a new day is dawning

Hi, everyone! Happy 2010 :)

One of my new year's resolutions was to finally start the pro-life blog I've been musing and praying about for several months now... so, voila! I'm excited you're here.

I suppose I will start by briefly explaining why I am so passionate about the pro-life movement, and specifically the abortion issue, in the first place. To be frank, it doesn't seem to me that this should require much of an explanation; is not nearly 4000 children deliberately and violently killed each day in the United States enough? Not to mention the tens of millions of women who have been hurt, both psychologically and physically, in the name of "choice." But, nonetheless, some people, many of good will, still ask me: "Why abortion?" or, "I'm pro-life, too, but why do you care so much?" or, "Shouldn't we focus on less controversial issues? The abortion debate is never going to be resolved."

I will tell you why abortion, why I care so much, and why I must place myself in the midst and mess of this long-standing controversy: abortion is nothing less than the most massive and violent injustice our nation has ever seen. "Every month this killer takes more American lives than were lost in the entire Vietnam War. Every six months more die from its relentless onslaught than in all our previous wars combined or in all the fatal automobile accidents of the past twenty years. Every 2 to 3 years it claims more victims than the Nazi Holocaust" (Pastor Greg Wilson, 911babies.com). The day abortion became legal in America was the day our Supreme Court vandalized our great Constitution, championing the disgusting, elitist mandate that some human beings are too weak, too vulnerable, or too burdensome to deserve the right to life. And nothing defaces peace today as much as abortion, as it shatters the bonds between mother and child, man and woman— relationships that should be among the most beautiful and faithful on this side of heaven. In short, as Live Action president Lila Rose said in so many words, tell me any other societal problem that is taking more lives and hurting more people than abortion, and I will gladly switch issues; but as it stands, this is the issue... this is the blood.

Looking back, 2009 was a year of both heartbreak and triumph in the fight for life. It started off with the inauguration of the most pro-abortion president in the history of the United States, and that tragedy continued all the way up until Christmas Eve with the Senate's passage of a "government-run health care bill that includes massive taxpayer funding of abortion and opens the door for the Obama administration to force insurance companies to pay for abortions" (Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com). And while the abortion-giant Planned Parenthood reported a record annual income of $1.04 billion as well as a record number of babies killed in its own facilities (due to extended hours and availability of the abortion procedure), they also felt the relentless pressure of those of us who will not stand by and watch them mock both state and federal mandates, protect statutory rapists, and slaughter our children for money (among a host of other heinous crimes): 38 Planned Parenthood clinics shut down in 2009 (Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com). Most recently, their own Texas director, Abby Johnson, saw an abortion happen on an ultrasound, watched that tiny child suffer and struggle for his life, quit her job, began exposing the lies Planned Parenthood feeds women, and joined the pro-life group Coalition for Life (Anne-Marie Dorning, abcnews.go.com/health).

So what will 2010 bring? I pray it is justice. Our culture is in desperate need of a revival of conscience and an awakening of moral senses. America must be alerted, with urgency, to the abortion holocaust happening in our own backyards. Men and women for life, act now, for "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." In love, be insistent and unrelenting. Most importantly, persevere in faith: pray, pray, and pray.

It is worth noting that today, January 1, the start of this new year and this new chapter in the fight for life, is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: the woman who responded to her unplanned pregnancy with love and joy, giving life to the Author of Life Himself. Hers was the womb that held Jesus as a tiny, vulnerable infant. She is the Church's first tabernacle, carrying Christ with her wherever she goes. May we call on our Sweet Mother, our Advocate in this life-or-death battle, begging her to crush the head of the great serpent, Satan, who deceives and tricks and destroys. Make no mistake: our culture of death is his minion; but the blood of Christ is stronger, and Mary bears Christ's strength into the world. A new day is dawning!

Holy Mary,

Mother of God,

Virgin most faithful,

Mirror of justice,

Seat of wisdom,

Cause of our joy,

Spiritual vessel,

Ark of the Covenant,

Gate of heaven,

Morning star,

Refuge of sinners,

Comfort of the afflicted,

Help of Christians,

Queen of Peace,

Pray for us!

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!

Vita Pro Omni!