By DONALD DeMARCO
I have been living as a monk during the pandemic. Yet my computer is my window to the world. This morning I received two emails that are perfectly antithetic, one ideological, the other only too real.
The one that conveyed something real was from the grandson of the distinguished pediatrician Eugene Diamond, informing me that his granddad had recently passed away. I had included a chapter on Dr. Diamond in my book Apostles of the Culture of Life. Gene had read it, according to his grandson and was touched by it. This latter bit of information was most gratifying to me.
Dr. Diamond and his wife, Rosemary, who founded Birthright of Chicago, had 13 children, most of whom went into medicine. This baker’s dozen has swelled to 72 grandchildren and 36 great grandchildren. The benefits this brood continues to offer humanity are inestimable. The story of the Diamond family is one that deserves high praise. Gene and Rosemary knocked on the door of the future and it opened to treasures far richer than gold.
The other email concerned a commencement address at Lake Highlands High school in Dallas, Texas. The speaker, Paxton Smith, was fearful of the newly proposed Texas’ heartbeat bill that would prohibit abortions once the heartbeat of the unborn could be detected. Therefore, she chose a woman’s “right” to abortion for her theme.
Abortion is needed, she stated, because an unwanted child can hamper one’s future and thereby ruin one’s life. “I have dreams, hopes, and ambitions,” she stated. “Every girl here does. We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us. I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail me, that if I’m raped, then my hopes and efforts and dreams for myself will no longer be relevant.”
Actress Michelle Williams openly credited her abortion for enabling her to continue acting and win a Golden Globe Award. After her televised speech, some feminists, overcome by emotion, nominated her as America’s next president. The award represented high achievement, presumably all that is good about America. She became today’s role model for women who thirst for success.
Omitted from her address were two critical points. What should be apparent is that we are not guaranteed a future. Roughly 500,000 Americans have lost their lives due to the Covid-19 virus. Where is their future? The future is not something we own or even have a right to experience. The future is in God’s hands. We are not autonomous beings, but finite creatures subject to the contingencies of chance.
Secondly, it is contradictory to speak of the critical importance of one’s future while at the same time denying any future to the aborted child. Such an attitude represents a violation of the Golden Rule. Those who choose abortion would not have chosen it, if they could, retroactively, have had it for themselves. There is more than a touch of hubris here. Furthermore, “The evil of the day is sufficient thereof,” as Christ has told us (Matt. 6:34). If the day is spent killing one’s offspring, this does not augur well for the future.
Ms. Smith delivered her address in the context of these two delusions, that we are autonomous and that a child would spoil a future to which, realistically, we are not entitled. It is most unfortunate that an ideology that does not correspond to reality can have such a powerful effect on young minds. Life is difficult. Death is like a thief in the night. That a woman can bring a new life into the world is her glory. Consider the curse that King Lear imposes on his daughter: “Hear, Nature, hear! Dear goddess, hear! Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend to make this creature fruitful. Into her womb convey sterility; dry up in her organs of increase; and from her derogate body never spring a babe to honour her!” (Act 1, Scene 4, 272-280).
Paxton Smith should spend some time with the Diamonds and begin to understand that having children does not necessarily destroy one’s future. The future belongs to God, as does life. The commencement address did not warrant applause, but a reminder of how easy it is to be swayed by an illusion, delightful as that illusion may appear to be. Life is not the way we want it to be. It unfolds in a mysterious and unpredictable way.
We live by hope and hope is hope for what is not seen or even imagined. Life is the center of a myriad of streams that arrive uninvited. Abortion does not clear away the future and crown it with success. In fact, it usually brings deep regret.
Atheism is a desperate philosophy. In rejecting God and His providential care, one becomes a cosmic orphan spending one’s life under the illusion that the self can replace God. The violence of abortion cannot be the road to a fuller life. Many have learned this in the aftermath of their abortions, but this is a lesson learned the hard way.
Can we expect wisdom from high schoolers in today’s Godless climate? There is wisdom in the tradition that says, “Thou shall not kill.” But there is also the tradition that says that “Thou must love.” Abortion is not a loving act.
I think of the Diamond family with a certain joy and regard Paxton Smith’s address with sadness. A family of seven children certainly did not prevent Amy Coney Barrett from faithfully attending to her family needs, becoming a distinguished lawyer, and a member of the United States Supreme Court.
We must stop thinking of the unborn as our enemies.
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