It would be easy, knowing that I have taken an oath of fidelity to the teaching authority of the Church on three separate occasions, to say that obviously I have to oppose the legal protection for abortion because I’ve taken vows, and I’d get in trouble otherwise,
and so on and so forth. It’s certainly true that I wouldn’t have any integrity if I insisted on picking and choosing what teachings I want to believe and which ones I’d rather ignore, seeing as I’ve taken all those oaths, and will soon take it again when I assume responsibility for another parish. But especially in this case, we find a place where my
oaths and my strongest personal convictions dovetail into the deep-seated belief that if we cannot protect and promote the fundamental right to life for the most defenseless in our society, then our entire understanding of human dignity and civic responsibility is irrevocably broken.

There has been, and will no doubt continue to  be, much upheaval over the recent leak from the Supreme Court indicating that Roe v. Wade and the unprecedented access to abortion allowed in the United States may soon be overturned. If one thought before that political discourse was heated, fruitless, and hostile, it seems we are destined for new heights in those regards. Of course, such is to be expected when an issue touches on the very touchstone of fundamental human rights and is seen to be a conflict between two things that people feel very strongly over: life and freedom.
 
I am not naïve enough to believe that people are going to read this column and fundamentally alter their position on abortion. But I would like to at least put out there a few small pieces that might get lost in the vitriol coursing through the American system right now. First, while many will read the end of complete and total abortion freedoms as a direct attack on the health and safety of women in which the Church is complicit, this fearmongering often misrepresents where the Church falls on such important issues. It is correct that the Church is completely and totally opposed to abortion. It is not correct to say that the Church wants to see vulnerable and scared mothers indicted or punished for procuring abortion. The majority of the culpability in such cases lies on both the
professionals who perform such procedures and the individuals and societies that pressure women into feeling as though there are no other options. Second, there is already discussion about how the Church and pro-life individuals are comfortable
with the death or physical harm of women with difficult or even deadly conditions associated with pregnancy. In actuality, there are provisions in Catholic Medical Bioethics that allow for procedures like salpingectomies when an ectopic pregnancy threatens the life of a mother. To pretend that the Church does not understand the difference between a directly intended termination of a pregnancy and a medical procedure to save the life of the mother that foreseeably, but unintentionally, takes the life of a child, is to be willfully ignorant.
 
Finally, there are many voices out there right now who are arguing that the Church and the pro-life movement only care about life until birth, and then don’t care at all about the support of vulnerable moms and their babies. I have no doubt that in some cases, that is correct. However, my experience in the many communities of faith that I have known is that faithful Catholics are more generous than one could possibly imagine in caring for life. Whether it’s through adoption, foster care, volunteering, or doing whatever they can to help a family in need, I have been blessed to know so many families who lived their pro-life values through immense sacrifice.  To those who have stepped up in that regard, thank you on behalf of the Church. To those who hold such convictions but have not yet discerned how God might be calling you to demonstrate love in action: prove them wrong. Make it impossible for people to say that our parishes don’t care when it comes to supporting poor moms in difficult situations. Set up a recurring donation of supplies to a pregnancy center. Find individual families who need help.  Make the sacrifices that you know Our Lord would call upon you to make if He were speaking directly  to us, and help us make our parish family the kind   of place that brings comfort to the struggling, and shows Jesus to the world through our actions.