Tag: Roe v. Wade

The Unborn — The Good, the Sad, and the Terrifying

Since this past week was the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision and pro-life week, my RSS feed was filled with articles relating to abortion, contraception, and reproductive rights discussion.  Since many of my feeds are from the Catholic News Agency, Create Minority Report, the Blaze, etc., many of the articles focused on the pro-life movement such as the marches in Washington D.C. and in San Francisco.  But I did also come across articles and news reports from “the other side” arguing the pro-choice viewpoint.  What I read was both sad and terrifying and really drove home our need to pray for our wayward brothers and sisters who cling to these radical abortion ideas.

My first journey down the rabbit hole lead me to Salon.com and an article titled “So what if abortion ends life?”  I knew I should have stopped reading the article right after “so what,” but I soldiered on.  The author, Mary Elizabeth Williams, says that the pro-choice side should just admit that a fetus is a human life but women should still have a right to an abortion anyway.  She argues (and not very well mind you) that referring to the fetus as a human life is some sort of scare tactic by the pro-life side.  She says:

We’re so intimidated by the wingnuts, we get spooked out of having these conversations. We let the archconservatives browbeat us with the concept of “life,” using their scare tactics on women and pushing for indefensible violations like forced ultrasounds. Why? Because when they wave the not-even-accurate notion that “abortion stops a beating heart” they think they’re going to trick us into some damning admission. They believe that if we call a fetus a life they can go down the road of making abortion murder. And I think that’s what concerns the hell out of those of us who support unrestricted reproductive freedom.

Yeah, I know.  She used the “terror of ultrasounds” card.  If you have the stomach for it, read the entire article.  It would almost make for great satire until you realize the author is being dead serious in her assertions.  I think the pro-life side can take comfort that the pro-abortion crowd is reduced to the grade school “so what?” defence since the ethical, philosophical  medical, and scientific arguments all lean towards the pro-life movement.  But it’s also sad that the pro-choice lobby can put up such a weak defence and yet the pro-life movement has to work so hard to change any laws to protect the most innocent amongst us.  But no one ever said the government creates laws based on logical and well-reasoned arguments.

Here’s a little bit of good news.  According to an article in Time magazine titled “What Choice?“, fewer people are even listening to the Mary Elizabeth Williams of the world.  The pro-choice movement is dying.  Just take a look at the numbers — 500,000 marched for life in Washington D.C. and close to 50,000 marched in San Francisco last week.  Only 300 people attended a city-sponsored Roe vs. Wade celebration in San Francisco.  I guess celebrating 40 years of murdering the unborn with Sandra Fluke wasn’t a great reason to break out the party hats.  Also, the pro-life movement is filled with new life as the younger generation chooses to embrace the fact that the unborn are human lives with meaning and deserve protection.  The pro-choice crowd just has “so what?”

What RosaryMeds Do I Need?

A shrinking, yet still vocal segment of society has a chronic case of sowhatitis.  Symptoms include ignoring all scientific, medical, and philosophical evidence that prevents them from getting their way.  People with sowhatitis are seen in small groups and usually stay away from large crowds made up of younger generations.  I prescribe a healthy dose of meditating on the Third Sorrowful Mystery of the rosary — The Crowning of Thorns.  Remember, the Roman soldiers who mocked Jesus by crowning Him with thorns did not know what they were doing.  If their hearts were open, even the slightest, to Jesus’ message they wouldn’t have mocked Him so.  The pro-choice crowd finds themselves in a similar situation.  Many of them have such hardened hearts they are not aware of the mockery they make of their own humanity by advocating for the murder of the unborn.  The Roman soldiers did not see the greatness of Jesus and His message of love and compassion, but only saw a weak and beaten man who was an easy target for mockery.  Likewise, the pro-choice crowd does not see the inherit value of all human life but only see the unborn as a burden and abortion as a seemingly easy solution to eliminate that burden.  We pray the rosary for the conversion of their hearts and that we find the power and strength to continue fighting for what is right.

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Random Thoughts on Pro-Life Week

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal at the federal level.  Because of that tragic decision, the pro-life community makes the week of January 22nd Pro-life week.  This week features prayer novenas, talks and lectures, special programs, and of course, marches throughout the United States.  Pro-life week is bitter sweet for me.  On one hand it is great to see the enthusiasm and faith of the pro-life movement as people come out and march in the tens of thousands both on our nation’s capitol and on the West Coast.  But it’s unfortunate that we need to assemble at all to remind our government and society of the value of human life.  Below are just some random thoughts about the pro-life movement, government, and abortions.  I hope this gets you thinking, but more importantly, I hope it gets you praying and acting.

English: Personhood Now! banner in front of th...

Pro-life week reminds me a little of Mothers’ Day.  People always say how it’s unfortunate that we dedicate one day to mothers since every day should be a mother’s day.  Similarly, it’s unfortunate that we dedicate one week or one day to acting on our pro-life convictions.  Every day should be a pro-life day!  However, there is one startling difference between the two events.  When you forget to call your mom or send her a card on Mothers’ Day, you have one upset person.  But she’ll live.  When you don’t stand up for the value of life, you have 330,000+ aborted human beings per year in the United States alone.  So remember your mom, but also remember your commitment as a Catholic (and as a member of the human race) to promote the value of all human life all year long.

To put into perspective the scale of the modern-day holocaust which is abortion, consider this.  Twenty six people were murdered in the Sandy Hook shooting.  That tragedy sparked a massive response from politicians in comforting speeches and calls for new gun laws.  Now take Planned Parenthood‘s abortion number of 330,000 a year or roughly 37 abortions every hour.  That means the same number of lives as the Sandy Hook shooting are murdered by abortions every 42 minutes, 24/7!  And yet, the response from the political class is silent.  No speeches, no national dialogue, no executive orders, and no one saying, “Not one more child!”  Politicians were saying that they would do whatever it takes to reduce the likelihood of another Sandy Hook.  Where’s the “doing whatever it takes” to protect an unborn life from being murdered every 90 seconds?

When Planned Parenthood boasts its yearly 330,000 abortions performed (which you, the taxpayer, help fund), that doesn’t take into account the 330,000 additional lives that are also shattered — those of the mother’s.  For every life that is murdered by abortion, there is someone who has to live with the consequences of that decision.  And you also have to throw in the fathers as well since many of them also have to deal with the reality of the abortion.  If you are taking into account other people negatively affected by abortions, you might as well consider the doctors and nurses that do the procedures.  Sure, the mother, father, and doctors’ lives may not suffer any consequences immediately.  But there is plenty of data and testimonies that show the long-term damage abortions have on parents both mentally and physically.  And then there is the long-term damage abortion has on society as we devalue human life in our laws and public consciousness.

Anti abortion rally in Washington, D.C. Decemb...

We live in a society where government is playing a larger role in our lives.  I’m not going to get into why I think that’s a bad idea in this post.  But think about all the money government spends.  We are in year five of trillion dollar deficits.  The government spends money on food stamps, cell phones, health care, backing mortgages, investing in “green” technology, bailing out industries, foreign aid, and thousands of other ways that will supposedly move the United States to stability and prosperity.  And yet, not a dime from those trillions is spent to provide solutions to handling unexpected pregnancies except for abortions.  Imagine the support we could provide those surprised expecting mothers if we took the funds to Planned Parenthood and wasteful government programs and spent that on pre-natal care, mental and spiritual support, housing, and whatever else is needed to foster the new life, not kill it.  And while I loath government getting involved in so many aspects of our lives, at least we wouldn’t be funding intrinsically evil acts.  If the government is going to take my money and spend it, it might as well be to support life, not destroy it.

In light of all these realities, your rosaries should be on fire from all the prayers that are needed.  Pray the rosary daily and remember your commitment to be pro-life.  And that doesn’t mean to be pro-life one week out of the year, but every day.  That also doesn’t mean starting a fight with your pro-choice co-workers or arguing with a pro-choice relative.  But it does mean that you defend and promote the value of life when you can.  We are all called in different ways to show God’s glory and the beauty of His creation.  For some it might be side walk counselling or praying in front of abortion clinics.  For others, it means giving to pro-life charities.  It might mean participating in the Walk for Life (West Coasters, see you Saturday in San Francisco).  Don’t know what your part is in this war?  That’s where praying the rosary daily will help.  Ask God for guidance and He’ll show you the way.

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