Where is the moral outcry?

Richard A. Sokerka

Just as the month of October dawned and the Church’s celebration of Respect Life Month began disturbing events showing the absolute lack of respect for life surfaced in the news.

In Mexico, amid a dem­on­stration urging the legalization of abortion, activists tried to set fire to the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. In response to the arson attempt, Catholics gathered before the front doors of the cathedral to protect it until firefighters got there and acted quickly to prevent the fire from spreading, and police acted to prevent further acts of aggression by the abortion rights activists.

This “act of aggression” was followed by even more sickening news that the family of the late abortionist Ulrich “George” Klopfer had made the horrifying discovery that he was hoarding the fetal remains of more than 2,200 babies whom he had aborted from 2000 to 2002 at his abortion clinics in Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend, Ind., at his Illinois home.

It just sends chills down your spine, doesn’t it?

Where is the respect for life? Where is the moral outcry?

Thankfully, on Oct. 1 there was a glimmer of good news in the battle to end abortion. On that day, Students for Life of America joined a number of pro-life leaders for an event outside the U.S. Supreme Court. The event marked the presentation of “The Moral Outcry” petition that has been signed so far by about 250,000 people. The petition begins: “We, The People of the United States, humbly petition you to redress and correct the grave injustice and the crime against humanity which is being perpetuated by your decisions in Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.”

Tina Whittington, executive vice president of Students for Life of America, said “This generation of youth, the Pro-life Generation, is here to say no more will our brothers and sisters in the womb go without a voice or their mothers be backed into a life-ending decision. We educate our peers on the humanity of the pre-born child; the harm abortion inflicts upon women both physically and emotionally, and work to bring tangible resources to empower women to choose life. We are ready to speak out for the pre-born for as long as it takes to make sure the violence of abortion is unthinkable. We want to see Roe overturned and our country restored to one that respects all life, in every circumstance, and offers the kind of resources that empower mothers and families. The issue of abortion matters to us and we join in the moral outcry against it.”

Thanks to young people like Tina Whittington, this generation, I am certain, will be the one that leads the way in the pro-life movement and ends the scourge of abortion in our nation.