December 6, 2004
Dear Friends,
I'm happy to send you my latest column, in English and Spanish.
I'd also like to invite you to a live online chat with me this week. Please join
me
for an hour of discussion on Thursday night, December 9, at www.priestsforlife.org/chat
We'll talk about whatever you have on your mind regarding the pro-life movement
and what we need to do next to advance the right to life. I'll be glad to update
you
on Priests for Life activities and on our plans for the upcoming year.
As you may know, I have an ongoing online poll on the front page of our website,
www.priestsforlife.org The
question for this month is, "Do you believe that
showing the pictures of what an abortion looks like, by holding signs displaying
those pictures on public sidewalks, is a method that should be used by pro-life
activists?" Please be sure to register your views, and look for a new
question at the
beginning of January.
If you're looking for pro-life gifts to give for Christmas, check out
www.priestsforlife.org/products
during the course of December. We'll be adding
more items.
Some of you have asked what we are planning for the days of the March for Life
(January 24) in Washington DC. I will lead an ecumenical prayer service in the
morning at 9am; then we will have the Silent No More Awareness Campaign
gathering at the Supreme Court at 5pm. Check for more details at
http://www.priestsforlife.org/eventsnew.html
as we get closer!
God bless you in this special season! Hope to talk with you on the 9th.
Fr. Frank Pavone
Abortion and Child Abuse -- Part 3
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
In my two previous columns, I have pointed out that there is a mutual causality
between abortion and child abuse. While this does not mean that everyone who
was abused has an abortion, or that everyone who has an abortion will abuse
their
children, it does mean that there is significant correlation and influence both
ways.
I have already looked at some reasons why having an abortion can lead to the
abuse of other children. Here I will comment on why being abused or neglected as
a child increases the likelihood that one will abort her own child.
The person who is abused or neglected as a child is deeply damaged, and the
damage extends into adulthood. Because the damage is done in key areas of how
one sees oneself, how one trusts others, how one views the parent-child
relationship, and what expectations one has about the world and the future, this
damage obviously affects both the willingness and ability to give birth to and
raise
a child.
Life and hope are inextricably linked. To have the courage to say yes to new
life
requires hope, and hope is one of the most precious things that abuse and
neglect
destroy in their victims. If the hopes and dreams of the abused person are
dashed,
they see little hope for the future of their child, and hence abort that child.
Moreover, abuse and neglect make the person weaker both in body and mind. The
abuse victim finds it harder to trust her body to bear stress or pain, and finds
it
harder to engage in mature and flexible thinking. For these reasons, she will
often
say that a pregnancy is "too much to go through." Abortion seems like
the easier
option.
Fear of abandonment is another major factor. Children who have been neglected
or abandoned are terrified it will happen again. Hence, a pregnant abuse victim
is
especially vulnerable to threats of abandonment from those demanding she abort.
She may also fear that the child will abandon her, and would prefer to abort
than
to face that kind of abandonment.
A related problem is the parental relationship. A woman who was abused or
neglected by her parents in childhood is not going to think that they will be
present
and supportive during her pregnancy. When she desperately needed help as a
child, her parents did not help; hence, she is convinced they will not help now.
This increases the temptation to abort.
Pregnancy and childbirth, moreover, catapult a person into the demands of
adulthood. One who has been abused or neglected has, essentially, missed out on
her childhood, and seeks to cling to or recover it. This increases the
unwillingness
to lose that childhood in yet another way, that is, by accepting the maturity
demanded by parenthood. This is seen as losing one's last chance of being
nurtured
by a parent.
For more information on these and other reasons why abuse leads to abortion,
consult Dr. Philip Ney (www.messengers2.com).
This column can be found online at
http://www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2004/04-12-13abortionchildabuse3.htm
Please remember to support our work at
http://www.priestsforlife.org/donation.html
Comments on this column? Email us at mail@priestsforlife.org,
Priests for Life, PO Box 141172, Staten
Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; web: www.priestsforlife.org