by Bridget Sperduto
As the Season of Creation draws to a close and the bounty of summer fades into autumn, I find myself filled with gratitude for the fullness of life and a longing to give myself over in the service of life. It may sound like a lofty goal, but even small, inspired actions have the potential to make a difference in raising awareness.
I recently had a conversation with a brilliant and skilled chiropractic healer who is deeply rooted in her traditional catholic faith. She praised Trump for his pro-life stance and the anti-abortion legislation that has been passed during his presidency.
I calmly replied, “I understand that, but there is a disconnect for me. He claims to be pro-life, but he frequently uses mockery, degradation, marginalization and insults to abort the fuller life of someone or something:
- Divisive and hate-filled language and policy is aborting the unity of our country.
- The current administration’s immigration policies are aborting families.
- A healthy, hopeful future is being aborted for children in cages at the border.
- The dignity of Black lives is being aborted daily.
- The well-being of our elders is being aborted with every attempt made to dismantle Social Security.
- Affordable health care for every resident of the United States is at risk of being aborted.
- The reinstatement of the federal death penalty is aborting the dignity of human life.
- And with the roll back of environmental policies, Earth is being aborted.”
She simply stared at me in silence as she absorbed the weight of my words.
To paraphrase Cardinal Bernardin, a pro-life stance must span from birth to death and everywhere in between. This is the basis of sound catholic teaching which preaches that God is everywhere and ALL of life has dignity because all life is of the Divine. Whenever we abort life in any form, we abort a manifestation of God.
How are you being invited to say “yes” to life?