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Catholics observe October as Respect Life Month.
During October we are asked to recommit ourselves to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from life’s beginning to its end and every point in between.
The theme of the 2020 Respect Life Month is “Christ our Hope in Every Season of Life.”
Respect life Month reminds us that violence affects every season of human life.
The horror of abortion
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court made abortion legal in Roe v. Wade.
This decision virtually gave the mother power of life and death over her baby.
However, admittedly some birth fathers pressure some mothers to abort their baby!
In January 2020, eight months ago, news analysis from National Right to Life estimated that 61,628,584 babies’ lives have ended since Roe v. Wade.
We realize the horror of this number when we compare it with American deaths caused by five major wars from 1861 to the end of the Vietnam War. They are the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Korean, and Vietnam Wars.
According to the American Battlefield Trust, there were 1,236,640 casualties in these five wars.
More than 50 times more American babies have died by abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision than died in these five wars. This puts a human face on abortion’s horror as does the recent pro-choice movie, Unpregnant!
During the Church year, the Church focuses upon abortion through the January Day of Prayer for Legal Protection of the Unborn.
Also, the bishops, pope, EWTN, Relevant Radio, Catholic Herald, homilies, March for Life participants, and others promote respect for life. We can also respect life through our personal witness.
A pro-choice minister I know decided to study Christianity’s position on abortion for the past 1900 years to reinforce his pro-choice position.
After extensive study, he wondered how Christian churches could be against abortion for 1900 years and then almost over-night, some churches became pro-choice.
As a result, he became pro-life and a sought after pro-life speaker.
Statistics show that in recent years abortions have decreased, but there are still too many.
To succeed, the pro-life movement needs the support of more Catholics, other Christians, and persons of goodwill who believe in the natural law!
Concern for life in other areas
On September 23, 2015, Pope Francis asked us to be concerned about respect for life in areas other than abortion.
These include the persecution of Christians, children who die of hunger or from bombings, immigrants who drown in search for a better tomorrow, the elderly or disabled who are considered a burden, victims of terrorism, wars, violence, and drug trafficking.
Other Respect Life issues are religious liberty, the death penalty, stem cell research, unemployment, secular challenges to Christian values in marriage and family life, end of life/physician assisted suicide, and much more.
At stake in all of this is respect for God’s gift of life, of which we are noble stewards but not masters.
On August 14, 2019, according to the World Hunger Map, 821 million people, more than one in nine of the world’s population, are now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting the 2030 hunger eradication goal at risk.
Helping to feed the hungry
We help feed the hungry by contributing to collections for the poor or in other ways.
Some wealthier parishes twin with poorer parishes and help them in whatever they can.
For 25 years, I helped a little by sponsoring four third world persons.
I started out with an elderly lady from India who died, then a youth from Central America until he was old enough to work, then an African girl whose family moved, and now a youth from Colombia.
I was especially moved when my sponsored friends with deep emotion explicitly shared how my contributions helped them.
Preparing to vote
To prepare to vote in the November elections, Respect Life Month motivates us to reflect on issues of respect for life in all its stages.
Pope Francis has said, “Sometimes we hear that good Catholics are not interested in politics but they should be.”
Evil triumphs when good people do nothing!
As Catholics and Americans, we should exercise our responsibilities and duties.
We should know the Church’s teaching and how it differs from cleverly packaged secular atheism.
A consistent pro-life ethic
Second, through our informed consciences, we should support candidates and positions that best reflect a consistent “pro-life” ethic.
This becomes an issue of an informed conscience and not political party affiliation.
Surveys show that practicing Catholics have advantages on pro-life issues, because they are more likely to read Catholic newspapers, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, watch EWTN, listen to Relevant Radio and Sunday sermons, attend retreats, and much more.
This helps them to vote more responsibly.
In closing, to be fair, Catholics should recognize how in some ways the modern world offers ways to help the disabled.
Since I have arthritis in my knees, I learned to appreciate handicap accessibility aids especially during Mass.
May Respect Life Month help us vote responsibly and continue to respect life every day in all its stages.
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.