Msgr. Charles Pope: The Masks Are Coming Off

By Msgr. Charles Pope, January 31, 2019

An abortion bill, similar in many respects to the horrifying bill recently passed in New York, was recently tabled by the Virginia General Assembly. It would have eliminated many of the requirements already in state law for third-trimester abortions. That it was tabled is the only good news.

Most of you have already heard the exchange between Virginia state delegate Todd Gilbert and the bill’s sponsor, delegate Kathy Tran. He asked Tran if her bill would allow a woman who is in labor to request an abortion if a physician certified that the pregnancy would impair her mental health; Tran replied that it would.

About this truly shocking (but honest) admission, delegate Tran afterwards lamented, “I was caught off guard and probably wasn’t as artful in the moment as I could have been,”

“Artful”—In other words, she couldn’t wordsmith quickly enough to cloak the shocking truth that if this bill became law, a woman already in labor could legally have her child killed (with a physician’s approval).

And just in case you think things couldn’t get worse, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam sought to defend Delegate Tran and imagined the following scenario:

“So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother” (*).

Words cannot describe just how awful this is, claims that we “critics” simply misunderstand the governor notwithstanding. No indeed, the message is loud and clear: a baby is set off to the side and “kept comfortable” while the caring doctors and the mother have a nice little discussion about whether the newborn should be allowed to live or killed—truly shocking. We might just as well be back in pagan Rome under the Pater Familias laws, under which the father decided whether to keep a certain baby or have it cast into the Tiber or exposed to die. Infanticide, like abortion, is a very ugly business.

There has been plenty of news analysis about this “controversy,” but I prefer to call the bill a calamity, the legalization of outright cruelty.

This much must also be clear: the masks are coming off and the fierce face of abortion on demand is on display. Upon Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signing of the “Reproductive Health Act” in New York, the open celebration, the applause, the lighting of the World Trade Center spire in pink were egregious and boldly fierce—“in your face,” if you will. (I have written more about that travesty here.) Now we have this shocking episode in Virginia.

For years, the pro-choice movement has cloaked itself in talk about keeping abortion safe, legal, and rare—but it was a cloak then and it is certainly one now. Today the cry is increasingly, “No limits! The right to abortion is an absolute, human right!” Why are the masks coming off? Scripture provides an answer, at least in terms of the satanic inspirations behind abortion:

But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short (Rev 12:12).

In past decades, the devil has seen fit to work largely in secret, but recently he seems to have changed strategies and is increasingly coming out of hiding. The dramatic increase in the need for exorcisms and deliverance ministry is indicative of this. I also see evidence of this as he inspires ever-more-radical abortion laws—edging right into infanticide; he further deceives many into calling this good and something to celebrate.

Satan rages because he knows his time is short. Science is on the pro-life side. It is undeniable that a unique human individual comes into being at conception. Fetal development is now widely documented with 3D ultrasounds and in utero cameras—something from which abortion advocates like to “shield” pregnant women. Although the age of viability is usually considered to be 24 weeks gestation, some infants born earlier now survive; neonatal units are fighting to save the lives of children that across town at the “clinic” could be legally aborted. Young people are increasingly pro-life, and most Americans now support increasing limits on abortion. Yes, Satan knows that his time is running short, and so he rages, inspiring blindness to obvious truths and callousness toward human life—even the most helpless.

Will the Church boldly engage in this ever-fiercer battle or will we be fearful and ineffective? Will our leaders and the laity have courage to counter the callousness that is settling in? Will we resist or just be resigned? Will you be outspoken and join the ranks of those who witness, act, and pray?

Satan once raged at the babies when God, through Moses, was about to liberate His people. He raged again when Christ entered the world to save us. When God is up to something big, Satan rages. Remember this:

• The Midwives resisted Pharaoh’s evil law.

• The parents of the holy innocents in Bethlehem fought to protect their children from Herod’s wrath and fear.

• Joseph and Mary obeyed God’s command to carry Jesus off to protection in distant Egypt leaving behind all that was familiar.

If we want to usher in blessings and end Satan’s raging, we must resist evil laws, act to protect our children, and be willing to suffer as a result. What are you willing to do?

Cross-posted at the Catholic Standard: The Masks Are Coming Off

 http://blog.adw.org/2019/01/masks-coming-off/