FAITH VALUES
October is pro-life month
By REV. JOSEPH L. STAHURA St. Mark the Evangelist Church

Abortion deals specifically with the destruction of innocent life, a heinous act and everywhere worthy of condemnation. Another factor distinguishing abortion as a social phenomenon is the sheer magnitude of the problem - an estimated 46 million abortions performed worldwide each year - a figure that alone makes abortion a social problem of staggering proportions and makes abortion one of the most serious social justice issues of all time. Sadly, abortion in our country enjoys "legal sanction" due to the Supreme Court's 1973 "Roe vs. Wade" decision.

Further, abortion even distinguishes itself from related questions of medical ethics, such as euthanasia and assisted suicide, by the absence of any possibility of informed consent. Unborn children have no way of speaking for themselves.

Finally, abortion differs from other major social ills such as unemployment and divorce because of its relative invisibility. Abortion takes place behind closed doors, and is hushed in public. Quoting Mother Teresa… "As long as we continue to kill God's children - we will never have peace in this world!"

Three suggestions to defeat abortion - Prayer, peaceful dissent and the voting booth.