It is easy to attempt to ban abortion. Even if that effort succeeds abortion will not do away. It has been with us throughout human history, legal or otherwise. My belief is that focusing only on abortion will not accomplish anything even if our goals are lofty.
Early on in my nearly fifty years of ministry as a priest I discovered that simply quoting morals at people does not work. Good pastoral care begins with listening to people's pain. I have listened first hand to the stories of women who have been raped and abused by men, of women who could not afford health care, and thus pre-natal care. I'm not saying that these sufferings make abortion just OK. I am saying that trying to illegalize it without providing for the legitimate needs of the pregnant mother is short-sighted. Too many legislators at both national and local levels are guilty of that.
Then there is the issue of the father of the unborn child. So many of them abandon the pregnant woman and do not take responsibility. I realize that it can be a complicated issue but maybe we should at least look into the issue of making them pay for childcare as well as the medical care of the mother.
Some will object and say that the permissiveness of the times is a big factor in unwanted pregnancies. It indeed is. It may be fine to encourage virginity before marriage. We should. But let's be real--How likely is that effort to succeed in a widespread way?
The other issue is answering the question, "What does it mean to be pro-life and not just pro-birth? When I bring up issues such as rights of immigrants, racism and capital punishment too many people dismiss that because of arguments such as "Criminals are not innocent." or "These other issues don't invole the actual taking of life." There is some truth there but you cannot dismiss them because to do so is to attack life. Also, the Church has now said that capital punishment is not right. Please don't holler for the death penalty and say that you are pro-life.
This is a short article. More nuance may be needed.As the title suggests it's just not that simple. I welcome suggestions by comment or e-mail. If, however, you just want to call me a name or condemn me or say that I am against the Church please pause and take a deep breath. You have not read this piece carefully.
