Roe v. Wade's Bitter International Fruits

By Joseph Meaney
1/27/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The deadliest poison of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling was the finding of a constitutional "right to privacy" identified with virtually abortion-on-demand.

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FRONT ROYAL, VA (Catholic Online) - The 40 year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision Roe v. Wade brings us to a biblical number fraught with symbolic importance. Psalm 95 laments: "Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and I said, 'It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.'"

Those laboring in the "pro-life vineyard" may certainly be justified in looking on these past years as a time of wandering in the desert with relatively few tangible results. But the remarkable achievements of literally thousands of pro-life counseling centers that have saved so many lives from abortion must be acknowledged. It remains true, however, that progress towards making abortion not only illegal but unthinkable remains painfully slow.

We can also see these four decades as a period of purification and preparation. It is up to us now to conquer the promised land of a civilization that is rooted in love and respect for all our brothers and sisters. Today selfishness and the convenience of the stronger are enshrined as "rights."

The deadliest poison of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling was the finding of a constitutional "right to privacy" identified with virtually abortion-on-demand. We should remember, however, that the stepping stone for Roe's "right to privacy" in U.S. constitutional law was the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court decision of 1965 that invoked this same "right" to invalidate a state law banning birth control. It serves to confirm Blessed John Paul II's insight that contraception and abortion are "fruits of the same tree."

Up until Roe v. Wade, countries as varied as Nazi Germany, communist Russia and democratic Britain agreed on one thing at least when they legalized killing in the womb: They saw abortion as an evil to be tolerated in certain circumstances or to be inflicted on enemies. The general legislative pattern was depenalization, in other words, abortion remains a crime but is not punished by legal sanctions if performed under certain specific circumstances or conditions. Of course, many countries simply ban the practice of abortion. Among the others who permit it, the most common limitations remain a 12th week of pregnancy time limit for abortions and the obligation for the mother to receive pre-abortion counseling with the stated objective of providing alternatives to and reasons not to have an abortion.

U.S.-style "abortion as a constitutional right" was revolutionary. Radical feminists, Planned Parenthood and their minions realized this notion was a goldmine. The terminology of the "right to privacy" was tweaked by academics into the "right" to "reproductive health" or simply "reproductive rights."

The 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo produced a Programme of Action which was the first inter-governmental negotiated document to use these terms. In fact, the Clinton administration and others had made no secret of their plans to use the Cairo ICPD to proclaim an "international right to abortion." Fortunately, John Paul II and a coalition of pro-life nations and organizations thwarted this attempt at a Roe v. Wade for the world. Nevertheless, the battle to impose a "right" to abortion globally was on.

Taking their cue from the U.S. experience, feminist lawyers created The Center for Reproductive Rights whose mission is to use "the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right that all governments are legally obligated to protect, respect, and fulfill." They have so far involved themselves in lawsuits and other legal actions in 50 countries. Declaring never before recognized "rights" and coercing others into implementing and footing the bill for them is a favorite liberal tactic.

The U.S. Constitution nowhere includes the phrase "right to privacy." The U.S. Supreme Court's formulation of the discovery of a constitutional "right to privacy" simply takes one's breath away. "The foregoing cases suggest that specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance." A penumbra is the lighter part of a shadow, and this argument is embarrassingly intellectually lightweight as even many pro-abortion academics reluctantly admit.

Similarly, no international reproductive right to abortion has been recognized, but that has not deterred the apostles of abortion. They take comfort in the fact that Roe v. Wade has yet to be reversed and thrown onto the ash-heap of history. Rather it is treated as something of a "sacred cow" of American jurisprudence. Witness the reverential tone with which liberal senators refer to the "right to privacy" in Supreme Court justice confirmation hearings.

As hundreds of thousands of pro-life protestors join the March for Life in Washington, D.C. this year we should remember that getting rid of Roe v. Wade is an urgent need for the world and not just the United States. The "right to abortion" must be buried as definitively as the "right to own slaves" and other similar legal travesties.

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Joseph Meaney is the Director of International Coordination for Human Life International.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Roe v Wade, Doe v Bolton, HLI, Human Life International, pro-Life, march for Life, Joseph MeaneyV

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

Paul-Emile Leray
3 months ago
The last paragraph: "for the world and not just the United States". The United States has almost ZERO right at present, the same applies to Canada and Japan and many European nations; telling China they have horrid human rights when so many countries who have a Christian and in some cases Catholic root structure are passing into laws anti-life legislation. The Order of Canada is a FARCE. Thank goodness some Catholic priests gave back their awards. Their standards are based on a smorgasbord moral relativism counter filled with so much food that unless one is a goat or pig it seems as if the overly BBQ'd buffalo meat and rabbit road kill has as much value as the grilled Halibut lemon sauteed steak or crab. The $1 hotdog glued together and covered by 6 different toppings has as much value it seems as the Sirloin or T-Bone steak. The dandelion poision ivy salad seems to have the same price tag on it as the fine vinegared pepper sprinkled salad.
The truth is that the governments the world over are anti-life in many ways. How can some governments accuse certain citizens of being traitors or against their own nations; when the governments themselves kill their own people who are or would have been passport carrying citizens of their own cult-ure? The hypocrisy is nauseating. And they tell us they are taking care of their people? No, they are taking care of their power and control; on taxpayer's money, with an eye to have their names inside his-story books. I'm so sick of these inferior idiots in politics that my future books will make a complete mockery of much of what takes place in human nature. And if they aggravate me, these political baffoons? I'll debate them in public and annihilate the living daylights out of them in minutes! What a pile of sophistic con artists and living WHORES; many of these politicians! They are hated in Europe, N.America, and the Asians don't take them too seriously either. If anything, jail them! (politicians and many law-makers; some in the judiciary; and a small tiny handful of priests belong in there as well for not assuming their roles to degrees they should!) The more they aggravate me, the more the bamboo grows and gets pulled back like a slingshot to then snap back faster hitting them across the head. And if that doesn't work, the seeds planted deeply inside the core of the soul eventually take root and blow up from the inside out. Since the soil conditions do matter, along with the weather, it is then best to coat the soul with honey instead of vinegar. Or, while the honey is coating the soul, perhaps a barrelful of vinegar poured through the soul is required to flush out the rust from time to time? You know, I am not really convinced St. Francis de Sales had it completely right on the honey and vinegar part. I really love this saint, one of my favorites. However, I think he was incomplete with his honey and vinegar comment. Only honey attracts flies as well! Pretty soon the wolf is not only looking inside the refrigerator but he is sitting at the kitchen table eating your food after having thrown little red riding hood over the balcony if the door is open that wide. And if you keep giving him honey, he'll walk out with the fridge and half the furniture on his back. And then? He'll send you the cheque as if he was doing you a favor! Much of the world looks at what the US does. It is simply a fact at this point in his-story. Therefore, I placed so much emphasis on the part of this article I singled out.
Paul-Emile Leray
vance
3 months ago
I joined the West Coast Walk For Life. It was a huge crowd. Unbelievably, the local ABC News covered it. They violated the Alinsky rule. They say the crowd was bigger than last year. These Walks For Life keep getting bigger which is very encouraging. Better yet, the crowd is a majority of kids and young people. The future looks bright.
John
3 months ago
Feminists for abortion, just think for a moment, "had you been aborted, you wont be around to destroy Life."

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