Jesuits' insights clarify key parts of abortion debate

During July, I enjoyed a couple of weeks of sun and sea at Cape Cod. There is something about the ocean waves that soothes and invigorates the spirit. Summer vacation is also a time for reading novels and catching up on articles I had put aside to read but which I never got to.

One such article was an insightful statement on abortion, issued this past March by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in the United States, titled "Standing for the Unborn."

While there is nothing new in this document in terms of Church teaching, its analysis of the effects of 30 years of legalized abortion in our nation and how this very volatile public policy issue needs to be addressed in our pluralistic society is quite reasoned and persuasive.

I can't do justice to the entire document and recommend your reading it in its entirety (www.jesuit.org). Still, let me cite some of its principal insights for shaping future public dialogue about abortion in our nation:

* First, the document notes, "abortion is a human rights issue. It is also a social issue, and not simply a personal decision made in artificial isolation from wider social reality. Attempts to frame the issue as merely a question of personal preference or private choice ignore important features of abortion as a public policy.

"Because the state and society as a whole have an intense interest in promoting respect for life, we may not with a clear conscience relegate such life-and-death issues to the private realm, no matter how appealing and convenient such arguments may appear on the surface.

"Abortion policy contains embedded cultural assumptions, values and attitudes that have wide repercussions for the way we collectively treat all human life. The whole array of potential threats to life and human dignity is interrelated, and the Christian imperative to oppose it calls forth from us a consistent ethic of life.

* "Second, when we as religious leaders speak out against abortion, we are in no way endangering important Constitutional principles. While we invoke faith-based claims for opposing legalized abortion, we are only one part of a broader coalition that finds many reasons to protect unborn life.

"In recent years, new evidence about prenatal biology has persuaded numerous people, often without explicit religious commitments, that the fetus is indeed a living, unique human being, worthy of the respect and protection we give to all human beings.

"When abortion laws are changed, it will not be the imposition of a narrowly confined religious position upon an unwilling majority, but rather the consequence of a new broad-based consensus grounded upon persuasive and reasonable arguments accessible to people of all faith traditions and people of none.

* "Third, beyond the actual content of 'what' we say in making a case against abortion, it is critical to pay attention to 'how' our defense of the unborn proceeds. As St. Paul reminds us, we must 'speak the truth with love.'

"The dialogue should never devolve into a shrill clash of shouts, much less threats of violence. We should remain confident that adjudication on the grounds of what is reasonable and consistent with human well-being is possible."

Morality

The statement proceeds to cite the heritage of Catholic moral teaching which underlies our opposition to abortion:

* "The social teachings of the Catholic Church place the dignity of the human person at the center of all concerns for justice. Every human being, no matter how small or young or dependent on others, possesses infinite value.

"The book of Genesis testifies how it pleased God to create human persons 'in the image and likeness' of God (Genesis 1:26) as free and rational beings possessing innate and sacred dignity. The Hebrew Scriptures treat violations against the life and welfare of innocent people as offenses against the God who is the Author of Life. The Decalogue unambiguously declares: 'Thou shalt not kill' (Exodus 20:13).

"Although the Scriptures have almost nothing to say specifically about the topic of abortion in the modern medical sense (i.e., as a surgical procedure or pharmaceutical intervention), the books of both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures paint a reality that clearly rules out disregard for innocent human life.

"We find in the Bible several passages that testify to the preciousness of the unborn child. The prophet Jeremiah describes God's love for the unborn: 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you' (Jeremiah 1:5). The book of Psalms offers this prayer of wonder: 'You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth' (Psalm 139:13-15).

"When early Christians began to reflect on their faith in Jesus of Nazareth as Christ and Lord, they concluded that abortion was a grave sin. To believe in the mystery of the Incarnation, in God's wondrous decision to become human and take on the life of our natural existence of conception, birth, maturation, and death, commits one to affirm the dignity and sacredness of human life from conception to death."

In modern times, all the popes of the 20th century have spoken out boldly against abortion as well as against a panoply of other threats to human life. No one has been more vigorous in this regard than Pope John Paul II.

Pro-woman

Drawing upon Ignatian spirituality, the Jesuits' statement offers some cogent insights about the effects of abortion, especially upon women and how, contrary to the battle cry of pro-abortion advocates, the pro-life approach is truly pro-woman:

* "Evidence from numerous sources, including the Project Rachel programs set up in many dioceses to counsel women and men who have experienced or been involved with abortions, suggests at least two things. First, that tremendous pressure is often brought to bear on women facing unplanned pregnancies. Second, that horrible trauma and regret often haunt participants in the aftermath of abortion.

"As the United States bishops poignantly noted: 'Roe v. Wade [the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion during all nine months of gestation] has left a trail of broken hearts.' The struggle to achieve a sense of reconciliation with God and the aborted child often takes years to resolve, if it happens at all.

"Political philosophy teaches us that freedom is not the power to do what we like but what we ought. All too often in abortion debates, 'liberty' and 'choice' devolve into code words for utter freedom to terminate a pregnancy without limits or conditions.

"To be pro-life is to be pro-woman. Because we support women, we oppose abortion. We realize that the prevalence of abortion-on-demand is a clear indication that women are not receiving the types of societal and personal support necessary to bring their pregnancies to term. As Mary Ann Glendon, the Harvard law professor who headed the Holy See's delegation to the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing in 1995, stated: 'All who are genuinely committed to the advancement of women can and must offer a woman or a girl who is pregnant, frightened, and alone a better alternative than the destruction of her own unborn child.'

"Some influential voices posit a zero-sum conflict between 'women's reproductive rights' and the right to life of unborn children. We ought to find their place among those who demonstrate the obvious confluence of women's rights and respect for life in all its forms.

"Pope John Paul II summed this partnership up when he wrote in 'Crossing the Threshold of Hope': 'Therefore, in firmly rejecting "pro-choice," it is necessary to become courageously "pro-woman," promoting a choice that is truly in favor of women. It is precisely the woman, in fact, who pays the highest price, not only for her motherhood, but even more for its destruction, for the suppression of the life of the child who has been conceived. The only honest stance, in these cases, is that of radical solidarity with the woman. It is not right to leave her alone.'

Challenges

Finally, the Jesuits' statement articulates the specific challenges to be faced and the recommended strategy to be utilized in seeking to address the divisive question of abortion in a pluralistic society:

* "The United States is blessed to be a pluralistic society with a vigorous tradition of free thought and speech. To be surrounded by such a kaleidoscope of cultures, customs and ideas is a privilege rare in human history.

"While enriching, this can also be a potential source of frustration and conflict. What binds the United States together is a tradition of tolerance and mutual respect for the opinions of others, as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the United States.

"We must acknowledge, however, that phrases such as 'the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' and 'the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family,' in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are phrases with contested meanings that others understand differently than we do.

"This awareness can lead us in two directions, only one of which will be constructive in the long run. The first is the sectarian option, something which has decidedly not been the dominant thread of the long Catholic tradition. It would lead us to seclude ourselves from this corrupt world, and have as little as possible to do with the workings of governments, courts, and the whole 'culture of death.' It might make us feel better for a time, perhaps savoring the illusion that we are at least preserving our moral purity within a corrupt world, but it would not be socially responsible.

"The more attractive option seeks neither to flee nor to dominate situations of pluralism. It commits us rather to a process of engaging those who initially disagree with us on some issues, seeking to create an acceptable consensus wherever possible by building upon those truths on which we can reach agreement, while continuing to educate and persuade those who disagree with our convictions.

"This path of 'proposing, rather than imposing' was described by the great American Jesuit theologian of the past century, John Courtney Murray. While emphasizing the value of tolerance and mutual dialogue, he also advised against any sort of moral relativism that might lead one to despair of finding and pursuing fundamental truths about human existence.

"In the near future, we cannot realistically expect complete agreement among all participants in the abortion debate. We must listen respectfully in the abortion debate. We must listen respectfully to others' opinions, just as we expect a fair hearing of our own arguments against abortion.

"Our confidence in the persuasive power of well-articulated defenses of pro-life positions sustains us, even as we acknowledge the long struggle ahead. An acceptable outcome may be a long way off, although building a consensus against the most egregious wrongs, such as partial-birth abortions, may be possible sooner than we expect.

"In the meantime, our common calling is to stand in solidarity with the unborn, the 'least of our brothers and sisters' (Matthew 25:40), through prayer and political activism."

Cogent view

I thank the Jesuit community in the United States for offering such a concise, candid and cogent statement on abortion, and for proposing a courageous, civil and compassionate approach to revising the flawed public policy which has led to some 39 million abortions in the past 30 years.

I hope that this statement will be a clarion call for all within our Church and society to revisit and to expunge this social evil from our midst.

(8/7/03) [[In-content Ad]]