“The legalization of the termination of pregnancy is none other than the authorization given to an adult, with the approval of an established law, to take the lives of children yet unborn and thus incapable of defending themselves. It is difficult to imagine a more unjust situation, and it is very difficult to speak of obsession in a matter such as this, where we are dealing with a fundamental imperative of every good conscience — the defense of the right to life of an innocent and defenseless human being.”
- Bl. John Paul II
-Pope Francis
"The whole of society must defend the right to life of the child conceived and the true good of the woman who will never, in any circumstance, be able to find fulfillment in the decision of abortion."
- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
“Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it, and, indeed, to neglect to confound evil men—when we can do it—is no less a sin than to encourage them.”
- Pope Felix III
.... to build a society that promotes the dignity of every human life no matter how weak... If the child in the womb has no right to live, then no one does. If the child in the womb has no human dignity, then no one does. "
-Archbishop Jose Gomez
"If we want greatness for our nation, we will work together to end the unspeakable shame of abortion. We will speak from our hearts for those who cannot speak at all."
-Bishop James Conley
"... Is anyone more vulnerable, more fragile, more in need of love, care, and protection than the unborn baby in her mother’s womb?"
-Cardinal Timothy Dolan
"A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope". - Blessed Pope John Paul II
“....There are two victims in every abortion, a dead baby and a dead conscience.....We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred,” Mother Teresa said. “If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?”
“....There are two victims in every abortion, a dead baby and a dead conscience.....We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred,” Mother Teresa said. “If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?”
"I have noticed that everyone that is for abortion is already alive."
-President Ronald Reagan
"In its heart, America knew that racial segregation was wrong. In its heart, America knows that human life begins before birth."
-F. LaGard Smith
"What irony that a society confronted with plastic bags filled with remains of aborted babies would be more concerned about the problem of recycling the bags."
"What irony that a society confronted with plastic bags filled with remains of aborted babies would be more concerned about the problem of recycling the bags."
- Winifred Egan''
Concrete Steps to Prevent Abortions and to Repair for Abortions
1. MERCY. (P.A.S.) If you meet somebody who has had an abortion, never condemn but be merciful and tell them of the mercy of God. Remind them of the Parables of mercy in Lk. 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost and found son, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Remember also that many women go back for a second or third abortion, mostly because they have not experienced the mercy of God. The Psalmist reminds us of the tenderness of the Heart of God: “God is slow to anger but rich in kindness and mercy…” ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The devil tempts us to believe that after sin--- especially a serious sin (like that of abortion) that God is angry and unwilling to forgive. This could not be further from the truth. St. Paul teaches that where sin abounds the mercy of God abounds all the more. Furthermore, one of the key themes of the Diary of mercy in my soul of Saint Faustina is that the greatest sinners have the greatest right to God’s mercy and that the greatest sinners can become the greatest saints if they simply TRUST in His mercy. JESUS I TRUST IN YOU!
2. TEACH OUR YOUNG. It is incumbent upon parents to teach their children, and teens the virtue of CHASTITY—the proper use of their body and that their body is truly the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be respected and honored at all times; also that that they should respect the bodies of others. Still more parents should teach their children that there is a time for everything. There is a time to plant and a time to gather; a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to work and a time to sleep; there is a time to have a courtship and a time to avoid. There is a time for everything underneath the sun. Often abortions occur among the youth because they are involved in premature courtships, with raging hormones, uncontrollable passions and a society that abets and encourages sexual license and expression without limits! We must teach the young the meaning of the Beatitude: “”Blessed are the pure of heart, they will see God. “(Mt. 5:8).
3. PRO-LIFE REMINDERS. We should surround ourselves and the world that we live with Pro-life reminders and there are many and thanks especially to the Pro-life Movement and its tireless efforts! Buy Pro-life checks! Where exteriorly on your lapel or pocket the “Precious feet”
of the unborn baby. Display on Face-book the beauty of the unborn as well as the baby already born. Of course we should never forget nor neglect catchy and attractive Pro-life Bumper stickers, for example: “It is a child and not a choice!” These reminders force people to think. Believe it or not there are still many people who are still sitting on the fence and as of yet do not have clear ideas on the topic of abortion and Pro-Life. Let us try to win them over to the “Pro-life” side!
4. EUPHEMISMS/ MANIPULATION OF LANGUAGE. Be aware of how those who promote abortion utilize euphemisms—manipulating language for their own benefit—to trick and deceive. For example, “Pro-choice!” “Terminate-pregnancy”, “My-Body” “Woman’s health center”. These and many other euphemisms can be utilized to deceive the gullible and naïve into diluting the reality that abortion is truly infanticide—killing an innocent child!
of the unborn baby. Display on Face-book the beauty of the unborn as well as the baby already born. Of course we should never forget nor neglect catchy and attractive Pro-life Bumper stickers, for example: “It is a child and not a choice!” These reminders force people to think. Believe it or not there are still many people who are still sitting on the fence and as of yet do not have clear ideas on the topic of abortion and Pro-Life. Let us try to win them over to the “Pro-life” side!
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| Abortion is NOT Health Care! |
5. LEARN KEY BIBLICAL PASSAGES TO
DEFEND THE BABY. Throughout the entire Bible, which is the Word of God and the
Word of life, the child us always seen as a great blessing. Try to learn some of the key passages in defense of the unborn human life. Obviously one of the best is the Visitation of Mary to St. Elizabeth, two pregnant women, who would be prime targets for abortion in the modern technologically advanced society. Why? One would be considered way too young to have a baby—a mere teenager and that would be the Blessed Virgin Mary; the other, would be considered way to old and that would be St. Elizabeth. We know the beautiful story’s ending: they both trusted totally in God’s loving Providence and said “Yes” to life and brought forth the two greatest: St. John the Baptist and Jesus, the Son of God who would call Himself, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THER LIFE! Check out this passage: (Lk. 1:39-45).
6. ADOPTION NOT ABORTION! A truly valid option or alternative to abortion is that of adoption. Even now there are thousands and thousands of couples that for various reasons could not have their own biological children and are longing for a child of their own and desire to adopt. These couples are screened, studied underneath a fine-tooth-comb to see if they would be good parents. Therefore, the child to be born would be placed in an excellent household and receive an excellent human formation and very often a good Christian formation.
DEFEND THE BABY. Throughout the entire Bible, which is the Word of God and the
Word of life, the child us always seen as a great blessing. Try to learn some of the key passages in defense of the unborn human life. Obviously one of the best is the Visitation of Mary to St. Elizabeth, two pregnant women, who would be prime targets for abortion in the modern technologically advanced society. Why? One would be considered way too young to have a baby—a mere teenager and that would be the Blessed Virgin Mary; the other, would be considered way to old and that would be St. Elizabeth. We know the beautiful story’s ending: they both trusted totally in God’s loving Providence and said “Yes” to life and brought forth the two greatest: St. John the Baptist and Jesus, the Son of God who would call Himself, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THER LIFE! Check out this passage: (Lk. 1:39-45).
7. ULTRASOUND! If you meet a confused women who is seriously considering an abortion why not provide her with the opportunity to see the little baby through an ULTRASOUND. For the mother to see the real and live baby within her womb smiling, yawning, stretching her/is little limbs, sleeping, sneezing or even scratching the little nose could be the determining moment to help that mother to say “Yes” to life and to have and cherish that precious little infant in her womb. Remember the famous case of Dr. Bernard Nathanson who saw an ultrasound of a baby aborted and stopped aborting—after having been ahead of the key abortion clinic in NYC that had carried out 80,000 abortions! It all started by seeing, visualizing the image of the live baby. We live in a world of images. Why not use live images through the Ultrasound to save the lives of the most innocent?
8. SPEAK OUT! Many women have recourse to abortion because they are confused, filled with groundless fears, and unfortunately they have been surrounded by “friends” (really enemies) that convince them that the best decision is to abort the child. We must learn to speak up. We must learn to express the truth with love. The child in the womb cannot speak and therefore we must be the voice of the unborn child in the womb. We must stop “Bullying”. The worst form of bullying in the world is the bullying and the actual killing of the most innocent and defenseless--- the unborn child. Who knows how many women have had recourse to abortion because timid Christians have failed to speak out. Remember the words of the Political philosopher Edmund Burke: “So that evil progress it is sufficient that good men do nothing!” In catholic moral theology we call this “Sin of omission”.
9. PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT! Get involved in the “Pro-life” movement. There is so much that can be done; get involved in one way or another. What to do?
a) WALK/MARCH AT WASHINGTON. Get together with a group of “Pro-lifer” and travel to Washington to do a silent March of Protest. We want to manifest publically but peacefully our love and defense for the unborn.
b) ABORTION CLINICS: PRAYER RALLIES. Why not seek out the closest abortion clinic to your home and once a week to silently protest by praying many Rosaries and Chaplets of Divine Mercy.
c) SIDWALK COUNSELLING. Why not go through training to give “Sidewalk-counseling” to those confused women who are walking into the Abortion clinic to abort their baby. Of course prayer is the key; however a timely word of wisdom, an image, a word of encouragement, a smile of love--- all could help the confused woman to turn around and have the child!
d) EMERGENY PHONE LINE. Volunteer to receive phone-calls of the confused woman who is pondering the abortion to give her the many other “Helps” that she has to support her in her pregnancy and say “Yes” to life! Below are a series of numbers to have at your fingertips: OPTION LIFE IF CARE/NET/HEARBEAT: 1-800-712-HELP (4357) NATIONAL LIFE CENTER: 1-800-848-LOVE (5683), OPTION LINE: 1- 800-712-HELP (4357). Post-abortion syndrome (P.A.S.) RACHEL’S VINEYARD 1-877-HOPE-4-ME (467- 3463). NATIONAL HELPLINE FOR ABORTION RECOVERY: 1-866-482 LIFE (5433) www. NationalHelpline.org. These numbers can be invaluable help in time of need and emergency!
e) PARISH LEVEL. Approach your Pastor and ask him if you could set up a Pro-life group in the Parish. Many things can be done on a Parish level. Here are a few: Holy Hours of Reparation, Pro-life Masses, DVD’s and movies like “October Baby? And “Bella” to enhance the awareness on a parochial level of the value of the baby in the womb. Having the “Baby”bottle” project wherein the parishioners give their coins or dollars to women who say “Yes” to life but are struggling economically>
f) EMERGENCY NUMBERS! Have emergency numbers to give to confused women to call to help them in their plight.
10. PRAYER AND PENANCE. Jesus stated with utmost clarity that some devils can be expelled only through prayer and penance. He Himself taught us in Person when He prayed and fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert. Then Jesus defeated the devil who came at Him with three different temptations. Behind the abortion industry is the devil; Jesus calls the devil a liar and murderer from the beginning. Lies are uttered! (Remember the euphemisms, # 4). Worse yet, the devil is a murdered because abortion is truly murder and murder of the most innocent and defenseless. Motivating the abortion industry is the devil and also lust form money. It is a multi-billion dollar industry every year in which close to 1.2 million babies are aborted (through surgical abortion) every year in the United States. Therefore we must pray and add to prayer concrete acts of penance. With respect to prayer, of course all prayers said with purity of heart and good intention are pleasing to the Lord. However, three could be of great value to repair the abominable crime and sin of abortion as well as to prevent future abortions.
a) CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY. We invoke the Body,BLOOD, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus to repair for our sins as well as for the sins of the whole of world--- that of course includes abortion, the shedding of the Blood of the Innocent ones!
b) HOLY MASS: OFERTORY, CONSECRATION, AND HOLY COMMUNION. Under the stars, moon, and heaven itself there is no greater prayer than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Included in this is the Pro-life dimension. Why? Abortion is the innocent blood-shed of the babies. Holy Mass is the offering of the Blood of the Innocent Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. We offer Jesus begging mercy and pardon; we adore Jesus who descends from heaven in the Consecration of the Host; we receive Jesus in the moment of Holy Communion. These three key moments in Mass can be offered in reparation and prevention for the deluge of innocent blood that has been shed since the legalization of abortion 40 years ago in the decision Roe vs. Wade. Calculations estimate in between 52-53 surgical abortions!!!! However, we should never forget that one drop of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus that He shed on Calvary and is renewed perpetually in every Holy Mass is sufficient to repair for and save the whole world!
c) HAIL MARY AND ROSARY. Finally, the prayer, so dear to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Hail Mary and the most Holy Rosary, is obviously a “Pro-life” prayer. Pay attention to these words in the Hail Mary which were pronounced by Saint Elizabeth to Mary in the mystery of the Visitation: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus…” This powerful prayer that penetrates and consoles the most pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary lauds and praises the “Yes” of Mary that resulted in the Incarnation and the presence of the Unborn Baby Jesus in the womb of Mary. A beautiful practice for us to undertake would be to beg that through the praying of the Hail Mary in the context of the Rosary that 50 abortions would be repaired for as well as prevented every time we pray this powerful Pro-life prayer. What God can do with His power Mary can do with her prayer. God can never resist the prayers of Mary His Heavenly Mother.
In conclusion, we are people of life. God calls us to believe in the value of life, love life, speak up and defend life. May Jesus who is the WAY, TRUTH AND LIFE, and Mary who is the Mother of God and Mother of He who gave us life and life in abundance help us to lift of the Banner of life so as to one day enjoy forever and eve r eternal life!
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| Mary, Mother of God, Our Mother, and Protector of all Mothers, Pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen |
Be sure to read the comapnion article to this one titled: "Pro Life - How Can We Defend the Defenseless"
"Gutting Gutting": Fr. Fessio responds to pro-abort column by Catholic professor
"From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a 'criminal' practice, gravely contrary to the moral law."
-Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2322
by Carl E. Olson | CWR blog
This week marks the 41st anniversary of "Roe v Wade," and so one of the contibutors to the New York Times wrote a piece titled, "Should Pope Francis Rethink Abortion?" Would you be aghast and amazed if you learned that the author believes that, yes, the pope should change his mind—and the teaching of the Church—about abortion? No?
Would it surprise you at all to know that the author of the piece in question is a Catholic and a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame? Hmmm.
The author, Dr. Gary Gutting, is indeed a professor at Notre Dame, and he explained in a piece last March in the Times that the two sources that define his life are the Enlightenment and the Catholic Church:
These are the sources nurturing the values that define an individual’s life. For me, there are two such sources. One is the Enlightenment, where I’m particularly inspired by Voltaire, Hume and the founders of the American republic. The other is the Catholic Church, in which I was baptized as an infant, raised by Catholic parents, and educated for 8 years of elementary school by Ursuline nuns and for 12 more years by Jesuits. For me to deny either of these sources would be to deny something central to my moral being.
Since Gutting won't deny the Catholic Church as a source nurturing the values that define his life, he apparently deems it necessary to change her. And there's the rub, as he ruefully admits in his new column calling for the Church to abandon her beliefs about conception, life, and the murder of the unborn:
Pope Francis has raised expectations of a turn away from the dogmatic intransigence that has long cast a pall over the religious life of many Roman Catholics. His question “Who am I to judge?” suggested a new attitude toward homosexuality, and he is apparently willing to consider allowing the use of contraceptives to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. But his position on what has come to be the hierarchy’s signature issue — abortion — seems unyielding. “Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life,” he declared in his recent apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium,” adding: “Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the church cannot be expected to change her position on this question.”
So, what to do? Gutting's approach is to appeal to reason:
I want to explore the possibility, however, that the pope might be open to significant revision of the absolute ban on abortion by asking what happens if we take seriously his claim that “reason alone is sufficient” to adjudicate this issue. What actually follows regarding abortion once we accept the “inviolable value of each single human life”? This appeal to rational reflection has been a central feature of the tradition of Catholic moral teaching. I put forward the following reflections in the spirit of this tradition.
What follows is, in a word, tortured. Read it for yourself.
Since Gutting is a Catholic professor who was trained for many years by Jesuits, I thought it would be interesting to see what Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, might think of Gutting's arguments. Not one to mince words, Fr. Fessio sent the following remarks about Gutting's column:
He is a very confused philosopher, which makes Notre Dame an especially appropriate place for him.
Major error # 1: his claim and premise that the fetus is only “potentially human”.
a. This raises the question he doesn’t (because he can’t) answer consistently: When does the potentially human being become an actual human being?
b. His arguments against aborting “potentially human” would apply to human sperm and ova which are clearly (only) potentially human.
c. A valid conclusion cannot be drawn from a false premise.
Ergo: His conclusion has not been demonstrated.
Major red herring # 1: comparing a woman who has been raped to the—risibly hypothetical—case of someone who has been kidnapped, whose kidneys have been connected to another person who will die if the connection isn’t maintained for 9 months.
a. We are not obliged to prevent all fatal diseases at the cost of our own life
b. Pregnancy is not a disease
c. The kidnapped person is not the only possible solution to the other person’s kidney problem; perhaps the author has never heard of dialysis.
d. The kidnapped person’s relation to the other person is entirely extrinsic and accidental (in the philosophical sense)
Ergo: non sequitur.
Major red herring # 2: Catholics show they don’t regard the embryo to be as morally relevant as a small child because they don’t support major research into spontaneous abortion of embryos.
a. Who says Catholics would not support such research?
b. We are obliged absolutely not to kill an innocent human being; we are not obliged absolutely to prevent all deaths of innocent human beings.
Ergo: non sequitur.
One final point: Gutting concludes his piece by stating, "There are morally difficult issues about abortion that should be decided by conscience, not legislation. The result would be a church acting according to the pope’s own stated standard: preaching not 'certain doctrinal or moral points based on specific ideological options' but rather the gospel of love." Setting aside Gutting's crude misuse of Francis' words in Evangelii Gaudium (see par. 39), we should note that conscience, as any good Catholic should know, is informed by truth, which is appropriate through both reason and divine revelation:
Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God expressed in divine law. (CCC, 1786-87)
And: "From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a 'criminal' practice (GS 27 § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law." (CCC, 2322).
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