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The Unity of the
Pro-Life Movement
By Fr. Frank Pavone
HERALD Columnist
The pro-life movement is composed of a stunning number and variety of groups
large and small, spanning all ages,
professions, creeds, and practically every
other designation we
can name. Literally thousands of groups
are active in the
United States alone.
One of the reasons for this wide variety is that the goal of the pro-life
movement is so basic and fundamental: the
preservation of life itself. Because life
itself is prior to any other
rights or traits, no matter how diverse
they may be, it stands to
reason that a cause that seeks to protect
the right to life will
find adherents across that wide and diverse
spectrum of human
interests. In this sense, the presence
of so many groups is a
good and healthy sign.
Another reason for the wide variety of groups is the nature of abortion. It is the intersection of many trends in ethics, medicine, law, psychology, sociology, religion, politics, and numerous other disciplines. Any one of the many dimensions of abortion can easily demand a lifetime of research and labor. I often wonder why some consider a focus on abortion alone to be a "narrow" focus. My experience is just the opposite. The range of intellectual, moral, and practical avenues which this problem opens seem endless. Therefore, there need to be different groups which address different dimensions of abortion: medical groups, religious groups, post-abortion groups, legal groups, youth groups, and so forth.
Yet while there is good reason for the diversity and number of pro-life groups, there is never a justification for disunity. By disunity, I mean a phenomenon whereby one group sees another as a threat rather than as an ally, as one to compete with rather than cooperate with, despite the fact that the ultimate goal, restoring protection for human life, is the same.
Did you ever stop and think that this is the same dynamic which, when it occurs between a mother and her preborn child, leads to abortion? Mom sees the child as a threat. She thinks the only road to her own fulfillment is to push the obstacle, the child, out of the way. Abortion rests on enmity where their should be welcome. That is true when the parties are mother and child; that is true when the parties are groups or organizations.
We end abortion when we help mom and dad to trust that the child is not an obstacle to their fulfillment. Rather, both child and parents find their fulfillment in giving themselves to each other in love.
The same is true among pro-life groups. Giving ourselves to each other in a dynamic trust and cooperation will overcome in us what we want pregnant mothers to overcome in their own minds and hearts. It is time for us to give them the example.
The Holy Father sums it up: "No single person or group has a monopoly on
the defense and promotion of life. These are everyone's task and responsibility"
(Gospel of Life #91).
Father Pavone is the International Director of Priests for Life
and an official at the Vatican’s Council for the Family.
Copyright ©1998 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article was published in the Arlington
Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 23, No 32,
dated August 13, 1998, on the page 5
.
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