March 25th, at the end of this week, is not only the beautiful Solemnity of the Annunciation. Because of the fact that at Mary’s Fiat Jesus became an unborn child, this day has been designated in various countries, by government and Church decree alike, as the Day of the Unborn Child.
And how appropriate it is to celebrate it, as a coalition of pro-life groups in the United States, led by Priests for Life, is urging us to do.
This Day of the Unborn Child is the day St. John Paul II rightly chose for the publication of his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) in 1995. That encyclical was the fruit of anExtraordinary Consistory of Cardinals held in Rome on 4-7 April 1991 which was devoted to the problem of the threats to human life in our day.
In the encyclical itself, St. John Paul II wrote,
“Today there exists a great multitude of weak and defenceless human beings, unborn children in particular, whose fundamental right to life is being trampled upon. If, at the end of the last century, the Church could not be silent about the injustices of those times, still less can she be silent today, when the social injustices of the past, unfortunately not yet overcome, are being compounded in many regions of the world by still more grievous forms of injustice and oppression, even if these are being presented as elements of progress in view of a new world order.” (EV 5)
The unborn are, unfortunately, a big blind spot to many. As I point out in my book Abolishing Abortion, this blind spot manifests itself when public officials are pro-abortion but weep over children shot in school, or sign public declarations saying that they stand for the weak and vulnerable, as Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro is fond of organizing.
The Church and the pro-life movement must shine the light into this blind spot, and where others ignore the unborn, we must highlight them.
Many may have missed the fact that on the First Sunday of Advent in November, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI did precisely that by holding, in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vigil for All Nascent Human Life. Within Vespers, special passages were read from Evangelium Vitae, and special prayers were said for unborn children. I had a front row seat that night, and could not have been happier with this particular expression of the “preferential option for the poor,” taking account of the poorest of the poor, the unborn.
Yet we need to do more, and observing the Day of the Unborn Child is a great way to do so.
The battle against the unborn is more intense than ever. We just saw the Democrats try to pass in Congress the most extreme pro-abortion bill in history. The “Women’s Health Protection Act” would have eliminated the most reasonable regulations on abortion, including parental involvement laws, and would have enshrined abortion on demand until birth. Americans have never supported such extreme policies. The measure failed, but the very fact that it was introduced and voted on, and that half of Congress (the Democrats) voted for it, is enough reason for alarm and for a renewed, united effort to honor and protect the unborn.
The Supreme Court may soon give us its own “Day of the Unborn” by reversing Roe through the Dobbs case. That is yet another reason why it is so appropriate to take some extra time at the end of this week to talk about, pray for, and redouble our efforts to defend the most forgotten and defenseless members of our human family, the children in the womb.
Happy Day of the Unborn Child!
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