An unpleasant anniversary

As some of you may know, today is the thirty-fifth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the ignoble U.S. Supreme Court decision which, with its companion, the equally ignoble Doe v. Balton, legalized abortion, overturning state law in the process. The latest data suggests that abortions are down, which is a good thing, but 1.2 million isn't exactly a small number. Every aborted baby is a human person whose life was cut short almost before it had begun. Murder is always unjustifiable, but abortion is especially tragic, as mothers, those who bring life into the world, become destroyers of their own children.

It's important to be realistic; legal or not, abortions will probably still happen. But that's no reason to submit to hopelessness; precisely the opposite is true. Those who fail to understand the gravity of the abortion issue wonder why pro-lifers are so adamant about ending abortion. Yet, compared to universal health care, global warming, deficit spending, illegal immigration, even killing the Islamo-bogeymen in the Middle East, the murder of over one million innocent children per year occupies a completely different, and much higher, moral plain. Ending the immoral war in Iraq comes close; but even the most pessimistic estimates put total casualties short of one million, far less than abortion casualties--and over a shorter period of time.

Whenever the abortion topic comes up, thoughts immediately turn to the political. For over three decades, pro-lifers have turned out to vote for Republicans, the hope being that the party that professes to be pro-life will stop the slaughter. And yet, even with the House and Senate under Republican control, and with Bush as president, no real action was taken on the abortion front. And no, the silly ban on certain types of partial birth abortion doesn't count because it's not going to save a single life. In fact, legislation has been useless at slowing the stream of blood flowing from the abortion mills. Even the latest decrease can't be attributed to any government action.

With this in mind, an examination of the pro-life commitment to the Republican party is long overdue. That the Democrats are intolerable on abortion can be granted. But the Republicans are, by and large, equally intolerable, as those who claim that abortion is evil, and yet do nothing to stop it, cannot be justified. Ignoring all of the other issues, a Democrat, who simply believes that baby killing is a positive thing, might be preferred to a Republican, who denounces baby killing but then refuses to do anything about it. Liars to the left of me, cowards to the right...

The betrayal of the Republicans can be hard for some pro-lifers to stomach. Sadly, a large number still refuse to call a betrayal what it is--just as abortion proponents insist that the unborn child is only a fetus. When Hillary is nominated, it may be difficult for pro-lifers to avoid voting for the lesser evil; Huckabee and Paul are pro-life, but neither of them will get the nomination. But on the political front, it simply isn't realistic to pretend that electing lesser evils will help end abortion. To quote Michael Badnarik, "If you do what you've always done, you're going to get what you've always got."

But hope is not lost. For just as so many fail to see what the fuss over the unborn is all about, many fail to see the utility of our best weapon: prayer. No matter how bad things get on the political front, we will always be able to pray: for the innocent lives lost to abortion and for an end to the evil practice; for the doctors and nurses who aid in the process; for the mothers and fathers; for cowardly and dishonest politicians; and for those who believe a choice is more important than a child. In time, Mary, who is our mother, through her Son, will help all mothers, and end abortion in this land.