Aliens in America: Day 11

Most Vulnerable 

‘As aliens, live in reverent fear’ (1 Pet 1:17) 

Two years ago, I was on a conference break—walking down a busy street at dusk in Santiago, Chile—when I heard that Roe v. Wade had been overturned by a Supreme Court made conservative by Trump. Gray skies lit up. I nearly leapt for joy: hope (and decades of prayer) fulfilled.  

I felt unusually patriotic. How marvelous: a powerful country like America stands alone in the West as one who ‘gets it.’ There can be no justice if the most vulnerable—the unborn—are on the chopping block with no legal precedent to protect their lives.  

The Christian Chileans who surrounded me were glad and grateful, too, though skeptical that their political system could manage such a move.   

What followed dismayed me. I heard only groans from my fellow Americans, mostly whiney white women who bemoaned their lack of options. One celebrity mother of two, a multimillionaire, opined: ‘I feel afraid.’ Though they may have been written, I read no smart pieces on why justice for the most vulnerable had been served.  

The collective groan was from women who felt their choice was taken away. I heard no adult voice amplifying the gratitude of prenatal persons who can’t speak. 

That perspective—let’s call it a woman’s right to extinguish the child she bears—now carries the day in America and has yet to be countered effectively in this season. Missouri (where I live), the first state to ban abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, has a ballot initiative to overturn that ban on Election Day. Yet I have neither seen nor heard of any ‘Vote No on 3’ advocacy except in my church bulletin. At this point, the ban is expected to be overturned. Not if I can help it.   

Of all the things that matter to me in this presidential election—dignity for immigrants, defense of Eastern Europe from Russia, wise advocacy for Israel—the rights of prenatal persons matter most.  

This is not just a Catholic thing.  I love Chaput’s words: ‘Catholics oppose abortion not because of some special religious doctrine. The Church teaches abortion is wrong because it already is. Abortion violates the universal natural law by abusing the inherent human rights of the unborn child. The injustice of genocide, oppressing the poor, and killing unborn children is not a matter of religious doctrine. It’s a matter of natural law’ (Render to Caesar, pp. 83-84).  

We have this law written in our hearts, and we need to heed it. Aliens in America must champion the voiceless. Adult women have a voice; prenatal persons do not.  

Neither presidential candidate amplifies their voices. Kamala’s platform silences them; her platform is founded on abortion rights. While Trump reminds us constantly that he overturned Roe v. Wade, he now waffles on abortion. That is my struggle. 

‘We stand with the most vulnerable, God. We look to You and find no easy answers in this election. We are aliens in America, yet we must act. Help us.’    

‘Jesus, You are the King, and we are first citizens of Your Kingdom. Would you free us for You in this election season, not to hide but to shine? You’ve always asked nothing less from Your elect whom You have made ‘strangers in a strange land’ (Ex. 2:22). Here we are, a people who don’t know what to do but who look and listen to our King.  

“Father of all holiness, 

guide our hearts to You. 

Keep in the light of Your Truth 

all those You have freed from the darkness of unbelief. 

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son.”’ 

Amen