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By Judie Brown
Webster defines pro-life
as “opposed to abortion,” but even among pro-life folks there is a vast
array of opinions on what that means. So for the purposes of this
article, let’s begin by saying that pro-life means we are opposed to
abortion because it is a sin. It is, as St. John Paul II said, murder.
In paragraph 58 of The Gospel of Life, the Holy Father taught that
“the moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we are dealing with murder.”
While
we are forthright in our defense of innocent people—born and
preborn—not all thinking human beings agree. In our nation it is not
always popular to be pro-life, and according to some polling data,
we might say that Americans are becoming more pro-life, but beneath the
surface there is reason for doubt. When we talk about abortion being
protected by law, the reality is that most people who say they do not
favor abortion set parameters around their statement, meaning that while
they may not favor every abortion, they want limits on the killing, not
an end to it. This is problematic.
Why? Because abortion is a sin, and it is never merciful. In fact, commentator Rod Dreher recently told his readers
“Let’s be very clear: it is not merciful to deny that sin is sin.”
And that includes abortion!
But
if we pro-life Americans do not point this out, who will? In a secular
world sin is rarely mentioned, but in fact it surely will be considered
after death, so perhaps we should all be talking about it now while
folks are living, breathing, and making up their minds where they stand
on child killing. After all, that is exactly what abortion is—nothing
more, nothing less.
You see, we live in a nation where pro-life people are called terrorists and where it is a crime to defend the babies but perfectly legal to kill them. One such “criminal,” Monica Miller, recently wrote:
“In
this culture of death—in the morally upside-down world, pro-lifers have
placed themselves on the side of an unwanted, outcast people. During
our trial the unborn remained outcast—and so convicted in defense of
them, we are ‘counted among the wicked’ and sent to jail. Thus, we
remain in solidarity with the outcast.”
The outcast, writes apologist Jeff Cavins, is the person
“Jesus longs to touch. He longs to give their lives significance and meaning.”
Putting
this thought into the description of a preborn child destined for
murder, we are painfully aware that these babies—persons who have
belonged to Jesus since their very first second of existence—are
cherished even when, if not especially when, they are doomed to die.
By
the same token, we can identify with Miller’s words because as pro-life
people each of us strives to live in solidarity with the babies. We
make every effort to humanize them for those who shrink away from seeing
exactly what abortion does to a child of God. We emphasize their
humanity before those who, like Pontius Pilate, are quick to wash their
hands of the truth and live in a culture of lies.
And
of course, above all else, we pray for their safety and for the souls
of those who, perhaps like the soldiers who crucified Christ, “know not
what they do,” and we pray for the souls of their mothers. Knowing that
abortion is a “grave moral disorder”
we cannot help but plead with God to open the eyes of the wicked, the
ignorant, and those pressed, coerced, or driven into killing their own
children for any reason at all.
As human beings who are genuinely pro-life, we praise God for the opportunity to defend His children.
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