Finnegan

by Edel Finnegan

Common ground on abortion is not easy to find, but certainly a basic starting point is science. While the ranks of pro-life activists are largely filled with people of Faith, it is a scientific fact that human life begins at conception.

We understand that it is easier to frame the abortion debate in the language of “choice”, but we cannot ignore the humanity of the unborn child. When a woman is faced with an unexpected pregnancy, she is not deciding whether to have a baby, the baby is already present. She is deciding whether or not to destroy her child. Pro-life people ask women to let their babies live, and at the same time help them manage the difficult circumstances surrounding the pregnancy. Our opponents, along with President Obama, believe those difficult circumstances justify the killing of their unborn child. This “heart-wrenching” decision fills many women with regret and we hope that those on the other side of the debate will no longer cruelly ignore the pain many women feel. The victims of abortion, women and children, cannot be forgotten in the quest for common ground.

Pro-life people endorse any sincere call to reduce unintended pregnancies. We know that eighty-four percent of abortions are performed on unmarried women. The chastity message is often “demonized” by those on the pro-abortion side. We are told that abstinence is a failure, while the “safe-sex” message is promoted. The truth is that abstinence never fails, but even Planned Parenthood admits that fifty-four percent of women entering abortion facilities were using a contraceptive in the month they became pregnant. A cursory glance at our national and state health statistics demonstrate that the “safe-sex” message is harmful and that abortions, out-of-wedlock births and sexually transmitted disease increase annually. Could we not work together and encourage a holistic view of our sexuality in which its purpose and dignity is respected?

Pro-life people understand that there will always be women facing crisis pregnancies. We believe though that our society can offer women and families something more than the destruction of their child. We wholeheartedly support programs that promote adoption and offer tangible assistance to pregnant women and hope the recently reintroduced, “Pregnant Women’s Support Act” will be supported by people on all sides of the abortion debate.

President Obama rightly acknowledged in his address that “the views of the

two camps are irreconcilable.” Those in the “pro-choice” camp hope that

pro-life people settle for a change in language instead of substance. But, there

is no room for dialogue on the fundamental truth that human life begins at

conception and unborn children deserve legal protection. Pro-lifers cannot

find common ground with those who continue to deny the humanity of the

unborn child. We cannot and should not be silent during the ongoing slaughter

of children in the womb any more than those courageous people who fought

the errors of Nazism could have been silent amidst the slaughter of six-million Jewish people.

Every year in Philadelphia, over 15,000 children die in abortion chambers with their mothers left wounded. Pro-life people pray and witness outside these killing centers to defend “the weak against the strong” and beg women to choose life. We are called to expose the reality of abortion and work for an end to this great evil. We will never be content with a reduction in abortion and must not be silenced by pleas for “common ground.” We have to speak for those who have no voice.

There is irony in the closing words of President Obama’s address,

“Remember that each of us, endowed with the dignity possessed

by all children of God, has the grace to recognize ourselves in one

another, to understand that we all seek the same love of family..”

In his own words, our pro-abortion President points to the very

means by which to achieve common ground. Until we as a nation,

recognize that EACH of us is endowed with the dignity possessed

by ALL children of God, there can be no debate. Until the time comes

when the murder of innocents is no longer sanctioned by law, pro-life

activists will continue to defend the rights of the unborn

and the dignity of mankind.

Edel Finnegan is Director of The Pro-Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania