The mainstream media are trying to cast pro-lifers as the big losers in the 2008 election.Granted, the most pro-abortion Presidential candidate in history won the White House. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion operation, boosted its support in Congress. And pro-life ballot issues in three different states went down to defeat.
In fact, you can even find reference in cyberspace to the pro-life movement being dead.
Some media "experts" are suggesting that the pro-life movement has to give up the goal of making abortion illegal. Outlawing abortion "can't be done" is the media rallying cry.
But the fact that abortions are legal in the U.S. is not inconsequential. In his book, "Friendship: The Art of Happiness," Dr. John Cuddeback writes, "One of the most serious ways in which the flaws of a civil society are manifested is in its laws." He adds that, "Since it speaks of the judgment of the community regarding right and wrong in action, it has a formative effect on the judgment of citizens regarding right and wrong."
Cuddeback points out that philosophers have long spoken of the teaching value of the law. In a society with a bad law, youth, in particular, can become corrupted.
Abortion-on-demand teaches young people that they should strive for convenience at all costs. It instills the frightening idea that killing is an acceptable solution to both personal and social problems. It teaches them that a child's value is less than dirt and that women are to be used, discarded, and their offspring are to be eliminated. It shatters the heart, darkens the soul, and coarsens society.
As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops states in its brochure, "A People of Life," "The Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion--Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton--must be reversed."
No matter how long it takes.
But, I hope, sooner than we could ever expect.
By Maria Vitale, Education Director PA Pro-Life Federation
