Moscow, December 21, 2016
Photo: https://pravoslavie.fm/
Speaking at the Novosibirsk round table discussion “In Defense of the Life of Unborn Children,” Met. Tikhon spoke of the spiritual roots of such terrible social phenomena as abortion, the legalized murder of children, reports the Department for Church Charity and Social Service of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Speaking at the round table on Friday, December 16, organized by the World Russian People’s Council, Met. Tikhon recalled Patriarch Kirill’s proposal to remove abortion from the compulsory health insurance system, as well as the petition of the “For Life” movement signed by thousands which calls for personhood to be legally recognized from the moment of conception.
“Behind the problem [of abortion] is concealed the ignorance or rejection of important spiritual laws of God’s world, that is, the moral laws of human existence. If a man understands that life is the greatest gift from God, then he will take responsibility for the life of a child begun in its mother’s womb. But if a mother has no sacred awe for life, then she may choose the willful termination of her child, and then whole medical institutions and centers work on the consequences of such ignorance—infertility or psychological disorders,” the bishop stated.
Presentations on the topics of conception from the point of view of genetics and embryology, and the negative impact of abortion on a woman’s health were also made by local doctors, after which the participants of the discussion, including several government representatives, signed a resolution supporting the patriarch’s initiative and President Putin’s efforts to uphold family values in the nation.
