Top Ten Reads for Respect Life Month

October begins Respect Life Month throughout many Catholic dioceses. It is a time to be reminded about how fragile life is and how it is made in the image of God. It is our duty to defend life from womb to tomb.

What better way to learn about the pro-life message than to read the accounts of pro-lifers? Some were a part of the culture of death and in time became pro-life advocates. Others share their pro-life work over the years.

1) Persuasive Pro-Life Trent Horn

Published in 2014 and using his first-hand experience during campus visits, CatholicAnswers.com's own Trent Horn shares firsthand some of the dos and don'ts in engaging and challenging pro-choice’s viewpoints.

2) Unplanned Abby Johnson

Once a rising star for Planned Parenthood, Abby Johnson saw firsthand a defenseless life being killed by an ultrasound-guided abortion in 2009. She recalled the times she saw volunteers for 40 Days for Life pray in front of her work in Bryan, TX. It would soon lead her to be a pro-life advocate and a Catholic convert.

3) Single Candles Brendan Lyons

West Chester, PA native Brendan Lyons writes a series of narratives from a chain of events that link several characters, all of whom demonstrate compassion and bravery in their commitment to the sanctity of life. In one piece, a senator defies his own political party; in another, a neonatal surgeon is asked to compromise her principles. Although the stories are fictional, the passion that informs the characters’ conviction is very real.

4) Rising with Roses Monique Ruberu

Dr. Monique Ruberu thought she was pro-life until she realized that she was prescribed birth control. Because of the help of many pro-lifers in Philadelphia, she reverted to her Catholic faith and now promotes Natural Family Planning and coordinates two 40 Days for Life campaigns in Philadelphia.

5) A Voice for Victoria: A memoir of healing from post-abortion trauma- Geraldine F Jacobs

A Voice for Victoria shares the author's journey toward understanding how childhood messages and current events played a part in her abortion decision and path to healing from post-abortion trauma through God’s forgiveness.

6) The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Neil Gorsuch

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch thoroughly assesses the strengths and weaknesses of leading contemporary ethical arguments for assisted suicide and euthanasia. He would argue against the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide while using Netherlands and Oregon as prime examples. 

7) Johnny Got His Gun Dalton Trumbo

This anti-war novel, written in 1938, shares how a WWI soldier wakes up from his hospital bed with no limbs and a half-destroyed face. After his wishes of showing the country of the horrors of wars, he reflects on the realities and myths of war.

8) All Quiet on the Western Front- Erich Maria Remarque

A German veteran of WW1 recounts the physical and mental stress while fighting in the war. It also shares how to detach from civilian life they were following the war's end. 

9) Racketeer For Life Joe Scheidler

A former monk recalls his early involvement in the pro-life movement. He has debated media personalities, politicians, abortion workers, and even fought the culture of death at the Supreme Court.

10) Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer- Ann McElhinney

Ann McElhinney details everything that happens inside of Kermit Gosnell's house of horrors in the Mantua neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Even advocates on both sides were horrified at the heinous committed by the most notorious serial killer of the abortion industry.

Don’t worry! They’ll be another list to come. This is only the beginning.