Within the framework of the “Church and Law” series of interviews, Iravaban.net spoke with the Director of the Information System of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Father Yesayi Artenyan, about the position of the church on abortions..
– Father Yesayi, abortion has been common since ancient times. And nowadays the prevalence index has significantly increased. In your opinion, what are the main reasons for abortion in Armenia?
– First of all, one of the first and most worrying reasons we touch and see in our society is the social problem. When I say social problem, I mean first of all the reduction of the role of the man in the family. This is the main reason. Although many people today talk about selective abortions, today that problem has decreased a lot compared to our reality 5-10 years ago. It can be seen even in the church. Many couples, when they get married, if in the past we often heard that the first child must be a boy, or if the first is a girl, the second must be a boy and as a result they, made abortion, today we do not often hear such a thing and face such problem less. The main reason is the decrease of the role of men in our families.
– What is the position of the church on this issue?
– The Church unequivocally urges and calls never to go for abortion, because it is a great catastrophe for our society, both spiritually and morally.
– The law allows terminating a pregnancy up to 12 weeks. Is the church also in favor of this?
– The requirement of the law is one thing, but the approach of the church is very clear: abortion from the very first moment of pregnancy is condemnable, and it is a sin.
– Are all forms and circumstances of abortion categorically rejected by the church? Are there cases when the church is not against abortion?
– It is not a question of accepting or not accepting. There are cases when the church understands that there is no other option and does not consider it a sin. For example, when life is in danger. When the question is posed in such a way that the fetus will not live and if the pregnancy continues, it will also endanger the life of the parent, definitely, the church does not put any barriers or restrictions here. There is no spiritual sin there. But it is another matter whether the fetus is sick or the doctors predict that the fetus will be sick, immature, and based on that, the parents decide to go for abortion, this is definitely condemnable, this is also a sin.
– The law punishes only the doctor in case of illegal abortion. What about the church?
– According to Christianity and morality, the sin is mutual.
– Can contraceptives be an alternative and a preventive measure? What is the position of the church regarding the use of contraceptives?
– The church does not have a clear, concrete position here. It is not because the church cannot have it, but because the question is that there are different dimensions of what to do in which case, and how much sinful and how much acceptable or not so much. The church leaves this to the Christian conscience and morality of every person. In other words, the church does not address every issue and tries to say clearly, this is possible, and this is not. There are certain narrow personal manifestations, which are left to the conscience and morality of each person. Here it is very important that a person forms a family and has the awareness that one of the goals of the family is childbearing, so it is fixed in the human consciousness that contraceptives are not always justified.
– And finally, summing up the conversation, let’s talk about what the church has to do in this matter and the church’s position on abortion, does it have a positive effect on reducing the number of abortions?
– The activities of the Church, both the propaganda and the various programs that we implement, have a special goal, to do everything so that people do not take this step. We have specially developed programs to increase the role of men in the family and the right role distribution: what is the role of a woman, what is the role of a man, what is the role of parents, what is the role of relatives? When this role is properly done in the family, we will have a much better situation with abortions. In connection with selective abortions, I think the church has done a great job in recent years. We will continue, it is not that this issue is closed, to say that it has decreased compared to this or that year, it does not mean that we can say easily that this issue is closed. We still have work to do to make people aware that it is a big mistake to go for selective abortions and this phenomenon in general. We have developed clear, specific programs related to this issue, which we have carrying out in recent years.
