In his speech to Catholic health care professionals and gynecologists on September 20, 2013, Pope Francis said, “Every child who is condemned unjustly to being aborted bears the face of Christ, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection.
“And every elderly person, even if he is ill or near death, bears the face of Christ.” Like unborn babies, they too cannot be discarded, as the “culture of waste” may suggest!
On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion in the Roe v. Wade decision. Justice Byron White, who dissented, stated, “The court apparently values the convenience of a pregnant mother more than the continued existence and development of the life or potential life she carries.”
A waste of human life
On February 2, 2018, Edward Morgan wrote that a new analysis published by the National Right to Life Committee indicated there have been an estimated 60,069,971 abortions since the Roe v. Wade decision allowed virtually unlimited abortion. This exceeds the population of most countries of the world.
Abortion is a waste of human life! Of the millions of aborted children, some may have become a priest or Religious, discovered a cure for cancer, become the president of the United States, a waitress, teacher, librarian, mom or dad, or enrich the world in other ways.
Supporting the unborn
One of the best ways we can support the unborn who can’t defend themselves is by person to person witness. We can tell others about pro-life ministries that work with expectant mothers who are considering abortion and encourage them to choose life for their children.
Such ministries provide alternatives to abortion through pre-natal care, assistance in raising children, and adoption placement services.
We can tell women who grieve because of an abortion about Project Rachel, which helps them to heal through counseling, prayer, and forgiveness.
We can participate in the 40-day Vigil for Life in Madison, which consists of 40 days of prayer, fasting, and witness by volunteer pro-lifers.
We can urge our elected representatives to support legislation that protects the unborn and support a human life amendment.
Spiritual adoption
Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen encouraged Catholics and others to spiritually adopt an unborn child. He believed that although the identity of the child we pray for will be unknown to us during our earthly life, there is hope that we will be united with that child forever in heaven.
He wrote the following daily prayer to spiritually adopt an unborn child: “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn child that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen.”
St. John Paul II stressed that children are the hope of the future. Since they cannot speak for themselves, we must defend their God-given right to be born. We must also continue to respect human life in all its stages. The battle for the rights of the unborn will be long and hard, but the unborn are worth it.
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.