The Anniversary of Roe v. Wade…again

01-16-2022Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Peace and Joy in Our Lord Jesus!

I saw a shocking security video last week on a news website. It showed a woman stepping out of a relatively new automobile. She then opened the back door and picked up a baby that was wrapped in a towel and tossed it in a dumpster like she was taking out the trash. She got back in her car and drove off.

The child was rescued when someone heard the baby crying four hours later. Thanks be to God! The teen mother was eventually found, arrested, and charged with attempted murder and child abuse. Please pray for the mother and that the baby finds a deserving home.

There were a lot of local outcries in her hometown as well as calls for stiff sentencing for her crime. Most would condemn the actions of this young woman. I don’t think our condemnation of this woman is helpful in this instance. Her actions were too mechanical to be the actions of a woman that was well. There were no tears, nor was there any hesitancy. Reality was most definitely suspended. Besides and perhaps most importantly, throughout her young life, we as a nation taught her that life is disposable by tolerating abortion on demand. What is the difference between a child in the womb and a child a few hours old? In our modern sophistication, we refuse to answer basic questions about human life. Why does a newborn have rights when a preborn baby does not? The only thing that separates them is a time and location.

A wanted newborn baby is considered a great gift. Conversely, an unwanted preborn baby is an enemy to be disposed of so that we can live as we want. And we give young women (and often their boyfriends) the choice to terminate a human being, scarring them for years to come. Put simply, we are better than this. There was a recent challenge to the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in our country. In the 1973 decision, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was used by 7 justices to create a “right to privacy” that allows pregnant women to choose whether to have an abortion. Overnight, states that had previously strictly limited abortions or barred them altogether were prohibited by the nation’s highest court from interfering with this newly defined “right.” And since, 62 million children have been aborted in the United States and millions of parents have suffered guilt, depression, and long-term unresolved grief.

Last month, the Supreme Court heard Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that is widely seen as the most significant test of Roe v. Wade. At issue is the constitutionality of a law in Mississippi’s that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Many believe that this case, combined with the current complexion of the court, is the best chance to overturn previous judgements that legalized abortion. If the court’s ruling, expected in July, upholds the ban of late term abortion, it possibly also could overturn Roe v. Wade and send the abortion issue back to the states to decide laws on it.

With God all things are possible. We should be praying for the conversion of all people in the abortion industry, most especially the Justices of the Supreme Court. To that end, we invite all our parishioners to consider praying and fasting on January 22nd which is the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s fateful decision.

Prayer for Victory at the US Supreme Court

God our Father,
You are the Author of Life,
And the Protector of all.
We your people, filled with Your Spirit,
Stand with life and for life,
and we reject whatever destroys life.
Lord, we live in a culture of death,
Where children in the womb are destroyed each day
By an unregulated and uncaring abortion industry
That also wounds and sometimes kills their mothers.
We pray today for the safety
Of those children and their families.
Protect them from physical and moral dangers,
And let them experience the help of your people.
We pray in particular for the abortion case
Now being heard at the Supreme Court.
Lord, bless those who are arguing this case
On behalf of the safety of mothers in Louisiana
And throughout our land.
Bless and guide the Justices of the Supreme Court,
And their clerks who assist them.
Give them the wisdom to see
How dangerous the abortion industry is,
And the respect for lawmakers
That allows them to act on behalf of the people they serve.
We pray also for the conversion of abortionists
And of those in our society who support them.
Change their hearts, open their minds,
And give them repentance and new life.
Father, may Your Kingdom come,
And let your people rejoice in the victory of life.
We pray through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

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