Pro-Life Mission of the Domestic Church

In this intensely political climate as we are on the home stretch to the elections, we must not lose sight of the fact that there will be a November 5. The elections will be over. Whether or not or pro-life candidates are victorious, the pro-life movement must go on. If the culture of death wins this battle at the ballot box, those of us who fight for the dignity and rights of those who have no voice must work even harder to change hearts. When the culture of death enacts laws that enshrine the taking of innocent human life we will face an uphill battle in changing hearts. Too many in our culture assume that if it is legal, it must be moral. If we were in this battle alone, we would surely fail. But we are not in this battle alone. God will stand firm with us. As the Angel Gabriel said to Mary, “With God, all things are possible. Therefore, we must remain faithful no matter how the winds of our culture blow.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Scotland asserted this as he assailed the passage of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill. Speaking at the conference of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, he offered these words:

Cardinal O'Brien contended that it is the "underlying values that must change first before the laws will follow, not the other way round. Yes of course the legislative agenda is important and it cannot be neglected but neither should the very pressing social agenda."

Thus, the prelate affirmed, "passing on a pro-life culture surely must begin in our families, but it must grow from there to our neighborhoods and communities, our workmates and colleagues. If those we live beside and work beside don't know we campaign in defense of life, if we don't at least attempt to persuade them of the merits of our case whenever the opportunity arises -- the people we meet and greet and spend so much time with every day -- then what chance do we imagine we might have with a remote Parliamentarian and a postcard?"

"The world is groaning under the misery of wars and division," Cardinal O'Brien continued. "Our human rights campaigners are astonished that torture and oppression remain despite their protestations for a fairer world. They have lost sight of the deep root of evil that has been bedded in any system that justifies abortions; they are unaware that its poison tarnishes all our other noble aspirations."

Contrary to the assertions of Doug Kmiec and many others, the bulk of pro-life work is aimed at cultural change, not legislative action. It is those committed to the pro-life movement that man the crisis pregnancy centers and offer assistance to women and children in this situation. I wonder how many “pro-choice” women put efforts into supporting women through a pregnancy instead of just pushing them into the expedient solution of abortion. I keep seeing this bumper sticker (often joined by a pro-Obama or other pro-abortion candidate bumper sticker) that says if you want peace, work for justice. How can there be justice when the powerful are given the right to wantonly kill the powerless? We must tirelessly stand up for the powerless—the unborn, the sick, the dying, the elderly, the disabled—against those who deem these lives are disposable. We must stand up for them in the legislature and in our children’s schools. We must teach our children the sanctity of all human life and prepare them to stand firm against the culture of death indoctrination they will undoubtedly face in school and in the media. It is a gargantuan task. But with God, all things are possible.