Pro-life hero and leader of Priests for Life, Fr. Frank Pavone makes a profound realization in his book, Abolishing Abortion: How You Can Play a Part in Ending the Greatest Evil of Our Day
On pages 30 and 31 of his book, Fr. Pavone analyzes the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the US in 1973. He points out that the justices did not decide that the unborn are not human. The President of the National Pro-Life Religious Council astutely shows us that the Court sidestepped that question. Instead, they said, “We need not resolve the difficult question of when human life begins.” And they also wrote, “When those in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology cannot arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man’s knowledge, is not competent to speculate as to the answer.”
Stop for a second and think about the enormous impact of what the Supreme Court admits here. They are saying they do not know when human life begins. What hubris to then go on to decide the unborn can be murdered nonetheless. In effect they are admitting openly that abortion could be the murder of innocent human life (which we now know to be true) and yet they find a legal protection for the heinous act anyway!
As Fr. Pavone continues, he quotes the Roe decision when it states, “The word ‘person’ as used in the Constitution does not include the unborn” (emphasis added). Although Father does not make this point, I will add that this too remains a deep flaw in the court’s findings. They are denying Constitutional protection to human beings on the discriminatory factor of age. The unborn are not developmentally as advanced as those wearing black robes, so their lives are expendable.
Anyway, I keep interrupting Fr. Pavone’s great insights. He reinterprets the Court: “In essence, they are saying, ‘Yes, the child might be human—we can’t say for certain—but we do have the authority to say that you can kill it, regardless” (emphasis added).
The Priest for Life director goes on to explain just how wicked this Roe decision remains.
Had the Court found for themselves that the unborn were not human, then when it establishes a supposed right to kill the unborn, “at least it would have preserved the principle that no government can authorize the killing of the innocent,” Fr. Pavone writes.
But this is not what the Court found. Instead, the Supreme Court arrived at a far worse conclusion, as our pro-life warrior priest explains for us:
“We need to understand the seriousness of this [decision]. What the Supreme Court said in Roe was, ‘We are now declaring that we the court, we the government of the United States, have the authority to remove some human beings from the protections of the Constitution. We have the authority to remove this protection not based on the humanity of the unborn, or lack thereof, but because we say so” (emphasis original).
Might makes right. When you steer off course from letting the Natural Law dictate moral conduct, you are left with one group of people in power subjugating a weaker group of people. Fr. Pavone agrees. He says totalitarian regimes where holocausts occur all share in the common viewpoint that “they are the masters over life and death” (emphasis original).
So, what is the solution to this? Well, besides reversing the Roe v. Wade decision, the Priests for Life director calls for us to establish a government whereby the Natural Law is observed and followed. Although the priest does not use those words, he does suggest we create a government “based on certain principles that its leaders realize are beyond their authority and beyond their reach.”
Such principles would include the recognition of the natural right to life. They would also include the realization that no one may take a life of another innocent human being. These are fundamental aspects of the Natural Law that all mankind can recognize. We are not even discussing Divine Law or Divine Revelation here. This is basic understanding that must be adhered to, if our republic has any hope of surviving.
Since the unborn are human beings, just at an earlier stage of life, they too deserve Constitutional protection. They have a right to life. Our court system needs to come to this realization, quickly.
YOUR TURN
What do you make of Fr. Pavone’s analysis?
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