Abortion: Some Common Objections Answered
Following are statements some people make about abortion.
Each one of them misses the point, which is that every abortion kills an
innocent baby.
"The abortion issue has no place in the Church." Then
what does? Are people who worship God supposed to be blind to injustice? Are
believers supposed to be unconcerned about what goes on in the world? Abortion
kills 1.6 million babies in America every year. In Church we say we believe in
"the Lord, the Giver of Life." Church is the place to talk about things that
concern God, and God cares about the destruction of 1.6 million babies a year!
The Bible says that those who worship God but do not act to correct injustices
are not pleasing God at all (see Amos 5:21-27, and Isaiah 1:10-17).
"We shouldn't impose our beliefs on others." Do you
really think that to say "killing is wrong" is imposing a belief? Would you want
people around you who have the opposite belief?
A society cannot run if it tolerates the killing of the
innocent. Nor can it run if it tolerates stealing. These are basic aspects of
human life, and are not exclusively tied to the beliefs of any one religious
denomination. You do not have to be Catholic or religious at all to understand
that killing the innocent is wrong. To speak up against it is not "imposing
beliefs"; it is basic human decency.
"The woman should decide." Decide what? Abortion is
the killing of a baby. Nobody has the right to "decide" whether an innocent
person should live or die. If we say that a woman can decide that an innocent
baby should die, what is to prevent a person from deciding that an innocent
parent should die, or a governor from deciding that you should die? Once you say
that the right to life depends on someone else's "decision", you have crossed a
line into chaos and have put society on a collision course with itself. Women
should not be helped to kill their babies; they should be helped to nurture
them, and the pro-life movement does precisely that.
"Abortion is not an issue for politicians to decide."
In other words, "political issues" have nothing to do with protecting human
lives? Why do people organize themselves politically? What is the purpose of
government and of power? Thomas Jefferson stated that the only legitimate object
of good government is the care, and not the destruction, of its citizens.
Abortion kills 1.6 million babies a year, and that is a serious, public issue
involving human rights and human lives. It therefore involves those who are
responsible for public policy. Government has a duty to protect its people, not
to pretend that they aren't people at all.
"I oppose abortion, but who am I to tell a woman she can't do it ?" '
Do you ever hear this reasoning applied to other violations of human rights?
Let's test it out. "I oppose bank robberies, but who am I to tell her she can't
do it?" That would be an interesting position especially if it were your bank!
"I oppose rape, but who am I to tell him he can't do it? "I oppose race riots,
but..." and so on.
If abortion kills a baby, then you have every right -- and
duty -- to protect that baby, and also to protect that woman from a tragic
decision which wounds her morally, psychologically, and physically. Who are you
to tell her she can't have an abortion? You are a human being who has enough
concern and courage to stand up to evil and say "No!"
"You might upset women who have kind abortions." Yes,
in talking about injustice, you might upset people who have stolen or cheated.
In talking about unkindness, you might upset people who have been unkind. But
issues that impact on our lives must be addressed.
Look at the other side. By NOT talking about abortion, you
fail to help women who are tempted to make the same tragic mistake. By your
silence, you also tell women who have had abortions that it was no big deal, and
that you really don't care about the pain they now may have. Those who keep
silent do what the pro-abortionists do, leaving these women alone with nothing
but a wounded soul and a dead baby. Pro-lifers, instead, confront the evil. They
assist the women who want to have their baby, and they help women who have had
abortions to find forgiveness and peace.
"There are other issues." Sure there are, but only for
people who are alive. The pre-born babies are the people treated with MOST
contempt, and so they need the MOST attention; they are the ones who are the
MOST helpless, and so they need the MOST help; they are the ones dying in the
LARGEST numbers, and so they need the LARGEST number of advocates.
Other issues are important because life is important. Poverty
is an issue because the poor have a RIGHT TO LIVE. Unemployment is an issue
because people have the right to work IN ORDER TO LIVE. It all comes back to
LIFE. Abortion is the most direct attack on LIFE itself, at its most defenseless
stage. To be concerned with other issues and NOT concerned about abortion is an
absurdity.
Furthermore, the pro-life movement is falsely accused of
caring "only" for the pre-born. The facts show that pro-lifers are deeply
concerned with mothers, and with ALL human life.
But there is a specific mission to protect the pre-born and
to end abortion. Don't people have a right to dedicate themselves to that task
without being judged? Since when is a group condemned for having a specific
focus? Do we condemn groups that serve the deaf for not caring for the blind? Do
we condemn those rescuing people from a burning building for not going to Africa
to feed the starving? Nobody can do everything. That doesn't mean we don't care.
Maybe it's time that as we live our lives; we all care a little more for the
pre-born babies who may not have a chance in life at all.
Contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314, Tel.
888-PFL-3448, Fax 718-980-6515, Email mail@priestsforlife.org, Web site
http://www.priestsforlife.org
