So right off the bat, it is quite likely the people who really ought to read this article--just to hear me out and consider this perspective--won't do it.
They are closed minded. Like I often have been. Just read on, please...
I was just the same way for many years. Closed minded, because that is the mainstream Catholic position that somehow, human life in the womb is the most important aspect or subset of human life. Because literally, in practice, the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church a.k.a. the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, with very few exceptions, as led by the U.S. Bishops, has made neonatal human life the most preeminent life issue.
What they are saying is that as soon as a human sperm implants itself successfully into a human egg (ovum), and forms a zygote, the most important kind of human life has begun.
I am going to sound quite heretical in my tone about this because--read the Summa Theologia if you do not believe me--St. Thomas Aquinas said nay to this. At a much later point in embryonic development, Aquinas believed there was a quickening, which was the moment God implanted a human soul into the developing fetus. (Now don't stop reading here...the bus is still moving. Please.)
The point is, since the Catechism of 1994, the Church's leadership asserts dogmatically that human life and ensoulment both begin at the very moment of conception. But this was not always what the Church taught--it used to be a long the lines of, "We do not know the precise moment of ensoulment."
With all of this said, I am not an advocate of abortion. I am not encouraging abortion or proposing it as something good. But I do know that there are times and cases, when difficult decisions have to be made. Who is going to make those decisions? A Catholic bishop? A politicians? Or the individual whose body and life is most directly impacted?
Hang on please. Stay with me if you would. If there is anyone who is an ardently Pro-Life Catholic still on board this bus.
Look, I have rode a few of those buses back and forth to Washington, DC. for the annual Pro-Life events. And these trips have been a really wonderful time. Times of camaraderie, friendship, fellowship, prayers, and songs. Watching movies, learning about aspects of our faith as Christians. I had been on a few similar kinds of bus rides to both Washington, D.C. and New York City as well. These were Peace Marches, a lot like the March for Life. Only the focus was on peace or civil rights.
Mea culpa time. I am sometimes really good at tossing out inflammatory comments as I argue a point--and in this respect, I do not consider myself to be a skilled debater. A good debater should inform but never insult, and seek only to persuade not bully or harangue.
But, along the lines of the bus trips to and from the March for Life--it takes nothing away from the positive aspects of this shared experience to say it can be more, that it can be better.
This is what it could be folks. A bunch of Christians and other people of faith or good will, getting together to call for the advancement of all human life issues:
-Reducing poverty by advocating for living minimum wages and policies that reduce wealth disparities
-Ensure adequate safety nets are retained and strengthened
-Endorsing universal healthcare
-Advocating for family and medical leave
- Which must include prenatal care, postnatal care, and daycare--creating the needed Pro-Life infrastructure.
-Uniting to end institutional racism including police brutality and injustice in sentencing/incarceration
-United for an end to institutional sexism, and the evils of sexual violence and sex trafficking
-Advocating for an end to all discrimination against lgbtq+ people
-Ensuring fair and affordable housing, including adequate shelter for homeless and those struggling with mental illness or substance use disorder
-Demanding immediate action on climate change
-Calling for reasonable gun control policies
-Agreeing upon the end of the death penalty nationwide
-Advocating for compassionate immigration policies
Why? Because if we embrace all human beings with love, respect and dignity, and truly care for people, there will be less abortion. If we provide access to comprehensive health care, housing, paid family leave and daycare, and create a life-sustaining, promoting, and nurturing society, there will be a lot less abortion. If we encourage men to treat women with dignity and respect, and have a culture that seeks to eradicate sex-trafficking and sexual violence, there will be less abortion.
This is really creating a holistically kinder, and more humane culture. Which if we step back, and just think about it, isn't this also a more Christlike vision of society? A society where more people will choose life and less people will stick their noses in where they don't belong.
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