"It Made a Difference for That One": Our Charge and Limits as Catholics
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56 million. Think about that number. If you had 56 million dollars, I bet your life would be a lot less stressful. If you had 56 million followers on Twitter or Facebook, I am sure you would be very proud as people would find you very interesting. I think in general, if people had 56 million of anything they would be relatively happy. Unfortunately, in this case the 56 million represents the number of babies aborted in the United States since Roe v Wade was made law in 1973. Think about that folks – 56 million children aborted since 1973. If we were watching TV and were told that ISIS had murdered 56 million people we would be appalled, yet the fact that 56 million children have been aborted goes relatively unreported and ignored. I am sure you have heard about the other “wars” prevalent in society today – The “War on Women”, the “War on Religion, and the “War on Terror”. To me 56 million aborted children in today’s society qualifies as a “War on Children”.
Why is it that we rarely hear about the number of abortions or the impact on people who have had them? How about what abortion has done to us as a society? I believe this is largely because many in our country have painted abortion simply as a woman’s right, and feel that giving a woman a right to choose what happens to her body is “progress”. Progress? 56 million aborted children is anything but progress, and I cannot imagine how anyone can view this as progress. I know many people that feel strongly about this subject from both perspectives, and this is a topic that many people do not want to discuss as it is a very polarizing.
We, as Catholics, must have this discussion not only for the 56 million victims, but to try and prevent future victims. Pope Francis has called abortion "horrific" and said it was part of a new "throwaway culture" he said wasted human life as easily as it wasted food — his strongest words yet on a practice that is a divisive political issue in the United States.
2270 “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person -- among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.(71)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
We *must* have this discussion at every opportunity to do so. Abortion has very much instilled a mindset of a “throwaway culture” as Pope Francis references. I believe this contributes to the lack of respect for human life that exists in our society today. There are many tools available to Catholics to help in this discussion. I suggest visiting the following locations:
National Right to Life Website
The annual March for Life is scheduled for January 22, 2015 in Washington, DC. Please contact your diocese to understand how you can participate and/or support this worthy cause.
Dennis McIntyre is a lifelong New Yorker living on Long Island with his family. Mr. McIntyre was welcomed into the Catholic faith in 2004 and received the sacraments at St. John Nepomucene in Bohemia, NY. Mr. McIntyre is active in a number of ministries at St. John’s including serving as a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, a member of the RCIA and the Witness Housing teams, and he has spent time working with the sick and the terminally ill in local Hospitals and Hospice Care centers. Connect with him via Facebook or on Twitter at @dmci07.
