This is long. I am concerned about how poorly sound bites and slogans have served us in recent years.
Wednesday is a big day for the United States, as January 20 is every four years. It will be followed two days later by a national day of prayer and penance for intention of the “Legal Protection of Unborn Children.”
48 years ago (when I was in high school!!!) it made sense to assume that laws could fix what a judicial ruling—in effect—broke. Thus began the long, intense effort to “overturn Roe vs. Wade” primarily by law.
Ultrasound laws alone have saved countless lives. Laws protecting women from unscrupulous medical providers, from unsanitary conditions and from fraud should be unquestionable, and yet it has been difficult to rein in abominable violations, and efforts to pursue violators have been consistently half-hearted. Laws mandating reporting statutory rape, enslavement [a.k.a. prostitution], and a whole raft of horrific offences are absolutely necessary—but also sadly hard to enforce, and are particularly vulnerable in the face of an unwilling administration.
It's not that laws don't work. Laws have their place, but they are not the real answer. Laws can be broken, revoked, stricken from the books, ignored.
With little to hope for from the political party taking back the White House in the way of “favorable” laws, executive orders, or judicial appointments, traditional pro-life voters (and movements) have an opportunity to re-assess the strategies of the past five decades. It’s possible that something better is at hand. Better, but “unplanned.”
Two generations after Roe vs. Wade, scientific-technical progress and cultural shifts have changed the landscape profoundly. And while the term “pro-life” remains sacrosanct to many, for millions of others it has been desecrated, cynically co-opted by politicians. The deeply human values that are at stake have been all but lost from view.
It doesn’t matter that pro-lifers staff thousands of women’s centers, provide pregnancy testing and ultrasounds, give medical reference (and in some cases, on-site pre-natal care), provide emergency assistance, run job-training programs, help women apply for WIC or medical coverage, or provide food, clothing, diapers, and other child-care essentials for needy families. In a media-driven world, such quiet, everyday acts do not offer enough of an impact to offset the damage done by the harsh rhetoric and calculated manipulations of partisan politics.
The past two weeks have given us much to think about in this regard. It can happen that stressing one core value (and, truly, there is no higher earthly value than human life) can lead some hearers to believe that one might be willing to do anything, or sacrifice anything, in order to secure it.
At this point, I think it is time to recognize that court cases about abortion law may have become a distraction. They take years to determine, but laws cannot keep up with developments in the life sciences and technology. Or media.
Challenges to life are not limited to surgical abortion. 2020 gave stark evidence of the scant respect for the lives of nursing home residents and of the severely disabled whose lives weren’t considered worth living—or saving—according to “able-bodied” standards. The death of George Floyd (over an allegation of a counterfeit $20) led many Black Americans to cry out powerfully to society, “Respect life!”: their lives. In overcrowded prisons (many of them operated by profit-making corporations under government contracts), inmates with Covid-19 were not quarantined, but kept with the general population. Asylum seekers with impeccable documentation have been deported, brought to the airport in chains. In recent weeks, the U.S. Government has executed persons with demonstrable intellectual disabilities and/or mental illness. Abortions are up, too, but 60% of abortions done in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy do not involve surgery at all: They are done by pills.
These are all offenses against life. And that’s without even touching on the tragedies of suicide and drug overdoses that have skyrocketed during the pandemic.
Pope Francis’ theme for the 2021 World Day of Peace could not be more timely: A Culture of Care as a Path to Peace. The whole document (seven pages and some footnotes) is addressed to world leaders, Church leaders, and people of good will. It’s worth reading, of course, but I want to just zero in on that pivotal idea of a “culture of care.” I think the Pope is saying something there that we can all work with. Laws can’t transform society into something truly human, a place worth living in. For that we need ethical people, with clear vision based on a consistent moral foundation.
Just thinking of the time, talent, and treasure (I have no idea of the sums, but over so many decades they have to have been enormous) spent on legal efforts and on pro-life marches and demonstrations since 1973, I want to cry over the lost opportunities for the transformation of society at the level of the person. We have been thinking big, when perhaps we needed to think small, on the level of the individual person in need. It's impossible to know, of course, but it could be that 48 years of scholarships for Catholic education could have had as much or even greater influence in favor of life than all of the laws put together. They might have helped whole neighborhoods in supporting the human dignity of all their residents. Education can alter the trajectory of entire cities.
A culture of care could transform pro-life efforts (and redirect millions of dollars) to a whole spectrum of caring. It would transform society, not by multiplying laws, but by penetrating hearts.
In a culture of care, people are not valued according to their skills, IQ, looks, ability, or income. They are not protected because they can contribute something of monetary value to society, or run Big Important Programs, or earn their existence in any way. They are loved, cherished, and protected because they are.
I would love to see the Holy Father’s message become the theme of a new kind of pro-life movement. I’d call it Because We Care.
Because we care, we could not only continue the valuable services of crisis pregnancy centers, but also redirect funds formerly spent for lobbying, lawmaking and social justice grants into activities that are pro-life by nature and that have an immediate effect in people’s lives. These works have the further advantage of bringing in as collaborators people who may not completely share our vision of the human person made in God’s image, but who will gladly serve the needy with us. Who knows? Through working together, they may gradually discover the sacredness of life at its origin, and we could gain a greater appreciation of the perspective of those who are motivated by a “law written on their hearts” (Rom 2:14-15). People who have struggled to find a place in the current pro-life movement (including the many, many Catholic women who have had abortions and are still not fully reconciled with the Church in this area) might find that there is a place for them, too.
The possibilities are limitless. I can see each of these areas taking on a kind of “wholesome vitality” of their own, creating life in new ways around expressions of care. Every time that one of these took root in an area, it could spark new opportunities for doing good.
A culture of care would not only save lives, it could help people feel that life is worth living, it could free them from burdens that might overwhelm them and might even generate saints and new religious congregations in the process.
Jesus said he came “that they might have life to the full” (John 10:10). Setting our sights on a culture of care could be a way to bring many people of good will together (including people who do not recognize the whole Catholic package) in promoting the good of the person, which is, after all, respecting life.
Here are the kinds of things I dream of under the umbrella of a pro-life movement like Because We Care. The idea is for grass-roots activities carried out on a local level (very hands-on), so that we get to know our neighbors and benefit from the relationship that the activity creates. (That’s an important part of “caring.”)
- Scholarships for Catholic education, giving families in struggling neighborhoods the kind of environment in which all the members can flourish together in an atmosphere of faith and mutual respect;
- Domestic violence refuge networks (domestic violence is often a factor in abortion);
- Clinics that serve all women regardless of income, focusing on infertility, natural family planning and pre-natal care, all in accord with the sanctity of life (there are already several clinics on this model in the United States);
- A network of companionship, respite care, etc. for families with severely disabled members;
- A ride service that creates jobs and relationships (like a faith-based Uber);
- Support for families, beginning with a solid formation for marriage and parenthood, something that begins in childhood (mentoring by wise couples is essential);
- Vibrant forms of multi-generational associations that can ensure that people who live alone or who face special challenges will be, at the very least, known by those around them. (I am thinking particularly of people who will need help evacuating in case of an emergency; of an occasional wellness check; of showing prudent concern for the eccentric on the block.)
- Small business “incubators” for neighborhood entrepreneurs who lack the means to get started (e.g. turning an unused school cafeteria into a professional kitchen where home cooks can rent space in for a meal delivery or baked goods company);
- Ethical scientific research in life fields like fertility awareness, adult stem cells, and vaccine development.
You could probably add quite a few more ideas to the list (in addition to the traditional activities of Project Rachel retreats, sidewalk counseling, etc.); maybe you are already involved in initiatives that could spread across the country!
