What it Means to Be Pro-life

To be pro-life, one must advocate for the invisible.

Who are the invisible?

They are the vulnerable. They are the powerless. They are the voiceless. They are the ignored. They are the defenseless.  They are the un-useful.  They are the incomeless.  They are the sick.  They are the not likely to get awards.  They are the not popular. They are the weak.

This listing would include but not be limited to: the homeless, the mentally disabled, the physically confined, the addicted, those suffering from mental illnesses, those suffering from physical illnesses, those lacking support at home, the abused, the neglected, the undereducated, the unborn, the elderly, the unemployed, the underemployed, the uninsured, the underinsured, the abandoned, the imprisoned, the despairing, the hungry, the lonely, the dismissed, the pregnant, the lost, the used, the  unpopular, the unnoticed, the unacceptable.

The reality is, to be pro-life always means self sacrifice, not telling others what they must surrender.

So we must be pro-person over professional.
We must be pro-person over profit.
We must be pro-person over political.
We must be pro-person over permits.
We must be pro-person over prejudices.
Pro-life does not consider the economic, academic, political, personal, past, present or future as determinative of being preserved –pro-life means valuing the person because they are, not because of what they’ve done or will become or have been.   Pro-life to be consistent, must embrace the whole reality –that is, treating each person as always someone to be loved, never to be used, and never to be defined by use.    Pro-life is love and love is NEVER transactional.  It is a gift freely offered, always extended, never to be rescinded.

Saint Therese of Lisieux understood that love in the little things, reveals greater love –and to love those that annoy us, is a form of sublimation of the self.   We are called to love those we encounter. God allows us to encounter many we are to love, so we will learn, yes, we are to love even this one, until we stop asking, even this one, because we understand, the answer is always, yes.

In every circumstance where we can offer to give, to serve, or to love more, to be pro-life is to say “Yes.”