Roe v. Wade overturned at last!
After nearly 50 years of the U.S. Supreme Court taking away from the states the right to protect innocent life in the womb and regulate abortion, the Court today announced that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and subsequent cases affirming it were wrongly decided.
This is certainly time to celebrate, but not become complacent. The ruling means that each state will have to decide whether and how to protect life in the room.
Archbishop Schnurr has written a letter to the faithful on this matter. It will be emailed out to all South Clermont Catholic Region parishioners today. In that letter, he is encouraging involvement in a program the bishops are sponsoring entitled Walking with Moms in Need. This is a program to accompany pregnant mothers and mothers of newborns.
On the political front, as citizens in the State of Ohio, we Christians should certainly be prayerful, active and vocal in ensuring that life is protected.
On the prayer front, we should be vigilant in our prayer to Our Lady to mediate many graces for the Church to help change hearts so that children will be recognized as a gift and women will be affirmed and supported when they face unexpected pregnancies.
Make no mistake, the powerful pro-abortion forces will not rest and will likely become aggressive and perhaps even violent in their attempts to continue the destruction of the innocent. The Evil One will not take this lying down.
It does not seem a coincidence to me that this decision was handed down on the solemn feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, wounded for our offenses, including the taking of the lives of tens of millions of children by abortion since 1973.
We should continue to make acts of reparation for allowing that to happen as a nation, even as we rejoice that we will be able to work to see that every life conceived in the womb and created in God's image and likeness will be loved and valued.
We should also continue to pray for the conversion of Joseph Biden and other prominent civic leaders. Mr. Biden recently appeared publicly digging in his heels and promising to use all power at his disposal to insure that innocent life could continue to be snuffed out, including assisting in efforts to transport women across state lines to obtain an abortion.
To read more, check out the coverage in the National Catholic Register, including a fine piece by Helen Alvare, a pro-life lawyer and former employee of the United States Bishops' conference.
Finally, there is a beautiful reflection on today's feast of the Sacred Heart by one of the great medieval saints, Bonaventure. Please read and pray that this weekend with your family. (Scroll down on web page to header labeled "Second Reading."
