From the Pastor’s desk— February 25, 2024
Recently we moved our bulletin boards from the entranceway into the gathering space to make parish and community events more accessible. This week there is one item on the bulletin board that urgently deserves our full attention, and it is the STOP sign that says, “Defend Life, Decline to Sign.” This sign is the start of a response to outside efforts to overturn our state’s decades-long work to defend life in Missouri, and more specifically our state’s ban on abortion.
Out of state interests, funded in part by George Souros, are actively collecting signatures by hired solicitors (who get $10 per signature) to try to get a measure on the November ballot. This measure is seeking to enshrine unlimited access to abortion into Missouri’s constitution. What makes this effort evil is the deception that accompanies it because the amendment is being dressed up as a bill for “maternal care” and who doesn’t want to support mothers?
On the surface there are several elements of the proposal that are good elements like prenatal and postnatal care, but tucked into a vague list of positive benefits is the inclusion of abortion. As the proposed amendment continues, particularly section 4, unrestricted abortion is made clear. This would mean abortions would be permitted up until the final trimester, regardless of viability. While it is true our state needs to address that we have a very high infant mortality (6.2 deaths per 1,000- twice the rate of most European countries), this is not the solution.
What makes this effort more insidious is that solicitors are trapping the public by first asking for their signature on a different ballot measure, such as more paid work leave, and I am sure we all want more of that. Then they go on to say I have another ballot measure for more health care for mothers but don’t refer to abortion and certainly don’t accurately represent they are seeking unrestricted access to abortion.
Our Catholic faith is perhaps the clearest to defend life from conception until natural death. It is enshrined in scripture, Deuteronomy 32:39 and as such it is enshrined in our Canon Law. I know within our families and society this is divisive issue, but I also know as a priest the lifelong pain it causes for mothers when they realize what they have done. I cannot understate how important it will be for us to speak with all our families, friends, and neighbors to decline to sign so we can protect our efforts for life. It may cost us a friendship or two, but saving lives is always worth it, after all that is why Good Friday and Easter are so important, because Jesus saved us.
Parochial administrator
With a heart for Mission,
Fr. Ray