The occasional, often ill-considered thoughts of a Roman Catholic permanent deacon who is ever grateful to God for his existence. Despite the strangeness we encounter in this life, all the suffering we witness and endure, being is good, so good I am sometimes unable to contain my joy. Deo gratias!


Although I am an ordained deacon of the Catholic Church, the opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions. In offering these personal opinions I am not acting as a representative of the Church or any Church organization.

Friday, September 10, 2021

Oh, Yes, It’s Still All About Abortion

You might think that the key issue of our time centers on COVID, or Afghanistan, or China, or Russia, or immigration, or inflation, or taxation, or any of a dozen other issues…and you’d be wrong. There is really only one issue that definitively separates people politically, morally, and, yes, religiously: abortion. 

Not too many years ago, party politics was not divided on abortion. Many Democrats were openly pro-life, and consistently voted against legislation supporting abortion. And, yes, one also encountered Republicans who were openly “pro-choice” and voted accordingly. Things have certainly changed. Today’s Democrat Party universally supports abortion. To be a pro-life Democrat, an extremely rare breed of politician, is to be condemned by the party’s state and national leadership, to receive no party funding — really, to be cancelled by the party, to be purged. 

Last week the state of Texas banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, and the Supreme Court of the United States let it stand. The response from the left has been both predictable and horrendous. AOC was, of course, among the most predictable, as were the nation’s most prominent Catholic politicians, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. 

AOC — or as she’s sometimes called, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) -- was furious with those she labeled "Christian extremists." Her exact words: "Christian extremists are passing forced birth laws to intimidate and cut off abortion services – including for victims of rape, incest, and child abuse. While we fight back, know you still have options. Pills can be mailed to your home discreetly.” 

I guess “Christian extremists” is the new code word for faithful Catholics and pro-life Evangelicals, who actually represent a significant hunk of the nation’s population. In fact, I suspect they far outnumber the dwindling number of Americans who favor abortion under all circumstances. But for AOC everything is political; she has no moral foundation and seemingly is unable to discern either good or evil. 

Then we have the “devout Catholics” in powerful political positions. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was almost apoplectic in her anger at both Texas and the Supreme Court. Check out her tweets:

“SCOTUS’s failure to block SB8 [the Texas law] has delivered catastrophe to women in Texas. This radical law is an all out effort to erase the rights and protections of Roe v Wade.”

She then added: "every woman, everywhere has the constitutional and moral right to basic reproductive hearth care. We will fight SB8 and all immoral and dangerous attacks on women's health and freedoms with all our strength."

Note her description of abortion as a "moral right" and her claim that any attacks on abortion are "immoral and dangerous." How despicable a charge from someone who just loves to describe herself as a "devout Catholic." She clearly demonstrates a complete lack of moral understanding. Sadly, Pelosi isn't alone here, but is joined by every other Catholic Democrat politician in Washington, including our president. (If anyone knows of a pro-life Catholic Democrat in either house of Congress, please let me know.)

What did President Biden have to say on the subject? His comments are also as predictable and despicable as the others. For a man who just a few years ago openly proclaimed that human life begins at conception, Joe Biden has certainly changed his mind. He called the Texas law "an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for almost fifty years." He went on to say, "The most pernicious thing about the Texas law, it sort of creates a vigilante system," and then added, "It just seems -- I know this sounds ridiculous -- it's almost un-American, what we're talking about." Yes, Mr. President, it does sound ridiculous, as does so much of what you say.

The president, the speaker, AOC, and all the rest have been joined, perhaps not surprisingly, by the Satanic Temple in the fight against the Texas Law. On September 5th the Temple spokesman, Lucien Greaves (photo below) released the following statement on the Temple's letter to the FDA asking for support of their "abortion rituals."

“I am sure Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — who famously spends a good deal of his time composing press releases about Religious Liberty issues in other states — will be proud to see that Texas’s robust Religious Liberty laws, which he so vociferously champions, will prevent future Abortion Rituals from being interrupted by superfluous government restrictions meant only to shame and harass those seeking an abortion.

“The battle for abortion rights is largely a battle of competing religious viewpoints, and our viewpoint that the nonviable fetus is part of the impregnated host is fortunately protected under Religious Liberty laws.”


Isn’t it interesting how the Satanists call a woman, who is the mother of an unborn child, an “impregnated host.” In truth, it sounds like one of the latest euphemisms that have rolled out of the CDC. Personally, I have always believed abortion is Satan’s work, that which he devotes most of the limited time that remains for him and his legions of demons. He apparently has plenty of helpers to further his nefarious work.

Others on the left describe the horrors that will surely afflict us because of the Texas law. In a Newsweek Twitter thread, one pro-abortion reader feared the consequences of the likely survival of so many disabled babies: "You can't screen for Down syndrome before about 10 weeks, and something like 80% of Down syndrome fetuses are aborted. If red states ban abortion, we could see a world where they have five times as many children with Down syndrome, and similar numbers for other disabilities." He went on to fret the reaction of the world's progressive nations if we don't kill these unwanted children in the womb. Can you just imagine how embarrassing that will be?


Beautiful Down Syndrome Twins

Of course, this man might have been influenced by those who blazed that horrendous trail decades ago. As Princeton Professor Robert P. George reminds us, "Sometimes it's worth remembering that what became known as the Holocaust did not begin with the murder of Jews, or Slavs, or Romani. It began with the killing of the disabled and cognitively impaired. They were regarded as 'useless eaters' and declared 'Lebensunwertes Leben' [lives unworthy of life]." Of course, millions of Jews came later.

And they call us pro-lifers, “fascists.” Remarkable isn’t? But the left always accuses its enemies of its own greatest sins.

In addition to the Texas legislature and governor, an archbishop has also stepped out in courage. In an Washington Post op-ed, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone supported the Texas law and publicly chastised President Biden and Nancy Pelosi by declaring that Catholics cannot support abortion. In Archbishop  Cordileone's words: "You cannot be a good Catholic and support expanding a government-approved right to kill innocent human beings...This is hardly inappropriate for a pastor to say. If anything, Catholic political leaders' response to the situation in Texas highlights the need for us to say it all the louder." He went on to suggest that excommunication of Catholic leaders who publicly support abortion must be considered.

Brothers and sisters, pray for our country. We need the saving, merciful power of God.



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