I am strongly against the legalisation of abortion and believe that all democratic means should be used to prevent this happening in Malta. The pro-life lobby can succeed in the attainment of this objective only if it bases its campaign on reasoned opinions and dialogue, instead of on scaremongering or myopic tactics.
My two cents worth of advice to the lobby I support is as follows:
The worse problem facing us is corruption, not abortion
This is not a judgement on what is objectively more reprehensible morally but a tactical assessment about what is the current worst offender of the common good. Corruption is a multi-headed hydra. It takes the form of, among many other things, multi-million-euro publicity campaigns that distort the truth; jobs and favours unjustly bestowed; generous direct orders; accepting donations from the sales-of-passports scheme; and greasing of hands. Corruption is the glue that seals people’s mouths, closes eyes and cements ears.
Pope Francis, in his document launching the Holy Year, writes that “Corruption is an evil that embeds itself into the actions of everyday life, causing great public scandal. Corruption … replaces God with the illusion that money is a form of power.”
Being pro-life includes campaigning against corruption.
Respect the autonomy of politics and politicians
Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles, is quite rightly critical of the campaign of some US bishops who want to ban from communion politicians who vote for abortion legislation. Fortunately, in the document approved this week, the US bishops chose not to move in that direction.
In a November 15, 2021 interview with Vatican News, the cardinal said:
“We are a democratic republic. Our country’s path is one of separation of Church and state. And, so, it’s a very difficult position for politicians, Catholics, who are pressured by some in the Church to make all of their decisions based on Catholic Church doctrine. That is very difficult, it’s almost impossible. If you would want to say that any elected Catholic, or any Catholic judge, who at any time has ever voted for or issued a decree or a judgment in any way whatsoever that somehow allowed abortion in some form or another, you have got maybe hundreds of thousands of people right there. That is simply unworkable in a democratic republic.”
Use respectful language and dialogue
The cardinal also appealed to fellow bishops to follow a path of dialogue with pro-abortion politicians instead of one weaponising the Eucharist against them. He feels more at home with the June 18, 2021 statement of 60 Democrat Catholic members of Congress than with the strategy of some of his brother-bishops.
The respectful and correct use of language is essential for this path of dialogue. In an October 6, 2005, interview with La Repubblica, the late Cardinal Mario Pompedda, then the retired head of the Vatican’s supreme court, reacted to L’Osservatore Romano which described the use of the RU-486 morning-after pill as “really and truly murder”.
He said he would not call abortion “murder” because of respect for language.
Being pro-life should be an attitude that covers all facets of human living, not just its beginning and ending- Fr Joe Borg
“Murder refers to man, while here the reference is to the embryo. Law and morality have always distinguished between murder, infanticide and abortion. Should we suddenly erase this distinction?”
Respect consciences
Pope Emeritus Benedict’s position is different from Mahony’s, as Ratzinger contends that “Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia” and, consequently, among Catholics there cannot be a legitimate pluralism on the subject (para 3, letter to USA Bishops July 2004).
However, he ends the letter: “When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons” (paragraph 6).
Pro-life is not just, or mainly, about abortion and euthanasia
Being pro-life should be an attitude that covers all facets of human living, not just its beginning and ending. Pro-lifers should work, among other things, to provide a collective safety net to the most vulnerable, help the disadvantaged and the oppressed; reduce the rising rates of poverty; strive for a better environment; fight xenophobia and defend the rights of refugees; guarantee the rights of future generations; and foster a culture of solidarity.
The pro-life lobby can only gain credibility if it enlarges its vista to include all of these issues which are not only part of the social teaching of the Church but which create avenues of dialogue and cooperation with others with whom there could be disagreement on abortion.
Light candles more that curse darkness
Pope Benedict, during his visit to Austria in September 2007, while addressing the members of government and diplomatic corps, described abortion as a “deep wound” in society and as the antithesis of human rights.
He added: “I do not close my eyes to the difficulties and the conflicts which many women are experiencing and I realise that the credibility of what we say also depends on what the Church herself is doing to help women in trouble.”
The best local initiative that gives great credibility to the pro-life lobby is the home run by Life Network which gives help to pregnant women in difficulty. Help is given to those wanting to keep the baby and those who decide otherwise. Help is given both after birth and after an abortion. Well done, Life Network.
This and similar initiatives are the best strategy against the legalisation of abortion as they show a serving and caring Church. Together with other projects, such initiatives prove that the pro-life agenda is not only reasoned and reasonable but, much more important, humane.
The pro-life lobby should not be undermined by idiotic strategies and inflammatory rhetoric about Satan and Hitler.