Living Pro-Life No Exceptions!
This week I am going to step into a viper’s nest. I have put the readings aside and imagine Mary and Jesus and the wedding party at Cana can get along without me. This week marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe V. Wade decision to make abortion legal in our country. The topic which, I admit, does not often wriggle its way into my prayer has been firmly planted there for weeks.
The decision of the Supreme Court to make abortion legal has perhaps sparked more contention than any other decision in my lifetime. I believe abortion is wrong. Let me state that clearly. Yet, I often find myself at odds with people on the same side as me in the pro-life debate.
Being pro-life is vastly different from being anti-abortion. “Being anti-abortion doesn’t make one pro-life— pro-birth certainly, but not necessarily pro-life.
Pro-life is a far more significant challenge. I think it is easier to raise the anti-abortion banner than to look ourselves in the eye and see the ambivalence we have over being pro-life. Being pro-life is not about any single issue.
Being pro-life is a state of being. It is an attitude that is carved deeply in our souls. It is branded by faith in God, trust in the Gospel, and overwhelms the heart. It throws out a huge net, and if we are blessed to be caught in it, our moral challenges are many.
Having an attitude that is pro-life embraces every part of life, from conception to natural death. It is an attitude of reverence for all life — all life! And all life is far more extensive than any one issue, no matter how important that issue is to me personally. Let’s make it real. Holding life sacred is hard. Because all of us want to make exceptions.
In the United States, 1 in 6 children lives in poverty. This makes them the poorest age group in America. Jesus said we must become like little children. Children are starving, and that is a pro-life issue.
Death by gun violence is a pro-life issue. In 2021, 43,716 people in the US died as a result of Gun violence. In addition, 29 school shootings resulted in death and injury. This is a pro-life issue, not a second amendment issue.
The FBI reported that 7,759 hate crime incidents motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity were reported in 2020. The 2021 figures aren’t out yet. A disregard of life for any reason is a pro-life issue.
The Death Penalty is legal in 27 states. 2,591 people are on death row. On average, of those sentenced to death, 4 each year are found to have been falsely convicted. The use of the death penalty is condemned in the Catechism of the Church and is squarely a pro-life issue.
It is estimated that there are more than 40.3 million victims of human trafficking worldwide, and hundreds of thousands of those are in the United States. The blatant disrespect for human life and the human body in human trafficking is a pro-life issue.
By no means is this an exclusive list. It is just a demonstration that being pro-life is not as simple as being anti-abortion.
As a people of faith, we are called to cherish and treat with reverence all life. Living pro-life is hard because we all want to make exceptions. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God did not make exceptions in the 10 Commandments. He said, “Thou shall not kill.” Jesus did not make exceptions when he told us to love one another as He loved us.
It is hard to be pro-life, to be really pro-life. It means every life is to be protected, every life is to be loved. We can’t take the easy route and hang our fidelity on one issue. That is not what God calls us to when he tells us to honor and protect all life. No matter what the Supreme Court does concerning the legalization of abortion, we have far more work to do to live pro-life.
Perhaps if we lived lives that demonstrated love, acceptance, and a deep reverence for all life, the question of abortion would be a non-issue. As people who honor and protect all life, the discord around abortion, poverty, and violence toward life in its many forms will fade. The Kingdom of God will become our reality.
In God’s Unending Love,
Gwen
Gwen, Hello from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. I have never written anything like this before but was compelled to reply to your Pro-Life reflection. I loved it. It was as if you read my mind although more eloquently stated. I too believe abortion is wrong but I can’t tell you how many anti-abortion sermons I have sat through , while wondering why my church never talks about all of the other Pro-Life issues that you wrote about. You ‘ve made me realize that I am not alone. I always look forward to reading your reflections each week but more importantly I can’t wait to watch Fr. Jerry’s masses. He is amazing!I found Sacred Heart accidentally after my parish discontinued its on -line masses. I truly believe God sent me to your website. That one click has changed my life in more ways than I can express.Fr. Jerry has not only restored my love for my Catholic faith but has given me a sense of spiritual well being. My days are now filled with love, kindness, peace, gratitude ,and a desire to serve anywhere I can. Thank you to everyone at Sacred Heart for renewing my faith.