I'm quoting your own comment where you cite a case of a ten year old surviving giving birth to twins in 1979. Thirty years till the last known safe occurrence of this sort of thing suggests that, on the whole, it's not safe. But this is all complete extrapolation from a simple comment, for all I know that was just the one you've heard of that popped into your mind, rather than the only one in existence.
I wonder how often it does happen? Child abuse - a lot, alas. Child abuse leading to pregnancies - more than it used to, but not terribly often. In Western countries, the vast majority of those pregnancies will be terminated as routine. In less privileged countries or countries where abortion is banned, that won't be the case, but we're unlikely to hear about it. It's probably the twins that makes this case stand out so much, in the end, because that's the one variable that kicks it over the edge into very very rare, plus all the kerfuffle with the excommunications.
In Judaism, the one rule that overrides all other rules is the preservation of human life. Anyone in authority who took action without thoroughly researching the risk to the pregnant child would be in deep, deep trouble. You can't just say "he wasn't a doctor, how could he know", he had to consult medical experts, and in Judaism he'd probably have had to consult at least two to make sure it was a balanced view. It's the responsibility of the clergy to make sure they get their rules prioritised correctly and safeguard their flock at all times. I thought it was more or less the same in other religions? The thing that really horrifies me about this case isn't the end result of the excommunications, it's that the priest does not appear to have consulted the appropriate medical experts before going ahead with his decision.
no subject
I wonder how often it does happen? Child abuse - a lot, alas. Child abuse leading to pregnancies - more than it used to, but not terribly often. In Western countries, the vast majority of those pregnancies will be terminated as routine. In less privileged countries or countries where abortion is banned, that won't be the case, but we're unlikely to hear about it. It's probably the twins that makes this case stand out so much, in the end, because that's the one variable that kicks it over the edge into very very rare, plus all the kerfuffle with the excommunications.
In Judaism, the one rule that overrides all other rules is the preservation of human life. Anyone in authority who took action without thoroughly researching the risk to the pregnant child would be in deep, deep trouble. You can't just say "he wasn't a doctor, how could he know", he had to consult medical experts, and in Judaism he'd probably have had to consult at least two to make sure it was a balanced view. It's the responsibility of the clergy to make sure they get their rules prioritised correctly and safeguard their flock at all times. I thought it was more or less the same in other religions? The thing that really horrifies me about this case isn't the end result of the excommunications, it's that the priest does not appear to have consulted the appropriate medical experts before going ahead with his decision.