By Carol Tobias, President
Editor’s note. This appeared today in the November issue of National Right to Life News.
Please read this and the many other outstanding stories. And do forward the contents to pro-life family and friends.
For most of us, our lifetime has seen little conflict; we grew up in an era of peace and prosperity. Yes, we have been affected by war and terrorist attacks. Loved ones have died or been killed in unforeseen accidents or events.
But through it all, the loss of life was considered to be a tragedy. LIFE was our most treasured gift and the unexpected loss of any person, whether we knew them or not, was sad.
As a community and as a country, there was high regard for the value of each and every human life, a conviction that each life was to be respected. Even if we didn’t particularly like an individual, we still recognized and accepted every human being as a member of the human family.
For the past 50 years, the right-to-life movement has been working to open eyes and hearts to the fact that preborn children are also members of the human family, deserving of the same dignity and respect shown to others.
I think it’s become very clear that, by and large, our society has managed to lose that long-held respect for life, not just when it comes to preborn children but for all life.
It now appears that human life is only important if the person is healthy. Human life is only important if the person agrees with us on issues important to us. Human life is only important if the person is contributing to society in a manner acceptable to others.
That loss of respect for human life and desiring to look out only for ourselves has lead to the push to not only make abortion accessible but to encourage women to kill their babies even if many of them are hurt or injured in the process as well.
The abortion industry refuses to inform women that there are possible complications with every abortion. Media report positively on studies from the abortion industry which claim that abortion is safe while ignoring studies and analyses from pro-life researchers that show the potential dangers to aborted women.
Pro-abortion legislators are trying to limit, and even eliminate, alternatives to abortion, such as pregnancy resource centers and abortion pill reversal.
The loss of respect for human life leads states and countries to encourage those with disabilities, those who are ill, or those who are poor, to seek assisted suicide or medical-aid-in-dying.
For most of our country’s history, we were a church-going society with the belief that our worth came from a higher power. As church-life diminishes, so does the value we place on human life. We live, we die, it’s over. If this life is all we have, eat, drink and be merry. Make the most of it and die as you please.
That is a dangerous and destructive viewpoint from which to live our lives. But that’s why the pro-life movement is so important at this stage of the debate. Our message of love for unborn babies, our efforts to care for the women who need help with their new blessing, our expression of love as we reach out to those susceptible to the lure of assisted suicide—all signal the importance of each and every single human life.
There are songs and poems about lighting a candle in the darkness, bringing light and warmth to those in a cold, dark world.
The pro-life movement is that candle to the world. And that’s why you are an important, necessary, part of the movement. Just as all parts of the body are necessary, all pro-lifers are necessary. Your head, your heart, your hands and feet… all are needed to shine a light in the darkness. Someone needs the warmth of our message of LIFE.
In my opinion, the best of time of the year is approaching. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season give us new and different opportunities to make a difference in the world.
Let’s be the candle to bring light and love to the world, to share the message that every person is unique, every person is special, every person deserves respect—simply because they are a member of our human family.