Dear Editor:

Why are we surprised? Sixty-one million babies have died by abortion, the single-most devastating tragedy of our lifetime. So why are we surprised when we hear that a number of states have passed legislation to allow a child to be killed right up to the moment of birth? Why are we surprised to hear that if a mother intended her child to be aborted and he or she is born alive, he or she can be put aside and left to die? We have simply become desensitized! We have become numb to the death of these innocent unborn or almost born or even already born babies!

So many excuses rationalize the justification for abortion. We not only disregard the tiniest among us we also dismiss and judge their parents. Age, poverty, the need to keep a job, education, interruption of life’s plans, fear, embarrassment or not wanting others to know: These and many more reasons are given as justification for abortion. Crisis pregnancy centers help, but first the mother has to be supported to have the courage to come for services. She has to have that support and encouragement because that’s what makes it possible for her to take the first step.

An estimated one in four families have been personally touched by abortion; they have lost a child or a grandchild to abortion. With the advent and widespread availability of the abortion pill, I’m quite sure the number of families who have been affected by abortion is very likely much higher. 

For many years I worked in Respect Life Ministry and also in post abortion ministry. One thing I can say for sure is that a mother or father never, ever forgets their babies. Parents remember their children, living or dead, until their last breath on this earth.  Whenever I think about and pray for the unborn babies and their mothers and fathers, I remember a conversation I had with my dad 50 years ago. He was concerned about my becoming involved in the Right to Life organization. I remember telling him that innocent unborn babies need to be protected not only for themselves but also, because in my lifetime, what abortion would lead to would be to a shot called, “put you out of my misery,” and I was right!

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are now becoming more and more widely accepted in the name of euphemisms like “death with dignity” or “mercy killing.” States are now passing legislation to allow medical prescriptions for a person to take his or her own life and courts are making decisions to end the lives of long term ill or disabled persons, even when family members petition the courts to protect the right to life of their loved one.

Once again I ask: Why should we be surprised? The logical outcome of desensitization to the taking of human life is a culture of death!

Patricia McCarthy

Casper