Living Pro-Life: 3 Takeaways from 2020
With the holiday season now in full swing, I am reminded that—though I deeply care about and appreciate my loved ones—our political, religious, and philosophical convictions do not always align. Yet reflecting on this year as a whole, these ideological divisions are surely not unique to my family unit.
Though a year of some incredible pro-life wins, 2020 also saw grave trials imposed on vulnerable individuals and communities across the world. Spikes in racism-stoked violence, ten federal executions, hundreds of thousands of abortions—not to mention the many pro-life implications of the pandemic—make clear that threats to the dignity and value of human life are in no shortage.
In light of pervasive social divisions—sometimes superficial and surmountable, sometimes more entrenched and intractable—and the multi-front corrosion of pro-life efforts, what is to be done? Reflecting on this past semester, I would like to highlight three of my takeaways that I hope will guide pro-life activism into the new year.
1. Being "as Pro-life As We Speak”
Earlier this year, our regional SFLA coordinator held an Apologetics Training on how to be thoughtful and effective pro-life voices on campus. After diving into the science and philosophy behind what an abortion is and who the pre-born are, Stephanie said something that gave me pause: “We must be as pro-life as we speak.” As she expanded to say, discussing abortion and other grave pro-life issues necessitates coming from a position of sensitivity and love. Needless to say, a pro-life ethic authentically embraced involves recognizing and dignifying the humanity of those with whom we starkly disagree.
Of course, putting this into practice is more complex, but I believe that staying firm in the conviction that any direct attack on innocent life is impermissible is not incompatible with acknowledging (and, by extension, seeking to mitigate) the real obstacles to choosing life. As a corollary to this, not every apologetics encounter is best served by launching into an impassioned debate; but prudently assessing what direction a conversation should take begins with a mutual recognition of human dignity. This is an essential starting point for any longer-term efforts to change hearts and minds about abortion and all other end-of-life matters.
2. Remembering the Invisible Issues
In September, RTL partnered with AEI to spotlight prison reform proposals and how the dignity of incarcerated individuals can better be upheld. Near the end, one of the speakers, AEI Fellow Brent Orrell, wistfully remarked:
“It can be easy to forget about these invisible issues. We need people with a strong, intuitive sense of the dignity of the human - you don’t shed that dignity when you commit a crime. You don’t do anything to earn your dignity and you can’t do anything to lose it.”
From those on death row, to individuals on life support, to the unborn, we cannot forget or dismiss those without a voice or platform to protect their lives, intrinsically valuable in all circumstances.
I reckon the best way to avoid forgetting—or, worse, coming to passively accept—the invisible issues, those that do not directly touch our everyday lives, is continual learning: but this need not (and for most, cannot) be all-consuming. RTL's GroupMe is one way our group seeks to do this, sharing and discussing articles on a variety of pro-life issues, but it can take many other forms: attending events, listening to podcasts, or even keeping visual reminders (maybe a photograph, or a news clipping) that call to mind the real faces and stories of people whose dignity and lives are in jeopardy.
3. Hoping Versus Wishing
My final point concerns the distinction between hoping and wishing. I recently began a book about finding hope amidst brokenness, and it draws a clear line between these two conflatable terms. While wishing enables passive optimism (“I wish x, y, or z happens, and I will be either delighted or disappointed per the outcome”), hoping goes a step further: grounded in a conviction that life has meaning, people of hope take active steps towards bringing truth, goodness, and beauty out of dark and bleak circumstances.
As someone I admire recently remarked, "if abortion is what we believe it is, it really has to change our lives." Wishing alone will never end abortion.
We must care enough to not only vocalize our support for pro-life initiatives but, to the extent that we can, seek tangible change in any number of ways—donating to local pregnancy resource centers, writing to our congress(wo)men, cooking meals for the homeless, writing letters to the elderly...In the words of Father Mike Schmitz: "You cannot do everything, but you can do something." Imagine what a vibrant world we would have if every person committed to undertaking just one life-affirming, others-oriented activity on a regular basis.
The challenges we face entering 2021 can be met, but necessitate a pro-life community that is inclusive, action-oriented, and driven not only by professional activists but also—crucially—by individuals from all other walks of life who share the baseline conviction that all life, from conception to natural death, has inherent and incalculable worth.
Chalking in Red Square, October 2020
Kerry (President, Class of 2021)
