There are very few things in life that make me rise to my feet and shout out loud more than the single issue of the sacredness of human life. Over my thirty-six years of priestly ministry, I have delivered some of my most passionate homilies on the beauty and sacredness of human life. I find it personally disturbing that in the wake of the sexual revolution we are becoming less and less concerned with the value of human life. Abortion is at the forefront of the matter, but all life and its value has succumbed to human ignorance and the pursuit of transitory moments of pleasure. These instances are becoming more intense in their violence against women and their ruthlessness in actions of aggression against any and all human beings.
Thus, much of the public has been denied access to the trial of Kermit Gosnell, an abortionist who ran a “clinic” in Philadelphia. He faces 43 criminal counts, including eight counts of murder, one adult and seven newborn infants. The infants, it is alleged, were born in the midst of a procedure known as late term abortion—more commonly called partial-birth abortions. Partial-birth abortions were banned by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2003. In that law, partial-birth abortions were defined as: “An abortion in which the person performing the abortion, deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus; and performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living fetus.” (18 U.S. Code 1531)
Most of us would agree that once a child is delivered from his or her mother’s womb, it is no longer a fetus, but a viable human being. Most attempts to kill those babies would be seen as horrifying and, indeed, criminal. Arguments in this trial have been trying to “split the hair” of what to call those living babies who were murdered. Let’s try “babies.” Let’s try to at least give these abortion victims the benefit of the doubt—let’s try “human beings.”
You may not have seen or even heard about this trial, because there are many people who are preventing you from hearing about it. The mainstream media has not brought this story to the prominence it deserves. Government and business leaders have not brought it forward. The abortion industry does not want to talk about this, because they know this mess undoes all of their hard work trying to tell us how they are providing “healthcare for women.”
Abortion is such an insidious evil in our midst. It has done such harm to our society, and it continues to dull our consciences. This case manifests the damage done and cries out for justice and common sense to return to our troubled lives. Pray for those affected. Support and promote the sacredness of life—it is a divine gift!
Come celebrate life at Sunday Mass in your home parish.