This is from a brochure by Priests for Life’s Father Frank Pavone that can be found here. Priests for Life has been kind enough to allow me to republish material from their site. The pictures of unborn babies throughout are my addition. All of the babies pictured could be legally aborted in at least one US state.
Most people admit that abortion is wrong; surveys show, in fact, that half of all Americans are willing to call it “murder.” (See, for example, the January 1998 New York Times/CBS News Poll.)
Yet a disturbing number of these same people will not do anything to stop it. They say, “I believe abortion is wrong, but I do not want to impose my morality on others.” In other words, it’s wrong, but it’s a private wrong. If I think it’s wrong, I won’t do it. If someone else does it, that’s none of my business.
This attitude has been expressed in a bumper sticker that says, “Against Abortion? Don’t have one!” and in the assertion that the opposing sides in this controversy should simply “Agree to disagree.”
Yet we simply don’t look at most moral problems this way. We do not hear people say, “I would never abuse my child, but if the other person wants to do so, that’s her choice.” Nor do they say, “I would never commit a violent crime, but if someone else chooses to do so, that’s none of my business.”
Many do not want to “interfere” with someone’s choice to have an abortion. Yet it would make perfect sense to “interfere” with that same person’s choice to steal your car, burn your house, or kidnap your child!
The fact is that some choices have victims, and when somebody’s choice destroys somebody else’s life, that’s everybody’s business. It is, after all, the business of love to intervene to save our brothers and sisters in need.
People need to know that abortion is their business. They need to de-isolate the issue. People understand that we have to intervene to help the poor, the AIDS victim, the drug addict, the victim of crime and war. Even if we do not know their names, or have never seen the faces of these victims, we know it is our business to help them. There is no reason to isolate abortion in a category of its own, where all the rules of human decency suddenly change. Who is the child scheduled to be aborted today? That child is your sister, your brother.
Some claim they are free to believe that the unborn are not human lives. That’s fine. But to claim the right to destroy them in practice is a different matter, no longer involving only beliefs, but bloodshed, not only viewpoints, but victims.
Abortion is our problem, and the problem of every human being. We are one human family. Nobody can be neutral on abortion. It involves the destruction of an entire group of human beings! Just as we cannot be indifferent to the killing of a new born baby, so we cannot be indifferent to the killing of a preborn baby. We all share the responsibility for people who are in danger. Injustice to any person in this world is injustice to every person!Even when we understand this, we are often afraid to act. We can gain courage, however, from the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, a man fell in with robbers. A priest and a levite came by, but did not stop to help. Despite their knowledge of the Law and Prophets, they walked right by. Why?
One of the reasons may be that they were afraid. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a dangerous road. Because of its numerous steep curves, it lends itself to attacks by robbers who can easily hide not too far from their victims. Perhaps the priests and levites who passed by that man asked themselves, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? Maybe the robbers who attacked him are still here. Maybe they’re hiding just around the bend. This is a dangerous road. I better keep going.”
Sometimes we ask the same question. If I speak up too loudly about the victims of abortion, what will happen to me? Will I face persecution, will I encounter opposition, will I lose popularity if I get involved in a cause like this?
And then the Good Samaritan came along, and he reversed the question. He didn’t ask, “If I help this man, what will happen to me?” The Good Samaritan asked, “If I do not help this man, what will happen to him?” And that’s the question for us. If I do not address this evil, what will happen to the unborn? If I do not get involved, what will happen to those who are vulnerable, to those who are marginalized our society, those who are oppressed, those who have no one to speak for them?
The abortion problem involves us all. Its solution must also involve us all. Get involved today!
“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
— Elie Weisel, Holocaust survivor
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