Jill Stanek and Live Birth abortion
James McMahon - We belong to God
Children will not stop killing children
Abortion survivors
Bloodguilt
Post-abortion healing: We do not reject you
Theresa Burke - Abortion hurts, and it's OK to say so…
Peter Singer - Oppose abortion or endorse infanticide
Relevant Ministry
Reverse the Question
The Holocaust and abortion stress
Confused about stem cells?
Jill Stanek and Live Birth abortion
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. On July 20, 2000, nurse Jill Stanek
gave the following testimony to the US Congress: "One night, a nursing
co-worker was taking an aborted Down's Syndrome baby who was born alive to our
Soiled Utility Room because his parents did not want to hold him, and she did
not have time to hold him. I could not bear the thought of this suffering child
dying alone in a Soiled Utility Room, so I cradled and rocked him for the 45
minutes that he lived. He was 21 to 22 weeks old…" The practice Jill
describes here is "Live birth abortion," which involves deliberate premature
delivery of babies whom the mother does not want, and then -- leaving the babies
to die. Jill speaks against this evil with all her heart. Can the rest of us do
the same?
James McMahon - We belong to God
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. Dr James McMahon performed the
partial-birth abortion procedure up to and beyond 32 weeks into the pregnancy.
This procedure involves partially delivering a child, and then destroying her.
When asked how he justified this morally, Dr McMahon said the important question
is, "Who owns the child?" His answer was: "It has to be the mother." Once we say
that any one person owns another, everyone's life is devalued. The Christian,
however, lives by the words of St Paul, "You are not your own." "Both in life
and in death, we are the Lord's." Indeed, we belong not to ourselves, nor to any
other human being, but to God. By living and proclaiming this truth, we can end
abortion in our land.
Children will not stop killing children
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. We are rightly upset when we hear
about children killing children, whether by throwing them out of windows or
shooting one another in school. When this happens, we ask why. We bring in
psychologists to try to help us deal with it. But on a moral level, the reason
children are killing children is because we have taught them to. Roe vs.
Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, has told children
since 1973 that they are disposable, that they are not persons until birth, that
they could have been legally destroyed. Children learn these lessons, and live
them out. Children will not stop killing children until parents stop killing
children. It is time to end abortion in our nation…for the sake of our children
-- unborn and born alike.
Abortion survivors
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. What happens to a child's mind and
emotions when she grows up realizing she could have been aborted? What happens
if a parent, in anger, tells her she should have been aborted, or considered
aborting her but then changed her mind? Psychiatrists have now identified ten
different types of "abortion survivors," people who are deeply wounded because
of a close call with abortion. Many of them feel guilty for surviving, and drift
aimlessly through a life that they believe they do not deserve. Being an
abortion survivor can lead to destructive behavior, and can make it difficult to
accept the Gospel of God's unconditional love. Let's not ignore the powerful
impact abortion is having, not just on those that are killed, but precisely on
the survivors.
Bloodguilt
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. In the first chapter of the prophet
Isaiah, God tells His people, "When you spread out your hands I close my eyes to
you; though you pray the more, I will not listen." Then He gives the reason for
His anger: "Your hands are full of blood!" The point to notice is that the
people hearing these words were not the ones who shed the blood. Others did
that, but the people of God were doing nothing to stop it. Our land, too, is
polluted with the innocent blood of children killed by abortion. We are
responsible for that blood, and are called to repent for this national sin and
to build a Culture of Life. May we not fail, and may God heal our land.
Post-abortion healing: We do not reject
you
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. If all abortions stopped tomorrow,
our mission of healing will only have begun. Abortion hurts - physically,
emotionally, and spiritually. The Gospel of Life is also the Gospel of Mercy,
and to those who have had abortions we say, "The doors of the Church are open!"
We are not here to condemn you, but to welcome you back to the peace and healing
of Christ. I know of a woman who had 24 abortions. Even she, upon repenting of
her sins, can and will be forgiven. To oppose abortion is not to oppose those
who have them, but rather to embrace them in love. May God bless the tens of
millions who suffer from a past abortion, and those who minister to them. Let
the healing begin!
Theresa Burke - Abortion hurts, and it's OK
to say so…
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. In her book, "Forbidden Grief," Dr
Theresa Burke writes, "There is no social norm for dealing with an abortion.
There are no Hallmark cards for friends who have had an abortion, declaring
either sympathy or congratulations. We don't send flowers. We don't have any
ceremonies, either joyous or mournful. We have no social customs or rules of
etiquette governing acknowledgment of an abortion. Instead, we all try to ignore
it." The sad thing is that ignoring the problem does not help the wounded.
Many who grieve their aborted child are made to feel silly for feeling sad.
Abortion hurts, because it is the loss of a child. May those who grieve know
that it is OK to say so, and may they feel the warmth of our love.
Peter Singer - Oppose abortion or endorse
infanticide
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. Peter Singer, an advocate of
abortion, has said, "The pro-life groups are right about one thing: the location
of the baby inside or outside the womb cannot make such a crucial difference."
He then concludes that to be consistent, we must either "oppose abortion, or
allow infanticide." More and more people are, indeed, endorsing infanticide, and
doing so for the same reasons they endorse abortion. This exposes the tremendous
poison which the so-called "pro-choice" mentality brings to our society. After
all, if choice is more important than life, the age of that life does not make a
difference. Infanticide was practiced in the early centuries of the Church, and
Christians opposed it. May we not fail to oppose it today.
Relevant Ministry
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. On the night before he was
assassinated, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. said this about Church ministry: "It's
alright to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk
about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los
Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee." These words tell us something about
our response to the tragedy of abortion. It is not enough to "believe" that it's
wrong, or to talk in the abstract about the sanctity of Life or about God the
Creator. We are called to make our cities places where children will not be
tortured and killed by abortion. Like Dr King, let's not be afraid to fight for
justice and equality for all, born and unborn.
Reverse the Question
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. When we fight injustices, such as
abortion, we have to be ready to pay a price. There was once a priest and Levite
who did not help a man who had been beaten by robbers and left on the roadside.
Perhaps the priest and Levite were afraid that the robbers were still around.
They asked, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But the Good
Samaritan came along, reversed the question, and asked, "If I do not stop to
help this man, what will happen to him?" That is the question we must ask. In
fighting abortion, do not worry about what will happen to you, what you will
lose, or what you will suffer. Worry instead about what will happen to the
little children if you do not work to protect them!
The Holocaust and abortion stress
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. In the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials,
we read, "Many of the enlisted men were husbands and fathers, and they winced as
they pulled their triggers on these helpless creatures who reminded them of
their own wives and offspring at home." To relieve their emotional sensitivity,
gas vans were used." A textbook on abortion notes the same theme: "Nurses found
physical contact with the fetus particularly difficult; it reminded them of the
'preemies' just down the hall and made them uncomfortable as they thought about
their own potential future pregnancies." Hence, we see today more efforts to
make chemical methods of abortion available. It is a frightening parallel, which
should make us even more determined to end abortion.
Confused about stem cells?
Hello, this is Fr. Frank Pavone. Many are confused by the debate about
"stem cell research." A "stem cell" is a cell that can grow into any type of
cell in the body. Such cells may be helpful in treating disease. The problem,
however, is that in one method of obtaining these cells, human lives in their
earliest stages are being destroyed in the process. This is not a debate
about whether or not we should do research to assist the perennial fight against
disease. The Church does not oppose research. But efforts to cure disease cannot
justify the deliberate killing of the innocent, whether they are adults,
adolescents, or embryos. There is no question about when a human life begins.
The crucial question is how much that tiny new life is worth.