Once again this January, hundreds of thousands of people will gather on the National Mall to protest Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The March for Life is a longstanding tradition for many Catholic parishes and student groups and serves as a crucial showcase for the pro-life cause. Though the media sometimes downplay the march, the political potency of the event should not be underestimated. Here is a vibrant, grass-roots movement that predates the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street. That so many of the marchers are young people is a clear sign that the pro-life message has lost little of its prophetic power.
This year’s March for Life comes at a time of some uncertainty for the pro-life movement. Thirty-nine years after the promulgation of Roe v. Wade, a legal reversal remains elusive despite the presence of six Catholics on the Supreme Court. At the state level, even in conservative South Dakota efforts to criminalize abortion have failed. In Mississippi, the “personhood amendment,” which would have defined a fertilized egg as a person, was easily defeated on the November ballot. Some within the pro-life community, including some Catholic bishops, have questioned the wisdom of these state initiatives. Indeed, the recent setbacks should spark reflection on the goals and methods of the pro-life movement.
A constructive assessment might begin with a re-examination of the movement’s priorities. The March for Life, as worthwhile as it is, ought not to be the only expression of the pro-life cause. To effectively reduce the number of abortions in the United States, a political strategy must be accompanied by a more personal campaign for conversion. Ultimately, members of the pro-life community must work to make the world more welcoming for children. To accomplish this, they must be nimble, creative and above all motivated by love and compassion for mother and child. A comprehensive pro-life strategy would include, for example, the following important elements:
Outreach to families with disabled children. The challenge of raising a physically or mentally impaired child is overwhelming. A true culture of life makes these families a focus of outreach and support. Group homes for disabled young people and adults, like the L’Arche communities founded by Jean Vanier, should become a regular destination for pro-life groups. How wonderful it would be to see buses filled with volunteer college students pulling up in front of institutions for people with disabilities. Tragically, many prospective parents now choose to terminate pregnancies if prenatal tests reveal Down syndrome or other genetic anomalies. Before judging these decisions, however, the pro-life Christian must ask what circumstances compel a person to make such a choice and must work to offer alternatives.
Support adoption agencies. Adoption is a life-giving choice, both for the birth parent and the adoptive family. Yet it can be a difficult process, requiring the expertise of trained professionals who understand the emotional hurdles involved. Persuading an expectant mother to have a child is not always as simple as showing her an image from an ultrasound test. Adoption counselors can present a fuller view of parenthood, and they are well placed to reach out to women in difficult circumstances. Adoption agencies also find homes for children with special needs.
Improve childcare. Like so many other social services, child care in the United States is anemic in comparison to that available in Europe. Surely more women would choose to raise a child if they knew that there were affordable options for child care. Increased government support is necessary, but it is only one part of the solution. Shared cooperatives of parents, working together to raise their children amid the demands of careers and education, should be encouraged and perhaps initiated by Catholic parishes.
These initiatives will not by themselves bring about a culture of life. Political programs are crucial, and not just those focused on the Supreme Court. With one in four children now counted as poor, working against poverty so that families can feed their children is also key. Child poverty should not be ignored by Congress amid its drive toward austerity.
What must be acknowledged, finally, is that the problem presented by abortion is enormous and that there is no one way to eliminate this scourge. To change the attitudes of a society, whether about war, capital punishment or abortion, the pro-life community must work through a variety of channels. Some will feel called to travel to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23. They deserve our encouragement. All pro-life supporters should consider attending a support group for parents of disabled children or helping to care for a neighbor’s baby. These works of mercy may not offer the same public witness as the March for Life, but they can help to make the pro-life cause a way of life.
As you point out, besides the prophetic role played by an event like the March for Life. we have an obligation - a pastoral role of action; of care and concern. Obviously, when 20% of pregnancies in the richest society in history are terminated, we are not doing enough on either front. But some people are working valiantly and often at great presonal sacrifice to help pregnant women and their children.
Given the narow focus of the long-standing Catholic position on abortion, many folks think that the worst thing that can happen to a fetus is to be born. Until we begin publicly to take a serious intrest in and demand action on the many issues that affect the life of living children, our influence on government law and policy will remain pale at best .
This statement betrays the fact that America's editors have no clue what goes on in the pro-life movement. My brother-in-law heads up Pro-Life Action Ministries in St. Paul, Minn. Everyday, volunteers are out on the sidewalks in front of abortion clinics around the Twin Cities lovingly trying to persuade women not to have their children's lives aborted. That's as personal a campaign as you can get. As far as making "the world more welcoming for children," everyday, they're helping pregnant women with electric bills and rent, giving them strollers, clothes, vouchers for food, setting them up with social services. And they follow through after the child has been born as well.
This doesn't just happen at Pro-Life Action Ministries, though. It happens at all kinds of pro-life outreaches. It's just that they're following Jesus' command, "Don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing." Of course, if editors and reporters would actually go and meet with these people, spend time at their offices and see what really goes on, it would go towards eliminating a lot of silly statements like this editorial.
“To change the attitudes of a society, whether about war, capital punishment or abortion, the pro-life community must work through a variety of channels.”
This sentence in the editorial betrays America’s failure to distinguish between settled matters of grave moral import , on the one hand, such as abortion, and debatable aspects of moral theology, on the other, such as justification of war and capital punishment. This is sad. One would not expect such obfuscation of the teachings of the Catholic Church in America magazine.
Let's take a moment to honor those who walk the talk, to pray for the unborn and those who abort, and to pray that the rest of us do whatever we can to love . . . as He loves.
The laity was invited by Pope John Paul II to teach the young about sexuality. If we actually did that, we might find reason to speak some truths about courtship. If we can't find enough courage to speak honestly about courtship, we can expect to deal with a lot of failed courtship - and abortion is one result of failed courtship.
Some very intelligent and compassionate responses. Let me bring up an ugly PR problem that catholics have, and I accept that is a very broad generalisation. The media loves extremists, if they can find a wacky looking guy holding up a poster of an aborted fetus, you can be sure it'll be on the front page the next day, especially here in Ireland. Pro lifers have allowed themselves to be presented as sentimental towards the unborn while being zealously judgemental towards the living. The majority of women obtain abortions not because their social life is being inconvenienced but because they are afraid.
It is up to the leaders of the pro life movement, including Catholic leaders, to set the tone of public demonstrations. Waving placards featuring extreme images will win no pro choice people.
I would like if there was not a single abortion on this planet. So long as Catholics choose to focus on attacking their opponents in public rather than focusing SOLELY on presenting kind options then Roe v Wade will remain.
Here in Ireland, because of the disastrous response of the hierarchy towards the innumerable sex abuse cases, if there were a referendum on abortion tomorrow it would be a close run thing. If the church doesn't open up and start expressing publically some LOVE towards gay men and women, the divorced, contraceptive using parents, then abortion will arrive here. that's a big step for many Irish clergy but not for ordinary Irish Catholics. Let's focus on kindness and leave the judging up to you know who. Unfortunately the creators of civilisation are being presented in the media as arch reactionaries. That image, at least, is changeable.
I like the articles' broad perspective on the abortion issue.
? The majority of the many services offered are centered on the pre-born, infant baby and mother. Most of them are church or privately sponsored. The problem is larger and more complex than just offering rightful and needed help, and the rights of the unborn. Who else shares responsibility?The Pro Life Movement, however, focus on a narrow point of a persons life: the pre-born child, but it does not ??p?a?y? ?m?u?c?h? ?a?t?t?e?n?t?io?n? ?t?o? ????the future of the child, the mother and perhaps, the family if it exists. And it ignores the other end of life, where elderly survive in poverty as much as children in America today. The death penalty maybe left for another conversation
Life begins at conception according to our Catholic beliefs, but it continues until death according to the same values. That generally much longer period than pregnancy and infancy, is not taking into account by the promoters of the Pro-Life movement. This country does not offer a safety net like in European countries. In many cases, economic conditions and fear play a substantial role in the decision-making process leading to abortion. Not all pregnant mothers are guided by our religious values, but many can see the difficulties of their future with another mouth to feed, raise and educate in unfavorable circumstances.
Holding a job, housing, satisfaction of basic needs, children’s education, health services on the long range, and others, impact the planning of the future of a family or single mother. And if the child is born with disabilities, added problems ensue. “Where does the Pro-Life movement and services responsibilities end?”
The other issue mentioned by the article are services for infantants and disable for life, and for the elderly? The percentage of children living in poverty is the highest in the USA history. Though abortion is NOT the solution, to focus only on it without embracing the totality and complexity of the problem is unconscious. Respect for life begins with the living.Any effective program will have to include the transformation of people’s hearts, so “together”, regardless of religious tradition we may be able to respond to the Gospel’s values in a pluralistic and multinational country.
And if we are more vocal about the unborn, it is because the living have parents that can speak for them. In the case of abortions, it is the mother who is actively working to murder her own child.
I would also add the pregnancy care centers run by dioceses like Miami"s which are doing an effective job in counselling expecting mothers and convincing them not to abort through the visual showing of ultrasound pictures of their babies
We must continue praying especially at the abortion centers to reach practitioners and staff and carrying the Life message to our elected officials. We must encourage and motivate organizations like the Knights of Columbus to become more actively involved in the Pro-Life movement. Most important, we must pray at all times to change the hearts and minds of those in our Church and society to defend and protect the dignity of human life.
It seems to me that people like Winifred, above, keep handing the pro-choice crowd some great arguments by failing to be as appalled by war and capital punishment as they are by abortion. Cardinal Bernadine's seamless argument is powerful. I just protested an execution, getting up at dawn to bear witness. Most of the "pro-life" enthusiasists were not there. In order to be consistent, I also will do my best to protest Roe vs. Wade every time I have a chance.
It is comforting to see the things parishes are doing for pro-life. It is appalling to see Catholics mindlessly voting for politicians who don't really care for the issue of life, and have no concern for a child after it is born.Abortion is a institutionaled moral evil in America in the same way that slavery was an instituionalized moral evil. The law, custom and society allows abortion and a nationwide abortion industry carries out the taking of unborn babies lives. No need to intellectualize about extraneous abstract quality of life issues. Abortion taking of a life is final and irreversalble.
Like slavery the institution of abortion has the capacity to grow and become more widespread and harder to eliminate. Culturally and politically America has significant pluratity of people who want to advance the institution of abortion and makeing it more widely avaliable and paid for by the government. - abortion on demand. Many people in Congress and the federal governement want to redefine the meaning of healthcare to inqclude abortion services and thus make abortions more widely practiced.
The pro-life movement need to focus on th evil of abortion and not be divereted by other less urgent causes.
There is another way to immensely improve the affordability of Catholic education among lower income earners: the voucher. The fortress the NEA with the assistance of our current administration has built against offering this opportunity to our inner city parents and children is finally beginning to crumble under the assaults of the people. It in fact is one of the few effective reforms that can be accomplished without costing additional monies we do not have. It can and should be expanded. Consider supporting this social justice reform.
1. Outreach to disabled. Increase genetic research to identify or eliminate genetic problems before the baby is conceived. Or at least be able to warn the prospective parents what they may face before conception.
2. Adoption. To increase adoptions, not only do we need to make it easier. We need to expand the base of potential parents by including single people and same sex couples. However, the Catholic Church has made it clear that they will not support adoption by same sex couples. I would prefer a child to be raised by a gay couple or a single person rather than be aborted or left under state care. Apparently the Church does not agree with me, which means they will accept a baby being aborted rather than raised by two men or two women. And wring their hands on this situation but not change the position.
3. Improve Child Care; the article says that child care in America is anemic compared to Europe, and that certainly women would be more likely to have children if child care was more available. Empirical evidence shows that this is not true, otherwise the birth rate in Europe would be exceeding that of the US. What is needed is an economic policy that drives more jobs so people can arrange for their own child care. I don't favor government run child care centers.
I can say that I am against the death penalty as much as I am against abortion. It took me awhile, but the deciding factor for me was the number of people who have been found innocent after conviction using latest technology such as DNA testing. I can't say I have much support for actual guilty people, but until there is no room for doubt I would rather have 99 people go free than execute a single innocent person.
As for being anti-war, it depends on what you mean. I am fully against aggressive wars. However, I know that there are plenty of aggressors out there, and we need the capability to defend ourselves. And our allies.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990; we went to war to stop them and liberate Kuwait. A pacifist who is anti-war might say that we should have not done anything militarily. A realist who is anti-war, like me, would say that sometimes there is badness in the world that can only be controlled by violence.
My very personal view is that even in the Church, the subject of life is much more political than spiritual, and we are all suffering. I'm 60 years old, and the only unborn babies I've ever prayed about publically are the ones that mothers chose to abort. It breaks my heart every time for all the mothers who have lost their babies in utero and continue to grieve alone and in silence from the pulpit.
Also, I just don't think the Magisterium really believes what they preach - are they telling Catholic women that we should baptize and bury the baby that we miscarry at 4 or 8 weeks?
I think we need a lot more prayer and a lot less public politicizing.
America Magazine is certainly being more polite to the pro-life movement here that it ordinarily is, but it is pursuing its usual goals. 1. Trying to protect pro-abortion liberal politicians, even if that means preventing the restictions on abortion that the Washington Post writer is worried about. 2. Diverting the anti-abortion activities of pro-life workers to causes approved of by the secular left, in this article, war, capital punishment and child care. Why doesn't the author tell us who "within the pro-life community" opposes "these state initiatives"?
America Magazine would never tell an organization against capital punishment to divert some of its efforts to some other cause, but it always tells the pro-life movement that it has to stop devoting so much effort to defending the babies. Every cause is the country has groups whose single purpose is that cause. America Magazine always writes that the problem with the pro-life movement is that it has not subscribed to America Magazine's entire agenda. Its not phrased this way but the goal is that there should be no movement whose single purpose is the defense of the pre-born. I don't think the babies have too many advocates, I think they have too few.
That is where the usefulness of this article has merit. Let the prolife movement not be seen as John Brown abolitionists, but supportive of the whole of life. Progress will come piecemeal. Compromise will necessarily be involved. It is a twilight battle. Scientific evidences such as the sonongram will make this unjust law seem ever more evil, ever more unworthy of having a place in a society concerned with social justice, but it will take time. Meanwhile, hate the sin, but love the sinner. And help him where you can.
One positive sign of some coming together on the issue of abortion was a discussion recently on Catholic radio about how many, or most, women who have abortions are coerced by the would-be father, or her parents, or influencial others to do so. I've detected more and more concern for women, particularly troubled pregnant women.
As I've said before, one thing we can all do, regardless of our label, is pray the Rosary, especially the First Joyful Mystery, for all troubled pregnant women. Mary, after all, was comforted by the angel before she said her big yes.