Dear Parishioners:
This past Friday, the 51st Annual March for Life occurred in Washington, DC. Thousands of citizens from across the country descended upon the nation’s capitol to call for an end to abortion and the building up of a culture of life in our nation. Even with the blessing of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court Dobbs Decision, which now allows more freedom at the state level to enact pro-life laws, the necessary work to build a culture of life in the United States is not finished. Rather, it is focused differently.
Sadly, the number of abortions annually is still well over 900,000 each year. That number is expected to decrease only by roughly 200,000 each year in a post-Roe America. Tragically, in Rhode Island, over 2,000 children are killed by abortion annually. Many national legislative battles loom, including keeping longstanding Hyde Amendment protections, which limit government funding for abortion on annual appropriation bills. The Hyde Amendment has saved over 2 million lives and is arguably the most impactful pro-life policy in our nation’s history, but now it cannot be taken for granted.
In Rhode Island, we have one of the most radical abortion laws in the nation. It allows for the direct killing of a preborn child up until the day of birth. Last year, the Governor signed a law that provides state tax dollars to finance abortion on demand for the Medicaid program and the health insurance plans for state employees.
The goal of the National March for Life is not only to change laws at the state and federal level but to change the culture to ultimately make abortion unthinkable. This includes the important work of changing hearts and minds. We must continue to pray, act, and advocate for life. We welcome Bishop Henning to Our Lady of Mercy on Sunday night as he celebrates the Annual Diocesan Respect Life Mass. He wrote in his recent column entitled “Life is Beautiful":
"The Catholic Church consistently upholds the truth of human dignity even in the face of cultural hostility and shifting moral viewpoints. We do so because the Lord himself gave us an example of universal and unselfish love and charged us to love one another as He loved us. We do so because He taught us to be most attentive to the forgotten, the vulnerable, the ‘least’ among us: ‘Whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to me’ (Matt 25:40). We do so in the knowledge that we will not be judged by our worldly accomplishments, wealth, or cleverness, but by the quality of our compassion and mercy.
It is a source of deep grief to me that our state has enacted laws that are among the most radical and anti-life to be found anywhere in the world. It seems so out of character in a state with such fervent hospitality and where people so often give and sacrifice for their neighbors. I am unsure how we reached this point of kindness to some, yet such a merciless stance towards the most vulnerable. Of course, the proponents of such laws argue that they are a matter of freedom and choice. And yet, the exclusive focus remains on the termination of innocent human life. We do not actually give vulnerable mothers a choice. We do not offer her equal resources to bring her child to see the light of day. Our system as it has been crafted brings women to only one choice – a tragic choice that occurs in heartbreaking numbers.
Please help me to communicate to the men and women of this state that the Catholic Church reveres life – each and every life. Any woman finding herself in fear or difficulty needs to know that we want to help her have a full choice and the support she will need to make the choice for life. Go to any parish in the Diocese of Providence, and we will do all in our power to help you and your baby.
I also ask that we call upon our leaders to help women in Rhode Island have a true choice. Every life is sacred; every life is possibility. Where is compassion? Where is mercy? Are there not ways to respect the dignity of the mother and protect the life of her child? Every one of us was once a child in the womb! We will never be mistaken in efforts to preserve life, to nurture and protect life, to revere and celebrate life. Life is sacred, and life is beautiful!”
Pray for an end to abortion and a culture of life in our state, nation, and world. Be well. Do good. God Bless!