By Jean Garton
Editor’s note. Dr. Garton is author of one of the
enduring classics of pro-life literature: “Who Broke the Baby? What
the Abortion Slogans Really Mean.”
Words have always intrigued me, so my ears perk
up when I hear one that is new. That happened a few months ago when
my garage door decided to have a hissy fit. It went up and down,
down and up, merrily clanking and banging along the way. When the
serviceman arrived to check it out he discovered the problem. “Yup,”
he said. “It’s definitely whopperjawed.”
Whopperjawed!?! What kind of word is that? When I
couldn’t find it in the dictionary, I turned to the current fount
and source of all knowledge: Google. There it was: ”whopperjawed”
meaning askew, misaligned, and twisted to one side. That
obviously described my garage door but, more certainly, describes
our country today.
Nothing has caused the United States to be more
askew morally; more misaligned culturally; or more
twisted legally than the Supreme Court’s 1973 opinion on
abortion.
Every January, since that destructive action
which has taken the lives of more than 55 million unborn babies,
Americans have gathered across the country to participate in the
March for Life to mark the infamous date. This year, the 40th
anniversary of that decision, there are again marches in
communities, state capitals, and at the national Capitol in
Washington.
As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said:
There is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the
tramp, tramp, tramp of marching feet. The thousands upon
thousands of pro-life feet that will again march this year from one
end of this country to the other serve to highlight the reality that
there are two Americas—an America split over whether morality
matters and whether truth matters.
The truth is that when life begins isn’t a matter
of opinion any more. It is a matter of fact; of well-established
science; and even of common knowledge. Anatomical studies have
documented that the human body’s pain network is established by 20
weeks after fertilization. Neurologists report that unborn babies
actually feel pain more intensely than do adults because the child’s
pain-modifying system has barely begun to develop.
Given such medical evidence, is there any other
conclusion we can draw except that abortion is inhumane and
barbaric; a brutal action against the most defenseless of humans?
The Right to Choose is simply a politically correct way to
camouflage the torture and violence that abortion inflicts.
There is an adage that applies perfectly: people
can have their own opinions, but they can’t have their own facts.
And the fact is that today it is not enough to simply be human to
enjoy the protection of the law. An unborn child must be a wanted
human, a planned human, a human living outside the womb.
When it comes to abortion, the popular saying
that “It’s Location, Location, Location,” takes on a life and
death meaning. For all those helpless babies legally aborted since
1973, well, it’s just too bad. They were simply living in the wrong
location.
So, here it is, 40 years later and males and
females of all ages, colors, and political parties will gather to
remember that day of injustice imposed by the Court in the name of
choice. Some may wonder what good these events do anyway. I
have wondered that myself as the years pass and the destruction
continues. I participated in that first march in Washington and have
joined a march in various states every year since 1973. What good
does the tramp, tramp, tramp of feet do?
After the Court ruling I testified at hearings
held by both the Senate and House on a Human Life Amendment. What
good did those hearings do? I have given thousands of speeches,
spoken numerous times in every state in the Union, and established
the National Lutherans for Life organization. What good did any of
those things do?
The answer is, to paraphrase Shakespeare, “There
are more things in heaven and earth, Pro-Lifers, more things
accomplished by your voices and values, your commitment and courage,
than are found in your wildest dreams.”
Every step, every word, every meeting, every
assembly of like-minded witnesses is like precious gold! First,
those all give voice to the unborn children who can’t speak for
themselves. Secondly, they give encouragement to the men and women
in government who advocate for the unborn and their mothers. Third,
they help cheer us on, causing us to realize that we’re not fighting
the battle alone. And, fourth, these events are a reminder to the
media, candidates, and political parties of why we are single-issue
voters.
Not because we don’t care about the economy and
unemployment; about the environment, immigration, education,
terrorism, or a host of other current issues. We are single-issue
voters because a candidate’s position about the sanctity of human
life reveals the character and values of that candidate.
The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus once put our
responsibility this way: “So long as we have the gift of life we
must protect the gift of life. So long as it is threatened, so long
it must be defended. We have not yet seen the full fury of the storm
that is upon us. But we have not the right to despair. Our entire
struggle is premised not upon a victory to be achieved but a victory
that has already been won.”
The Right to Choose has replaced what is
right, and defending the right values and laws is seldom safe, easy,
or popular. So it helps me to remember that ancient story when the
giant, Goliath, came out against God’s people. The soldiers of
Israel looked at that giant and thought: Ooh, he’s so big we
can’t stop him. But little David with his slingshot looked at
that same giant and said: Ooh, he’s so big I can’t miss.
The mess surrounding the life issues–whopperjawed
though it is–is sooo big, that we can’t miss either if we recognize
the importance of our individual work and witness. As Charlton
Heston, the late actor famous for his movie role as Moses, once said
to the Arizona House of Representatives:
Political correctness is just tyranny with
manners, so I wish for you to be un-popular. Popularity is just
history’s pocket change. But courage ... courage is history’s true
currency.
The Psalmist said much the same: Be of good
courage and the Lord will strengthen your heart. (Psalm 27:14)
