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Don't Get Casual About the Sin of Abortion, Archbishop Carlson Warns

By Joshua Mercer 

Speaking recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declared that abortions would continue with the full protection of the law, as the Supreme Court would never overturn Roe v. Wade.

Her reasoning?

“Over a generation of young women have grown up, understanding they can control their own reproductive capacity, and in fact their life’s destiny,” Ginsburg said. “We will never go back to the way it once was.”

“If people realize that, maybe they will have a different attitude,” she continued.

With such intransigence, it’s tempting for pro-life people to get discouraged. After all, each year means another million more young children will die from abortion. Not to mention the tears from mothers who mourn the loss of their own child. Others may be tempted to become apathetic, accepting Ginsberg’s premise that no matter what our pro-life efforts entail, the legacy of Roe will remain unmoved.

In politics, we often see a similar strain of such apathy when we are told that there are always more pressing matters than protecting the lives of the unborn, whether health care, the economy or immigration. All these are important of course, but more important than life?

Archbishop Robert Carlson of Saint Louis addressed this attitude in his recent column for his archdiocese’s newspaper, lamenting those “who are casual about the sin of abortion and who choose to view it as a political issue rather than the serious moral issue that it is.

Archbishop Carlson defines this important debate in morality, not merely in politics. This is a critical distinction. That doesn’t mean that politics shouldn’t be involved or that politics isn’t important. Far from it. Serious questions of morality are at the center of our political debates.

What Archbishop Carlson is saying is that abortion isn’t only a political question. Public transportation and energy policy are of course important concerns for our legislators. But deciding who should live or who should die is far more consequential. You can disagree on what’s the best transportation policy, but abortion must always be opposed.

Several recent polls have shown a positive shift in the number of Americans calling themselves pro-life. In 2009, Gallup found that pro-lifers had surpassed those who describe themselves as pro-choice for the first time since 1995.
So why is progress slow in bringing justice to our youngest brothers and sisters?

Archbishop Carlson’s warnings against becoming “casual about the sin of abortion” cut to the core of our battle to save unborn children.

Telling a pollster that you’re pro-life is easy. But do you pray and fast for these children? Do you volunteer or sponsor a local crisis pregnancy center on the front lines helping mothers in need? Have you made a vow to never vote for a politician who would protect this horrific practice?
The response to apathy is prayer and a renewed commitment to ensure that our littlest brothers and sisters are protected in law.

There are too many Christians today who think of the debate of unborn children like a political football. But it isn’t that. We mustn’t ever think of it like that. Abortion is a sin. It takes the life of someone created by God. Those who protect this barbarism in law are committing an injustice. If you believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you simply cannot be indifferent to this outrage.

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The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Headline Bistro or the Knights of Columbus.