movements for life

"Everyone who supported segregation was white. Everyone who supports abortion was born. That is how oppression works."

This quote illuminates just one parallel, among many, between two historical movements for equality in U.S. history: the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's and the Pro-Life Movement since 1973. Though no one wants to carry an analogy too far, their likeness cannot be denied; both of these social reform crusades peacefully but vociferously demand the equal treatment of an exceptionally oppressed group of persons.

Martin Luther King Jr. and his adherents refused to remain silent when their black brothers and sisters were segregated, harassed, disenfranchised, exploited, and kicked to the fringes of society as so-called "non-citizens." Acts of nonviolent protest, including marches, demonstrations, mass mobilization, and other forms of civil resistance, were central to their fight for justice. In the words of this hero who we celebrate and remember this week, "he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."

Likewise, pro-life leaders and their adherents will not stand by while their tiniest brothers and sisters are dismembered, crushed, burned, and killed as so-called "non-persons." These activists, from ex-abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson (whose video "The Silent Scream" went national) and Norma McCorvey (the "Roe" of Roe v. Wade who is now ardently pro-life) to religious leaders like Father Frank Pavone (of Priests for Life) and Dr. A Majid Katme (of the Muslim Division of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children), are inspiring other pro-lifers, young and old, to also protest in nonviolent ways. Pickets outside abortion mills, letters to and meetings with elected government officials, and the annual March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., are but a few of the means by which pro-life activists stand up for the oppressed of our day with the dream of equal rights for all.

I always try to make clear that pro-lifers are for all life— not just the unborn. However, they keep a particular focus on the unborn since they happen to be the most targeted and oppressed group of persons in America today. If Blacks were still being lynched by the thousands, pro-lifers would be fighting that injustice with the same intensity that they fight abortion. But Martin Luther King reminded us that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." And abortion is the place where injustice thrives more than anywhere else in 2010. In short, the Pro-Life Movement is the Civil Rights Movement of our day. I am proud to be a part of it.

It would seem that certain groups of Americans would be especially proud to be a part of this human rights crusade. African-Americans, for one, know more than perhaps any other group how it feels to be classified as "less-thans" and "no ones;" yet, ironically, these are the same labels which our first Black president has consistently bestowed upon the unborn. Perhaps even more ironically, Obama referenced the Civil Rights Movement in his inaugural address. Yet, America's elected leader continues to reaffirm and place in public policy his long-standing unwillingness to uphold the right to life for all persons. He has succeeded in bringing the American government into the business of directly destroying human life more than any other president in history.

When I think of Obama and his passionate pro-choice stance, I am always reminded of his speech at Notre Dame's commencement last year. In it, he encouraged pro-life and pro-choice Americans to "work together," keeping "open hearts... open minds." He is a man of eloquent speech, and his words are often moving and compelling; but we mustn't be deceived. While coming together on the abortion issue and singing "Kumbaya" does sound lovely, Obama himself admitted that the pro-life and pro-choice positions are irreconcilable. This means that one of us is right, and the other is wrong. As pro-lifers, we must demonstrate love to those who do not think like us; but we cannot compromise. We mustn't settle for the scraps that pro-choicers throw us in the form of parental consent laws and mutable bans on partial birth abortions. Do not misunderstand: these provisions are good and just; we should do everything we can to make and keep them. But we cannot stop there and presume our work is done. African-Americans did not win equality by "finding common ground" with white lynchers. Pro-life Americans will not win equality for the unborn by meeting pro-choicers in the middle, either. Abortion, like racial discrimination, is non-negotiable. It objectively kills innocent persons. It has no place in our society or any other. There is nothing left to talk about.

I believe with all my heart that I will live to see an America without abortion. That is not to say the road will be quick or easy. Indeed, it will be long and hard. "Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." Martin Luther King Jr., when making this assertion, realized that rights are never given over freely by the oppressor; they must be demanded by the oppressed. In the case of abortion, the oppressed have no voice. That is why we must speak for them, refusing to submit to silence.

Martin Luther King Jr. will forever be loved and remembered as an American hero. His tireless activism for human rights through non-violence and unconditional love is a model for every pro-lifer. And I know that if he were alive today, he would be fighting for the unborn right by our side.

America's spirit is one of liberty and justice for all, not just for some. Our nation finally realized that Blacks should not be considered "non-citizens," and it, too, will see that the unborn should not be considered "non-persons." I believe that my grandchildren's history textbooks will tell of the day when mothers were actually allowed to have their children executed through all nine months of pregnancy in the United States of America. They will, naturally, be shocked and appalled. They will ask me: "Grandma, weren't you alive when all of those babies were being killed? What did you do to help?"

I pray that I will be able to tell them that I, indeed, did something. I hope I will be able to say that my friends and I were willing to shout until our last breath to see that every unborn child got to take his first. And I know that pro-lifers, like Martin Luther King Jr., will be remembered as the ones who "loved peace and sacrificed for it."

Vita Pro Omni!