NOTE: This article features some sensitive topics that may not be suitable for younger readers. Please use discretion.
It is the mission of all Catholics and Christians in one way or another to help build that culture of life and defend the unborn in any way we can. Lila Rose, wife, mother, Catholic convert, and founder and president of LiveAction, firmly believes in that. LiveAction is a pro-life organization that has worked tirelessly since its inception to build a culture of life, protect mothers and the unborn, and end abortion.
At first glance, it is a daunting task to face people with opposing views, but Lila spent her time on stage at the National Eucharistic Congress combatting that fear. Her talk, Protecting the Imago Dei: Defending the Pro-Life Position, shared the tools that she uses to defend life every day.
“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.”
(St. Teresa of Avila)
Lila began with a syllogistic argument that is the basis for the reasoning of the pro-life position:
- It is always wrong to intentionally take an innocent human life.
- Abortion is the intentional destruction of an innocent human life.
- Abortion is always wrong.
The place where pro-choice people get held up is at the second premise. Very often, they don’t believe that life begins at conception. Very often, they aren’t aware of the brutal destruction that’s involved in an abortion. And very often, women believe that because it’s their body, they should get to decide what to do with an unborn child.
But as we know, life begins at conception. As we know, abortion is a heinous, abhorrent act perpetrated against the most innocent, vulnerable members of our society. And as we know, women have a right to their bodies, but so does that baby. There is nothing that gives anybody the right to kill an innocent human being.
Pro-choice people often bring up the case of rape or incest, citing these instances as times when abortion is necessary: A horrific crime is committed against a woman, so she should have the right to get an abortion. Lila calls this phenomenon “empathy misdirection” or “empathy hijacking”. The rapist is the criminal, not the baby. If aborted, the baby is simply a second victim. It is an unequivocal lie that abortion heals the crime of rape.
“Well, what about when the mother’s life is in danger and abortion is needed to save her life?”
Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortionist turned pro-life OB/GYN, worked at a tertiary medical center for nine years where he witnessed hundreds of extremely complicated pregnancies: everything from cancers to heart disease to intractable diabetes. Over those nine years, Dr. Levatino saved hundreds of mother’s lives from those complications. He did this by ending the pregnancy, not by abortion, but by delivering the baby.
“I always tell people, ‘In all of those years, the number of babies that I had to, that I was obligated to, deliberately kill in the process was zero. None.'”
It is never necessary and never acceptable to intentionally end the life of an innocent, vulnerable human being, especially one so defenseless as an unborn child. We need to uphold our own laws as Americans, and together, we can build a culture of life and make abortion unthinkable.
“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (United States Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1)
We also had the pleasure of hearing Lila Rose speak at the Revival Session 2: The Greatest Love Story. You can watch her whole address below:
Be sure to continue to join us for all National Eucharistic Congress coverage including the Rosary, Holy Mass, Morning Encounter Sessions, live Relevant Radio broadcasts, and Evening Revival Sessions: RelevantRadio.com/NEC
