Open Letter to President of AWARE Constance Singam

Mrs. Constance Singam, new president of Aware was quoted as having said this in the Straits Times on the 19th November 2008

On reconciling her Catholic faith with her pro-choice views on abortion(headline)
"One of the first things I did was train myself to get rid of the guilt complex. I stopped going to church for a while and went only when i felt comfortable that i was going because i wanted to celebrate my human-ness and my connection with divinity"

I decided to write to Mrs Singam the following letter below
_______________________________
Dear Mrs Singam

I write to express my concern regarding the remarks you made in an interview with the Straits Times on the 19th Nov 2008. I do not judge your heart and your motives, i am simply responding based on what you were reported to have said.

You were quoted saying that it is possible to reconcile the Catholic faith with your pro-choice views on abortion.

If an AWARE member were to say that he is able to reconcile his misogynistic views towards women and his continued membership in AWARE, he would be rightly considered out of line and probably asked to withdraw his membership.

The Catholic Church has always considered from the very first century that direct abortion is a grave offense. The late Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae describes abortion as an “unspeakable crime”, “intrinsically unjust” and insisted that Christians have a grave obligation not to cooperate formally or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favour of such a law.


Like AWARE, the Catholic Church is a voluntary organization. No one is forced to become Catholic, and anyone is free to allow their membership to lapse if they vehemently disagree with its values and core beliefs.

What is unacceptable however is to claim that it is possible to publicly disagree with a core belief of an organization and continue to remain in good standing.

I respectfully suggest the following for your consideration

a. That you take the effort to understand the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion, why it considers it violence towards both the child and mother, come to embrace the teaching of her Church and publicly recant your reported views.

b.. If after due consideration, you are unable in conscience to accept the Church’s teaching in this area, you are still welcome in Church. But you should refrain from claiming, especially in a public forum, that your views are compatible with the Catholic faith your profess and should also refrain from presenting yourself for Holy Communion, which according to Catholic belief, is not only the body and blood of Jesus Christ, but also a symbolic act whereby a Catholic affirms in a public manner that he is in communion and agreement with the teachings of his Church.

I work as a Marketing Executive with the Family Life Society and would be happy to meet up sometime for an exchange of views. My email is chesterton81@yahoo.com.sg or nickchui@familylife.sg

Best wishes

Nick Chui
www.familylife.sg