The truth of abortion is still denied by too many in
the culture, an associate of the national Priests For Life ministry told
students at Loyola University New Orleans Sept. 23.
Augustinian Father Denis G. Wilde spent a week in the Archdiocese of New
Orleans speaking to school and church groups. During his visit Causeway Medical
Suite in Metairie, the largest abortion provider in the state of Louisiana,
closed its doors for one week, before reopening under a new name.
Father Wilde said the irony was not lost on him that some abortion proponents
had placed flowers outside the closed clinic to mourn its passing, right next to
flowers for the abortion victims. One sign read: "When I was 17, you saved my
life."
"That's the twist of fate that we are in today - putting flowers at this
killing center," he said. "I contend that the truth of abortion is not known in
this country. It is denied. One of the greatest casualties is the abortion of
truth."
FATHER WILDE said the Declaration of Independence, which asserted the
rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," was based on the
moral law that "God is the author of life." The "holocaust" represented by
the millions of abortions since 1973 have come from "the violation of the
law of God"
Father Wilde decried the legal language used in the Supreme Court's decision
in Casey vs. Planned Parenthood in which Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that at
the heart of liberty is the right "to define one's own concept of existence, of
meaning, of universe and of the mystery of human life."
That means, Father Wilde said, "that we have moved beyond God. The individual
is an autonomous agent who determines what is right and wrong."
To those who would argue they would never want to have an abortion but
they did not have the right to stop anyone from, having one Father Wilde
said that logic is faulty .
It is like saying "I would never think about arsoning your home, but I'm not
going to prevent someone from doing it," he said. "The morality of an action has
nothing to do with the person doing it or with the person who wants it but with
the act itself. There is objective truth."
The still-hidden nature of abortion is the thing that allows it to continue,
Father Wilde said.
"We don't see the unborn" he said. "The unborn are trapped in the most
dangerous place to live today, and that's the womb"
Father Wilde cited a recent dismissive statement by cable TV giant Ted Turner
that the Ten Commandments were outmoded as an example of human rationalization
at its worst.
"He implies that the Ten Commandments are somehow an encumbrance to our
future," Father Wilde said. "Is there anything that we agree on, that we can die
for?"
THERE ARE "sea turtles and eggs on the beaches of Florida" that have
more protection than the unborn child. And yet, he said, "while the head of
a baby is coming out the birth canal, we can crush the baby's head. A law to
prevent this could not be enacted in Congress (to withstand a presidential
veto)."
The culture of death has continued unbated, he said. "It is said the Baby
Boomers gave us abortion, Generation X has answered them with euthanasia,"
Father Wilde said; "The Bible says we must choose life so that we and our
descendants may live. The corollary is, if you choose death, you will die as
well as your descendants."
Father Wilde said he was shocked when someone he met in a McDonald's recently
commented that abortion was something " you don't hear about that much any
more."
"I thought she was saying that people don't talk much about abortion anymore,
but her perception was that abortion was not happening." Father Wilde said. "It
was total denial. There are 4,000 lives snuffed out every day. It is not a
simple, cosmetic issue. To call it a 'holocaust' I don't think should offend
anyone."
The good signs, however, are the reluctance of doctors to perform abortions.
Pointing to the conversion of St. Paul, who had persecuted Christians, Father
Wilde said there is hope that God will convert the world to recognize this sin.
"So many things are, written small," he said. "The Gospels are written big.
God's the answer. He's the one with the answers.
Priests for Life in the News
