Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
After the US Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, around 21 states have enacted protections for abortion access, which include opening up access to abortion until fetal viability. At the same time, more than 1 million abortions were recorded in the United States in 2023 — the highest in over a decade. This number represents a rate of 15.9 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age and is an 11% increase since 2020. The statistics might be depressing, and some might wonder why the people of our beloved country permit such horrible evils to go on or to go on for so long, even after Roe was overruled. The worst part of the drama is that some even pretend that nothing happened with the killing of the unborn. They are pretending that a six-month-old fetus is not, in some sense, human life. They are pretending that all doctors working in abortion clinics have the best interests of their patients at heart. They are pretending that all women who choose to abort their unborn children are doing so because they have made a responsible choice against the backdrop of all available alternatives.
The Gospel reading today might help us to reflect a little bit on the evil of abortion in this country. Today’s Gospel contains the miracle story, the cure of a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The story is not about a legal debate on what is or is not allowed on the Sabbath, but rather about the mission of Jesus to bring life. Jesus wants to show that his mission is not only to perform physical healing but a restoration to the fullness of life. The fact is Jesus is fulfilling the purpose of the Sabbath by bringing humanity to communion with God through His healing. But while Jesus comes to save many, the Pharisees come to “kill.” When Jesus talked about interpreting the Sabbath and forgiving sins, it was a death sentence for Him. The Pharisees immediately decide to kill Jesus because He wants to bring life to humanity. In a similar way, modern-day Pharisees still exist, including those who disregard the evil of abortion and choose to terminate the unborn.