Why the focus on abortion?

[Sbee0]

The abortion industry and much of the Left is far more “obsessed” with abortion than we are.

There’s so much propaganda out there that the abortion industry cares about women and accusations are made that pro lifers don’t care about women or the child once born.

The reverse is much closer to the truth.

 

[KMC]

KMC:

While we might disagree on the substance of each other’s arguments, I too, feel like the flagging of honest comments (provided made in charity) is a bit too frequent.

I rarely flag and didn’t in this case. But it wasn’t the honesty that got it flagged imo it was the aggressive hawt (and completely wrong) take on the church. Felt borderline incendiary imo and that is stated as against forum rules…

I tend to be of the opinion we, as Catholic Christians, need to reach people where they are at. Certainly some attacks on the Church are malicious, over the top, and are not meant to further a conversation. I’m fine flagging those. Others display a level of honest frustration with Church teaching…I tend to err on the side of leniency so we can make the attempt to reach them.

(One example: I teach apologetics at my parish. A couple stayed after to ask me an off-topic question about why the God of the Old Testament seems like Hitler…a reference to the command to kill the Amalekites, etc. Before I could attempt an answer, another parishioner exploded and started yelling at them. Thus that was the end of the conversation…no chance to help people learn…people stayed in their silos.)

 

[DeniseNY]

Why was this flagged?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

As Sbee0 noted, it contains an attack on the Church in the last paragraph.
Similar statements that the Church doesn’t care about babies after they are born have been flagged many times on the forum previously, so it’s no surprise that this one would be.

 

[gracepoole]

This may be unpopular but aside from the absolute horror that is abortion, it may be easier for some to focus on this issue because it deals with those who are sinless. It’s far harder, it seems to me, to feel protective of and generous toward those who are grown sinners in the community.

 

[fhansen]

Life is either sacred or it’s not, and according to our faith it is sacred so where else to focus concern than at the beginning of life? If we don’t care at that point why should we ever care?

 

[1ke]

Thank you for your thoughtful and honest responses. Although it may seem a natural interest for many, I don’t have that zeal, so it helps to hear from those that are committed to the cause.

We are many parts, but all one body. We are not all called to abortion activism, and we may be called at one point in our lives and not another based on our station in life and circumstances. When I lived in a major US city, I actively sidewalk counseled outside Planned Parenthood for a number of years. I was on the board of a pro-life group. I participated in diocesan pro life activities.

I got married, moved across the country, and live in a rural community where the nearest abortion clinic is over 100 miles away. So I no longer sidewalk counsel weekly. I support pro life activities at the parish level by raising money and doing donation drives for a crisis pregnancy center.

I used to volunteer at a food bank for AIDS patients delivering food to sick and home bound people for about 5 years, but then moved on to some other involvements. At another time I volunteered at a thrift store supporting free and low cost clothing for poor people, and did this for a few years.

There are many good and worthy causes, and we cannot be involved in all of them. Sometimes we are called into ministry for a time, or sometimes it is our life’s work. That is an individual calling. If you aren’t called into pro life work and are perhaps called into some other type of social justice work or ministry, that’s your calling.

The world of injustice is big enough for many different ministries. I wouldn’t call people who are vocal about abortion “fanatics”. That is quite rude.

(In response to the claim that everyone knows someone who has had an abortion—I don’t know anyone who has had an abortion—that I know of

I am sure you do know people who’ve had abortions and just aren’t aware of it. Almost 1 in 4 women in the US have had an abortion by age 45.

Many in the pro life movement have had abortions before becoming pro life. Many women keep it a secret. Some, such as those involved in Silent No More, are vocal about their abortion past and the damage it has done in their lives. Abby Johnson, former PP director and current pro life activist had 2 abortions.

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

Abortion is a bad thing. That is the main reason it talked about so much.
Politicians use abortion as a wedge issue – a woman’s right vs. a right to life.
On the other hand, there are many, many issues that need to be discussed.
Poverty, health care, jobs, better wages, education, violence, veteran’s issues, and many more. Not necessarily in the order I have written these issues.
But these issues rarely are spoken of.
I do believe it is possible for we, as Catholics, to be concerned about many issues at one time.

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

If people do not like what you have posted, you may get flagged. I have had that happened to me once or twice.
Expressing an opinion is deemed by some as offensive.

 

[midori]

(In response to the claim that everyone knows someone who has had an abortion—I don’t know anyone who has had an abortion—that I know of)

I lived in the dorms in undergrad, and had a roommate. I was trying to take a nap, and my roommate got a call from her boyfriend/fiance-to-be. (On the corded-telephone landline, in the pre-cellphone days.) I tried to be polite and pretended to be asleep so that she could have a nice conversation.

But I didn’t realize the conversation was going to be private or heavy. She was talking about her previous boyfriend-- “I aborted our baby when I broke up with so-and-so. But I don’t think I could have gone through with it if it had been yours.”

I’d lived with her for two years— but she’d never brought up the subject, and I’d never brought up the subject. But it was something that still disturbed her, x amount of time after it had happened, and she still thought about it, and she was still thinking about what she would do if she got pregnant in the future, while she was still in school. Would she keep the child, because she loved the father more than the father of her previous child? Or would she use abortion as backup birth control, because it wasn’t convenient for her to keep it?

You can’t tell just by looking at someone about their past, or about what’s on their mind.

 

[Lemuel]

You can’t fight all the battles. Everyone has to choose the hill they are going to die on. I have nothing but respect for those who are all about protecting the unborn.

 

[KMC]

The only credible explanation is that most people (possibly including many Catholics) don’t really regard an unborn child as a living human being (which is an unscientific position to hold).

Or the rather convenient concept of ‘personhood’ which seems to exist in order that certain living humans can be deemed to be non-persons in order to be able to justify killing them.

Spot on. Its amazing that so many of the people who want to lecture me on the science behind climate change, jump through mental hoops trying to deny the observable, repeatable fact that all humans started their lives at conception. If they were intellectually honest they would at least be saying, “its human, but we should be able to kill it.”

Then the whole “personhood” argument is disgusting too. Slaves were denied personhood, Jews were denied personhood, etc. The whole personhood argument is used by those who think they are superior to other humans, and thus its OK for that “non-person’s” life to be extinguished.

 

[Jimbo]

As others have touched on, it’s because it’s a legalized form of dehumanization and murder practiced by the State; one that kills hundreds of thousands a year in the US.

It should take prominence just as State sponsored slavery should take prominence if that existed.

It’s an offense to human dignity condoned and supported at the highest levels of government, the result of faulty philosophy, and as such a threat to the dignity of all humans.

That isn’t to say other things should be left out. Being an pro life advocate and completely ignoring the poor is a problem. But the focus is correct.

 

[Jimbo]

I very much agree. Infant mortality was around 22K in the US in '17.

Abortion killed over 800,000.

If infant mortality was 800,000 in the us in one year it would be a national disgrace and crisis.

 

[kainosktisis]

As much as it’s a terrible thing, I don’t see the same obsession over genocide, children starving and needy in our communities, or a million other ways that human beings are killed every day.

So—why the almost fanatical obsession in our faith community?

Do you have any idea what abortion is & what it entails…? Honest question…

I ask this because you brought up genocide, but yet seem oblivious to what abortion is…

 

[on_the_hill]

I don’t know if I just never noticed it growing up in a Catholic home in the 1970s/80s, but it seems to me like there is a strong component within the Catholic community that is 24-7 focused on abortion

I also grew up in the 70s/80s. My sense is that it was simply not discussed, same as with any other matters of sex and sexuality. Sexual morality was enforced by ignoring the existence of sex.
We had a new priest in the late 70s who used THAT WORD in a homily once or twice and it caused an uncomfortable stir in the parish.

I tend to agree with your other points. I think that some Catholics waver too far into the territory of allowing bad in hopes that good might result. I learned from CAF that we’re not to do that.

 

[CatholicSooner]

As a lifelong Catholic, I have many causes that I’m passionate about. And although I’m pro-life, I’m not an activist, and I don’t feel particularly strongly about abortion. I mean, it’s bad (obviously), but it doesn’t keep me up at night.

I don’t know if I just never noticed it growing up in a Catholic home in the 1970s/80s, but it seems to me like there is a strong component within the Catholic community that is 24-7 focused on abortion. As much as it’s a terrible thing, I don’t see the same obsession over genocide, children starving and needy in our communities, or a million other ways that human beings are killed every day.

So—why the almost fanatical obsession in our faith community? Maybe I’m just imagining it? Are there any other topics that Catholics should maybe focus on? Why the constant coverage of it on Catholic radio (preaching to the choir!) and not a host of other worthwhile topics? I just don’t get the preoccupation with abortion. There’s a part of me that wonders what the pro-life activists would do with themselves if abortion were wiped off the face of the earth? I almost feel like they’d just keep talking about it…

Without the right to life, there wouldn’t even be those other issues you mentioned in your post. That is why the right to life is the paramount issue. It is literally taking a human life. It doesn’t get more basic than that. Every human has a natural right to live…abortion takes that away. Yes, those other issues are important, but they fall under the right to life importance because without life, those other issues go away.

 

[kainosktisis]

Without the right to life, there wouldn’t even be those other issues you mentioned in your post. That is why the right to life is the paramount issue. It is literally taking a human life. It doesn’t get more basic than that. Every human has a natural right to live…abortion takes that away. Yes, those other issues are important, but they fall under the right to life importance because without life, those other issues go away.

This is my position as well. Thank you for this.

 

[JSAD]

While agree that Catholic tend to focus a lot on abortion(especially the orthodox leaning ones) , wouldn’t it be fair to say that abortion is genocide happening in our own backyard?

It’s done under the ‘covers’ and way from media spotlight, but it is still harming and murdering innocent humans.

A lot of what you mention - genocide, children starving etc does not happen very frequently in Europe and North America. But abortion is rampant and many many potential athletes, doctors, engineers, artists , priests were never born because of it .

I do agree with you however that Catholic radio does seem to focus on abortion and legislation a bit too much.

We can and should talk about God, his wondrous nature, miracles happening throughout the world, conversion experiences , catholic history, art , elderly issues , malnutrition, work stress and management etc etc.

Just wanted to give my perspective

 

[virgo]

Yes, and that is my point. Why the focus on abortion and not other forms of genocide?