Lear, Kent, Fool

Today is the 84th anniversary of my father’s birth, and today in Washington D.C., hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers will be attending the March for Life. The convergence of these two events is significant to me, because it was my father who explained what abortion is to me when I was just 12.

Dad’s description of abortion was quite simple, nothing graphic or even very detailed.  And,

Ambrose at 15 weeks

he defined abortion for me without using any “loaded” language or giving me any indication what I should think of it. I remember squinching up my brow and being confused that such a thing was even possible and wondering why any woman would want to do such a thing to her baby, and could only get out the words: “But that’s wrong, isn’t it?” My father smiled slightly, probably reflecting on how clear the morality of abortion was to a 12-year-old, and nodded his head: “Yes, it is.”

And, so began my avid pro-life activism. It started in the classrooms of my public high school. I often found myself the lone voice speaking up against decriminalized abortion when the topic arose, in my Health classes, my Biology classes, my Psychology classes, and, most often, in my English classes. I was truly flabbergasted that any of my peers could even entertain the thought that abortion was a choice a woman should have without any consideration for the life she was carrying within.

I have never been convinced that my words reached or changed anyone’s heart.  In those days, I had more passion and conviction than information. It frustrated me unto anger on more than one occasion that the morality of abortion wasn’t as obvious to my schoolmates and teachers as it had been to me.  But anger, even just anger over this outrage, isn’t very converting with regard to abortion.

When I was 19, I chose to go to Franciscan University  because of the advertised commitment of their student body to the pro-life movement.  I had watched the March for Life coverage on C-Span my senior year, and knew in my heart I simply had to be a part of the larger movement. I minored in Human Life (pro-life/family studies), prayed at the abortion facility 45 minutes away from campus in Pittsburgh on Saturday mornings, and attended the March for Life every year I was there.

After I graduated, I walked across the country from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., as part of a pilgrimage and witness to the movement with a group of young men and women from Franciscan University. In spite of the hateful words we heard praying in front of abortion facilities, despite the vulgarities and being spat upon and having eggs thrown at us, we were encouraged. We were encouraged because we received so many thanks and so much support from the average American on the street. We were convinced of the truth: America is pro-life!

That time of my life was as exhilarating as my high school experience had been frustrating. We were going to change things. Our prayers, our demonstrations, our activism, our advocacy and educational efforts were going to result in the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

I continued to work in the pro-life movement after I graduated. And, gradually began my disillusionment with all of our seemingly fruitless efforts. Worse, the pro-life world seemed filled with fallen human beings who could make you lose your faith in everything you previously held dear. (There were more earnest and good souls than there were bad experiences, but on spiritual battlegrounds one will find much division, dissension, and discouragement. It can seem overwhelming.)

I distinctly remember standing with a friend as we watched the waves of hundreds of thousands of marchers go by at my sixth or seventh March for Life and his commenting: “It’s hard to believe that any of this marching here year after year does any good at all. I mean, where has it gotten us in all these years?” I was tempted to jump onto the despair bandwagon full-steam and commiserate, when the reality of what really mattered in this movement occurred to me: “Yes, I suppose none of the thousands of rosaries and other prayers people offer while they are here or traveling here do any much of anything. I guess all of the sacrifices people make financially and with regard to their comfort to get here are worthless. God doesn’t care about any of that.”

The reality is that this movement doesn’t need more marches, more political activism, more educational outreach or advocacy as much as it needs more pilgrimages, more prayer, and more personal sacrifices. Fr. Elias Mary of our local Franciscan friary responded to frenzied efforts our local Catholic churches were making with the most recent postcard campaign this way: “This is a spiritual battle. It is the devil we must conquer. It’s not going to be won through politics. The devil isn’t afraid of a postcard! But he is afraid of the Rosary.”

Most of all, the movement needs charity…as in “love.” Charity toward our compatriots and charity for the pregnant women filled with fear and their own sense of despair. Love that costs us. We take our marching orders from Blessed Mother Teresa:

“How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts.”

I truly feel that the backbone of the pro-life movement and the catalyst to real, lasting change is found in prayer, fasting, and sacrifice, as well as in outreach to pregnant women in need. 

I have worked for and with a number of pro-life organizations since university. And, there are a couple I would like to encourage you to support today:

Crossroads Pro-Life: Crossroads is the original inspiration of a Franciscan University graduate, Steve Sanborn, who combined personal passion with prayer and came up with this unique form of pilgrimage. It began as one walk across the country from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. However, there was so much interest from students across the country in being a part of the mission of Crossroads that it quickly expanded to include four walks across the United States, as well as one across Canada and another in Ireland.

This organization has no large financial backers. The participants in these pilgrimages give up entire summers when they could be earning dollars that would contribute toward their education for the sake of the unborn. It is a truly grassroots mission and operation of love.

Few of the pro-life organizations I know from the inside as I do Crossroads would I endorse so heartily. If you can’t walk with them this summer, support their walkers by making financial gifts which make this pilgrimage possible. Unlike many non-profit pro-life organizations, Crossroads has no multi-million dollar surplus that they are able to work from each year. Their income supports them (literally) hand-to-mouth.

Heartbeat International: Heartbeat International provides educational resources to pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and adoption services. These local groups help women who are at risk for abortion by providing life-affirming, practical support they need to choose life, then prepare them to parent or to place for adoption.  Heartbeat provides so much to so many with little glory, and again, little financial backing. I have never met a more sincere, passionate, or truly loving pro-life leader than the current President of Heartbeat International, Peggy Hartshorn. She and her husband pour many of their own resources into the organization simply so that Heartbeat may continue to exist to support the needs of pregnancy centers and the women they benefit.

Just so you know, I receive nothing personally or professionally for endorsing these two groups. I write to endorse them because I see them addressing the two most fundamental needs of the pro-life movement, and because they are not as well known or popular as many of the others that quickly come to mind when one thinks of pro-life organizations. And, many of those who might quickly come to mind, I know now I do not wish to support. Why? I’ll just say: Always research 990s forms on file before giving to any non-profit. And, I’ll leave my remarks there.

Lastly, I encourage you to pray a Rosary today, many Rosaries every day, and to make a sacrifice, many sacrifices, for the sake of the hundreds of millions of little lives that end in abortion around the world. This is fundamentally a spiritual battle and a cultural battle. We must overcome the spirits and persons who oppose us through prayer and love. The devil isn’t afraid of a postcard — or a mere march. Don’t neglect activism, but make every signature a prayer and every march a pilgrimage.

LIFE - WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CHOICE!