National Election Day, 2008 is tomorrow. Perhaps at no other time in our national history has the fate of our nation hung in the balance so precipitously. And, perhaps at no other time in our national history has the moral fiber of our culture been so seriously threatened.
The pro-death candidate has promised that his first action as president — should he be elected — will be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Essentially, FOCA ensures the legal right to kill a baby in the womb (abortion), coming out of the womb (partial birth abortion), and out of the womb (infanticide) should an attempted abortion be botched.
We all know what takes place during an abortion and the draconian methods used to kill the baby and then slice and dice her to extract her from the womb. The Silent Scream is still a nightmare for many.
Partial birth abortion is no kinder. Here the baby is in the process of being born. Part of her body has already exited the birth canal. Scissors are inserted in the nape of her tiny neck. The wound is pried open; a hose is inserted and her brains are sucked out. The head collapses and the rest of the body is birthed.
Currently there is a ban on partial birth abortion. President Bush signed that ban. The pro death candidate will remove the ban. And babies’ lives across our land will experience a torturous and brutal death.
And what about the baby who is born in spite of the best efforts to kill her through abortion? According to the Freedom of Choice Act, there would be no intervention. She would simply be left to die — or worse. Here in Florida just a couple of weeks ago a baby born through a botched abortion was killed. She was thrown into a biohazard bag filled with bleach.
At one time we would have called this infanticide — the killing of an infant. If the pro-death candidate is elected, this kind of atrocity will become codified. We won’t call it infanticide anymore. We will call it “law.”
Do you remember when politicians used to kiss babies as a sign of their good intentions? Now they promise to kill them as a sign of their commitment to change — and we applaud them, give them high approval ratings, throw millions of dollars at them, and vote for them.
I don’t understand how we have come to fit our moral sensibilities around this. When did we become so cold-hearted, so mean, so savage as a people? When did we silence our intellects and our consciences to accommodate atrocity? No matter how lovely the appeal, no matter how dressed up it is with words and designer suits, murder is murder and will always remain so — no manmade law can make it other than what it is — even with our best attempts at rationalization.
The Freedom of Choice Act also invades parental rights. It ensures a minor’s right to seek and procure an abortion without parental consent. I would imagine that our schools could become gateways to the Planned Parenhood Clinic, closely followed by other open doors such as the pediatrician’s office, the counselor’s office, and the car door of your next-door-neighbor.
Frankly, I find it utterly amazing that there is no outcry from the American population against such atrocities and such invasions of privacy. I find it even more amazing, and absolutely appalling, that any Catholic could consider it reasonable, acceptable, and morally permissable to vote for a candidate who not only supports such things but will make such things the law of the land. And I find it utterly sad that so many refuse to be docile to the clear and consistent teaching of the Church on this matter.
It is hubris, utter hubris, and we may well pay the price for such arrogance and pride.
Indeed, we are facing an auspicious and terrible moment in our nation’s history. We must pray. We must encourage. And we must vote for life. It is the only way.
Note — I am not telling you who to vote for, but I am asking you to support life — from conception to natural death. In the not too distant future, your own life — or that of a loved one — might well depend on it.
