October is Respect Life Month, and the pro-life committee chair of the USCCB, Bishop Michael Burbridge, is urging, “a revival of prayer and action,” to end abortion and uphold the sanctity of human life.
We do that in southern Missouri.
The recent sold out crowd on Sept. 21 for the Springfield LifeHouse Gala to support Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri was a delightful example of this. The Cape Girardeau LifeHouse Gala on Nov. 2 is also sold out (donations and auction items are still available Online; see p. 16 of this issue). Each Gala supports our two LifeHouse locations and is a beautiful way to put our pro-life belief into real, sustaining, ongoing action.
In his remark, Bishop Burbridge said, “Many Americans have become comfortable with some amount of abortion.” He asked the faithful “to vote for candidates who will defend the life and dignity of the human person, and to support programs and ministries for women in need and those grieving past abortions.” He concluded his remarks: “We must rededicate ourselves to fervent prayer on behalf of life, especially in front of the Blessed Sacrament.”
The local newspaper reported a couple of days ago that those who oppose Amendment 3 are trying a “new approach” by focusing on the lack of “parental rights” that will result from voting in Amendment 3. This is not a scare tactic, it is true. The amendment uses the word “person” instead of adult or woman, so that anyone under the age of 18 could have an abortion or make any other reproductive decision without their parents consent or notification. Too bad the use of the word “person” does not apply to the infant in the womb.
With Amendment 3, parental permission would be repealed.
Parental permission is generally needed to give a student in school an aspirin, yet a student could have an abortion without the knowledge of her parents. Aspirin versus abortion! When parents are excluded from the discussion it is a violation of their parental rights and the government is one step closer to taking over the rights of the parents. Additionally, long standing health and safety standards for women would be repealed, such as an on-site physician. On Sept. 13, 2024, the Holy Father stated in an interview, “The Church is not close-minded because it forbids abortion. The Church forbids abortion because it kills.”
Doctor David Stansfield, Family Practice, Hillsboro, MO, and the Missouri State Representative of the Catholic Medical Association, recently stated, “The argument that abortion is necessary to protect the health of the pregnant woman is an issue that sways many to favor ‘choice.’ [However], Ectopic [tubal] pregnancy will be treated in the traditional surgical approach whether the amendment passes or not. Other maladies such as cardiomyopathy in pregnancy, and others, can be treated with early induction of labor to deliver a premature baby. The mother does not need to have a late-term abortion in this situation. …” We do not need a constitutional right to an abortion to treat the various illnesses that occur during pregnancy.
LEAVING THE CHURCH
I recently received a letter from a Catholic who is leaving the Church due to my columns on pro-life. In her own words, “Reading your letters sickens me and if your words are what I’m supposed to believe, I want no part of the Church anymore.”
She told me she is voting yes for Amendment 3, so my vote will cancel out her vote!
She further said, “It is not up to Catholics to legislate how the whole country is supposed to live.” Yet, as I write this column, I read that the Delaware’s governor, John Carney, vetoed House Bill 140, turning back legislative efforts to make physician-assisted suicide legal in the state of Delaware. In his words, “Although I understand that not everyone shares my views, I am fundamentally and morally opposed to state law enabling someone, even under tragic and painful circumstances, to take their own life.” And for those curious: Carney is a Democrat!
“O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.”
Published in the October 11, 2024 issue of The Mirror.
Photo Credit: Getty Images