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Editor’s note: The letter below was written by a Catholic grandfather. He writes: “After viewing the movie Unplanned last weekend, I wrote a letter to my children and their respective spouses about the evils of abortion.” Paul’s first letter to his children can be viewed here.

April 10, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Dear Children,

“Bury the rag deep in your face, For now’s the time for your tears.” As Bob Dylan so poignantly closed one of his early classics, these powerful lines are equally applicable to our culture’s embrace of abortion.

Mom and I went to see “Unplanned” two weeks ago, a movie based on the true story of Abby Johnson, a woman with a history of two abortions who becomes a celebrated Planned Parenthood official and then evolves into an anti-abortion activist. It inspired this truly unplanned and spontaneous second letter. If you believe in abortion, the story will shake your convictions. Go see the movie. Test your beliefs. Send me the bill, including the cost of dinner and a sitter.

Not that many years ago I supported a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. It was a cowardly compromise. I had been effectively silenced by the false premise that “It’s her body so it’s the woman’s choice.” In retrospect I did not want to recognize the obvious fallacy of that statement and the underlying evil that serves as the foundation of the pro-choice movement.

However, a beautiful and loving and joyful woman, your Mom, who discerns good from evil with a keen eye and impeccable moral judgment, and possesses the wisdom of Solomon, patiently and humbly helped me to see clearly the fundamental truth of abortion.

Mom and I are now fully united on that issue. Abortion is pure evil. There is no middle ground. We must be willing to speak boldly and fearlessly the truth that is in our hearts, and listen attentively to the voice of our conscience. Please carefully read and ponder these words.

Abortion is a modern plague on our secular culture. It is our own generations’ holocaust. If our shared Judeo-Christian culture is to survive and flourish and reclaim the moral high ground, it must first shake off this current culture of death. It must end the worship of abortion, the sacrilegious sacrament of the progressive left.

The Woman’s Right to Choose vs. The Baby’s Right to Life

Unarguably, the woman does have a choice, just not the one widely proclaimed by the pro-choice crowd. Let us be honest. The actual choice a woman faces is whether or not to become sexually active and risk pregnancy. Clearly, that decision is her choice, and her choice alone.

Pregnancy unalterably changes the dynamic. It marks the end of the self-centered and independent “choice” of the woman. Two human beings are now intimately linked, one completely dependent upon the other. For the mother, the pregnancy is the beginning of a sacred personal and societal responsibility to care for the most vulnerable, the tiny baby in her womb. The mother does not have the right to choose to destroy the baby. No one has that right.

Although it is the woman’s body, that obvious biological fact does not trump a second biological fact and profound moral truth. Within the woman’s naturally nourishing and receptive womb, another human being, a true gift from God created in His image and likeness, is alive and developing. That defenseless and totally dependent baby is morally entitled to unconditional maternal and paternal love and protection. More importantly, from the moment of conception, that baby inherently possesses the inalienable God-given right to life.

Lies and Shared Guilt

During the past fifty years, our culture has been deliberately misled about the truth of abortion. Among the false prophets who spread the lies are disingenuous religious charlatans who play loosely with the truth to maintain people in the pews and dollars in the basket; crass politicians who seek power, cavalierly trading the lives of babies for the votes of their mothers and fathers; an amoral media that peddles the story that all is well in the culture; a circus of immoral and sanctimonious Hollywood celebrities who claim sole ownership of the truth, yet often model behavior that more closely resembles the values of Satan; a political party that uniformly and vehemently resists any restrictions on abortion; Planned Parenthood, the premier abortion provider in our country; and Margaret Sanger, founder of the forerunner to Planned Parenthood, who was an enthusiastic supporter of eugenics. Arrayed against this vast army of cultural, social, financial, and political forces is one simple but timeless truth. Abortion is the murder of the unborn.

Many share in the guilt. Yet all wash their hands. No one takes responsibility. All proclaim their innocence. No law is broken. The business model is very profitable. Body parts may also be surreptitiously sold. Generous salaries and bonuses are awarded. Why complain?

Abortions are frequently done on mid- to late teens and young adults. Unmarried, frightened, confused, and sometimes abused, these women face an immense moral crisis often alone and abandoned. They are betrayed by the lies and deception of the baby’s father and Planned Parenthood; the false idols of a hook-up mentality, free sex, behavior without consequences, and individual freedom without personal responsibility; the anonymous physician who performs the procedure; the medical establishment, which trains, supplies, and encourages the physicians who routinely sacrifice defenseless and innocent infants on the bloodstained altar of the pro-choice movement; and, not to be forgotten, the seven Supreme Court Justices who, by a single vote in 1973, plunged this country into moral darkness. All are guilty co-conspirators.

As we all have our own faults and sins, we do not and will not attempt to judge any mother who has endured an abortion. No stones will be cast. Judgment is best reserved for God. Mom and I feel only merciful and loving to these women.

Denial and the Reality of Abortion. The Death of a Baby

Allow me to describe a typical and realistic scenario. The abortion is successfully performed. The problem has been eliminated. Another minority infant never to be born. The mother walks slowly away, much older and empty. Rarely to speak about it again. The physician simply re-gloves. The job done. Almost immediately ready for the next case. Easy money.

Dispassionately, the nurse calmly announces, “Who’s next?” A few minutes later, in a whisper, the same nurse answers the usual questions. “It will be all over in a few minutes. No, it will not feel any pain. It is just a clump of cells. Yes, you will back to normal in the morning.” Reassured, the young mother nods her head. She ignores the uneasy feeling and the emerging pangs-of-conscience. Within that facility, denial of the truth reigns supreme. Outside, a hard rain falls. Across the street, a few middle-aged witnesses silently weep and pray.

Separated and torn, body parts and limbs are counted and then unceremoniously dumped into a waste disposal container. The once intact and living baby is now dead. Without even an audible whimper and overmatched in the fight, a precious God-given life has been quickly and prematurely extinguished. This is the unvarnished truth of abortion. Is this what we want?

The Need for Prayer and Mercy. Sixty Million Reasons

We pray for the mothers who have suffered abortions and their lost children and encourage you to do likewise. To paraphrase John Lennon, imagine if you can sixty million “disappeared” infants. A Silent Scream. Repeated over and over again. Unceasing. One at a time, day after day, year after year. Probably at this very moment. 60,000,000! True Holy Innocents.

Do not forget the suffering mothers. She may be your next door neighbor, the casual acquaintance you bump into at the grocery store, someone who sits across from you in church, or a member of your own family. Millions upon millions of women walk among us daily, outwardly appearing normal, but bearing an invisible, yet very real, open and grievous wound. The infant may be physically crushed and extracted from the body but the mother's memory of that tiny baby agonizingly lingers.

An indelible imprint of the baby has been stamped into the very essence of the mother. She is a recipient of some of the baby's DNA. It is forever a part of her. Denial may obscure and the passage of time may cloud but neither has the power to erase the painful memory or remove that DNA. Fervently pray that the mother seeks and finds true solace and healing, attainable only through the grace and mercy of God's love.

But prayer alone is not sufficient. Identify and support organizations in your community that offer comfort, financial assistance, and guidance on options other than abortion to frightened and confused mothers with an unwanted pregnancy, or offer non-judgmental love and a healing environment to those women who have already suffered an abortion.

Recall the recent beautiful Gospel message of The Prodigal Son. Mom and I want these mothers to know that God is all-forgiving and loves them. When they step back from the edge of the abyss and return home, similar to the Prodigal Son, the All-Merciful God will joyfully welcome them back into His Fatherly arms.

Do not be silent. Pray daily. Speak fearlessly. Actively engage in the spiritual battle with our secular culture. Courageously teach your children the truth about the evil of abortion. Resist the temptation to ignore natural law and to water down the moral absolutes of our Catholic Faith.

Reminder to differentiate the individual from the evil behavior. Always follow the model that Jesus Christ taught us. Love the sinner but hate the sin. Act boldly but with love and mercy. Lend your voice to the chorus that demands an end to the moral abomination called abortion.

The Never-Ending Role of a Catholic Parent

You will always be your children's parent. As you quickly realized once you had children, a parent’s job never ends. When you reach your sixties and seventies, however, you will more fully appreciate and grasp that fact. With the passage of time, it does not get any easier for the parent, only different.

Aging neither ends nor diminishes but simply changes my duties as your father. Parental focus gradually evolves to much larger and more important issues like the spiritual health of the soul, family prayer, devout practice of our shared Catholic Faith, and eternal salvation for your children and grandchildren.

It remains my responsibility to serve as an ideal Catholic role model for you to emulate, as my father (Grandad) was for me. It is also my duty to offer you specific guidance on critically important moral issues. I take these responsibilities seriously. Along with my biggest supporter and beautiful spouse, Mom, we are determined to serve as a moral compass to guide you on the pathway to heaven. We are hopeful that we will all gather there someday.

To the best of my human ability, I am striving every day to be more like Grandad. What an example he was for all of us. Forgive me when I falter. This letter, as well as the earlier one, is an effort to fulfill my parental obligations to provide moral instruction. Please accept this message in the spirit of fatherly love in which it is humbly offered.

You are always in our prayers. May God protect and guide you and your children all the days of your life.

I love you,

Dad