Love at the Service of Life: Whose Body Is It, Anyway?

With or without a pregnancy, the "my body, my choice" argument tragically fails us. Reflecting on the relationship that exists among the major organ systems can offer a deeper insight into the other-centered nature of our bodies, and how relinquishing a wrong understanding of "ownership" can actually enhance our health and lead to human flourishing.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (Catholic Online) - One of these organ systems is not like the others...
 
Here's a grown-up version of the Sesame Street game, comparing the major organ systems of the human body to determine which one is essentially different. There are eleven: circulatory, digestive, endocrine, excretory, integumentary (skin and glands), lymphatic/immune, muscular, nervous, reproductive, respiratory, and skeletal.
 
One is strikingly different from the others. Here's a hint: it has to do with who each of the systems are designed to serve.
 
Ten of the eleven major organ systems in your body exist solely to serve you-to keep you alive and healthy, to help you move and experience the world, to support and hold you together.
 
Only one of these systems is designed not primarily for you, but for other people. It exists so that you and another person with a complimentary system may attain physical and spiritual communion, through which the procreation and gestation of another human being may occur.
 
Yes, the reproductive system stands out dramatically among the others, unique in its other-centered reason for existence. It proclaims by its very being that each of us are created ultimately not for ourselves, but for communion with others and at the service of life, and that anything that keeps us alive does so in order that we may serve others. It points all of the other self-serving organ systems in this direction.
 
In fact, when a pregnancy occurs, the other organ systems change their focus from the woman's sustenance alone to the new person growing in their midst. Bones begin to shift, ligaments loosen, water is retained and blood volume increases. Hormone levels change to enlarge some body parts, and cravings for certain foods contribute to extra weight needed for the baby. Suddenly the reproductive system is no longer the only one focused on another person-the other systems broaden their mission to help out.
 
Of course this demands a sacrifice on the part of the entire body, not just the reproductive organs. The weight gained can cause shortness of breath, swelling of the ankles and feet, and poor circulation in the legs which can lead to cramping. Pressure on the bladder causes frequent urination, and the back feels the strain of supporting the extra weight in the front. Mood swings, depleted energy, morning sickness, hemorrhoids, acne, heat rash, and blemishes of all kinds are common effects of carrying another life in the womb. Many women struggle with the physical effects of pregnancy and childbirth long after their baby is born.
 
It's no wonder the "my body, my choice" argument is so popular in some segments of our culture. Though the reproductive system is but one of eleven organ systems in a woman's body, the entire body is affected when a child is conceived.
 
But this is where the "my body" attitude fails us tragically. We are advised by countless wellness professionals to "listen to our bodies" for cues to maintain and improve our health. Following that advice leads to the discovery that "my body" is not as much mine as I may have thought. Foundational to our physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health is the truth that we need to be in relationship with other people. This requires us to focus on the good of another, often at the price of our own comfort and convenience. So in order to be healthy, we need to focus on others and sacrifice for them. Our bodies are designed for this reality, and readily accept the call to sacrifice so that others may have life. We do indeed need to listen to them. The fullness of life comes from love. Love placed at the service of life.

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Yet another critical difference between the reproductive organs and all the others involves the attitude our culture places upon them, and the nature of some procedures that are considered acceptable for the reproductive system but would be abhorred for any of the others.
 
Most people wouldn't think of deliberately interfering with their other organ systems-or stopping their functions altogether. No one would deliberately tamper with their circulatory, digestive, or nervous system, or any of the others that work to keep them alive and well; to do so would put their own health and life at risk.
 
Yet the reproductive system--the one that exists primarily for others--is routinely interfered with in order to hinder or even to halt its function, with the justification that it is "my body, my choice." It is considered acceptable to tamper with the system that points us towards service to others, but not with the ones that point us towards ourselves.
 
The more inward the orientation of our thoughts, attitudes and behaviors, the less healthy we become overall. Our bodies give us so many clues about this; we sorely need to listen and place our bodies at the service of life and love--the mission for which they were ultimately designed.
 
Whose body is it, anyway?

----- James Penrice is the author of eight books, a correspondent for Catholic Athletes for Christ, and a contributor to Catholic Online.

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