By Father Shenan J. Boquet
Last Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump won his bid to become the 47th president of the United States, and the GOP is set to control the two Houses of Congress.
This election cycle brought both some victories and tragic losses for life and family. Thankfully, people in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota rejected ballot initiatives that would have legalized the on-demand murder of innocent children through all nine months of pregnancy. Devastatingly, initiatives to protect innocent life failed in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York, which further enshrined the “right to kill.”
In this historic moment, we urgently need government leaders and politicians to be powerful spokesmen that steadfastly oppose the anti-life and anti-family agenda that are destroying individuals, families, and communities. We need these leaders to seek and employ effective means to protect the fundamental right to life of every human being, beginning with the undoing of every anti-life and anti-family policy and program instituted under the Biden-Harris regime.
Over the last four years, the Biden-Harris administration has tirelessly worked with the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and other government agencies to enshrine a so-called right to abortion and to further LGBTQ+ and transgender ideologies. At the same time, they undermined marriage and the family as the bedrock of society, the rights of parents, the right of conscience, and religious freedom.
It must all be undone!
This includes the defunding of Planned Parenthood and other anti-life and anti-family groups that have benefited under the current regime and its anti-human vision.
President-elect Trump must, on the day of his inauguration, immediately reinstate the “Mexico City Policy,” which prohibits the government from pushing or paying for abortion internationally. He must also rescind all of Biden’s executive orders that promote abortion, gender theory, and LGBTQ+ ideologies.
It is fitting that our newly elected leaders use their authority not only to protect national sovereignty but also to adopt a foreign policy that is explicitly committed to proactively fighting the murder of innocent preborn children in other nations. They must reject the exportation of coercive population control, which was built upon contraception, sterilization, abortion, radical sex education, and gender ideology in order to “protect” US interests.
We desperately need clarity, courage, leadership, and strenuous effort to proactively promote pro-life and pro-family values within US policy and programs, as well as at the United Nations and other international bodies. It is not enough merely to object to or oppose the anti-life and anti-family agenda; we need to be working to pro-actively protect the preborn, individuals, and the family.
The Church’s Response to Election Results
During a brief meeting with reporters on November 7, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said his prayer for President-elect Donald Trump is that God would grant him wisdom.
“At the beginning of his mandate,” the cardinal said, “we wish [Donald J. Trump] much wisdom because that is the principal virtue of those who govern, according to the Bible.” As president of the whole country, Cardinal Parolin went on to say, Trump “has to work above all to… overcome the polarization that has occurred and is very evident.”
Cardinal Parolin also spoke about Trump’s promises to bring an end to several ongoing wars and conflicts, and he addressed the issue of migration, citing Pope Francis’ teaching. The cardinal spoke about the right of nations to regulate immigration. At the same time, he insisted that such policies be prudent, just, and humane, and that they promote the attitude of welcoming people who seek safety and a better way of life, calling for the true accompaniment of one’s brothers and sisters.
And regarding the defense of human life, Cardinal Parolin agreed that though there are some issues where Trump’s policies align more closely with the positions of the Church, a consensus around the promotion and protection of human life at every stage must be sought and “not become a policy once again of polarization and division.”
Cardinal Parolin was not the only prelate to speak on the results of the presidential and national elections. Both Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio (Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) and Bishop Michael Burbidge (Diocese of Arlington and chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities) offered comments.
In his interview on EWTN’s The World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Archbishop Broglio highlighted the concerns raised by Catholic voters – the dignity of the human person, the uncertainty about the economy, and the position of the Harris campaign that had “no space for any freedom of conscience” regarding the abortion issue, making “the right to abortion almost the central issue of the campaign.”
When asked what he believed the USCCB’s priorities were going to be regarding the Trump administration, the archbishop said the Conference’s priorities “really remain unchanged,” highlighting human dignity, poverty, migration and migration policies, and “the role the United States plays internationally.”
He said,
There is, of course, the concern for the dignity of the human person from the moment of conception until natural death: that remains a preeminent concern of the bishops.
There is “a tremendous concern” for the poor and the homeless in the nation. We want to be mindful to follow them and to try and help them, certainly through charitable outreach, but also through perhaps trying to find solutions to the root problems that keep people in poverty.
A third concern would be trying to reform the migration policy or the law of migration in this country so that migration can be orderly, that it be legal, and that some of the unrest that we’ve experienced at the border can be resolved.
And when asked by Arroyo about President-elect Trump’s support for an in vitro fertilization (IVF) mandate, the archbishop emphasized,
We’ll try to continue to reiterate what the Church teaches – that the unborn child in the womb has a right to live, has a right to be born, and that conception should be the result of the natural union between husband and wife – and so IVF really isn’t a solution.
Tracy Sabol, in her interview with Bishop Burbidge on EWTN’s News Nightly, focused on the response of the US bishops and path forward for Catholics.
“As a conference of bishops,” said Bishop Burbidge,
we always pledge our willingness to work with the administration in all policies that promote life and justice and assistance to the poor and needy—anything we can do to promote and uphold the dignity of all persons as children of God and to be united as a nation.
Bishop Burbidge stressed the importance of God and living one’s Faith:
We know that all politics, all human history will find their fulfillment in God. It is ultimately the Lord who leads and guides us to that path of freedom, to the path of peace for which we all long. We must continue to bring our Faith, to bring what we know to be true into that public arena. To the extent that we are following the path of God and courageously living it, we are serving our nation.
And in response to the pro-life measures that were on ballot initiatives in ten states, Bishop Burbidge said, “We were successful in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota, successful in protecting life and limiting abortion,” adding,
… I know that all the bishops in those ten states were working tirelessly, devoting so much time, so many resources, so much teaching on the local and state level to protect life.
But “we are not always going to victorious,” added the bishop. “Even when we lose, we have not been defeated; we have the Truth, and we will continue to proclaim that.”
In reference to the USCCB’s upcoming meeting in Baltimore, Bishop Burbidge highlighted the importance of learning from the successes and disappointments in this election cycle saying, “We will discuss the challenges the states have faced… we will continue to listen from those who have gone through this experience—what were the challenges, what worked well, and what was effective.”
Parolin, Broglio, and Burbidge’s comments emphasize a critical truth: life will win. We have Truth. We must, therefore, continue to be bold in our efforts to proclaim the Gospel of Life and be relentless in our advocacy. And we need effective, convicted moral leaders who can lead the nation forward with courage and wisdom to create a true Culture of Life in our country and around the world.
How to Promote a Culture of Life Today
This election cycle, despite some losses, reveals that the pro-life message is a winning issue. We must, then, find new, more creative, and more generous ways to promote and incentivize the pro-life message. But to shepherd an authentic Culture of Life, one in which everything from community, to work, to law, Faith and family, are suffused with a certain understanding of the value of human life, and which collectively support and promote the protection of life, requires greater resources and a political will by those in leadership.
To achieve this goal, ushering in a Culture of Life that shapes and defines society’s values, we must first be honest with where things currently reside: Our cultural values are skewed. Social media and our entertainment industry are corrupt. Our business culture is grasping. Our faith communities are lukewarm. And our priorities are out of whack.
Hence, to foster a new mindset, one in which the messages on the front pages of our newspapers, in our movies, novels, TV shows, plays, schools, churches, and everything else, proclaim that “life is good,” it is crucial that we present “noble models of life and make room for instances of people’s positive and sometimes heroic love for others.” We must also highlight “the positive values of sexuality and human love,” while refraining “from emphasizing anything that suggests or fosters feelings or attitudes of indifference, contempt or rejection in relation to life” (Evangelium vitae, no. 98).
Now is our moment. Our successes in this election and the opportunities they present afford us a chance to be creative in finding new ways to build support structures for life and family, where each member of society has a role to play in their support.
Government Investing in the Family
Building a Culture of Life requires taking the long view, recognizing that there is nothing that pays off more in the long run than investing in marriage (as God designed), families, and our children.
These situations are more complex than in previous decades due to the erroneous and ill-formed consciences and false understandings of human sexuality, the dignity of the human person, and marriage instantiated throughout our culture, causing significant damage to human flourishing and the well-being of marriage and family life.
This is exacerbated by a growth in secular values, supported by a mindset that elevates ego and desires above the natural moral law. This not only leads to a loss of the sense of God, but it inevitably leads individuals and society to choose, accept, promote, and defend what is offensive and contrary to human dignity and the respect owed to human persons.
Many fail to comprehend the mutually dependent relationship between marriage and family and the general good of society. Any attempt to undermine the former not only poses grave harm to these natural institutions, but it also harms society itself. In response to these challenges and the ethical dilemmas they raise, we must seek new forms of creativity and evangelization to mend these wounds, beginning in marriage and family life. This will, in turn, foster healing and renewal in our society and culture.
Eyes and ears are opening to the pro-life message.
We can now begin re-examining the way we do things from top to bottom, restoring old wisdom, and finding new ways to promote the common good. Our efforts must support family and life. Government policies and programs should promote marriage over divorce and the welcoming of children over sterility. They should assist women in need, ensuring their health and safety and that of their preborn children rather than the violence of abortion.
They must promote adoption and offer generous tax breaks to parents, particularly those who need the help the most. Policies surrounding maternity and paternity leave should also be revisited, ensuring that mothers and fathers never need to choose between welcoming life and paying their bills or caring for the physical and mental health of the mother and child.
This election has opened doors for authentic change. It is an exciting time to be pro-life!
This article has been reprinted with permission and can be found at hli.org/2024/11/the-fight-for-life-is-more-urgent-after-the-election.
