(Continued from last week.) What are some effective ways to share with others the fact that abortion is a moral evil and that it kills an innocent human life?
Don’t forget that for American Catholics, October is Respect Life Month so this is a good question to meditate on. Last week I wrote on the moral arguments. However, it is difficult to win those arguments. Perhaps far more powerful than words are pictures and actions.
Now I am not necessarily advocating showing pictures to the general public of the remains of a fetus after an abortion. I’ve seen them myself, and I’ve seen them on display at a protest at an abortion clinic. They generated quite a strong negative reaction from many passersby. For those who want to see what happens in an abortion, they can be quite powerful. However, I personally think that displaying them for everyone to see offends and turns-off the very ones to which we’d like to reach out.
Instead, I strongly advocate using advances in modern science such as ultrasound scan photos that show the fetus inside the womb. It is quite surprising to see the rapid development and discernable human features and behavior such as sucking the thumb that occur quite early in the gestation. Low and behold, this is not just a blob of cells but a tiny, developing human person!
However, I think many people who are pro-choice are aware of this. Those who seek abortions may see no other way out of their situation. Those who support “abortion rights” see themselves as humanitarians helping women. Perhaps, the one of the best things we can do as Catholics who respect life from conception to natural death is to reach out to those in need and show that we are the true humanitarians concerned with both mothers and babies! At the top of our list should be support for pregnant women so they do not have to go it alone or feel that their unborn child is a threat to their life and future. To this end we should support crisis pregnancy centers and adoption agencies that provide care for the pregnant mother and an alternative to abortion. These ideas are just a start. I encourage you to investigate for yourself and see how you can help.
-Fr. Greg
