This Friday, January 21, 2022, tens of thousands of Americans from across the country - including many of our own parishioners - will gather in the nation's capital for the 49th annual March for Life. This year's March comes at a pivotal time in the history of the pro-life movement, as we await the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. For the first time in a generation, it seems likely that the Supreme Court will chip away at or overturn Roe v. Wade and other cases that prevent states from banning or restricting abortion.
Over the past few years, our political climate has become more and more polarized, and the partisan divide in our country has grown into a canyon, with Democrats firmly entrenched on one side of a host of issues, and Republicans entrenched on the other. In this political environment, there is a strong temptation to simply repeat the talking points of our own political tribe, rather than honestly discerning between what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. We thus risk turning abortion into a mere token in the ongoing battle between the Left and the Right, rather than seeing it as a grave moral issue that ought to transcend our political allegiances.
Regardless of political affiliation or even religion, we ought to be able to agree on the simple truth that we all share a common humanity and have a right to life. It is a sign of the absurdity of our times that those of us who oppose the destruction of human life in the womb are labeled "anti-choice" (as if taking an innocent human life is a legitimate choice), "anti-abortion extremists" (as if it is extreme to want to protect life), or even "anti-women" (as if there are no females in the womb). Pro-life Catholics are often accused of imposing our religion on others when we advocate for laws against abortion, but this is a human issue, not just a religious issue. New organizations like Rehumanize International and Secular Pro-life make it clear that one does not have to be religious to oppose abortion. Pope Francis has minced no words in arguing that all of us should oppose abortion:
[Abortion is] more than a problem, it's homicide, whoever has an abortion, kills. No mincing words. Take any book on embryology for medical students. The third week after conception, all the organs are already there, even the DNA... it is a human life, this human life must be respected, this principle is so clear! To those who cannot understand, I would ask this question: Is it right to kill a human life to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hitman to kill a human life? Scientifically, it is a human life. Is it right to take it out to solve a problem? That is why the Church is so harsh on this issue, because if it accepts this, it is as if it accepts daily murder.
Although this principle should be evident to all, it should be particularly clear to Catholics who are convinced of the sacredness of every human life. We believe that every human person, from the very moment of his or her conception, has an immortal soul and is created by God for eternal life. Even when a human person is a tiny, unrecognizable clump of dividing cells, he or she is someone sacred, someone known and loved by God, someone for whom Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again. It is unconscionable, then, that those who hold to the truths of the Catholic faith would consider abortion a morally good act.
Even those who do not share a Christian understanding of the sacredness of human life, however, ought to be able to acknowledge the dignity of the human person and the right to life. If humans do not have a right not to be killed, what rights do we have? If killing is not immoral, what is? What kind of society are we if we cannot agree to legally protect those who cannot speak for themselves? Women in difficult pregnancies deserve our full, sacrificial support - both sides agree on this point - but don't those who are in the womb deserve similar support?
As the March for Life is held this week, I urge those of faith to pray and fast for greater respect for the dignity of every human life in our nation. If you're not the praying-type, know that we can still stand shoulder to shoulder in our defense of human life, regardless of your political or religious affiliation (or lack thereof). As a sign from Rehumanize International says well, "We are all humans, from conception to natural death." You don't have to be a Bible-thumper like me to share that conviction.
Human life is never disposable. #Rehumanize pic.twitter.com/hoX76qxG9m
— Rehumanize International (@RehumanizeIntl) December 16, 2021