The Culture of Death and Its Tenet of Abortion

I was mocked the other day when I was in a discussion over the turn too many people in our country have made towards accepting, if not quite celebrating, this new culture of death. While I am not unaccustomed to being mocked, particularly from progressive quarters, (which frankly just proves to me that I am on the right track), I was somewhat taken aback at how vehement so many folks are in supporting this grotesque phenomena of disavowing life.

From abortion to euthanasia to the death penalty, there are far too many people that have embraced the possibilities of death for their own self-serving wishes instead of holding firm in acknowledging the very sanctity of life.

First, it would seem that there are many folks that would gladly fight, even violently, to ensure that the “right” to unfettered access to abortion remains legal. Never mind the fact that Roe v. Wade was the very definition of judicial activism and the finding of a “right” in the Constitution that not only did not exist but was an anathema to the very document and the principles which it espoused. Indeed our founding document as a nation acknowledges that our Creator has endowed ALL of us with the divine rights of LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As a practicing Catholic, I am deeply distressed at seeing presidential bumper stickers on the cars parked at my Parish for Mass supporting a man that is ardently pro-abortion. Even if one agrees with a certain political platform in all of its other tenets, the issue of life should trump all else when it comes time to cast one’s vote, in my humble opinion.

While we have all heard the reasons for “keeping abortion legal”, I would argue that we have lost our soul as a nation by doing so. First, let me say that I do not hate those women that have had abortions, rather I often times feel sorry for their emotional pain they experience for having done so. It strikes me as unlikely that anyone with a conscience cannot have at least a little regret and remorse for having aborted their baby. Often times I suspect that pain of conscience is something that is a life-time haunting event. I have said many a prayer for the peace and comfort of such women accordingly.

And yet despite this, we as a nation continue to elect representatives and indeed even a president that supports abortion in even its most gruesome forms. When serving in the Illinois state Senate, our president even opposed a bill similar to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of infants mistakenly left alive by abortion. Thankfully even most pro-abortion advocates still draw the line at supporting this kind of extremism.  What is distressing is that even the American Medical Association had stated that such a procedure as partial-birth abortion was not medically necessary ever. Other procedures can be done should the life of the mother be at risk with a later term pregnancy that would give the baby a chance at life.

Indeed I have known a couple of women that shared the fact that they have made the unfortunate choice of having had an abortion in the past. One lady regretted having done so and turned to God and supporting His desire for celebrating life. Her heart was basically transformed by divine grace in having done so, I believe.

She has been married for decades now to a good man whom she deeply loves and who loves her greatly in return. They were blessed and raised two wonderful children accordingly. While I suspect she is still occasionally haunted by her past, I think God has indeed forgiven and blessed her with one of the things that matters most in our earthly existence; family and good friends. The kind that loves her and each other unconditionally.

My other friend whom I had known since junior high, was always promiscuous and unfortunately decided that abortion was necessary as a form of birth control. She continued on with this mindset and to this day she is unmarried, childless, and decidedly not happy with life and how it has turned out for her. Life has been a struggle and not something to be celebrated other than in superficial ways.

I realize that this is anecdotal, but I do not think this is atypical. When someone loves and celebrates life, life tends to be good and far more fulfilling with God’s blessings. When one turns to the destruction of life, and does not acknowledge the wrong in doing so, the sanctity of one’s own life and attached blessings are typically overlooked. Darkness and despair fill that void accordingly. We callously or self-servingly discard the precious gift of life that God has bestowed upon us at the cost of our own happiness and perhaps that of our own souls.