You’ve heard it all. The pro-life movement is too political. It is too connected with the Republican Party. The Republicans have done nothing to advance the cause of the unborn child. Pro-lifers are fools and chumps for being so closely aligned with the do-nothing GOP. Pro-lifers, and especially Catholics, have no home in either political party. And don’t get me started on how Donald Trump has harmed the pro-life movement. This is the chatter one hears from certain quarters. |
Yet here we are on the cusp of overturning the federal abortion regime. We are about to do what many thought was impossible. We owe this impending, upending victory to the entire pro-life movement—the folks saying Hail Marys in front of abortuaries, those intervening with women entering abortion clinics, those who educate the public about what abortion is. We owe it to folks who have done nothing more than send an occasional check to their favorite pro-life group.
But, most especially, on this day, we owe it to perhaps the most reviled part of the pro-life movement, that is, the political and legal arms of the movement. This will have been a victory of hearts and minds, to be sure, but most of all it will have been a victory of partisan politics and the law.
Consider the wild carom shot the political and legal arms of the movement have been tasked with. Consider the various tracks of action necessary to bring us to this moment.
First, elect a majority of the United States Senate and ensure most of them are willing to vote pro-life.
Third, you have seen the Federalist Society and others working to change legal education so that students and professors might incorporate originalism into their thinking and actions. Keep in mind that it has only been the Left who has been allowed to have an abortion litmus test for judges and justices. This is because the Left openly espouses a totally made-up Constitution.
Fourth, where the tracks come together is when there has been a nominating fight for judges and justices, ensuring they get through what has become a nasty process.
Fifth, and then on yet another track, there are those in the states who worked on electing pro-life legislators and advanced laws and therefore legal challenges that might eventually work their way through the court system to the Supreme Court.
It has been a wonderful tapestry of related action in politics—federal, state, and local, and the law.
How crazy and wonderful has been the effort that has led to being on the cusp of overturning the federal abortion regime, a regime that The New York Times said was settled with Roe in 1973. This has been a regime supported and buttressed by all the power centers of the country—the major news media, Hollywood, major corporations, rich foundations, the elite academy.
Even the judicial path has been fraught. Do you remember the Harriet Miers fiasco? George W. Bush nominated her with the blessing of the Federalist Society. But pro-lifers blocked her, and she was replaced with Samuel Alito. She came thisclose (sic) to sitting on the Court, and we all assumed she would be a squish like Sandra Day O’Connor or a flat-out enemy like David Souter. Remember him? We have been fooled. We have been chumps. God’s fools. God’s chumps. And, for Him, we kept going.
Consider the new attacks from the right on the very idea of originalism. Members of the Newest Right, particularly Josh Hammer of Newsweek and Adrian Vermeule of Harvard, advocate a new kind of originalism because the old kind has not work. Just look at the Bostock decision drafted by Neil Gorsuch that equates transgenderism with sex. Take a look at the decision by John Roberts upholding Obamacare. It did make one wonder if the Federalist Society project was ever going to work out. Perhaps “the living Constitution” was embedded too deep into legal skulls to ever change.
In response, Hammer and Vermeule argue that we ought to look not to the Constitution but to our policy proscriptions and how these policy desires align with what they define as the “common good.” This is a theory not dissimilar to what the judicial Left has been doing since the Warren Court decades ago, the Court that kicked prayer and the Bible out of school.
And then along came the Alito draft that may overturn Roe v. Wade and, perhaps, rescue originalism. He looked back hundreds of years to see whether abortion has even been a part of our jurisprudence or the norms of our lives. Of course, it hasn’t. Abortion on demand in the Constitution was created out of whole cloth not long before Roe came to the Court. What’s more, the precedent of Roe and Casey cannot hold if the underlying arguments failed in the first place.
The entire pro-life movement, all of it, will be able to take a humble bow when Roe is swept into the wastebasket of history. But three huzzahs must be aimed at those two most despised arms of our movement, all those who have toiled in politics and all those who have worked in legal theory and education.
There must be a final tip of the hat to the most unlikely pro-lifer, Donald Trump. None of this would have happened if he had not trounced Hillary Clinton. I don’t think Jeb Bush or any of the others could have whipped her. Once elected, this man acted in the most pro-life ways. We were astonished. Maybe a Jeb Bush would have stood by Kavanaugh when he was under withering assault. Maybe not. The fact is, Donald Trump beat Hillary. He nominated pro-life justices, and he stood by them. And he did all this while under continuous criminal attack from the Deep State. Our joy and thanks must extend to him.
Three cheers. Hip hip hooray. Hip hip hooray. Hip hip hooray.
The above comes from a May 13 posting by Austin Ruse in Crisis magazine.
As the school shooting in Texas proves — yet again — gun control is a pro-life issue. Let’s be consistent, now.
Because violent criminals abide by gun laws and other laws?
No one is for shooting people, at schools or anywhere. Shooting people is, obviously, anti-life.
What about stabbings? Why don’t we hear calls for knife control?
Tragically, most firearm deaths are suicides. There is a need for better mental health care.
I’d bet most readers here support reasonable gun control laws. But, abortion kills a vastly greater number of people than firearms and you know it. That’s what this article is about.
Protecting people, born and preborn, is pro-life.
(And, sometimes, the lawful use of firearms protects people.)
I think guns in the hands of extremely demented, violent young criminals, is only part of the problem. Where is the violent, demented young gunman’s mom, dad, and family? Neighborhood? School? Church? Sports teams and coaches? Local, traditional youth organizations that traditionally help form young boys into good, decent, mature men? When did the murderer in the news, start to go wrong in his life– who was watching? Who tried to help him– anyone? Forming definite, good future plans, with family help, after high school, is a good idea. It’s time to start to be a man, and give up childish teenage things. Mandatory military service for all young men, was once very helpful, for many. No more crazy feminist ideas– boys must grow up to manhood. Girls must grow up to Womanhood. And a return to the traditional marriage, home and family, the traditional, pre-1960s school, with a focus on the basics, and strong, traditional roles of man and woman, strong Judeo-Christian beliefs.
To Where did America go wrong: Extremely well said!!!
And back at the Warren Court where prayer and the Bible were eliminated from school. What replaces prayer in the public schools is now trangenderism, sex dysphoria, Critical Race Theory, LBGTQXYZ…
How many are on SSRI? How many young people who commit suicide?
In a good society, with good morals, manners, and respect for authority expected, with traditional marriage and family, traditional, good schools and strong churches, and good standards upheld everywhere– people will all be much happier, lead much better lives, have much less mental health and social problems, and crime will be much less. No liberal-leftist craziness, no filthy, rebellious hippies/misfits, no nonsense.
I’m going to take a guess that you’re older than me by at least a generation, but that’s based on your input here. I totally agree with you on some vital points: where were the parents, mostly. And others? and as you said – who tried to help this young boy earlier? I’m betting the signs were all there that he was headed this direction. But I digress from totally agreeing with you on a few points as well. Being a 25 year disabled veteran, I’m not sure, except in a general mobilization, that mandatory conscription is the answer to making young boys into men.
Michael Joseph Dremel, I agree with you. But it was noted, in earlier generations, that the formerly mandatory two-year military service sometimes helped young men grow up and become more mature. Maturity is something that requires a certain amount of pressure from adults in authority positions, to help kids grow up. You must get kids to understand, in the teen years, that they “have” to give up “childish” things, including childish notions of irresponible, so-called “freedoms,” and behave in an adult manner, and perform adult tasks– no excuses, no goofing off, no self-centered childishness, no nonsense. That kind of “have to” pressure, is badly needed, in today’s Western society– particularly, for young men.
A leftist never misses an opportunity to grand stand over the still warm bodies of dead children. Gun control will do one thing, give more unaccountable power to corrupt politicians. If liberals could think they would realize the mass shootings are the sign of a morally corrupt culture/society that they helped bring forth. The underlying issue it the complete destruction of the family in the past 60 years, whose base is the sexual revolution. This will not end until the country accepts Christ the King, and obeys HIS Laws…
I agree. A morally corrupt culture, spearheaded by the filthy hippie/liberal-leftist sexual revolution, and destruction of the traditional marriage, family and home, supported wrongfully by mindless, immoral, liberal-leftist misfits in political power, is the root of today’s evils, including horrific crimes. We badly need a moral and religious revolution in our society, and to love, respect, honor, and obey Christ and His teachings.
A most interesting hypothesis you present – if only everyone would act like the 1940’s, 50’s, all would be well. Regrettably, it wasn’t all well, and even then, each generation has been accused of ruining the status quo, destroying American values, etc. Live, breathe, pray and worship as you will, but do not expect that everyone thinking as you will make the world perfect. Humans are inherently greedy and self-serving, doing and justifying acts that in the end are meant to keep them in power, in control or believing that they are holier than the “others” who do not believe or do as you do.
Michael Joseph Dremel– kids must not grow up to live as extremely irresponsible, immoral, self-centered, destructive alcoholics, dope-addicts, or criminals– tragic failures, on the dangerous fringes of society. It is the responsibility of parents, teachers, clergy, and all other community leaders, to help kids grow up to be responsible, successful adults. Today’s immoral Western society is headed for ultimate disaster. A no nonsense return to our Judeo-Christian-based principles of Western society, is badly needed. Yes, mankind has always sinned– yet, even when sinning, in previous generations– adult thinking prevailed, and even criminals understood right from wrong– and wouldn’t lie and say that wrong is right.
My comment of May 27 at 3:29pm, was edited. The editors removed my quotation marks in my final sentence, originally written: …and wouldn’t say that “wrong” is “right.” I believe that my English grammar training is correct, however.
why would they do that?
Too many kids today, grow up without good influences, and drift into drugs, alcohol, and destructive, immoral ways of living. They are not ready for a good future, as adults. Many of them follow demented rock stars, and are drenched in their destructive music of violence and filth. Some end up on the streets, homeless, mentally sick, and many soon die. And some commit suicide, or die of drug overdoses.America can do much better than this.
When I was young in the 1940’s and 50’s, there was no “no fault” divorce and more intact families; abortion was illegal and very few women or children died from them contrary to what you are told; guns were all over the place, but mass and school shootings were almost non-existent, and the death penalty was enforced for such cases. People often left the doors to their houses unlocked. Now when my husband is not home, I lock all the doors to our house. It seems to me if children are not safe in the womb, neither are we safe out of the womb. Back then we did not kill the innocent but the guilty.
Interesting connection – get rid of abortion to push society to go back to the good old days of women being told that if their husband is abusive she can divorce him but gives up the children, or that she can only open a bank account or get a credit card if her daddy or brothers signs off on it? So in your words only “very few”women died from illegal abortions, and somehow that’s a justification? You would not think so if it were your daughter or niece – that would be one too many. Guns are all over the place? Many, yes, but all over? An expedient exaggeration to what purpose? You and I agree on one point for sure – egregiously evil acts like shooting school kids should be met with a death penalty. Do not equate that crime with having an abortion – apples and oranges. A fetus cannot survive beyond the womb until about week 22, and then only with major intervention. Curious that your husband is not “at home” – why? Is he a traveler and gone much of the time? Or has he passed from life to life everlasting, but putting it as such is difficult for you? You grew up when there was little legal abortion, but there was more rampant racist lynchings and other points of pain. Be careful what you wish for – your granddaughter is the recipient of that world.
Much of what you said was untrue in California when I was young. Lynching was extremely rare in California, and the only lynching I remember hearing about was of a son of a wealthy white man, and the perpetrators, all white, were prosecuted. No black people in my area were ever lynched. The various Mafias did murder but usually among themselves.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said it best when she said that if a mother can kill her own child in the womb, what is stopping you and me from killing each other.
Violence begets violence.
BTW, Michael Dremel, my grandmother had a credit card or cards and a bank account, too. She had one for me also, which I got later when I became of age, and my grandparents were working class in a multiracial neighborhood, not wealthy.
We all must live by good morals only, and teach and set a good example, for our children! That means, respect for Marriage, and no promiscuity. And respect for Life, from conception to natural death. Good parents always help their children grow up and become mature, and serve God, family, and country. All societies have problems. No matter what, we must act mature, and live by good morals, and teach our children to responsibly do likewise. Women traditionally were highly honored in their feminine, wonanly role, as the married “Lady of the House,” running a household, with the cooking, cleaning, sewing, decorating, shopping, social activities, managing money, family life, milking the cow, planting a garden, and raising children– etc. This has traditionally been considered as an important “profession,” for which almost all women would aspire, in all cultures, for centuries. This “profession” is still the most important in the world, regardless of what the world may think. It is not a “side chore” to do. Before the modern era, we used to have a much simpler society, and each gender took great pride in their role. No credit cards, only the rich had bank accounts. A man’s paycheck was not designed for a single man– it was designed to cover all the needs of a married man, and his wife and children. The family was the basis of society– which provided first, for all needs– not “abandoned loners,” with needs cared for by the government.
Fortunately, many modern conveniences that were invented, have greatly helped homemakers with their daily work. But anyway, the vocation to be a traditional wife, mother and homemaker, is a wonderful and blessed vocation– and our culture today, greatly needs more respect for it. “The Mother is the heart of a family.”
Anne TE– Me, too! Life was so much nicer, then! We knew all our neighbors, never locked our doors, and the annual crime rate in our town was always zero.
In California’s public schools and around the nation archery was taught for those who kept good grades. My Girls’ Athletic Association had black, brown, white and Asian girl archers. It was unthinkable for any of us to shoot each other.
I was listening to Relative Radio (former Immaculate Heart Radio) today, and a man called in to say that teens were allowed to take their rifles to high school in Texas back then if they were going hunting after classes were over, and no one shot anyone else. Something has clearly happened since then.
Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer just blocked a school safety bill.
The bipartisan bill, named after Parkland, Florida, shooting victims Luke Hoyer and Alex Schachter, would require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a “Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices” for use by state and local educational and law-enforcement agencies, institutions of higher education, health professionals, and the public. It’s (past) time to stop playing partisan politics with the lives of children. Schumer claimed on Twitter that the bill “could see more guns in schools.” How’s that?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-blocks-senate-gop-school-safety-bill-angering-republicans
The most dangerous place for a child is his or her mother’s womb. Millions have been killed there.
Fr. James Martin is all over the Texas Massacre, using it to bludgeon pro-lifers about gun control and to bludgeon bishops who won’t deny Communion to politicians who don’t support gun control laws.
What do you expect from a creature who thinks two men can marry
“And if we look at the history of the church we will see that every time the bishops have dealt with a problem not as pastors, they have taken taken a political stance on a political problem. Think of St Bartholomew’s Night: ‘Oh, heretics, yes. But it’s a serious heresy…let’s cut all their throats….’ No: it is a political matter.” – Pope Francis
Pro-Life is winning and Trump had a lot to do with this.
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2022/three-cheers-for-the-pro-life-movements-political-and-legal-arms?mc_cid=b9b440bc61