The Crisis of our Culture of Death

4/6/13

The Crisis of our Culture of Death

In society today, death is all around us, even though it may not necessarily always be seen. There are many secular forces in our culture that advocate for things like abortion, and birth control pills citing that it is a "woman's right". Many times they express their views in lighter language like "pro-choice" or "pro reproductive rights" to hide the ultimate travesty of what is caused.  Even though our country is divided 50-50 on this issue, both with males and females, the truth of the matter is that since roe v. wade, about 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States. That would be about one in every six people in the U.S. population who would not be alive.

I was compelled to right this blog because of two legislative situations that have occurred this week regarding this issue.

1. A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to make the morning-after birth control pill available to people of any age without a prescription. This order overturned the 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to require a prescription for girls under 17. Many who agree say that this gives women a better range of effective birth control and therefore better dictate their health. Many who are against are outraged that parents now have no say in this issue regarding their children, and of course there are medical concerns. What if a young teenager misuses this drug, which will happen. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights had a great quote about the importance of parental rights and how this ruling is truly appalling: "A 12-year-old girl in a New York City school cannot be given an aspirin by her teacher, even if she has a fever. The same girl cannot buy a large soda during lunchtime because Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decreed that it is not good for her. But she can be given a pill, unbeknownst to her parents, that could arguably abort her baby"

2. A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman made some controversial remarks to say the least when questioned on Florida legislation that would require baby's born alive during a botched abortion to receive medical care. Alisa LaPolt Snow, a lobbyist with the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates was asked what Planned Parenthood's stance was on baby's that survived botched abortions. She said that the decision of what to do to that baby should be between the women, her family, and physician. This is supporting something called post-birth abortion. One lawmaker made a good point that at that point not only would the woman be a patient, but the baby as well. The spokeswoman had no response to that. So there you have it. Planned Parenthood supports murder, there is no denying it. It is a baby outside the womb and unquestionably alive. How can millions of tax payer dollars be given to an organization that supports these practices. I would like to bring up this point: if the mother has the right the kill her baby after it survives an abortion, on the terms that it never wanted the baby, then what stops a mother killing her 5, 10, or 15 year old child on the basis that she never wanted her child? This is truly horrific.

As Catholics and Christians alike, we must be steadfast and strong in our defense of the value of human life. These cases are examples of society undermining this precious gift that God has given us, a gift given at the moment of conception. In order to win this argument and save lives we must not conduct ourselves in a condemning way, but instead lead by the example of love and help out mothers that are in tough situations. Many mothers choose to abort because they think that having a baby would ruin their life, but we need to emphasize that through God, we can all find strength under tough situations and that in the long run, keeping the baby will be the best decision she ever made.