Abortion is a difficult subject to talk about because almost every single adult living in the United States either knows of a family member or a close friend who has had an abortion. One in four women in the United States will have had an abortion by the time they have reached menopause. Since Roe vs. Wade in 1973 there have been, according to the Pew Research Foundation, between 60-80 million abortions performed in our country. Progressive Democrats and progressive Republicans have promised to make “a woman’s right to an abortion” a central theme of the 2024 elections at all levels in the elections.
Any discussion about this subject should always begin with an acknowledgment of God’s Mercy and forgiveness and an acknowledgment that we are all sinners. None of us are “throwing stones and none of us is without sin”—especially me.
The homily below is the closest approach I can find for dealing with this very sensitive issue:
Planned Parenthood performed over 390,000 abortions while receiving nearly $700 million in government grants and reimbursements, according to its latest annual report for 2022-2023.
Pro-life activists say the findings appear consistent with the long-term trend of the nation’s largest abortion provider performing more abortions and providing fewer health services.
According to Planned Parenthood’s 2022-2023 annual report, the corporation performed 392,715 abortions and provided less than 2,000 adoption referrals. The organization also offered over 30,000 fewer Pap tests than recorded for 2021-2022. Additionally, preventative care visits also declined by over 30%.
Michael New, an assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America, wrote in an analysis Wednesday that Planned Parenthood’s annual reports “consistently provide solid evidence that Planned Parenthood continues to prioritize abortion.
A senior associate scholar at the pro-life research organization Charlotte Lozier Institute, found that Planned Parenthood performed 228 abortions for every adoption referral in 2023 while receiving $700million in government grants in 2022-23.
The moral progressive “pro-choice” argument places the mother’s “sovereignty” and free will as the primary issue when the decision to terminate a living child is being considered.
The Christian Pro Life position is that the life of the mother and the life of the child—both body and soul, are of equal importance. Each has a unique body and soul, and science tells us this because each has their own individual unique DNA. They are two—not one. The mother is in fact in the position of “agent” acting on behalf of her child with a duty to protect. In situations where the life of the mother is in jeopardy it is absolutely consistent with medical teachings and ethics and the teachings of the Church Fathers that because of the state of dependency of the child, the mother’s life takes precedence. The “primary intent” of the action determines its’ morality. We know in our State from research done by the Stanton Clinic that less than 5% of abortions in Idaho are done because of a life-threatening problem to the mother. Are the majority of the rest done for convenience?
Republicans in trying to defend their Pro-Life positions have fallen all over themselves trying to accommodate a large group of citizens who they see as having leverage over the results of the next election. We are today where many Republicans were in 1860 prior to Abraham Lincoln being elected President. These people were against slavery—or so they said but wanted to “save the union”. Abraham Lincoln had been against slavery since he first saw a slave on the Mississippi River when he was 19 years old—he himself had been indentured for wages by his own father for over a year. He also understood that to immediately abolish the practice, the Union would be dissolved and quite possibly the tentacles of slavery would have been extended westward and above the 36.30 parallel of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. He decided to take a piecemeal approach and his Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the secessionist States. Looking back to our Founding Documents and our Founders he knew that initially keeping the union together would be the first priority and had to be the foundational predicate for abolishing slavery in all the States. These two points of reference informed Lincoln regarding the need for a piecemeal approach to the abolition of slavery. It is also important to note that the slave trade in the United States had been abolished by legislation signed by Thomas Jefferson in 1806 and that the Northwest Ordinance that was signed almost at the same time as our Constitution was ratified and also abolished slavery in all the Northwest Territories.
I am 100% against abortion at any stage of a pregnancy, just like I am 100% against slavery in all its’ forms—there are more slaves today in the world than there were at the time of our civil war! And let’s never forget that 600,000 American souls died in our Civil War to free all the slaves living in all the states and territories. The rights of both the unborn child and the rights of a person living under any condition of servitude, slavery, indentured, or political oppression, are based on the rights of an individual’s “personhood” and free will. We are all created in God’s image—including the slave and the unborn child.
I am so proud that Idaho has strong laws against abortion except in the cases of a medical necessity. In other more liberal states, I believe we should take smaller bites out of the apple, knowing that in time with abortion just like slavery, the whole apple will be eaten.
I am also disappointed that many Christian physicians and nurses are not allowed to raise their voices in supporting the strict abortion laws in our state. Several articles in the Idaho Capital Sun about physicians leaving Idaho because of the restrictive abortion laws, did not include comments from Christian Health Care Providers who did support those laws—and there are many believers in the medical professions in Idaho.
When deciding issues of a complex moral nature—several of these included the withdrawing of the right of habeas corpus in a state or local, Mr. Lincoln advised using the “necessary” test. Was it absolutely necessary to the war effort and the protection of Federal troops to withdraw the Right of Habeas Corpas? In so doing the “right of consent” and expectation of privacy were also withdrawn. Many human lives were at stake in a time of war.
In the case of abortion, the question in many if not most cases should be—Is it necessary or is it just an act of convenience for an agent of a child who has the “duty to protect”
Bill Maher had a take on this issue recently and I agree with the first part of his argument. His last statement is nothing less than evil in my opinion, but it is the reality that must be admitted to by many in the Pro-Choice Community.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/bill-maher-respects-abortion-absolutists-its-murder-but-ok.html
God’s Grace and Mercy have no limits. “Mary said yes”
