Posts Tagged ‘Abortion’

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How We Got Here from There

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

The New York City Council has now passed Intro 371, the bill that that singles out pregnancy resource centers for harsh and discriminatory regulation.  The bill, which will soon be signed into law by the Mayor, is bitterly — and correctly — resented by pro-lifers because it is biased against the centers because of their pro-life beliefs, it is based on a foundation of falsehood, and it violates their right to free speech.  The bill will be challenged in court on constitutional grounds, and there is good reason to expect that the courts will strike it down.

This was certainly a significant blow to the pro-life community, and particularly to the pregnancy centers who do so much work to help women in need.  They feel justifiably hurt and threatened by the animosity and unfairness of the City government.  If this bill is upheld in court, it will make their work much more difficult, and will leave them at risk of discriminatory enforcement by a hostile government.

Having said that, though, we can learn some things if we look back over the history of this bill.

The Original Bill — Where We Started

It’s worth remembering that the first version of the bill, which was introduced in October, was very, very bad:

  • Who was covered — The definition of what kind of facilities would be covered by the bill was vague and poorly defined.  As a result, there was reason to believe that it would reach not just the pregnancy service centers, but also agencies like Catholic Charities, and even convents of the Sisters of Life.
  • Signage/Disclosure requirements — The bill would have forced these facilities to post signs and re-write all their advertising and promotional literature in order to notify people that they did not refer for abortions or contraception.  These requirements were both intrusive and unprecedented — no other organization in the City has to disclose what services they do not perform, and no other organization has to edit its advertising to satisfy government bureaucrats.
  • Penalties — The penalty provisions were very severe.  Violations could be punished by ruinous fines, and the centers could even be closed by the police — penalties that are heavier than those imposed for any other sign requirement under New York City or State law.  The center would also not be given any warning of a potential violation, nor would they be given an opportunity to cure the deficiency — first time a center would learn about a problem was when they received a citation for a violation.
  • Reporting of child abuse — Unbelievably, the bill would prohibit the centers from reporting child abuse or rape — any worker who did report those offenses to the police would be subject to fines or civil lawsuits.  This was in many ways the worst single component of the bill.

    • Clearly, the pro-life community could not let such a bill be passed without making an effort to defeat it, or at least to mitigate the potential harms.   However, we had to face an unpleasant political reality — this bill was a major objective for the pro-abortion movement, and there was every reason to believe that the sponsors had enough votes to pass it at any time.  It was going to be an uphill battle to defeat, delay, or change Intro 371.

    Over the next few months, a sustained lobbying effort was made by the pro-life community and the Church.  The media was used to get our message out, grassroots supporters were mobilized to contact their Council members, and direct contacts were made with Council members.  The consistent message was that there was no factual basis for the bill, the signage/disclosure requirements were unfair and unduly burdensome, the prohibition on reporting child abuse was irrational, and the penalties were grossly disproportionate.

    The Final Bill

    At the end of January, a federal district court in Maryland struck down a Baltimore law that was virtually identical to the original version of Intro 371.  We hoped that this would either stop, or significantly delay, the bill’s momentum.  Unfortunately, the Council was still determined to pass their bill, although they plainly had to modify it to at least give the appearance of complying with the Baltimore decision.

    When the final bill was released, there had been some very significant modifications.

  • Who was covered — The final bill contained a definition of that focused primarily on centers offering medical services — in particular, sonograms and pregnancy tests.  Some organizations and facilities that would have been included in the original bill — such as Catholic Charities, the Sisters of Life, and some of the crisis pregnancy centers that just offer counseling — will not be covered.  Other facilities, though, particularly those organized under a medical model, will still have to comply.
  • Signage/Disclosure requirements — There were several changes in the final bill.  Centers will be required to post signs, and change their advertisements to notify people if they don’t have a medical professional on staff, and whether they provide or refer for abortion, emergency contraception, and prenatal care.  There’s an additional requirement that center workers provide this disclosure any time a client requests those services.
  • Penalties — Nothing was changed to mitigate the penalties.
  • Reporting of child abuse — The final draft included language that would permit pregnancy center staff to report child abuse and rape to law enforcement authorities. This is very significant — it eliminated the single worst part of the original bill, which would have imposed draconian penalties on those who were protecting children from exploitation.

    • The result was that, while there were some improvements, Intro 371 was still a terrible bill.  Most significantly, though, nothing had been done to protect the bill from the argument that it violates the First Amendment rights of the centers and their staff.  In my opinion, the entire structure of the bill, along with several specific provisions, are fatally flawed, and will provide fertile ground for the pregnancy centers’ attorneys when they file their lawsuit to strike it down. The City’s attorneys are going to have their hands full defending this.

    The Way Forward

    While the passage of the bill has to be read as a defeat for the pro-life movement, there are some positive things that can be taken away.  The emergence of the seeds of an ecumenical coalition of interfaith pro-life leaders is very encouraging, and will have to be nurtured.  The importance of the pregnancy centers was highlighted, ironically, by the amount of effort that the pro-abortion movement spent in trying to harm them.  They are literally the front lines of the struggle to promote a culture of life, and to help pregnant women choose life.  As a community we need to rededicate ourselves to supporting them.

    In the end, though, I am left to wonder about the deeper meaning of it all.  I believe  that God sometimes allows misfortune, failure, and defeat to befall us so that we may learn.  One of the key lessons is to trust Him more, and me less.  Another is that He wishes us to constantly evaluate our hearts and our actions to make sure that they conform to His will, that they reflect a loving attitude to friend and foe alike, and that they give witness to His love for all his children.

    I need to be constantly reminded that it’s not my will, but His will, that has to be done.

    I was present at the final Council vote, and afterwards I was pretty downhearted.  After I emailed the result back to the Office, Sr. Lucy replied with a comment by St. Augustine, which had been in that day’s Office of Readings.  I can’t think of a better way to summarize the key lesson that I need to take away from this experience:

    “Your best servant is he who is intent not so much on hearing his petition answered, as rather on willing whatever he hears from You.”

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    Posted in Abortion, New York City Council | 7 Comments »

    The World of Ideological Blindness

    Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

    The facts, of course, are undeniable.  As we learned at the Chiaroscuro Foundation press conference last month, 41% of all pregnancies in New York City end in abortion; 48% in the Bronx; 60% among African-Americans; almost 90,000 total.  It’s hard to imagine that anyone with a shred of humanity could be satisfied with these facts.

    Of course, this is New York, a world unto itself, where abortion ideology always seems to trump reality.  Instead of trying to come up with ways to reduce the number of abortions, what is the government of the City of New York doing?

  • The City Council is bent on passing Intro 371, a bill that would make more difficult the work of crisis pregnancy centers  — agencies that offer women real help for their pregnancy and child-bearing.  How can you expect to reduce abortions if you won’t allow people to present alternatives?
  • The City Council is wasting time and energy passing resolutions calling on Congress to keep shoveling taxpayer money at Planned Parenthood — the evil organization that aborts over 300,000 children every year and has no apparent interest in making abortion rare.
  • The Mayor, who was silent about the abortion rate, instead found time to endorse full funding for Planned Parenthood, and he is expected to sign into law the bill that penalizes crisis pregnancy centers for their pro-life views.
  • The Public Advocate, who only seems to be able to advocate for those who have had the good fortune to have been born, denounced the billboard in Manhattan that committed the terrible sin of speaking the truth about abortion among African-Americans.
  • The Speaker of the Council, who is the driving force behind Intro 371 and the pro-Planned Parenthood resolutions, found the time to have a rally in support of unrestricted abortion rights, and in opposition to any kind of reduction in public funding for abortion.
  • Despite the evidence of horrors at an unlicensed abortion clinic in Philadelphia, our Department of Health continues to do absolutely nothing to inspect unlicensed clinics here in the City.

    • All this ignores the sentiments of normal New Yorkers.  A new poll from the Chiaroscuro Foundation shows that most people are very uncomfortable with the abortion rate:

  • 64% of all New Yorkers think that there are too many abortions in the City;
  • 57% of women who describe themselves as “pro-choice” agree that there are too many abortions;
  • 74% believe that there are too many African-American babies being aborted;
  • 81% of New Yorkers had no idea how many abortions were taking place;
  • Majorities of New Yorkers favor common sense regulations of abortion — waiting periods (51%) and parental consent for minors seeking abortion (63%) — that have repeatedly been blocked by the State Legislature.

    • In the real world, where democracy exists, these facts would be an indicator of a substantial disconnect between the electorate and those who hold public office.  Elsewhere in America, politicians are loth to be opposed to public opinion.  In normal places, legislators enact reasonable regulations on abortion, knowing that most people find the practice distasteful or morally unacceptable.

    But this is New York, the land of ideological blindness, where abortion holds a privileged status.  Here, it is sad to say, the commitment to abortion is so deeply ingrained in our political class that no facts, and no public opinion, seem to be able to penetrate.

    As a result, four out of every ten babies will continue to be killed in the womb, while our public officials will go on turning a blind eye to the tragedy.

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    Posted in Abortion, Cult of Moloch | 2 Comments »

    Answering Planned Parenthood

    Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

    Bills are pending before Congress to cut federal funding through for elective abortions (both through Medicaid and the new health care reform law), and for those organizations that perform abortions. The most prominent organization that will be affected by this effort is the one I like to call the “Temple of Moloch”, for its fanatical devotion to the modern sacrifice of children — Planned Parenthood, which single-handedly aborts over 300,000 children a year.

    Planned Parenthood and their allies, of course, are not taking this lying down, and has enlisted their media friends to shore up public support. Over the weekend, the New York Times published an op-ed piece that summarized the abortion advocates’ talking points — if these bills are passed, the women who now go to Planned Parenthood clinics and receive care like cancer screenings will be left with no health care at all.

    I was contacted by a friend, who was trying to formulate a compelling, practical and loving response to this argument. To me, the answer is two-fold. First, we should trust women to be smart and resourceful enough to make sensible decisions about their health care. Second, we need better public health policies to address the serious health issues facing urban low-income people.

    The Times’ and Planned Parenthood’s argument fundamentally denies the competence of women. It is based on the false assumption that women have no alternatives to Planned Parenthood for their health care. That’s absurd — what, women aren’t smart enough to Google “Gynecologists” or “General Practitioners” in their area? That’s no way to sustain an argument, much less a coherent set of public policies.

    This debate over abortion funding actually gives us an opportunity to talk about a serious public health issue that is of very grave concern to the Church, and that needs a serious public policy response. In many urban areas where Planned Parenthood clinics are located, the reality is that there are not enough health professionals to serve low-income people. The better public policy response to that is not to keep throwing money to organizations that do abortions, hand out contraceptives, and do some other health care services on the side. Instead, we need to take pragmatic steps to address the actual problem of medically under-served populations and areas. Steps like giving doctors incentives to be more accessible to Medicaid patients (e.g., realistic reimbursement rates), or to taking the money saved by these bills and enhance direct public health services (e.g., free cancer screenings), or using it to train professionals like Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners from the community who can give health care at lower cost than doctors. We will also have to change laws so that poor immigrants can qualify for Medicaid and other government health insurance programs. Given the chronic health problems of poor people, these would be much more sensible way to spend public money than to continue to subsidize abortionists.

    Also, we have to help the private sector to respond. Many, many urban hospitals and medical schools are already doing outreach to underserved populations (in both urban and rural areas). There are surely ways to encourage more of that through sensible public programs (e.g., grants and other incentives). For example, some hospitals in New York City have walk-in clinics in convenient locations that are accessible to low-income people, and, because they accept Medicaid, CHIP, etc. they can provide good health care to underserved areas. We need more of these clinics.

    In fact, one way to respond is to imitate Planned Parenthood’s own business model (without the abortions). Surely there are altruistic medical people (and maybe some new religious communities?) who would be willing to start up non-profit organizations to provide good basic health care to poor people in the inner city, perhaps with help from start-up grants from the government, and reasonable reimbursement rates from government health insurance programs.

    The reality is that Planned Parenthood is able to succeed in winning public approval because there really is a dire public health problem in urban areas, and the private sector and the government are not adequately responding right now. It’s great to de-fund abortionists, but we still need to address the underlying problem.

    Catholic social teaching actually has the right answers to the underlying problem — a combination of private and public sector responses, building up community and intermediary organizations, and helping individuals to become part of the solution. And of course, Catholic teaching also has the ultimate answer to the Planned Parenthoods of the world — respect life, don’t destroy it, and work to build a culture of life and civilization of love.

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    Posted in Abortion, Catholic Teaching, Cult of Moloch, Health Care Reform | 4 Comments »

    A “Truce”? No Thanks.

    Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

    Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana is testing the waters for a run in the Republican presidential primaries in 2012.  His record shows that he has consistently demonstrated his commitment to pro-life causes and legislation.

    So, why am I writing about a governor from an obscure state somewhere to the west of us?  Because Gov. Daniels, in his political wisdom, has decided that his main campaign issue is going to be the crushing national debt, and the irresponsibility of federal spending policies, particularly the dumping of that debt onto future generations. I have no problem with that.  The national debt is a deeply troubling matter, and it is profoundly unjust to be irresponsible now and expect our children to pick up the tab later.

    But what I do have a problem with is what Gov. Daniels is saying about the “social issues”.  That’s the code word in Washington and the media for abortion and marriage.  The governor is saying that these fiscal issues are so serious that we need to put aside the “social issues” for a later date, and not press them forward in the national agenda — that we need a “truce” on these issues while we deal with the budgetary matters.  In his most recent statements on this subject, he suggested that we “just sort of mute [the social issues] for a little while”.

    Oh, I see.  Never mind that a million or more children are being killed every year, their mothers wounded physically and psychologically.  Never mind that marriage is re-defined out of existence, undermining the foundation of civilized society.  Never mind that the very definition of human nature is being subverted.  Those of us who care deeply about the dignity of human life should just be quiet for a while — that’s what the “mute” button does, after all — while the politicians deal with the spreadsheet and balance book, and while the Culture of Death continues to spread its insidious grasp.

    Sorry, no deal.  Our national debt may be “a republic-threatening issue”, as Gov. Daniels puts it.  But the current state of the law, which permits lethal violence against an entire class of human beings, and which produces such results as the 41% abortion rate in New York City, is a civilization-threatening issue.  A soul-threatening issue.  A life-threatening issue.

    The re-definition of marriage threatens society at its core, by separating love, sex, and children.  It ignores the fundamental complementarity of man and woman, severs human relations from concern about future generations, and tells children that parents of both sexes — particularly fathers — are not important.  It turns a millennium or more of social consensus on its head.

    Our Church has been clear is stating that the right to life and authentic marriage are the foundation that underpins all of human society.   No budgetary issue — however grave — comes close in significance.

    So, despite Gov. Daniels’ political strategy, we’ll continue to speak out about the profound injustice of abortion, and the dangers of re-defining marriage.

    No “truce”.  No thanks.

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    Posted in Abortion | Comments Off

    A Major Pro-Life Victory

    Saturday, January 29th, 2011

    In Friday, January 28, a Federal District Court Judge in Maryland issued a decision that is a major victory for pro-lifers and for free speech rights.

    The case involved an ordinance passed by the City of Baltimore that was aimed at silencing and, ultimately, closing down pro-life pregnancy support centers.  The basic structure of the Baltimore law was to require pregnancy centers to post signs proclaiming that they did not make referrals for abortion or contraception.  The centers, backed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, fought back, arguing that this requirement violated their free speech rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

    In the ruling, the District Court completely agreed with the pregnancy centers and issued a permanent injunction, barring any enforcement of the law.  The decision made some important points about these kinds of laws:

  • Compelled Speech — At the heart of the right to free speech is the right to be free of compulsion to say things that are contrary to your beliefs.  This means that the government cannot force you to say things because they disagree with your position on issues.  The court found that the Baltimore law violated this basic principle of Constitutional Law, because it forced the pregnancy centers, under pain of fines, to say things about abortion and contraception that they would not otherwise say.
  • Lack of Viewpoint Neutrality — Also central to the First Amendment is the idea that the government may not use its power to take sides in a debate between people who disagree, favoring one side over the other by imposing penalties on the “disfavored” position.  The court also held that the Baltimore law failed this test, because the sign requirement was imposed only on those centers that opposed abortion.
  • Bogus Factual Premise — To enact a law that infringes upon someone’s First Amendment rights, the government must show that there is a compelling state interest.  The alleged interest behind these laws is the notion, promoted by abortion proponents, that pregnancy centers routinely lie and distort facts.  The court found that the Baltimore law failed this test too, because the pro-abortion side had failed to present any convincing evidence of systematic deceptive practices that could not be addressed by other means (e.g., false advertising laws).

    • This court victory is not just significant for Baltimore, but for all pro-lifers across the nation, particularly here in New York.  That Baltimore law was part of a nation-wide strategy by pro-abortion forces and the abortion industry.  We are currently facing a similar bill here in the New York City Council, Intro 371.

    The essential structure and premise of New York’s Intro 371 is identical to the Baltimore law:  sign and disclaimer requirements compelling speech by pregnancy centers that do not promote abortion, a lack of viewpoint neutrality that is designed to “disfavor” only those centers that do not promote abortion, and a complete lack of any proof that there is a pattern of systematic — or any — deception being practiced by these centers here in New York.

    And so, the Federal District Court has posed a serious question to the New York City Council:  Will you persist in passing a law that you now know to be unconstitutional?

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    Posted in Abortion, Legislation, New York City Council | 1 Comment »

    “Legal and Safe” Is a Damnable Lie

    Thursday, January 20th, 2011

    The mantra of the self-styled “pro-choice” politician is that they want abortion to be “safe, legal and rare”.  We saw new evidence at the recent press conference that “rare” is a lie, since 41% of all New York City pregnancies end in abortion.

    Now, we have yet more proof that it is a damnable lie to say that “legal” abortion is “safe”.

    In one of the most horrific news stories I have ever seen — and I have a very strong stomach — it has been revealed that a Philadelphia abortionist outright murdered a mother on the operating table, and murdered at least 7 babies who had been born alive during the course of an abortion.  The account of the conditions in his abortion clinic are staggering — disgustingly unsanitary, barbaric beyond words.  The details of this story are not for the faint at heart.

    What is most infuriating, though, is that the government of Philadelphia knew about this and did nothing.  Repeated complaints were ignored.  Public health authorities hadn’t inspected the place in eighteen years.

    As the news story says, “The inspections stopped completely in 1993 because of what prosecutors said was the pro-abortion rights attitude that set in after Democratic Gov. Robert Casey, an abortion foe, left office”.

    Read that sentence again, and weep with anger and frustration.

    Then ask yourself, why would we think that New York is any different?

    Nobody has any way of knowing whether we have among us another “house of horrors” like the Philadelphia abattoir.  There are dozens of unlicensed store-front abortion clinics in New York City preying upon the poor and immigrants.  Everyone in New York City government, so many of whom like to tout how “pro-choice” they are, looks the other way.  No mayor, City Council Speaker, Health Commissioner, Public Advocate, or District Attorney has ever — ever — conducted a systematic investigation of these places.  No “pro-choice” organization has ever — ever — called for the elimination of these unlicensed holes.  No medical association has ever — ever — called for the prosecution of the monsters in their profession.

    Maybe our Health Department and City Council, instead of targeting pregnancy support centers, could turn their attention to doing their job and protecting the public from unlicensed abortionists who abuse and lie to their patients and murder babies.   (Not that the slaughter that goes on in licensed clinics is any better — no abortion clinic is “safe” for unborn babies.)

    Or, maybe the “pro-abortion attitude” that prevails here will continue until we are horrified by a discovery, on our own doorstep, that “legal and safe” is a lie.  Always has been, always will be.

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    Posted in Abortion, Cult of Moloch | 2 Comments »

    A Call to Action

    Monday, January 10th, 2011

    Last week, a very important press conference took place, in response to the recent release of statistics on abortion in New York City.

    Anyone with a conscience should be shocked by the horrifying numbers in the report:

  • 41% of all pregnancies in New York City ended in abortion — 87,273 abortions;
  • In the Bronx, 48% of all pregnancies ended in abortion;
  • 60% of African American pregnancies ended in abortion;
  • Among Blacks, there are far more abortions  than live births — for every 1,000 live births, there are 1,489 abortions;
  • Among teens of all other ethnic groups, for every 1,000 live births, there are 1,288 abortions;
  • This is not just an issue with teen pregnancy — 54% of abortions were with mothers in their 20′s, 30% were with mothers in their 30′s or 40′s;

    • These statistics were analyzed by the Chiaroscuro Foundation, a private group that has committed to working to support pro-life initiatives, particularly pregnancy support efforts. They have set up a website, NYC 41 Percent, to publicize this effort.

    The press conference was most significant because it called together a group of interfaith leaders — Catholics, Protestants, Jews, whites, blacks and Hispanics — who all pledged to work to offer pregnant women real choices.

    For his part, Archbishop Dolan re-issued Cardinal O’Connor’s famous pledge to offer support to any pregnant woman in need.  For his remarks at the press conference, see here.

    Catholic Charities is already doing a great deal to fulfill that pledge, and the Sisters of Life do heroic work to help pregnant women and those who have already given birth.  The various pregnancy support centers in the City, and many faith communities are working miracles.  These efforts are certainly worthy of support.

    But they’re not enough.  More must be done.

    At Mass I attended this morning, the celebrant read the Archbishop’s press conference statement in his homily, and called to mind a story from his earlier days as a construction worker.  When things were slow, and the workers were idle, the foreman would tell them, “This isn’t a spectator sport”.

    Just so.  Preventing abortions is not a spectator sport.  The decision to have an abortion, all too often, is made by a woman who feels afraid and isolated, with nobody to support or help her.  That means that all of us, in our families, parishes, and communities, can prevent abortions by giving practical and emotional support to the women in our lives.  No woman should ever go to an abortion clinic because she feels alone.

    That’s a call to action for us all.

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    Posted in Abortion, Discipleship, Pro-Life, Sisters of Life | 2 Comments »

    There Has to Be A Record

    Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

    We only know about because St. Matthew remembered it, and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote it down for the record.  If not for that, it would have been lost, and nobody would have known what actually went on there.

    “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.” (Mt. 2:16)

    Nobody knows their names, those Holy Innocents who were massacred so that a corrupt king could retain the worldly trappings of power and luxury.  Nobody knows the grief felt by their families.  Nobody can measure the effects of the tragedy.

    But there is a record.  We know what happened.  The world will not forget them.  We understand why they were killed, these first martyrs.

    One of the dangers in our modern information-drenched world is that key facts, essential events, are too easily lost in the fog of meaningless data.  Too often it seems that there’s just too much out there for people to comprehend all the important things that are going on.  Ironically, it’s as easy as ever for people to offer the excuse — “we didn’t know what was actually going on.”

    Thanks to St. Matthew, we don’t have that excuse when it comes to the Holy Innocents.  We know what happened, and why.

    And, in the same way, a sacred obligation has fallen on us to make sure that the stories of the modern-day Innocents are told.

    The world increasingly wants us pro-lifers to sit down and be quiet, to allow business as usual to go on unimpeded by awkward questions about abortion and euthanasia.  Ambitious and value-free politicians call for a “moratorium” on discussions about “social issues” so that money and power can be divided up.

    “There has to be a record,” wrote the late J.P. McFadden, the great founder of the indispensable Human Life Review.  “No one should be able to say, whatever happens, that they didn’t know what’s actually going on here.”

    I’ve recently been reading through a book published by the Human Life Review, entitled The Debate Since Roe: Making the Case Against Abortion 1975-2010.  It should be required reading for anyone who wishes to serve in public office or comment on public affairs.

    It preserves the record of how we’ve gotten to where we are today — how our culture has tried to suppress the truth, to ignore the voices of the Innocents, to send them down the “memory hole”.  But it also tells of the heroic efforts of many others who refuse to allow the record to be erased, who refuse to allow these lost children to be forgotten.

    Generations to come will look back on this age and be astonished that we permitted the slaughter of millions of innocent children.  But the only reason they will know about it is that there is a record.

    Nobody will be able to say that they don’t know what’s actually going on here.

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    Posted in Abortion, Pro-Life | Comments Off

    Here’s How a Miracle Happens

    Monday, December 13th, 2010

    In my previous post, I described how some of the men at the Witness for Life were used as an instrument by God to stand with a man who was trying to bring his niece out of the abortion clinic.

    Here are some of the details of how that actually happened, from an email that was sent to me by one of my brother Knights of Columbus, who was one of the sidewalk counselors:

    I asked him to try to get his niece to come out and talk to us and the Sisters.  I told him that I would kneel in prayer on the street until she came out.  She did come out but went back inside quickly.  He mentioned this to the Sisters later in the morning that this had impacted him – he actually took the kneeling as a sacrifice for him personally and a sign of commitment, that we were doing something for him personally.  He said this strengthened him.

    I told him that every man praying on that street was ready to lay down their lives (a la St. John’s Gospel) for his niece (I guess I should check in with you guys about that next time!).

    We talked about how true love always involves sacrifice and I told him (what I try to say to every mom walking in a clinic) that his niece and her baby would change the world — maybe in a big way and maybe in a small way but that their lives would impact someone just like his life has impacted so many.

    Sr. Joan talked about the Visitation Mission and how they actually would walk hand in hand with his niece.  I also mentioned that we would be delivering formula to a mom in need later that morning — I wanted him to know that we were here for the duration and that we would do what is necessary.  He stepped back and got misty eyed.

    The real work in getting this young lady to choose life was done by her uncle.  It was he who put the Holy Rosary around his neck for strength.  It was he who spoke to his mother, who had taken the young lady into the clinic, and turned her around by asking her if she would have chosen to abort him.  It was he who kept calling his niece until her heart softened and she came back out.  It was he who was confident that he and his wife — who had been hoping to have more children in their marriage — would be able to help raise this new baby.  It took hours for all this to happen, and his perseverance was heroic.

    But this miracle was a team effort.  Guardian angels and patron saints were all doing their part on the spiritual plane.  The Holy Spirit was working in overdrive.  The sidewalk counselors, the prayer warriors, and the Sisters were all there to help one solitary man prove to a scared young woman that life was the right choice, that hope and love were stronger than fear.

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    Posted in Abortion, Discipleship, Manliness | 1 Comment »

    When Men Stand by the Lord at Calvary

    Saturday, December 11th, 2010

    We all remember how the original story went.  All the men, save one, abandoned our Lord at Calvary.  Only St. John, and the few loyal women, stood by Him in that place of death.

    Sadly, the same story is re-enacted on a regular basis at the modern-day Calvary, the places of death we know as abortion clinics.

    Every month, there is a Witness for Life at the Temple of Moloch in lower Manhattan, er, I mean the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.  It is very sad to watch the young women enter that place of death.  And it is heartbreaking to see men drop them off and walk away, leaving them alone at Calvary.

    We typically hear from the pro-choice crowd that abortion is a women’s issue and that men should butt out.  This is the script that’s being fed to them by the Evil One.  In reality, abortion is a man’s issue, because in many ways it is the consequence of the abdication of male responsibility.  If only men would be who they are called to be, and reject sexual irresponsibility, parental irresponsibility, and fraternal irresponsibility, abortion would be unthinkable — a pregnant woman could be certain that the men in her life would stand behind her, no matter how difficult the circumstances.

    This is why a strong male presence at the Witness for Life is so important.  When men stand by the Lord at that little Calvary, they give an example of authentic masculinity to the frightened women who come there.

    They also can be the catalyst for miracles.  Today, we saw one.

    The Witness was difficult this Saturday.  It was very cold, and we were heckled in a very nasty way by several passers-by.  But the prayers continued to rise to heaven.

    Our sidewalk counselors were all male today — the men of the Pro-Bikers for Life, and one of my brother Knights of Columbus.  As time went by, they noticed one man who was in a parked car, and who was visibly upset.  They approached him, and it turned out that his 16-year-old niece was in the clinic and was about to have an abortion.  He didn’t want it to happen, and he kept on calling her to convince her to come out.

    The prayer warriors kicked into high gear, and the men stood with the girl’s uncle, supporting him and giving him strength.  A powerful spiritual struggle was taking place.

    At the conclusion of the Witness, we processed back to Old St. Patrick’s for Benediction, but the sidewalk counselors and a few of the Sisters of Life remained behind at Calvary, standing watch and praying for that young woman to come out of the place of death.

    Eventually she emerged, having decided not to have the abortion.  God is truly great — all glory to His Holy Name.

    Her struggle is not over, of course, and she will need a great deal of support.  The Sisters will be there to help her, and I’m sure that her uncle will be there too.

    We were privileged to see a great miracle today, and we stand in awe of God’s goodness.  Truly, wonderful things can happen when men stand by the Lord at Calvary.

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    Posted in Abortion, Discipleship, Manliness, Pro-Life | 1 Comment »

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