Changing the National Mindset on Abortion

Michie · Oct 6, 2024

COMMENTARY: As Ryan Anderson puts it, ‘Marriage is the best protector of unborn human life.’

October is Respect Life Month, and Oct. 6 is Respect Life Sunday.

In anticipation of both, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities published a statement in which he soberly stated:

“We thankfully no longer live under the regime of Roe v. Wade, and our elected officials are now empowered to reduce or end abortion. But what we now see is that fifty years of virtually unlimited abortion has tragically created a national mindset where many Americans have become comfortable with some amount of abortion. This allows the abortion industry to continue to provide any amount of abortion. Given this challenge, the U.S. bishops have affirmed that, while it is important to address all the ways in which human life is threatened, ‘abortion remains our pre-eminent priority as it directly attacks our most vulnerable brothers and sisters, destroying more than a million lives each year in our country alone.’”

Noting the many candidates for elected office for whom the destruction of innocent human life in the womb is their major campaign emphasis, he added:

“Abortion has become the pre-eminent priority for others as well. We see many politicians celebrating the destruction of preborn children, and protecting access to abortion, even up until the moment of birth. Few leaders are standing up to limit the harm of chemical abortion (abortion pills) to mothers and children, which is now the most common form of abortion. And heading into the November elections, as many as ten states face gravely evil ballot initiatives that would enshrine abortion in their state constitutions.”

Bishop Burbidge urged all Catholics to join in a “concerted month of prayer” from the beginning of October through the Nov. 5 elections and to renew their commitments to work for the legal protection of innocent human life, vote for candidates who will defend the life and dignity of every human person, call for policies that assist women and children in need, assist in the Church’s Walking With Moms in Need parish initiative, and extend a merciful hand, like through Project Rachel, to all those suffering from participation in abortion.

Continued below.