Responding in Love to Pro-Abortion Advocates

The Supreme Court has delivered a great victory for the pro-life movement in overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that gave women the right to an abortion nationwide. Even though this is a step in the right direction, it will simply turn the right to ban or allow abortions back to the states and so abortion will still be possible in the nation. Plus, pro-abortion groups have threatened to take action and protest, in some cases violently, once this decision became final and some have already begun to do so. We do not have an easy road ahead, but as Catholics we must push ahead and keep on loving the other person as Jesus would do, guiding them to the truth in love and helping them see the dignity of every human life.

When we encounter protesters or other pro-abortion advocates, it’s important to treat them as we would want to be treated and remind them of their own dignity. Chris Stefanick, a Catholic author and television host, posted on Facebook after pro-abortion advocates called for protests at Catholic churches a few weeks ago that if we encountered them, we should simply remind them that Jesus loves them. This often surprises them and makes them stop and think for a minute. Sometimes, people like this have never heard that Jesus loves them and they don’t have any concept of what that means for their own dignity and the dignity of others. When we remind them of this basic fact, it plants a seed and makes them realize that if they are so loved, God must also love the babies He created and knit in their mother’s wombs and that He has a plan for each and every one of us.

This is just the starting point, however, and we also have to make women realize that the love that God has for them is not the kind of love that will just accept them how they are and let them live however they want. That is not really love at all. God wants what is best for us and so the rules that He creates are for our own good and because He loves us. Women cannot just have abortions so that they can go on living their lives the way they want without consequence. This is not meant to be cruel or restrain the woman, however. This leaves her free to love God and others the way she ought to and in the end it makes her truly happy because she is living the way she was created to live. Teaching this to others in love is what we are all called to do and it will gradually begin to lead our country back to a reverence for all life.

When we encounter protesters or other pro-abortion advocates, let’s remind them that Jesus loves them and others and what exactly that means. It will lead them to a greater understanding of themselves and the role of women in society, and with God’s grace it will change their position to uphold the dignity of all human life.