Missed the Point

A response to: Neither Party 100% on Life

Regarding Robert Killoren’s response to Archbishop Chaput’s stance on abortion, I am pretty sure Archbishop Chaput is well aware of the parable and the players conspiring against Jesus — just as the powers today conspiring against the Gospel of Life.

Archbishop Chaput is not «siding with the Republicans» just because he is defending unborn children and attacking a culture of death. He is addressing the issue — not choosing abortion over other issues such as the War in Iraq, the death penalty, or allowing women a less-difficult-out who cannot afford a child at this time.

Those other alternatives offer choices and free will. Men and women who have courageously entered the military knew the potential of going to war or other dangers and freely chose this decision. Those on death row should be defended and the Church stands up for them but there are many times more deaths of (unborn) infants in one year than executions in the entire 20th century.

Outside the tragedy of rape, women choose to enter into sexual intercourse; many are not even married. Does one mistake warrant another? Does one individual suffer for the lack of prudence of another?

Our military men and women could stand up to voice their disagreement with President Bush (but they haven’t); women who are in the moment wanting to abort their own children have the ability to argue their right to have someone extinguish the life within; babies do not have the ability to request asylum from their attackers. These other people have voices to defend their rights, their free will; infants do not. Archbishop Chaput and the other courageous bishops who stand up to defend life in these critical weeks take time out of their busy schedules to defend those who have no voice.

We indeed need dialogue. Let’s discuss the reasons to risk conception without facing the consequences. Let’s discuss the significance and the sanctity of the conjugal love act. Let’s discuss how Elizabeth and Mary courageously avoided abortion despite their own issues.

Rev. John Zimmerman