Vox Luminis 2In 2011, my Mom and I started a blog project, called Vox Luminis, which is Latin for "Voice of Light."  It includes, among other things, testimonies of women who regret their abortions.  I wanted to do to promote The National Memorial for the Unborn, and I wanted to do it for the Catholic voice, since God called me to become Catholic Easter of 2011.

I hear a lot of rhetoric these days about responsible parenting. Planned Parenthood needs to know something.  The couples with child who come in to their office are already parents.  A woman has already accepted Motherhood and Parenthood when she conceives a child.  She can't unplan what has been planned by God.

While I strongly hold a Pro-Life identity, I think there is a grave danger in the Pro-Life world, to be glad when something goes wrong during an abortion. I recently heard a story of a girl in Maryland who died after a third-trimester abortion. I watched coverage of the event, from a small pro-life group online. I found this story shocking and sad. However, I must admit- this Pro-Life group almost seemed glad</i> that this happened, because of what it "proved" about the Pro-Choice world.

One may think, "Finally, people will see the light." But the thing is, that pregnant girl -and her baby- still died, and we should still be grieving. It should not be an occasion to prop ourselves up on our self-righteous haunches for all to see. Dangerous is the water that says, I would never do that. I would never go there. I would never.... and that is bigotry. Bigotry is a form of hatred.

If you hate the Pro-Choice movement, or feel strongly, perhaps that is good. But if you show contempt, or if you are glad, or if you let out a sigh of quiet satisfaction while people are suffering, I encourage you to examine your motivation for being Pro-Life. We should not get caught up in wanting to be right, nor should it make us happy when we "win."

Although there are those who make me embarassed to be Pro-Life, I will continue to adhere to Pro-Life principles, despite any accusations of judgmentalism. Everyday, 3,000 American babies are aborted. The reality is, this is too common. What the Left and what Planned Parenthood stands for, in particular, has become a popular viewpoint these days, with healthcare the way it is. I for one would like to see abortion lose its popularity and frequency.

A woman grieving, a woman suffering after abortion, is a woman who was given a choice. She was given the choice to give the baby inside of her life-  or to take that life from the baby. Yet, the babies- the victims- aren't the ones who are responsible. We are responsible.  This responsibility, as I see it, is threefold.

1. Americans are responsible. We need to stand up in the political sphere and in public. This is our responsibility as Pro-life voters.  Continue to tell people that you care about the Pro-Life movement and all that it means. Participate in marches.

We must stand up for what we believe in, even when the rhetoric borders on "judgmental."  When it comes to other issues, we can be opinionated. When it comes to the public school system, or gun control, strong opinions surface.  Why can we not be strong in our stance in being Pro-life, without bigotry or hatred?

2. Christians- Catholics and Non-Catholics alike- are responsible.  DO something. Pray for the end of abortion. Accept a foster baby into your home.  Counsel a woman to keep her pregnancy with a baby, even when she knows she cannot keep her baby. Show care and concern for a woman in crisis pregnancy.

In October of 1979, in Washington D.C., Pope John Paul stated, "All human life-- from the moment of conception and through all subsequent stages-- is sacred, because human life is created in the image and likeness of God.  Nothing surpasses the greatness or dignity of a human person...If a person's right to life is violated at the moment in which he is first conceived in his mother's womb, an indirect blow is struck also at the whole moral order."

I have a good friend who just lost her fourth baby to miscarriage. That 12 week old baby had a heartbeat, a gender, and soon they will give that baby a name.  I know for a fact that if that baby's life had been up to them, the thought of losing that life - particularly by their own doing - would have been a tragic thought, because they know that baby's life was sacred.

I must stand up, because - right now?- guess who is getting the death penalty?  Unborn babies. And I can hardly feel comfortable with that.

3. Young women in crisis pregnancies are responsible. I know it isn't popular to come out and say it, but if we cannot own up to a baby out of wedlock, or not having the humility to ask for financial or emotional help in a crisis pregnancy, a baby should not be the payment for that guilt. We are responsible for that life, even if it means some kind of sacrifice (it always does).

Although you must have heard this quote, it is worth repeating. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

Rocked is the world in which a woman puts herself in the judge's place- in a matter of life and death.

I can hardly feel comfortable when I make simple decisions, like what to have for lunch. I agonize, sometimes I criticize myself, after I make a decision. Same goes for what I order at a restaurant, or what drink I buy at Starbucks. But when a young woman is asked to make a decision in the case of murder, choice is a different matter. Not least because of the repercussions on her conscience for years to come.

When we feel and think that a person is Liberated by their ability to choose life or death for their child, we miss the fact that this is a decision that will rock their world completely.

They may come to view themselves differently for the rest of their life. How can I have done that? Or the mother - whose very <i>motherhood is also being aborted- could say, "This is ok," and counsel other women to do the same thing. And so it snowballs.  Penalized for our crimes and mistakes are the sacred lives of the children in women's wombs everywhere that die in abortions.  It is preposterous, to think for a minute that a baby must pay the penalty for our crimes.

We are responsible for our mistakes. We are responsible for these babies. We must be responsible and stand up for life. Be Pro-Life. But don't be mean. Care for those who are hurting. Help those who are in crisis. Be Actively Pro-Life. Even - and especially - when it isn't the cool thing to do. Let's make being Pro-Life the cool thing to do.

It starts with me.... and you!

Copyright 2013 Tacy Beck