Sorrow, quite apart from the sense of shame, is exhibited in some way by virtually every woman for whom I’ve performed an abortion, and that’s 20,000 as of 1995. The sorrow is revealed by the fact that most women cry at some point during the experience...The grieving process may last from several days to several years...Grief is sometimes delayed...the grief may lie sublimated and dormant for years.
Alan Guttmacher, 1970
This is the man after whom the research arm of Planned Parenthood is named, so here’s another example of someone who makes the same connections we do but from the side of favoring rather than opposing the violence.
If you're going to curb population, it's extremely important not to have it done by the damned Yankees, but by the UN. Because, the thing is, then it's not considered genocide. If the United States goes to the black man or the yellow man and says slow down your reproductive rate, we're immediately suspected of having ulterior motives to keep the white man dominate in the world. If you can send in a colorful UN force, you've got much better leverage.
Joseph Bernardin, address to the Woodstock Theological Center, 1990
[T]he consistent ethic...is helpful in that it illustrates the consequences on a range of issues when we fail as a society to protect the sacredness of every human life. A moral vision which does not have room in the circle of the human community for unborn children will inevitably draw the circle of life too narrowly in other decisions of social and economic policy...There must be a connection...between our lack of moral vision in protecting unborn children and our lack of social vision in the provision of basic necessities for women and children.
Mark Crutcher, LifeTalk News, October 1, 2010
In a roundtable conversation, Mark is discussing Republicans who think the abortion issue should be toned down.
These guys say we ought to separate the “moral” issues from the “economic” issues...[Prochoicers] don’t have the moral foundation to make these economic decisions...What these guys ought to be saying is, even if we don’t care about abortion...we ought to be willing to at least use that as a barometer for what kind of economic decisions they’ll make...The military. If you think that going to war doesn’t have moral components to it, you’re nuts. And if we say we don’t want to deal with these moral issues, we want to deal with the money and the military and the terrorism – if you don’t apply morals to those issues, you’ve lost your mind.
Mohanda Gandhi
I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary – the evil it does is permanent.from All Men Are Brothers, Autobiographical Reflections, New York: Continuum, 1980, p. 150
It seems to me clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime.
Jim Wallis, “Pro-Life Democrats? There are millions of votes at stake in this liberal miscalculation,” Sojourners, June 2004
The tragedy is, in America today one can’t vote for a consistent ethic of life. Republicans stress some life issues, Democrats others, while both violate the seamless garment of life on several vital matters. But the consistent life ethic still serves as an invaluable plumb line by which to evaluate all political candidates and parties.
George Monbiot, “The Values of Everything” The Guardian, October 12, 2010
He’s not actually discussing the consistent life ethic, but we think the point applies.
We must shed old thinking and stand up for those who believe there is more to life than the bottom line. But there’s a paradox here, which means that we cannot rely on politicians to drive these changes. Those who succeed in politics are, by definition, people who prioritise extrinsic values. Their ambition must supplant peace of mind, family life, friendship - even brotherly love. So we must lead this shift ourselves. People with strong intrinsic values must cease to be embarrassed by them. We should argue for the policies we want not on the grounds of expediency but on the grounds that they are empathetic and kind; and against others on the grounds that they are selfish and cruel. In asserting our values we become the change we want to see.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, 1866, Proceedings of the Eleventh Women's Rights Convention
We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.
Jane Addams (1860-1935), First woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize
I believe that peace is not merely an absence of war but the nurture of human life, and that in time this nurture would do away with war as a natural process.
Thomas Merton, 1968
The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.
Shane Claiborne - The Simple Way
A consistent ethic of life is one of the most urgent needs in the world today. Christ was the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE. It is time for a movement of people who are all about interrupting death and cherishing life, from the womb to the tomb. I am grateful for the persistent and courageous work of the Consistent Life foundation. May we all continue to join them in graciously getting in the way of all that destroys life – whether it be abortion, poverty, capital punishment, war, or apathy.
John Noonan, A Private Choice, 1979, p. 82
Why did the slave-holders act as if driven by the Furies to their own destruction?...Why did they take such risks, why did they persist beyond prudent calculation? The answer must be that in a moral question of this kind, turning on basic concepts of humanity, you cannot be content that your critics are feeble and ineffective, you cannot be content with their practical tolerance of your activities. You want, in a sense you need, actual acceptance, open approval. If you cannot convert your critics by argument, at least by law you can make them recognize that your course is the course of the country.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Christmas Sermon, 1967
The next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life...when we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won't exploit people, we won't trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we won't kill anybody.
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