Statement on Abortion-Related Legislation nationwide
The landmark Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade unleashed a tidal wave of abortion in the United States. In the intervening years the lives of millions of unborn children have been terminated. When one considers the ramifications of so many lost lives, it is almost impossible to believe that a nation as great as ours has permitted this moral evil for so long. As many who follow the politics of our day are aware, several states have recently passed very strict pro-life laws which will greatly reduce abortions. These state laws are soon to be challenged in appellate courts and quite probably the U.S. Supreme Court. I cannot help but believe that we are drawing nearer to reversing this moral catastrophe. How we proceed from here is crucial and I would offer the following three points for guidance.
The first is that we must keep the light focused on what abortion does to the unborn child and the life it terminates. This truth, which is based upon science, medicine, and reason, is all too often kept in the dark by the pro-abortion world. However, even as we keep the light focused on the child in the womb we likewise cannot fail to acknowledge and respond to the crises in which so many pregnant women find themselves. While stopping abortion is a moral imperative, the followers of Jesus Christ will recognize His face in the faces of every pregnant woman suffering from poverty, fear, abuse, or abandonment. Saving the lives of infants is critical, but we likewise must do all we can to make it possible for women to keep and care for their children. Legislation, political decisions, and government policies that compound and further aggravate the lives of poor and suffering women can be a powerful incentive to push them through the abortion clinic doors. Again, even as we keep the light focused on the devastation of an unborn child’s life, we cannot afford to narrow our vision and refuse to see the suffering of their mothers and many times their older siblings. For this reason I am especially grateful, and strongly supportive of, those charitable organizations that serve poor and needy pregnant women as well as women struggling to care for their children.
The second is that Catholics are called to be full members of our communities and that includes the political realm. We have a right and an obligation to bring our values into our local communities as well as our individual states, our nation, and the global community. Catholics have a crucial role to be a salt for the earth and a light for the world. We are never authentic to the Gospel when we ignore or run from the world. Informing our legislators, as well as how we vote, matters deeply. The Gospel is quite clear: our goal is heaven but our task for today is to dig deeply into daily life and to be a part of building a land of justice and peace today. We can never abandon our citizenship or our stewardship for God’s created world.
The final point is prayer, and it is perhaps the most significant of our efforts. Regrettably the word prayer is sometimes tossed around casually without reference to its very real power. The forces of evil are clearly at work in the world. In the face of so great an evil we need to unleash renewed waves of prayer—invoking the Holy Spirit upon the people of our Nation and most especially upon our judges and legislators. Prayer is powerful and it will make the difference. Too, we don’t pray instead of taking action. Rather, the two are profoundly connected. Indeed, it is oftentimes prayer that unleashes the Spirit within us so that God—working through us—can bring about His will in our world. From this vantage point prayer is not incidental, it is critical. We must pray and pray aggressively for an end to abortion, for true justice in our nation, and for women and children in crisis.
Again, there are current efforts around our nation which have the potential to end a profound moral evil. Now is a time for renewed energies on our part. I believe that we must blend together three critical tools: an intensity of prayer, renewed efforts in the political world, and generous service of suffering women and their children. The stakes are critical, the potential immense, and our call to be a part of righting this profound evil is clear.
