Today, which the U.S. Bishops have designated as Respect Life Sunday, there are many life issues that we could consider. But there is one that is worth our attention since it is, I think, a major stumbling block to the pro-life message. It concerns abortion and the welfare of women. The media often structures the abortion debate as a conflict between women and those who claim to represent the unborn child. The message is conveyed that pro-life equals anti-women. Those who promote respect for the rights of the unborn child are said to be against women. Once this assumption is accepted, the pro-life position is cut off before it is even heard. After all, what woman wants to listen to someone who is, they are told, anti-woman?
For this reason, leaders in the pro-life movement have tried to stress that they are not, and never were, anti-women or anti-women's rights, properly understood. One sees this idea put forward in some of the posters displayed at the March for Life in Washington D.C. They said, "Here till no more women cry, till no more children die."
This love for women as well as their unborn children is not just a matter of words, or a pro-life public relations ploy, but a proud legacy of the pro-life movement. The Catholic Church has manifested this love in concrete ways, especially in direct services to women experiencing problem pregnancies.
But beyond the offering of services to pregnant women, we should consider this too: that the Church and the pro-life movement help women specifically by helping them to choose life. By educating people's consciences about the importance of respect for life and the serious moral evil of abortion, the Church is in fact serving women. It is always a benefit to a person to support them in doing what is right. And when we support a woman and help her choose life, we help her in a way that touches the very core of her person. We help her walk the path of virtue and confirm and strengthen her in making rightful moral choices. When a woman has chosen life, she has manifested good moral judgment, inner strength, and love for the child within her. While her choice may be painful, she maintains an inner self-esteem because she knows that another person has benefited immensely from her sacrifice. And the spiritual reward God will give her we cannot begin to imagine.
If we are going to say then that the pro-life movement seeks to help women as well as unborn children, we have to look at the other side of the coin as well. In other words, we should consider that abortion hurts women. That abortion is a violation of the human rights of unborn children must be affirmed. As St. Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical, the Gospel of Life, 58: “Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable.” The Second Vatican Council defines abortion, together with infanticide, as an "unspeakable crime." The one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent could be imagined. He or she is weak, defenseless, even to the point of lacking that minimal form of defense consisting in the poignant power of a newborn baby's cries and tears.
But in addition to this, what has also come to light during the years of abortion on demand is the destructive effects of abortion on the women themselves who choose it. A woman does not help herself by taking the life of her unborn child. Rather she hurts herself. Abortion is a lose-lose proposition.
For example, by choosing an abortion, women have suffered medical complications and even death. The substandard care they have received at the hands of abortion providers is documented extensively. This is as one would expect it.
Regarding the psychological effects of abortion, one can say at the very least that there is no evidence of its having positive therapeutic value. On the contrary, there is substantial evidence of its ill effects on women. A number of psychologists have identified what they once called Post-Abortion Syndrome, now re-defined as Post Abortion Trauma. This condition usually manifests itself five years after an abortion, when a woman begins to experience problems such as depression, nightmares, low self-esteem, unexplained anger, or substance abuse. The roots of these problems are repressed guilt and the lack of an opportunity to grieve the loss of one's child. To help women dealing with Post Abortion Trauma, the American Bishops have supported programs such as "Project Rachel." These and other similar programs help women face the truth about what they have done and to open their hearts to God's healing love and mercy.
But as bad as such effects may be, the most serious harm women suffer from abortion is the harm done to the conscience itself. We never help another person by conspiring with them to silence the voice of conscience. And in the case of abortion, as Post Abortion Trauma manifests, the voice of conscience is screaming. We never help a person by confirming them in a state of denial about what is really in the womb or about the moral wrongfulness of what they are doing. As much as a woman may feel that abortion is the answer to her problem, we must never cooperate with her efforts to obtain one. To do so would be to conspire with a woman against herself.
One can see then, that when a woman is with child, her life and the life of the child are already so closely bonded that to help one is to help the other, and to hurt one is to hurt the other. The pro-life movement and the Catholic Church are actively committed to helping and loving both and have proven that commitment in a way worthy of praise.
As St. Pope John Paul II once remarked to a group of American Bishops, "The pro-life movement is one of the most positive aspects of American public life, and the support given it by the bishops is a tribute to your pastoral leadership." On this Respect Life Sunday, let us be grateful for the pastoral leadership of the American Bishops, and answer their call to promote respect for the lives of unborn children, and to serve women in problem pregnancies with a love and compassion worthy of the name "Christian."
To understand more fully how to defend and protect human life, we must first consider who we are, at the deepest level. God creates us in his image and likeness, which means we are made to be in loving relationship with him. The essence of our identity and worth, the source of our dignity, is that we are loved by God: "We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son."[1]
We are called to divine intimacy, true communion with God, and we can grow in this closeness with him through daily prayer, reading the Scriptures, and frequent participation in the sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist.
The knowledge and realization of how deeply we are loved by God elicits a response of love that simultaneously draws us closer to God and, at the same time, impels us to share his love with others.
Embracing a relationship with God means following in his footsteps, wherever he may call. Just as Jesus invited St. Peter and St. Andrew to become his disciples, he invites us to do the same: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).
Being a disciple of Jesus naturally includes sharing the Gospel with others and inviting them into a deeper relationship with God. As Christians, our identity and our mission are two sides of the same coin; like the apostles, we are called to be missionary disciples.
This doesn't necessarily mean quitting our jobs or moving to foreign countries. For most of us, our mission field is daily life: "Christ teaches us how to evangelize, how to invite people into communion with him, and how to create a culture of witness: namely, through love. A Christian life lived with charity and faith is the most effective form of evangelization."[2]
The first step towards living this life is allowing Jesus to meet and transform us daily. If we respond to his grace, our lives will show we have something beyond what the world offers: we follow a person whose love changes our lives, so we want others to also experience his transforming love.
When we live in union with God, open to his prompting, we're more able to see the opportunities for witness and his guidance in responding to these opportunities. We may fear doing the wrong thing or saying the wrong thing, but we do not need to be afraid. Jesus promised his disciples, "I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
As a society and as individuals, we often measure ourselves by false standards: by what and how much we do, our successes or failures, how others treat us, the degree of our pleasure or independence, etc. And when these changeable substitutes prove to be insufficient, or when we are faced with challenges and suffering, we may feel helpless, alone, or abandoned; we may be tempted to feel as though our lives have decreased value or worth.
But God's love—individual, real, unchanging—is the true source of our worth, identity, and dignity. It really is not a question of who we are, but rather whose we are. Because his love will never change, nothing can reduce our God-given dignity, and nothing can diminish the immeasurable worth of our lives.
When someone is facing great trials, we need to meet them where they are, walk with them on their journey, intercede for them, and be open to sharing Christ's love however he directs.
When a woman becomes pregnant, and her boyfriend threatens to leave if she continues the pregnancy, we need to lovingly walk with her. When family members or friends become seriously ill, we need to assure them that God still offers them something in this life, and they still have purpose. We need to consistently be with them every step of the way.
Sometimes our actions speak for themselves; other times, words are needed. Whatever the situation, Jesus knows how to speak to each person's heart; we simply need to follow where he leads.
This is how we answer our missionary call. This is how we build a culture of life, a culture that joyfully proclaims the truth of God's love, purpose, and plan for each person. Changing the culture is a process of conversion that begins in our own hearts and includes a willingness to be instructed and a desire to be close to Jesus—the source of joy and love.
When we encounter Christ, experience his love, and deepen our relationship with him, we become more aware of our own worth and that of others. His love for each person is cause for great joy, and growing understanding of this priceless treasure motivates us to share his love with others. Our lives are often changed by the witness of others; so too, others' lives may be changed by our witness and authentic friendship with them.
Let us go, therefore, and not be afraid. God is always with us.
[1] John Paul II, Homily, 17th World Youth Day, Downsview Park, Toronto, July 28, 2002.
[2] USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization. Copyright © 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved.
Excerpt from "Homily of the Holy Father John Paul II" © 2002, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2017, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.