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(cont.)
I. The Past: Witness for Life
An examination of the past decade generates both sadness
and pride. Sadness—perhaps moral dismay is a better
phrase—is a product of evaluating the abortion policy
set in place by the 1973 Supreme Court decisions.
Pride is the justifiable product of evaluating the
efforts of thousands of volunteers who are committed
to reversing the present national policy and re-establishing
respect for the right to life as a national policy
and practice.
First, the implications of Roe v. Wade bear examination.
In order to grasp the dimensions of the present challenge
we face, it is necessary to describe the depth of
the problem created by the 1973 Supreme Court decisions.
The decisions were radical in nature and systemic
in their consequences. They were radical since they
overturned in one stroke an existing political and
legal structure which treated any form of abortion
as an exception to normal practice The end product
of Roe v. Wade was to establish a political and legal
framework with no restraint on abortion. Many of us
sensed then, and all of us can be sure now, that public
opinion was not at all in favor of a policy opening
the floodgates to 1.5 million abortions a year. Some
radical decisions are justified morally and they are
necessary politically, but the Court decisions of
1973 were neither justified, necessary nor acceptable
to large segments of the American public.
The Court's decisions were systemic in the sense that they
changed not only a given law, but they established
operating presumptions in medical practice, social
service agencies and administrative policy which legitimated
and facilitated access to abortion. The result of
the decisions was to change the structure of this
society's approach to abortion. What the decisions
did not change was the substantial, broad-based and
solidly grounded view of American citizens across
the land that abortion on request is not a satisfactory
way to address the real problems individuals and families
face in this delicate area of respecting unborn life.
It was this deeply felt personal opposition to abortion
which crystallized the public policy position of the
pro-life movement. There has undoubtedly been a strong
Catholic core to this movement, but it has cut across
religious and political lines, as is evidenced by
the participants in this convention. It is this pro-life
constituency which is an authentic source of pride
for anyone associated with it. At a time when grass
roots coalitions are often talked about, the pro-life
constituency has a claim second to none in demonstrating
local support. At a time when citizen apathy is a
serious public problem, the pro-life movement has
mobilized men and women personally, professionally
and politically in opposition to abortion. At a time
when the moral dimension of public policy on a variety
of issues is in need of a clear statement, the pro-life
movement has cast the political issue in decisively
moral terms. Finally, the movement has been not only
political but pastoral. It has joined its public advocacy
with practical efforts to provide alternatives to
abortion.
For all these reasons, I maintain that the witness to life
in the past decade has been a cause for hope and pride.
The lessons learned in the decade of the 1970's prepare
us to analyze our choices in the 1980's.
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