The following letters to the editor appear in the edition of Aug. 19, 2004. Letters appearing in this space do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arlington Catholic Herald or the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as necessary. There is no guarantee of publication. Send letters to: letters@catholicherald.com.

Post-Abortive Women Need Support

Like Jenny Sullivan, I attended a "Reframing the Abortion Debate" workshop, but I came away with a much more positive impression. Two related topics were covered: changing our pro-life language to reach today's audience, and reaching out with compassion and healing to post-abortive women. Most of Ms. Sullivan's suggestions about caring for pregnant women and challenging society were discussed. The portion of the afternoon focused on post-abortive women did not take anything away from that part of the message.

Over the years, one point on which a pro-choice friend and I have agreed is that legal or illegal, the only thing that will really stop abortions is for hearts to change so that women no longer seek them. This workshop offered many suggestions for reaching today's women and men.

Unfortunately, logical arguments (e.g. human life is sacred, and the fetus is human and therefore should not be killed) do not convince many people in our subjective, experience-driven society. While we witness to truth, we need to use language and actions that have a better chance at making a difference today.

At the luncheon, we were challenged to reach out with compassion to pregnant women. Interviews with post-abortive women have shown that having some support can mean the difference between keeping and killing their babies.

We also need to be able to explain how abortion hurts women. Many women are encouraged or coerced (by their families or the men in their lives) to have abortions. The physical, emotional, and spiritual side effects of abortion should be talked about, including the higher rates of reproductive health problems, depression, suicide and substance abuse, as well as the guilt and shame that damage women and their relationships. Women and men must be reached with the loving message that "women deserve better."

The workshop did include a lot of information about reaching out to post-abortive women with compassion and healing. This is important work and should be done for the sake of Christian charity. But there is a pragmatic side to this healing, too: about half of abortions are performed on women who have already had one. If they are shown compassion and receive support, forgiveness and healing, women are less likely to "repeat."

For me, some of the saddest statistics I heard were related to how many post-abortive women there actually are — 43 percent of women by age 45, and 25 percent by age 18! Whenever I am in a group, I need to remember that it is likely to include a post-abortive woman (who will not be able to listen to the truth if it is spoken with condemnation). These are women who need our help for their own sakes and for the sake of their future children. And the men in their lives need to be helped to realize what a poor "choice" abortion really is.

These are just some of the things I learned at the workshop. While we shouldn't stop struggling to make abortions illegal again, we must also reach out to change the hearts, minds and attitudes of our society, even if we can only affect one person at a time.

Barbara Rice
Chantilly

Results Are What Matter

It is easy to understand why a conservative person would have chosen to vote for George W. Bush in 2000. It is also understandable, and appropriate, that we all rallied around the President in time of crisis. But conservative or not, results are what matter.

Do all, or even most conservative, voters feel safer because getting Saddam became more important than getting Osama?

Do any conservatives question the wisdom of the war on Iraq; how it is has been managed, and what it is now costing us, spiritually, economically and politically?

Was there any conservative angst over the handcuffing and stonewalling of the 9/11 Commission, whose very existence George Bush fought?

Are there conservatives who share the alarm of Republican governors over the effect of an under-funded "No Child Left Behind" on our schools and our children?

Do conservative voters care who really wrote and are profiting from Mr. Chaney's energy and environmental policies?

Do they in fact realize who is and who is not benefiting from Mr. Bush's tax "relief," and understand the debt we are leaving our children? Are conservative voters truly satisfied with the direction of our country? Do they still believe the American Dream is available to all Americans, even if health care is not?

Being conservative does not mean you are not paying attention. It means that you hold traditional values, and the answers to these questions should matter to you.

Mark McKinney
Lynchburg

‘Consistent Life Ethic’ Party?

Every four years the U.S. Catholic bishops publish "Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility." This is a concise, very readable and beautiful document, which I encourage all HERALD readers to read.

In this document, the bishops ask us to consider the image of a table as we cast our votes in the upcoming elections. "We offer once again a simple image — a table. Who has a place at the table of life? Where is the place at the table for a million of our nation's children who are destroyed every year before they are born? How can we secure a place at the table for the hungry and those who lack health care in our own land and around the world? … How do we ensure that families in our inner cities and rural communities, in barrios in Latin America and villages in Africa and Asia have a place at the table — enough to eat, decent work and wages, education for their children, adequate health care and housing, and most of all, hope for the future?"

Such a vision asks us to love and to care about all God’s children, unborn and born. The bishops remind us that we are called to protect all the vulnerable, to assure them the "right to life" and a life which is protected with healthcare, adequate nutrition, housing and education.

Which candidate and which party has the best platform for bringing everyone in the United States and the world "to the table"? How are we to protect vulnerable children as much after they are born, as we struggle to protect them before birth? Which party will facilitate our Church’s social justice teachings? Which candidate will heed our pope’s appeal in "Evangelium Vitae" to stop "the violence against life done to millions of human beings, especially children, who are forced into poverty, malnutrition and hunger … , the violence inherent not only in wars but in the scandalous arms trade … the spreading of death caused by reckless tampering with the world’s ecological balance … "?

As I ponder these questions, I know that I do not have the answers. As the bishops point out in their document, "a Catholic moral framework does not easily fit the ideologies of ‘right’ or ‘left,’ nor the platforms of any party."

Where is the "consistent life ethic" party? I want to vote for the candidates in that party.

Mary Curry Narayan
Vienna

Copyright ©2004 Arlington Catholic Herald.  All rights reserved.