Commentary on the Bishops' Statement on the Occasion of the 30^th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade

Fr. Frank Pavone, Director, Priests for Life

Priests for Life thanks the United States bishops for their statement "A Matter of the Heart," issued in observance of the upcoming thirtieth anniversary of Roe vs. Wade (see www.usccb.org/bishops/heart.htm).

The statement is filled both with hope and determination, declaring that "Roe vs. Wade must be reversed," and also pointing out many signs of progress, chief among which is that the pro-life movement is marked by the presence of new, young participants.

The word "heart" is used often in the statement. It speaks of the hearts of the young, filled with love, life, compassion, and hope as they take their place in the pro-life movement. It speaks of the hearts of children broken -- physically and spiritually -- by abortion. It speaks of the hearts of those tempted to abort, and broken by having aborted their child. The bishops point out that we must strive to know these hearts. We are no strangers to evil, temptation, and sin. Even if we would never have an abortion, we cannot look at the one tempted to do so as a stranger. For Christians, there are no strangers. We all know sin. We have all aborted God's will in our lives. We will know the hearts of the women and men ensnared by abortion to the extent that we strive with honesty and courage to know our own hearts.

The statement calls us to reach the hearts wounded by abortion, and give them hope. Abortion, indeed, is not only a sin against life, but a sin against hope. It says there is no future, no reason good enough to strive for life, or to sacrifice that another may share it. To affirm life, on the other hand, is to say there is room for hope, and room to welcome the unwanted. Being "wanted" means one meets some need, desire, or expectation of another. If that fails to happen, despair finds an open door. But being "welcomed" means there is room for the person who was not anticipated, planned for, or expected. Welcome opens the door to hope, and hope opens the door to life.

In calling for a ministry to the heart, the bishops also exercise it by their very words in this statement. They repeat the promise that the Church is ready to assist all who are pregnant and in need. "We renew our offer of assistance to anyone considering abortion: If you are overwhelmed by the decisions you face, if you cannot afford medical care, if you are homeless or feel helpless, whatever your needs, we will help you. The Church and her ministries, inspired by the word and example of Jesus Christ, will help you with compassion and without condemnation." The bishops demonstrate that the Church's response to abortion is not simply to say, "This is wrong, don't do it," but also to say, "We are with you, and we will give you the courage to do what is right."

The bishops also promise that the Church will accompany all who need a companion on the road to repentance, healing and forgiveness: "Through Project Rachel and other ministries, we will continue to help the broken-hearted."

The bishops' statement emphasizes the presence of youth in the movement. The young people of today are literally abortion survivors. In fact, psychological research has identified ten different types of "abortion survivors," and the syndrome that accompanies those who grow up in a culture in which they could have been aborted. Existential anxiety, survivor guilt, and an overall confusion about love, relationships, and God, are some of the elements of this "Post-abortion survivor syndrome." Many young people involved in the pro-life movement realize that Roe was a personal insult to them, and that in speaking up for the babies, they are speaking up for themselves.

A key need of the hearts we are to reach is a hunger for the truth. The bishops state that "we work to bring about a society that recognizes abortion for what it truly is." This echoes a line in Evangelium Vitae in which John Paul II states, "We need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name" (#58). The educational activities of the pro-life movement, whether through words or images that break through our societal denial of what abortion is, fulfill this imperative of our times.

The Church's proclamation of the truth about life "has been a part of the Church's constant witness since the Apostolic age." This reference of the document to the fact that the teaching has been unbroken is particularly appropriate and necessary. One sometimes finds voices outside and inside the Church who try to claim that official Catholic opposition to abortion is something relatively new, or only a few centuries old. While it is true that society's understanding of the nature of the unborn child has progressed, and various canonical disciplines regarding abortion have changed with time, the fact is that the Church has opposed abortion for as long as the Church has been the Church.

The bishops also meet a great educational need when they point out that abortion is legal throughout pregnancy. Most Americans still do not know this. Knowing helps them to re-evaluate whether Roe, and the policies that flow from it, are acceptable.

It should be noted that the bishops make reference to the fact that the pro-life movement is ecumenical. In fighting abortion, we work "together with those from many other faith communities." Christ is Life, and despite all the divisions within Christianity, the sanctity of life can be and is a solid foundation on which all Christians can stand. The National Pro-life Religious Council is an excellent example of the practical ecumenism that our movement fosters.

The bishops have called their statement "A Matter of the Heart." The fact that this is "a matter of the heart" obviously does not exclude matters of the law, because this statement calls for a reversal in the law. The things of the heart and the things of the law affect each other in profound ways.

Yet evil, as our Lord told us, flows from what is in the heart. Nobody has to choose or tolerate abortion. Neither America nor the world should feel obliged to make room for the "pro-choice" mentality. No court should feel bound to a "precedent" that legitimizes violence; no public official should feel bound to uphold a "law of the land" that turns God's law upside down. The heart is free when it recognizes truth, and chooses what is good, despite the superficial attraction of evil. The heart is pure when it belongs to God, and thereby belongs to life.

The most fundamental sense in which the pro-life effort is "a matter of the heart" is that to end abortion, our hearts must be broken. This evil cannot simply be something we know about or debate. We have to allow it to grieve us, to bring us to tears, to bring us to our knees. With broken hearts, we must learn to weep. "Blessed are those who mourn," for only when our hearts are broken can we find the grace, as a society, to repent of this evil. Only when our hearts are broken can we find the strength to persevere in fighting this evil. Only when our hearts are broken can they open wide enough to receive the victory which has already been won, the victory of truth over lies, of hope over despair, of life over death.

Indeed, this is a matter of the heart.

(Click here for a shorter version of this article.)

Priests for Life
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