Choose life, choose a family

Editorials

February 16, 2013

Choose life, choose a family

By Kathryn Jean Lopez/Syndicated columnist The Picayune Item Picayune Item Sat Feb 16, 2013, 07:00 AM CST

PICAYUNE — On the morning of the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling, I felt a chill, and it wasn’t the bitter cold. After Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, some 500 or so New Yorkers walked through the streets of Midtown Manhattan, in front of God, man and Grand Central Station, praying for life, love and mercy. Our prayers were not in judgment of others but that humanity may do better: that women and men may see better options than abortion and that God may forgive us for letting anyone think that she is alone and has no other choice than the death of her child.

The chill was the knowledge that some of the people nearby know the pain of abortion all too well. It was the certainty that someone, on her morning commute, was thinking that was her only option. It was the sharing in a community’s pain, guilt and sorrow.

We tend to live our lives masked in a veil of the self, pretending we live alone. But as solitary as we might sometimes feel, our actions affect others.

Now is the time to take a few steps back — not to turn back the clock, but to reflect.

Our problems won’t be solved through legislative actions. And legislative solutions, to the extent that they are effective, can’t be maximized without a fuller context. We can’t simply hold a vote to defund Planned Parenthood in order to send a political message and assume that the culture will change, that people will suddenly see the poisonous eugenics upon which the organization was founded and see adoption as the brilliant and generous option that it is. A congressional vote is not a magic trick. There are so many more steps involved.

In a new book, “Fill These Hearts,” author Christopher West asks us to “Consider the idea that our bodies tell a story that reveals, as we learn how to read it, the very meaning of existence and the path to the ultimate satisfaction of our deepest desire.”

West makes the point that our bodies and souls are not separate things, and that our very physical design speaks to our creation and destination. “In the biblical understanding, there exists a profound unity between that which is physical and that which is spiritual,” he writes. “This means that our bodies are not mere shells in which our true ‘spiritual selves’ live. We are a profound unity of body and soul, matter and spirit. In a very real way, we are our bodies.”

The general acceptance of the notion that our bodies are more than a conglomeration of biological functions is no longer something we can take for granted. Not when our federal health-care policy treats women’s fertility as a disease, as a roadblock to a confused misunderstanding of freedom and equality. Not when we are sending women into combat.

The world-famous former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch, just died. He was good friends with the late Cardinal John O’Connor. They collaborated on a book, “His Eminence and Hizzoner,” in 1989 in which Koch wrote: “The future of our nation depends on our ability to inculcate a strong sense of morality in our young people. That moral sense should be based on philosophical, ethical and religious teachings, which are the underpinnings of conscience. The way to oppose abortion is by challenging the conscience of those who advocate it. If the battle cannot be won at the level of conscience, it cannot be won.”

But what is conscience? What constitutes right or wrong? If we do not agree there are answers to these questions, we’ll never have a constructive policy or cultural debate about abortion. That is the basic work we need to address. No election is ever going to be better without it. No culture is ever going to be renewed without it. No lives are going to be truly saved and redeemed without it. We won’t start making sense again without it. The dark bitter cold of winter will be warmed by the renewal that comes with embracing life, living life lovingly, supporting life, letting someone know they are not alone.

(Kathryn Lopez can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com)

Text Only

Editorials

Bryant tantrum on education major standards was misguided
By the (McComb) Enterprise-Journal:
That was quite a tantrum Gov. Phil Bryant pitched at the College Board recently, criticizing its members for voicing concerns about his effort to increase standards for education majors.

March 29, 2013
Legislature to City Hall not sure move
Five Mississippi House members are running for mayor this year, and while name recognition might provide some advantage, lawmakers have had a mixed record in trying to go from the Capitol to City Hall.

March 27, 2013
Nation’s economy improving, but state’s still lagging
By The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger
It’s been a long time coming, but finally there are bright economic signs nationally that seem here to stay a while.

March 23, 2013
Armed teachers dangerous idea for school safety
By (Columbus) The Commercial Dispatch:
The Mississippi House of Representatives sent back to the Senate a bill that would arm teachers.
Before sending it over, the House, by a 70-46 vote, amended the Senate’s bill in two major ways. Actually, the House did more than amend it. They neutered it.

March 22, 2013
Not every bill grabs headlines
The first two bills that Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed during the 2013 legislative session dealt with money.
House Bill 19 gave more cash to the agency that coordinates a program to put all emergency offices under the same digital communications system. House Bill 20 moved money from the car tag reduction fund to the Budget Contingency Fund. Lawmakers use the contingency fund to cobble together cash for the overall state budget.

March 20, 2013
Transparency key to ‘best watchdogs’ oversight
By The (Tupelo) Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:
Rep. Jerry Turner’s effort to require open meetings of water associations and notice of meetings in which members of boards of directors will be elected remains alive in the Legislature. It should be enacted in the interests of transparency in the running of the nonprofit associations providing water for a significant percentage of Mississippi’s population.

March 16, 2013
Miss. makes news, good news, this time
By The (Columbus) Commercial Dispatch:
Generally, when Mississippi makes national news — especially of late — it is not the sort of notoriety we welcome. ...
So March 3, when Mississippi again made national news, we braced ourselves for the embarrassment that was sure to follow.
Only this time, it wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about.
Imagine that.

March 15, 2013
Ag’s legal expenses top $2.4M for year
An ongoing lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s foster care system has cost the state at least $4.4 million in legal expenses and fees since 2008.
Expenses continue to rise as the plaintiffs and the state work toward a telephone status conference scheduled for April 25 with U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee. The price tag this year is $1.35 million.

March 13, 2013
Ag’s legal expenses top $2.4M for year
An ongoing lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s foster care system has cost the state at least $4.4 million in legal expenses and fees since 2008.

March 13, 2013
Higher pay best way to recruit better teachers
By The (McComb) Enterprise-Journal:
A centerpiece of Gov. Phil Bryant’s proposals to improve education in Mississippi is raising the requirements for college students to major in the education field.

March 9, 2013
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Choose life, choose a family

Site Map

Contact Us