With much embarrassment I watched the recent episode that most of us know about how students from Franciscan University lifted a sign reading “Abortion kills children” in the middle of a speech given by Bill Clinton. We all know what happened afterwards. The discussion got heated between the students and Clinton. I don’t care for Bill Clinton and the point of this post is not to attack nor defend him, simply because he is not Catholic and he is not part of the “pro-life” movement. “Why embarrassment?” some of you may ask. It is embarrassing to see how some individuals in the pro-life movement have become this militant to the point of reducing the pro-life stance to mere activism. How is this kind of sabotage done by these college students any different than what a student did to John Kerry not too long ago? How many people did these “pro-life” students convince by raising the sign? I am sorry to say this, but these students embarrassed themselves and they do more harm than good within the pro-life movement.
More self-defeating strategies
Just as embarrassing is what a “pro-lifer” associated with Operation Rescue did during a Giuliani speech. He interrupted Giuliani by yelling “This man is a baby killer! An abortionist!” This same group of “pro-lifers” was arrested for trespassing private property while trying to attend a Giuliani speech and for some strange reason they take pride in this incident. They did not get arrested because they were protesting against abortion or against Giuliani. They were arrested for trespassing private property. It is as simple as that. Anti-war activists are also arrested for trespassing or for demonstrating without a permit. So what did this “pro-life” group accomplish? How many hearts and minds did they change? Did the pro-life movement suddenly become more credible because they were arrested?
This same group of “pro-life” workers was arrested for distributing fliers at a Florida Cathedral after the Diocese had issued several warnings. At first glance, this seems really odd and rather unfair. Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, was puzzled as to why they were arrested. If you go beyond the headline you will see what the flier was really about—in Terry’s own words:
“The piece was intended to be incendiary and basically a satire. It featured a fictitious candidate named Smith who espouses owning blacks. Halfway through the six-page flyer the reader learns racist slant of the flier was a joke. It intended to establish that, as a Christian, a person can’t support a candidate who supports abortion any more than one who supports slavery.”
The flier is self-defeating. This is exactly what I’m referring to. It does not speak of how noble the pro-life cause or about the need to recognize the personhood of the embryo among many of the important issues that need to be addressed. No. It is mere activism that has lost its essence and its purpose.
Not of this world
Folks, the pro-life or pro-person movement is not of this world, simply put. Just as secular social justice is different than performing the corporal works of mercy, so is the pro-life movement different from any kind of shallow activism. We are not going to defeat abortion by confronting the issue militantly. We transform the world with love. We become credible people through our actions. We are not going to overturn Roe v. Wade by holding “Abortion kills children” signs, because the truth of the matter is that the solution is not in our own hands only. We are interdependent and we rely on others to come to solutions when it comes down to policies and laws. At the end of the day we are going to have to sit down with people like Bill Clinton and try to figure out how we outlaw abortion altogether or at least minimize the number.
The good side
There are good efforts in the pro-life movement, nonetheless, that need to be recognized, because these folks and incidents I have mentioned above do not represent the totality of the movement. Locally, we have groups of people who pray in front of the abortion mills–initiatives such as 40 Days for Life. I am part of the Respect Life group of our archdiocese, also called Gabriel Project, dedicated to provide resources for young pregnant women so they can learn more about their baby and how to take care of him or her and, hopefully, change their minds if they were thinking of having an abortion. Pro-life rallies are also good—I am not claiming they are not. We simply cannot forget our purpose and our mission. We are only the messengers carrying the message of truth, but that truth is above ourselves. The truth about our nature and our dignity comes from above and our role is just to spread it to all. This should make us humble and the pro-life movement humble as well. It is through humility and love that we can transform the world and open its eyes to see life beginning at conception. We do not spread the truth that comes from above through worldly means and this is what I personally believe has happened in some efforts pursued by the pro-life movement: they have become too worldly and, hence, less credible.
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