Friday, January 22, 2016

Time to Wake Up (Reprint)


In honor of the 59 million children murdered in abortion in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was handed down 43 years ago today, I am re-posting an earlier piece (with some alterations) on the topic:

I recently found myself awake in the middle of the night thinking about abortion.
      With a nursing baby, it’s quite usual for me to wake several times a night. Being middle-aged, it’s not unusual for me to have trouble sleeping on occasion. But, sadly, thinking about the horrors of abortion is not something I often do.
     It’s not a pleasant thing to think about. 
     But is that a reasonable excuse? 
     It’s so easy to disparage those living in Nazi Germany for not doing enough—or anything—to stop the Holocaust. How could so many ordinary people let such atrocities happen in their midst? True, the system became very tyrannical and it would take heroism to oppose it. But how could they let that regime take over their democratic country and get so powerful in the first place?
     But am I in any position to criticize? In my own corner of the world, am I doing enough to stop the holocaust of innocents in my own community? Sure, the government has raised the stakes—I can’t peacefully block clinic doors and get arrested merely for a day anymore; now such peaceful civil disobedience could result in the loss of everything or years in jail. Paul’s words on how being single frees one up from such concerns come to mind.
     But even so, there are other avenues open to me. Besides praying, supporting pro-life organizations, educating myself and others, I can also participate in prayer protests. Soon another 40 Days for Life campaign will be launched. This is a particularly powerful effort, but I don’t have to limit my prayer to those 40-day periods. There are many groups who pray outside abortion clinics every Saturday year-round. I can also help pregnancy centers in a myriad of ways.
     Horrific as their plight is, it’s not just “little ones” (the meaning of fetus) who are affected. Both women and men suffer from post-abortion trauma. My friend and spiritual director, the late Fr. Blair Raum, was the head of Project Rachel in Baltimore and provided post-abortion counseling. He told me that, over and over again, these women would tell him, “The day I had my abortion was the day I entered hell.”
     Many of them have been lied to; they were told that the fetus is just a “blob of tissue.” The vast majority of women who see their little ones via ultrasound see a baby not a blob, and choose not to abort. They’re lied to about the possible complications, only to find themselves bleeding from unintended wounds, or sterile, or with breast cancer years later; some of them die. There are emotional wounds as well; many post-abortive women become depressed, turn to alcohol or drugs, or even attempt suicide. Very often the relationship with the father doesn’t survive the abortion; subsequent relationships are also negatively affected.
     A number of those who have left the abortion industry indicate that it is founded on deception. Dr. Bernard Nathanson admitted later that he lied before the Supreme Court during the Roe v. Wade proceedings, exponentially exaggerating the number of women who died in illegal abortions. Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” in that case, says now that actually she had not been raped, as she claimed. Carol Everett, who owned several clinics, reports in her book Blood Money a whole system of lies in the business. Notably, she states that the reason behind getting contraceptives to young people is to get them sexually active, producing more unwanted pregnancies and thus providing more clients for abortions, in other words, to keep the money rolling in. With regard to abortion, they lied about the fetus, they lied about the procedure, they lied about the risks. It was all about the money.
     Planned Parenthood, in particular, has a vile foundation. Margaret Sanger admired Hitler, promoted eugenics, and founded PP in part to reduce the births of African Americans. Many maintain that racism is still intertwined with the organization, including Black Genocide.org, which points out:
Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America [and] 78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America. Are we being targeted? Isn't that genocide? We are the only minority in America that is on the decline in population.     
Moreover, the recent videos of PP staff expose to the world the truth of what abortion often involves--killing little children who have livers and brains and other saleable organs--as well as the organization's crass indifference and brutal nonchalance.
      While little ones are being ripped apart, limb by limb, in their mothers' wombs, while mothers and fathers are suffering from post-abortion trauma syndrome, while I know all this, the surprising thing is that I can get any sleep at all.