By Judie Brown
During his last Angelus address before Christmas day, Pope Francis emphasized that “no child is ever a mistake” and that “a child is a gift of life.”
This papal celebration of motherhood is in stark contrast to America’s abortion fetish. Sometimes the mere mention of motherhood tosses fuel on the pro-abortion pyre similar to what we might see during a real three-alarm fire.
Consider the pro-abortion statement of Dr. Devon Ojeda, a transgender equality spokesperson: “There’s a level of violence that comes from forcing people to be pregnant. . . . The same tactics that we’re seeing on the attacks of abortion care, are the same tactics we’re seeing with gender-affirming care, and access to gender-affirming care, the attacks are on our health care providers, and then our vital body autonomy.”
This sort of comment in the age of gender debate seems typical among gender apologists, but it is worth analysis given the sad reality of our time.
Equating pro-life people with rapists and calling the murder of a child “abortion care” incite anger and help deflect the truth about the preborn baby. While a rapist may, by his actions, “force” pregnancy on a woman due to his violent actions toward her, Dr. Ojeda’s assertion that there is a “level of violence” that comes from laws against abortion is disturbing because one of the most egregious forms of violence is tearing apart a baby in an abortion.
Rape is a terrible crime. And credible national statistics tell us that “one in 20 women in the United States have experienced a pregnancy from rape, sexual coercion, or both during their lifetimes.” The government agency that publishes this statistic states that rape can be “forced or alcohol/drug” related. This leads one to question why over the years rape has become a convenient explanation for why a baby should be aborted rather than a criminal action that renders a woman debilitated in many ways.
Many women who have become pregnant as a result of rape and who have chosen to keep their baby have spoken out about the true gift of their child, who is completely innocent of the crime of his father. In the words of a rape survivor who gave birth to her child:
My daughter was born of me, not of the rape I endured. She is a human being. She is my child. She is funny, smart, great at karate, loves being a big sister to her brothers, is loved and cherished by them, and, like most teenagers, complains about cleaning her room. Assigning her the label of being born of rape furthers a stigma that my daughter should not even be burdened with carrying, and it gives more power to my rapist.
Mothers know the difference between social stigma and actual truth, regardless of the pain and suffering that may have brought them to the happy state of expecting a baby. While cultural avoidance of these facts is a creeping contagion, the cure resides in the very essence of what it means to be a mother.
Nobody would ever downplay sexual assault, but by the same token, what comes after that tragedy may be beautiful and healing. Kay Zibolsky, a woman who was raped and found the truth because she became pregnant and then had her baby, wrote a book entitled How You Can Live Again—after Assault. I had the privilege of knowing Kay and learned the value of heroically confronting terror with mercy by reading and listening to her words.
In a book review, David Reardon quotes Zibolsky:
Plainly, all the heartbreak and pain had some purpose after all. It is so easy to forget what life is all about. What I have been through is a high price to pay for gaining maturity and faith in God and in myself. I would never have chosen these experiences, but in terms of my whole future and the future of other victims, I would like to think my life has been worthwhile. Most of us are willing to go through anything if we can see some purpose in it. Everything that happens can shape us–even the bad things.
This is the heroic statement of a beloved woman who inspired so many with her words, her articles, and her very life. Her life underscores Pope Francis’ statement that “no child is ever a mistake.”
Let us never forget the profound words of Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty:
The Most Important Person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral—a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. . . . The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God’s creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation. . . . What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?
We strive for the day when America embraces all mothers, not because of what they may or may not have done or suffered but because of who they are in the eyes of God.