Photo by Maria Oswalt
As the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus comes to a close, I pray that the Lord blesses you with His infinite mercy and compassion!
A week ago, I was in Philadelphia when I found out about the Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe. On Monday, I went to Washington, D.C. to share my story in front of SCOTUS, holding a sign that read, "I mourn my sibling lost to abortion." When my immigrant mother found out she was pregnant with me, she was met with hostility from my biological father as well as her parents back home in the Philippines. They tried to coerce her into having an abortion, but she chose life for me. I didn't meet my biological father until I was 22 years old, but it was not until years after that he revealed to me I had a sibling who died by abortion. It's difficult to describe the complicated grief I experienced the years following, but survivor's guilt, existential doom, and depression were a large part of it.
My whole-life advocacy as a Catholic is rooted on these three points:
My immigrant mother deserved better than abortion. She deserved support for herself during her pregnancy and for me after I was born. She did not need abortion to be successful.
My life was not any less valuable because I was "unwanted" by my family. Human dignity is not contingent upon any external factor like stage of development, wanted-ness, family circumstances, poverty, or gender. Our value is intrinsic and God-given.
Families hurt from abortion, including parents and siblings. Building a holistic culture of life means supporting pregnant and parenting families, dignifying human life born and pre-born, donating to pregnancy resource centers, helping people heal after abortion, and ending violence in all forms in our culture. This necessary work should be carried out not only in our church, but in all other aspects of life including in the workplace, in medical circumstances, and in the interest of mental health.
To conclude, I'd like to share a portion of the Sisters of Life statement. Their work and service is deeply inspiring!
"Today as we renew our commitment to love, we invite all others to step with us into this new era of greater protection for the unborn with even greater generosity, courage and dedication.
Let us together pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our nation for peace, healing and conversion of heart—that all may believe in the sacredness of every human life."
+JMJ+ Krista
This was originally posted on Newman Pasadena's blog here.
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