On Tuesday, October 3, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks with few exceptions. The passage of this bill is providential, in that it passed at the beginning of Respect Life Month, and it is encouraging as it offers a greater defense of human life to the most vulnerable of people: the child in the womb. I pray that the U.S. Senate will also pass this bill and that President Trump will sign it into law.
Every person, no matter his or her condition or state in life, deserves basic protection from harm and death. Women deserve better than abortion, and the Catholic Church stands ready to assist them in the challenges their pregnancies might pose. Through the Gabriel Project, the Diocese of Arlington offers help to expectant mothers, and through our diocesan outreach to those suffering after abortion, Project Rachel, we have learned how women are often coerced into having an abortion or misled into making a decision they later regret.
I ask all in the Diocese of Arlington to join me in prayer for an end to abortion, and for the well-being of mothers experiencing a crisis pregnancy. Through the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, may each child be welcomed as a gift, as they are made in His image and likeness.
Note: Bishop Burbidge will celebrate the annual Respect Life Mass on Sunday October 8, at St. John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean. Mass begins at 10:30 a.m.
