I am increasingly concerned with three errors which are being promulgated by pro-lifers, both in the States and in England. The reason why I am concerned, is that, possibly, heresies are behind these errors.
The first one was corrected by the Pope Emeritus and announced at a retreat I attended in 2011. In England, some one was pushing a prayer which identified those poor babies who are aborted with martyrs of the Faith.
Thankfully, this was clarified by Rome and the prayer which was being used was altered to reflect the correction. Aborted children are not martyrs. These victims of murder are not witnesses to Christ. They cannot be compared with the Holy Innocents, who died directly because of Jesus Christ.
Aborted babies do not experience either the martyrs Baptism of Blood, or the adult's Baptism of Desire. And some one cannot desire this for them, sadly. This second type of baptism is connected with error two.
That is the first error and it has been officially corrected.
The second error is that is that aborted babies are innocent children of God. They are innocent as far as being innocent victims of murder, but as captives in Original Sin, these poor babies are not children of God and do not have sanctifying grace. Can God intervene and take away that first sin of Adam, which causes spiritual death? Yes, but we cannot suppose that. Otherwise, we are denying the efficacy of baptism.
None of us are born innocent and none of us are children of God and heirs of heaven until we are baptized.
Here is one of the sections in the CCC on this point.
1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.60 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.61 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.62 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.
The heresy of universal salvation, which claims that all men and women are saved may be behind this false thinking. Also, the heresy of Pelagianism states that man's nature is basically good. This is not true. We are born in sin. Look at Romans 5:12 and the CCC on baptism if confused.
The third error is that these babies are in heaven. Just this afternoon, I saw this on twitter. We cannot say that for sure, and as Blessed John Paul II stated, and as stated in:
CCC, 1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,"64 allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
Too often, pro-lifers want to feel good about the destruction of these poor babies by stating opinions as facts which may or may not be true. We know what Christ has taught about baptism. We know that God can do all things. But, we must not be presumptuous in order to hide the real horror of abortion, which is not only the death of a body, but the possible denial of a soul experiencing the Beatific Vision.
This last fact must be considered if we are to face the entire horror of this slaughter of millions of children through-out the world. We should weep and grieve, indeed, and work to end abortion.
Here is a good site for more information.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/DOCTRINE/BAPTISM.TXT
