Every October, the Catholic Church in the U.S. honors Respect Life Month and affirms the dignity of every human life, including unborn babies. While abortion remains a controversial issue, at its heart is the issue of how society views an unborn baby and by extension the relationship between the baby and his or her mother.
It can be challenging to talk about, as emotions run high on both sides of the debate.
As chemical abortion pills become increasingly more accessible to women and girls across the U.S., it raises the question: How do we discuss abortion as Catholics in a charitable and truthful way?
Acknowledge fear
Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, said “the manner in which we speak is often more important than the details of what we say.”
“In approaching conversations around abortion, it’s important to acknowledge the woman’s fears,” Father Pacholczyk said. “It feels like a ‘crisis’ pregnancy as her worries snowball and she asks herself a thousand painful questions: What will my friends think of me if they find out? Will this make it impossible to finish college? I feel so alone, ashamed and abandoned – why isn’t my boyfriend here to support me?
“Acknowledging the woman’s fears by using sympathetic language can help open up a space of dialogue with advocates of abortion, as we seek to remind them of what a better response to an unexpected pregnancy should really look like,” he said.
Affirming the baby
From a pro-life perspective, affirming the unborn child’s dignity is also a fundamental part of the conversation.
“We need to be attentive when it comes to abortion ‘rights’ language, seeking to offer the clarity that there really is no such thing as ‘rights’ that allow someone to directly target and victimize innocent bystanders,” Father Pacholczyk said. “An unborn child in a crisis pregnancy situation is surely an innocent bystander, as he or she is as much a victim of difficult circumstances as is the mother.
“The authentic ‘rights’ we should all be able to agree on include the right to receive help in parenting from society as new moms face the daunting and unexpected prospect of caring for and raising a child,” he said.
Camille Pauley, who heads Healing the Culture, a Catholic organization that educates people on how to engage with difficult issues like abortion, spoke about what it means to show charity.
“Charity is to act for the good of the other person, who is made in the image and likeness of God,” Pauley said. “Persons who commit the evil of abortion are not ‘demonic monsters’ or ‘soulless savages.’ These are words that do damage to society and to ourselves when we use them.
“Persons who have fallen into the sin of abortion are human beings who are either spiritually lost or have been deeply wounded, abandoned, betrayed, deceived and sometimes abused or coerced,” Pauley said.
“At the same time, we shouldn’t confuse charity toward persons with charity toward abortion,” Pauley continued. “‘Abortion,’ in the common usage of the term, is evil, wrong and sinful. It hurts women and unjustly kills an intrinsically valuable and sacred human being who has an inalienable right to life. To speak these words is an act of charity when they are used for the good of the other person.”
She emphasized that the mom and baby shouldn’t be pitted against one another.
“The language we use must affirm that the interests of the woman are the same as the interests of the child,” Pauley said.
— Kate Quiñones, Catholic News Service
Respect Life Month theme
The U.S. bishops, in their Respect Life Month resources, point to Mary as “our model for upholding the sanctity of all human life” – highlighting this year’s theme: “Mary, Mother of Life.”
“In becoming the mother of Jesus, Mary becomes the mother of life,” the bishops wrote. “Mary’s acceptance in this unforeseen moment demonstrates how each of us must welcome the gift of new human life, even when that gift is unexpected or calls us to make sacrifices.”
The bishops encourage Catholics to pray a Respect Life Novena Oct. 22–30. For more resources about Respect Life month, visit www.respectlife.org/
