Increasingly, I’ve heard people say that abortion must be fought on completely secular terms because not everyone’s Catholic or Christian. While that’s true, I can’t help but think that any long term strategy to reduce or eliminate abortions must be based on conversion to Christianity.
I don’t see where else the sacredness of life comes into play other than Christianity. So while I once was a pro-life atheist and applaud atheist pro-lifers for seeing the truth that abortion kills a human being I don’t think that’s a strong basis to go to battle with the forces of death in this country.
I believe conversion is the real answer. I don’t believe we can reason our way away from abortion taking millions of lives. Not to sound all hippie but love is the answer. Love is the antidote to abortion. Look, if you have a young girl who’s in trouble, you can explain to her that abortion stops a beating heart and all about the fact that her child’s DNA is set, but you’re not going to save that baby much of the time speaking about science to kids, especially when those kids are terrified. Believe it or not, young people aren’t known for making good decisions. That’s why they’re unmarried and pregnant in the first place, right? Love. That’s how you stop abortion.
I truly believe that abortion is not a problem we can legislate our way out of. Mind you, I want to see Roe v. Wade overturned and will work towards that but in the end, abortion increases when Christianity decreases.
Young women must know they’re loved by God and they must understand that life is sacred and something to be celebrated, nurtured, and loved even in the most difficult of circumstances.
Lila Rose of Live Action Network understands this. She said recently to CNA News:
“We are in the middle of a great holocaust, great genocide,” she said, “and it’s branded as ‘choice,’ ‘freedom,’ ’empowerment.’”
Rose stressed that the fight to end abortion is “a spiritual battle as much as it is a physical battle.”
In fighting the culture of death, she said, “what we need to do is re-catechize ourselves” and turn to prayer and the sacraments.
Faith is critical to Rose, who entered the Catholic Church three-and-a-half years ago. She reflected on her love for the Virgin Mary, the ultimate pro-life model who accepted God’s will for her child with complete love and acceptance.
Action is also an essential part of the fight, she said, explaining that this “can mean a lot of things,” including not only the pro-life work of Live Action and other groups, but also “living out a love of neighbor,” and living a life of integrity, particularly “sexual integrity.”
Above all, Rose emphasized, “the most important thing we can do is pray.”
“We all know that we are very, very weak,” she explained, “but with God, who is all powerful and all strong, anything is possible.”
I love the fact that pro-lifers seem to be the ones embracing science with ultrasounds while pro-aborts wish to keep the contents of the womb a mystery. But the science isn’t the answer. The science must serve our cause. Ultrasounds are effective because young women see a baby when they look in the ultrasound. And they can no longer deny what they likely knew in their heart anyway – that a baby is in their womb, not a blob of tissue. Unless they’re open to life and love, that baby is done for. We must work to not only make every baby wanted but every mother accepted and loved. Then babies will have a chance.
