When did I Begin? – A Reply to Nicholas Tonti-Filippini

Tonti-Filippini Nicholas “A Critical Note”, in The Linacre Quarterly, Vol. 56, N. 3 (1989), pp. 36–50.

This is my translation of the definitive Latin text of the Instruction found in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 1988, pp. 78–9. “… conclusiones tamen, ad quas pervenerunt scientificae conclusiones de humano embryone, pretiosa suppeditant elements, ex quibus rationis ope dignosci potest personam iam adesse praesentem inde ab hac prima vitae humanae significatione: cur igitur vivens creatura humana non esset etiam persona humana? Magisterium Ecclesiae expresse auctoritatem suam non interposuit circa hanc affirmationem, quae proprie ad philosophiam pertinet, at constanter moralem reprobationem confirmat cuivis abortus procurati. Quae doctrina neque mutata est neque mutari potest. Quare fructus generationis humanae, inde a primo temporis momento quo exsistere incipit, hoc est a momento quo formatio zygoti inchoatur, absolutam illam exigit obsenantiam, quae ex lege morali homini debetur quoad totam suam rationem corporalem atque spiritualem. Creatura humana ut persona observanda atque tractanda est inde abeius conceptione, ac propterea inde ab illo temporis momento ipsi agnoscenda sunt iura personae, quorum primum rescensetur ius inviolabile ad vitam, quo unusquisque creatura humana innocens gaudet.”

See Ford N. M. When Did I Begin? Conception of the Human Individual in History. Philosophy and Science, Cambridge: University Press, 1988, pp. 121. See also John Postgate “A Microbial Way of Death” in New Scientist, 20 May 1989, pp. 25-9 where it is shown that during fission most bacteria cease to exist when they divide to give rise to two progeny of equal age without a mother-daughter relationship between them.

An excellent Catholic account of how to prevent pregnancy in cases of rape may be found in “The Morning After Pill: Some Practical and Moral Questions about Post-Coital Contraception“, a report prepared by a Working Party established by the Joint Committee on Bio-ethical Issues and approved by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Briefing 86, Jan. 31, 1986, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 33–9; also published in Origins, March 13, 1986, Vol. 15, No. 39, pp. 633-8.