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Abortion

“Today, the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion.”

Mother Teresa

BACKGROUND

Abortion takes the life of an innocent unborn child and harms all who are involved. According to the World Health Organization, there are 40-50 million abortions per year and approximately 125,000 abortions per day. Yet the movement to end abortion is not about condemning women who have had abortions. These women need to be offered the appropriate care and support, as they typically experience much grief. Instead, the movement to end abortion is about making abortion illegal and addressing the socio-economic factors that lead women to have abortions. It is also about encouraging fathers to fight for the lives of their unborn child, since they too have played a part in bringing the child into existence.

From the standpoint of biology, conception is the beginning of human development, making the unborn child clearly a human. However, abortion advocates often claim that the unborn child may be a human, but the child is not a person. Yet such a distinction between human and person is arbitrary. Additionally, abortion advocates claim that the mother has the right to do what she wants with her body. Yet the right to body integrity is not absolute, especially when there are two people involved, the mother and the child. Often times, women who have an abortion feel pressured or are in poverty, so they are not even making such an alleged autonomous choice.

Thinking of an abortion? There’s hope. Click here for the alternative.

Need healing after an abortion? Click here.



THE CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE

God loves each human life from the moment of conception and entrusts the gift of the child to the protection of a mother and father. Human life is especially sacred because it involves the creative action of God (see Jeremiah 1:5). Likewise, God alone, who is the origin of life, is also the arbitrator of when life ends. Yet abortion is the killing of an innocent unborn child. Abortion, willed as either an end or means, is gravely contrary to the moral law. It is one of the most serious offenses against God. It also deeply wounds the mothers and fathers involved, even if these wounds are not felt until years later. This is why the Church unceasingly speaks out against the evil of abortion and offers pastoral care to all those impacted by it.      

Abortion violates the inalienable right to life of each human person. It is of primary importance in the public policy arena and outweighs all other concerns. Simply stated, if human beings are not given a chance at life, then no other rights really matter. Education, healthcare, and economic opportunity are all important, but they are insignificant if the unborn children they are meant to benefit are not given the opportunity to survive.

In his Papal Encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II discusses severity of abortion with perfect clarity:  

But today, in many people’s consciences, the perception of its gravity has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behaviour and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake… The moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we are dealing with murder and, in particular, when we consider the specific elements involved. The one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent could be imagined. In no way could this human being ever be considered an aggressor, much less an unjust aggressor! He or she is weak, defenceless, even to the point of lacking that minimal form of defence consisting in the poignant power of a newborn baby’s cries and tears.


HOW YOU CAN HELP

Know the facts
+USCCB abortion information page
+Catechism of the Catholic Church: abortion  
+New York City: Fighting 41

Inform others
+Host information sessions in throughout the community
+Start a parish pro-life group

Engage in pro-life activism
+Attend the annual March for Life
+Participate in the 40 Days for Life campaign
+Support legislation that upholds the sanctity of human life 
+Defund Planned Parenthood

Help both pregnant mothers and expectant fathers  
+Become a Visitation Co-Worker of Life
+Encourage men to embrace fatherhood and protect their unborn child
+Provides resources like bottles and diapers

Support pro-life young adult groups
+Students for Life of America
+Pro-life Future
+EXPECT

Console women who have had abortions
+Tips for talking post-abortive women
+Lumina post-abortion help
+Project Rachel
+SV Hope & Healing

FOR PREGNANCY SERVICES, CLICK HERE.  


The most effective way to end abortion is through prayer. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of unborn children.

Virgin of Guadalupe,
Patroness of unborn children,
we implore your intercession
for every child at risk of abortion.
Help expectant parents to welcome
from God the priceless gift of their
child’s life.

Console parents who have lost that
gift through abortion, and lead them
to forgiveness and healing through
the Divine Mercy of your Son.

Teach us to cherish and to care for
family and friends until God calls
them  home. Help us never to see
others as burdens. Guide our public
officials to defend each and every
human life through just laws.

Inspire us all to bring our faith into
public life, to speak for those who
have no voice. We ask this in the
name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who
is Love and Mercy itself.

Amen.


ABORTION EXPANSION

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

For the past decade, various types of abortion expansion legislation (e.g., the “Reproductive Health Act”) have been introduced in the NYS Legislature for the past seven years. On January 22, 2019, the bill was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. New York now has the most liberal abortion laws in the nation.

WHAT DOES THIS ABORTION EXPANSION LEGISLATION DO?

New York now has the most liberal abortion law in the world — in fact, this new abortion law removes any limitations on abortion from our statutes. Specifically, it:

  • Encourages more late-term abortions – by removing our current law’s limit on abortions after 24 weeks.
  • Permits non-doctors to do abortions – granting a license to perform abortions would be entirely within the discretion of State bureaucrats. In fact, anyone could do an abortion and the only penalty they might face is a prosecution for practicing medicine without a license.
  • Eliminates all criminal penalties for abortions – so even if an abortion was involuntary or coerced, or is an unborn child is deliberately targeted for an act of violence, it could not be prosecuted.
  • Endangers children even after birth – by eliminating a law that requires that a baby born alive after an abortion be given adequate health care. Instead, this bill would allow abortionists to leave those children to die of neglect and starvation.

For more information, please read these blogs:

http://archny.org/news/heres-what-the-new-abortion-law-really-says

http://archny.org/news/the-truth-about-late-term-abortions

http://archny.org/news/on-the-precipice-of-abortion-expansion

ISN’T THE TREND ACROSS THE NATION TO INCREASE REGULATION?

Yes. More and more states are enacting sensible limitations on abortion. Many states now require parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision, prohibit most taxpayer funding of abortion, and have specific informed consent laws for pregnant women seeking abortion. States are also moving to enforce health and safety regulations on abortion clinics, requiring ultrasounds prior to abortion and to prohibit abortion in later stages of pregnancy.

WHAT DO THE POLLS SAY ABOUT ABORTION?

A new poll from the Knights of Columbus and Marist College demonstrates the depth of pro-life feelings in our nation. Only a bare majority of Americans (51%) call themselves “pro-choice”, while 44% say they’re “pro-life”. But labels are deceptive — they conceal the real pro-life majority. This can be seen when the poll asks more specific questions about people’s actual beliefs:

  • 76% of Americans support limiting abortion to the first three months of pregnancy.
  • There is strong support for this limit across the political and ideological spectrum — Republicans (92%), Independents (78%), Democrats (61%) and even those who call themselves Pro-choice (60%).
  • 63% of Americans would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and 60% oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortion.
  • 56% of Americans continue to believe that abortion is morally wrong, and 64% believe it’s immoral to abort unborn children with genetic ailments like Down syndrome — a position that even 49% of those who are Pro-choice agree with.
  • In a sign of hope for authentic conscience protection, 54% of Americans agree that medical professionals and organizations with moral objections should not be required to be involved in abortions or cover them with health insurance.
  • Abortion continues to be a major issue in how people decide to vote for President (42%), Congress (45%) and local races (38%).
  • And despite decades of pro-abortion propaganda intended to establish that abortion is a positive good, a strong majority of Americans (52%) say that abortion does a woman more harm than good in the long run, while only 29% have bought the lie that abortion improves a woman’s life.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?

We are asking people to sign a petition calling on legislators to repeal the law. This can be done through the Action Center of the New York State Catholic Conference.

To keep up-to-date on developments, please check our Facebook page.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK HERE

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