I rarely blog on the topic of abortion, but any casual reader of my blog or my Twitter feed knows I'm unambiguously pro-life. One way I signify that is through a daily blog segment called "Choose Life". I took that phrase from an early WHAM! video. [I don't know George Michael's personal politics, but I like reader Patrick Perotti's take here; "CHOOSE LIFE was the pro-life motto long before Go-Go. But all of these causes–anti-war, anti-aids, anti-suicide, anti-capital punishment, and anti-abortion–demand that society protect all lives, from the smallest to the most unloved. When the world understands and unifies these causes, we will truly CHOOSE LIFE".] I rotate a lot of baby/sibling/adoption/family-oriented video clips, especially pregnancy/gender reveals in that segment.
I'm a Franco-American (French-Canadian descent) and the Catholic Church is integrated into our culture. In fact, my mother's only (older) brother was a diocesan priest and one of Dad's big sisters was a religious sister/nun. Dad came from a big family (the youngest of 6), and I'm the oldest of 7 (3 boys). Although the Church has had an unambiguous position against abortion, I never heard the term from Mass, religion class, or my folks. One day I came across the term in the newspaper and asked Mom what it meant; Mom basically described a D&C procedure in very clinical, non-judgmental terms. I was in utter shock of the idea: "But, Mom, that's MURDER. What does the Church say? It's got to be against it." And it has been since the Didache, as the Church expanded outside Israel (where it was not practiced) into the rest of the Roman Empire, where it was.What I particularly loathe is how Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic in Name Only, will mislead people on the history of abortion in the Church; in fact, one of my first college papers explicitly reviewed this topic. The Church, through the Middle Ages, accepted the science of Greek philosopher Aristotle. Let me summarize the Aristotelian process of ensoulment:
Aristotle believed a fetus in early gestation has the soul of a vegetable, then of an animal, and only later became "animated" with a human soul by "ensoulment". For him, ensoulment occurred 40 days after conception for male fetuses and 90 days after conception for female fetuses, the stage at which, it was held, movement is first felt within the womb and pregnancy was certain.
Now the controversy never involved the evil; the sinfulness of abortion as the frustration/rejection of God's gift of life, but in the view of some, the gravity of the sin increased with stages of development; theologians and philosophers disputed the nature of sin, and of course modern science has obsoleted Aristotle''s stage hypothesis. We know human life begins at conception, his/her DNA is determined then and differs from the mother's.
I have always strongly and consistently opposed abortion, but I live in a world where every other person disagrees with me. Two of my 3 best friends as an adult, a Jew and a Hindu, are pro-aborts and have tried to goad me into arguments. (The former, in fact, told me one of his lovers as a teen got pregnant and had an abortion.)
There were multiple reasons why I chose to attend OLL, a Catholic university in the southwest, heavily Latino section of San Antonio: it was about 130 miles near home (no car); I was considering becoming a high school math teacher, and OLL had an excellent teacher program; and I thought I might have a vocation for the Catholic priesthood, possibly a teaching order like the Jesuits or Oblates. But if you thought a Catholic college would be a pro-life oasis, you would be wrong; at least 2 professors rebuked my "strident" views; the other top graduate of my class, SS [female], was a strongly pro-abort pre-med major. One of my Latino fellow dorm residents said, "You don't believe a woman has a right to control her own body?" It was niore of a rhetorical question because he didn't want to discuss it. One of my professors told me after my class presentation that I sound "much more reasonable in person".
Look, it's a difficult issue. The issue involves a conflict of rights, including the preborn child's right to live. I realize, like suicide, abortion is almost impossible to stop; moat people, never mind the mother herself, may not even be aware of the preborn child. And most of us don't want to prosecute a woman who has lost her child. And there are states and providers willing to do the procedure, medicines that can kill the baby, etc.
I even find myself targeted by supposed allies. One of my former nephews-in-law is an abortion abolitionist. Very dark, in-your-face stuff, and he was obsessed. My Facebook feed was choking with the stuff. (I don't think at the time I realized I could un-follow a "friend") I didn't want to hurt my niece's feelings by de-friending her husband. He responded by stalking and flaming me calling me a pro-life hypocrite lacking testicular fortitude.
Roe v. Wade was a horrendous decision. over and beyond the loss of tens of millions of babies since then. Health regulation and police power had rested with the states since the start of our republic. States have their own constitutions. safeguarding our fundamental rights (life, liberty, and property). Government services are more efficiently and effectively controlled and administered most local to the citizen or resident, not by the remote general central government, the very essence of our War of Independence. In Catholicism, we have a related construct of the application of authority to lower levels of governance: the principle of Subsidiarity.
Abortion as a practice preexisted the colonies, then states. Abortion was generally not accepted under then English common law; earlier there were sanctions that paralleled the ensoulment concept: a misdemeanor before the quickening, felony afterwards. State constitutions and laws evolved over time, especially in the context and aftermath of the sexual revolution of the 1960's; Gov. Reagan (R-CA) himself signed a liberalized therapeutic abortion law.
SCOTUS basically invalidated most state abortion restrictions prior to the final trimester in Roe v Wade. The way they did so was primarily based on a judicial incorporation doctrine, an interpretation of the fourteenth amendment that some historians (e.g., Brion McClanahan) is invalid from the records of the amendment's debate and passage. Indeed, the central government's authority is limited and enumerated to things like common defense, treaties and ensuring a free market among the states. The states did not expect or want federal authorities micromanaging their affairs.
Abortion is a difficult issue involving a conflict of rights. To those of us who are pro-life, the biologically distinct preborn child has a natural right of life which supersedes a mother's conflicting liberties or inconvenience. Roe v Wade ignited a fire that exists today; almost 50 years later almost 1 of every 2 Americans considers himself pro-life, and nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose unrestricted abortion (according to Gallup).
What if the leaked Alito option reversing Roe comes to pass? The states would resume their traditional regulatory authority. There are existing state laws; the ruling wouldn't change them, including some 16+ states with pro-abort laws. Some states would likely implement restrictions.over their status quo. Pregnant woman have freedom of movement and could seek accommodations in a permissive state.
For those of us who are pro-life, improved protections for preborn life are not enough. We continue to work for the health of mother and child, financial assistance where needed, the option of adoption. We want to promote traditional family values.
As a bachelor with no dependents, I have limited impact on the issue; I am the proud uncle of some 21 nephews and nieces and somewhat lesser number of grandnephews and grandnieces (at least 9 I haven't met yet). I have been blessed by 6 younger siblings. What I never knew was my third sister (5 boys, all Eagle Scouts, and a girl) volunteered for working for pro-life counseling for pregnant women, I think when she was pregnant with her daughter. When my late best friend Bruce Breeding moved back to the Dallas area after he finished his academic career as professor at Murray State, he had met my sister; he was working as my nephews' Scoutmaster. My sister is petite with a sweet, loving disposition. They didn't know the connection until I noticed they lived in the same suburb and name-dropped him with my sister. Bruce couldn't believe we were related. Our personalities are so different; I kidded Bruce how he had put up with me. He reflected and said, "Ron, you're an acquired taste." LMAO. My sister is a better person than me; she not only talks the talk but she walks the walk. She is a blessing of God in my life. I'm glad my folks didn't stop with 1.
