after all, didn’t a woman had a full right to choose what to do with her own body?

The couple did not hate gay people but they could not bring a child into the world with such odds against him. He would have a hell of a life. Wouldn’t they have done the same thing if the child had been born with Down’s syndrome?

Why bring a child into the world knowing how much it would suffer? Best thing for everyone would be to abort the child. They were not responsible for nature’s failure. The parents loved their child too much to bring it into a world of such hate and discrimination. Ending the pregnancy was the best for everyone.

They went to the clinic to proceed with the abortion but the doctor said: “What you are committing should be a hate crime. I don’t want to be part of it.”

The mother defiantly retorted: “But it’s my body. It’s my right!” She sounded defiant but was actually more like a little frightened girl.

“What you want to do is horrible,” continued the doctor. “Are gay children less precious than straight children?” He just dismissed them and left the room.

It is only when we let go of our self-centred bigotry that we can let love, humanity win- Fr Paul Chetcuti

The young mother cried all the way home while the husband was torn between anger and guilt. He was wondering if some foetuses were more equal than others. After all, they were just blindly following all the arguments society trumpets all around to their logical conclusions.

Let us stop and reflect.

When will we start listening to the pain of real, flesh and blood persons, in or out of the womb, in or out of our categories, prejudices or comfort zones? It is only when we let go of our self-centred bigotry, hiding behind what society says, that we can let our love and humanity win.

What makes us truly human? Is it just the number of cells in our body? Is it the number of hours, days or years of our existence? Is it the colour of our skin, body shape, race or ethnic group? Is it gender? Is it our intelligence, potential, or simply our power?

What defines our humanity goes way beyond all this. It is the ability to freely acknowledge and respectfully embrace the dignity, value and preciousness of others for their own sake. What makes us truly human is not our viability, so-called intelligence, potential or simple convenience.

What makes us humans is the ability ‒ even as limited, fragile creatures ‒ to freely acknowledge the same dignity and absolute value of another limited, fragile being for his, her or their own sake rather than for our own. Call this freedom, respect, holiness, love or divinity.

No, what makes us unique, special and precious creatures is not when we are simply humane. It is when we become fully human and, therefore, truly divine; simply because love is blind and knows not how to discriminate.

As Paul of Tarsus so powerfully put it: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. Love is patient, kind, protects, trusts, hopes, always perseveres. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13)

The full story of the couple can be read at thefederalist.com/2019/02/28/wife-decided-abort-unborn-gay-son/?sfns=mo)

Fr Paul Chetcuti is a member of the Society of Jesus.