Criticism of Mother Teresa - Stance On Abortion

Stance On Abortion

From the early 1970s, Mother Teresa began to attract some criticism.. Many advocates of the family planning and pro-choice movements were critical of her views and influence because she was opposed to artificial contraception and abortion. Mother Teresa frequently spoke against them publicly and in meetings with high level government officials. Teresa claimed that abortion was such an evil act, that merely allowing it to exist would numb one's senses to murder in general; in her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, she declared, "Because if a mother can kill her own child - what is left for me to kill you and you kill me - there is nothing between". She has also described abortion as "…the greatest destroyer of peace today…".

She asserted her rejection of abortion by publicly renouncing abortion as an option and by calling upon women to keep their unborn children. She characterized her views later when asked in 1993 about a 14 year old rape victim in Ireland, "Abortion can never be necessary... because it is pure killing."

This stance is in line with that of the Roman Catholic Church, which asserts Natural family planning is the only acceptable form of birth control.

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