The original joint statement of the Dallas area Catholic bloggers
I am 46 years old. About 15 months ago my wife and I had a charming baby girl we named Frances Grace. I was 44 at the time.
Now, we have never been what you would call well-to-do. In fact, I live paycheck to paycheck and am carrying more debt than is wise. Our house is too small. By the grace of God, we get by. When we found out that my wife was pregnant, it threw us for a loop. We were completely unprepared.
Because we were so unprepared, more than one voice suggested that we consider abortion. It was never a consideration for either my wife or myself, but there were four such suggestions based on purely practical matters. We shouldn’t have kids at our age, we don’t have the money, and we don’t have the space.
Frances Grace is now a wonderful little girl that loves to laugh when her daddy tickles her. Her older sisters dote on her. Her mother worries endlessly. She’s off to a good start.
But the very first reaction of several people who know us well was abortion. They didn’t think that we could possibly go through with the pregnancy (one that was terribly hard on my wife). Abortion was the very first reaction – not even “Congratulations, but…” When I said that it wasn’t even a consideration, the reaction was either surprise or resignation.
Our culture has come to see abortion as logical. The acceptance of God’s blessing in the form of a child is met with shock and surprise.
Frances' story is part of why I wanted to take a stand against abortion. It seemed logical to make that stand here in Dallas – where Roe was originally argued. So today we fast. Today we pray. Today we ask others to join us in these things to end the scourge of abortion.
Today the battle is joined, not with guns or swords but with prayer and self denial - two weapons our opponents will never understand.
It began here. Let it end here.
Beautiful. Thank you.