t case with the
closest attention. Let all the rays of light we have gathered so far be
focussed on this particular point. Can a physician ever be justified in
destroying the life of a child, before or during its birth, by
craniotomy or in any other manner, in order to save its mother's life,
on the plea that the child is an unjust assailant of the life of its
mother? Put the case in a definite shape before you. Here is a mother in
the pangs of parturition. An organic defect, no matter in what shape or
form, prevents deliverance by the ordinary channels. All that medical
skill can do to assist nature has been done. The case is desperate.
Other physicians have been called in for consultation, as the civil law
requires before it will tolerate extreme measures. All agree that, if no
surgical operation is performed, both mother and child must die. There
are the Caesarian section, the Porro operation, laparotomy,
symphysiotomy, all approved by science and the moral law. But we will
suppose an extreme case; namely, the circumstances are so unfavorable
for any of these operations--whether owing to want of skill in the
Doctors present, or for any other reason--that none can safely be
attempted; any of them would be fatal to the mother.

In this extreme case of necessity, can the Doctor break the cranium of
the living child, or in any way destroy its life with a view to save the
mother? If three consulting physicians agree that this is the only way
to save her, he will not be molested by the law courts for performing
the murderous operation. But will the law of nature and of nature's God
approve or allow his conduct? This is the precise question under our
consideration. We have seen that the infant, a true human being, has a
right to live, as well as its mother. "All men are created equal, and
have an equal right to life," declares the first principle of our
liberty. The Creator, too, as reason teaches, has a clear right to the
child's life; that child may answer a very special purpose of
Providence. But whether it will or not, God is the supreme and the only
Master of life and death, and He has laid down the strict prohibition,
"Thou shalt not kill."

Now comes the plea of self-defence against an unjust aggressor. If the
child is such, if it _unjustly_ attacks its mother's life, then she can
destroy it to save herself, and her physician can aid the innocent
against the guilty party. But can it be proved that the infant is an