Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, still receives a half-billion of our tax dollars each year. There are ongoing efforts to hopefully change that government funding, but currently that money still helps the organization perform more than 300,000 abortions each year. The leaders of Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups also have a lot more than major money on their side. With the help of a long list of politicians, pundits, Hollywood and much of the secular press, they also have the largest and loudest megaphones and microphones; major mouthpieces that have attempted, over 45 years of legalized abortion in the United States, to criticize, ignore, mock and attempt to shout down or silence pro-life voices. Not to mention they’ve done their best to convince a good portion of the American public that abortion is an absolute right that must be defended and approved at any and all costs.
A new report from the Media Research Center, for example, shows the secular media gave much more attention to the second annual Women’s March compared to the 45th annual March for Life. According to MRC, during the weekend of Jan. 19-22, when both marches were held in Washington, D.C., the three broadcast networks “covered the 2018 Women’s March nearly seven times more than the 2018 March for Life. ABC, CBS and NBC combined devoted 25 minutes, 24 seconds on the Women’s March, but just 3 minutes, 46 seconds on the pro-life rally.” Last year that same women’s march kicked pro-life women to the curb and would not allow them to join. Similar sentiments were expressed this year with a pro-abortion theme again running loudly through their event. Given what is obviously an ongoing David and Goliath situation, how is it then that another pro-abortion powerhouse, NARAL-Pro Choice America, is voicing great concern over the successes of the pro-life movement?
The day I learned of these concerns expressed by NARAL leaders was the same day the daily Gospel reading focused on the importance of planting seeds. The reading from Mark’s Gospel reminded us how planting even the smallest of seeds, such as that little mustard seed, will bear fruit if the farmer does what he needs to do, day in and day out.
This “rising night and day” on the part of all those “Davids” in the pro-life movement has produced so much fruit that it does have the “Goliaths” on the pro-abortion side of the aisle running scared. The abortion lobby issued a report on the “insidious power” of the pro-life movement. The report mentioned pregnancy resource centers, pro-life websites, Catholic and other Christian news organizations, the appointment of numerous pro-life judges and the election of pro-life politicians all having a major impact. The pro-life movement in all of these areas has been so successful, according to NARAL president Ilyse Hogue, it’s “slowly chipping away at abortion access across the country.”
Imagine that. The giants in the abortion movement are recognizing the mustard seeds. The “Goliaths” can be challenged, resisted, and in many ways knocked to the ground. Even if we don’t hear about it on the evening news, the evidence of years of dedicated efforts to protect life from womb to tomb continues to burst forth like the “largest of plants.” St. Teresa of Calcutta continually reminded us that “God doesn’t expect us to be successful. Only faithful.” Sometimes, however, and I think St. Teresa of Calcutta would agree, when we’re continually faithful, such as the tireless workers in the pro-life movement have been, God allows us to see some of those successes. Among those successes is the reluctant recognition from those we’d least expect.
This column first appeared on OSV Newsweekly. To read Teresa’s latest OSV columns click here.
