A nation that hinders the birth of the conceived is a nation that undermines its own foundations. This is a blunt and almost populist statement. However, I am not afraid to provoke in uttering it, because those who oppose it do the same, without calculating all its consequences.

In history there has been everything in this topic; even opposing positions have coexisted in the same area, as in Hellenism, where the followers of Hippocrates shared a table with abortionists. In such a delicate matter, Christians were determined from the outset to fight against the cruel customs of the Roman Empire, which tolerated the throwing of unwanted children into the Tiber. For centuries, believers have remained firm in their position, despite the ups and downs of civilization. It is appropriate to quote a text by Tertullian, a Christian at the end of the second century, criticizing the abortifacient internship , so widespread in the Empire. In his Apologeticum he said: "There is no difference between killing that which is already born and destroying that which is prepared to be born, since that which begins to be as the fruit of that seed is also man".

Just when things seemed to have been resolved, or at least the abortionist spirit was thought to have been dampened, it resurfaced with force a hundred years ago. There are no definitive solutions in history. Let us recall the case of slavery, which was supposed to have been eradicated at the beginning of the 15th century and was revived with unimaginable cruelty with the geographical discoveries.

The famous 1985 ruling of the Spanish Constitutional Court referred to two rights: the right of the conceived (right to be born) and the right of the mother (right to good reputation, health and other things, but not to kill). And it added that, when it seems that the rights of both are opposed, that is to say, when it is considered that there is a collision between the two protectable lives, the right of the mother may prevail, in certain cases, over the right of the conceived.

Well, this is where the Church comes in with a very different position: she believes that both rights must always be defended. Life always comes first, as far as possible and as much as possible, never directly provoke the death of the weakest. Never directly provoke the death of the weakest. Difficult? "Where there is no battle, there is no Christianity", as Benedict XVI said.