In 1968, Pope Paul VI warned us of the dangers of abortion in his
encyclical letter, Humanae Vitae. Responsible
parenthood requires that all parents recognize their duties toward
God, themselves, their families and human society. No one has
the right to choose whether life will be transmitted in the marital
act or permitted to grow in the womb afterwards.
The Pope further warned us of the effects of artificial birth
control, including abortion. It could easily open wide the way
for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. It
also leads to the reduction of a woman’s dignity to a mere
instrument for the satisfaction of a man’s desires, as he may no
longer consider her as his partner whom he should surround with care
and affection. Further, public authorities may choose to favor
certain contraceptive methods or even impose their use on everyone.
For the full text of Humanae Vitae, go to
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html
On January 22 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion in the
well-known case of
Roe v. Wade. Since then almost 50 million babies have been
denied the opportunity to be born, according to the National Right
to Life Committee.
It is easy to see that Pope Paul VI’s fears about the effects of
abortion have come true. We no longer see wholesome images on
television, but rather graphic depictions of sexual oriented
activity, violence, and greed. We hear sexually explicit and
violent songs on the radio. Some people speak of their first
marriage as being the “special one” while others do not see a reason
to marry their significant other at all. Thirty-seven years
ago, infidelity was considered to be scandalous, while today it is
often merely a topic for gossip with no real sense of scandal.
Thirty-seven years ago, when a woman became pregnant outside of
marriage, the man was expected to “make her an honest woman” through
marriage, or at least support the child. Now, he may give her
money to have an abortion and make the unwanted child go away.
We have entered into a world where it is not unheard of for some men
to insist on DNA testing before they will accept the consequences of
an encounter that led to the birth of a child. In short, for
both men and women, misuse of our sexuality has come to be
considered normal.
Likewise, we have seen a decline in morals, generally speaking.
How often have we heard adults speak of the things our children do
today as being something they would not have “gotten away with”?
Who would have expected 37 years ago, that young children learn
vulgar language and routinely use it even when addressing their own
parents? Who would have thought that people in the United
States would be considered “odd” for acting on their traditional
Judeo-Christian values?
Together we can work to prevent the further loss of innocent life.
We offer three suggestions of ways you can voice your opposition to
abortion. First, members of the Sisters of St. John the
Baptist and students from our own St. John Villa Academy High School
went to Washington, D.C. on the 37th anniversary of the
Roe v. Wade decision on January 22 to participate in a march and
voice the opposition to the culture of death which has resulted.
We urge all who are able to join us and thousands of other people
who are committed to the pro-life movement and make our position
known once again next year.
The second way to voice your opposition to abortion is to write to
your Senators and Congressman by going to the website
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ The erosion of the
right to life looms especially large this year as our legislature
considers health care reform, which may result in subsidized
abortions and further oppress our Catholic belief in the unborn
child’s right to life. Perhaps we can persuade our legislators
not to enact any laws that allow taxpayer monies to be used to fund
abortions.
Our third suggestion to fight the evils of abortion is to pray,
pray, and pray some more. Words are not enough to describe the
power of prayer. God can work on the hearts of the lawmakers,
doctors, and nurses who support abortion. God can bring
healing to the mothers who have had abortions and their family
members who have been affected by it. God welcomes the babies
into their heavenly home where they will never be turned away again.
God alone can and does work these miracles. We have only but
to ask Him and contribute our best efforts. After all, if we
pray like it all depends on God and act like it all depends on God,
we really can’t go wrong.
May God bless all victims of abortion, living and deceased, and may
God bless you in all your efforts.
These
were the people who were to become "my people". For 26
years I would work for and with them: helping to provide food, shelter and
medicine; teaching them about God and God’s immense love for them;
instructing them in a trade to prepare them to earn a living.
