In her sitcom role as imperious ex-chatelaine Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To The Manor Born, Penelope Keith once claimed: “I represent the silent majority.” It is tempting to take refuge in such a thought, telling oneself that eventually right-thinking will prevail on the issue of abortion. That killing your child is an abhorrent solution to an unwanted pregnancy seems self-evident to me, and indeed to a silent majority – even of those who choose it.
This is precisely why abortion is the last taboo – the only thing you won’t see on screens or in graphic pictures – and precisely why, although millions of women have undergone an abortion, it is not discussed. This is why the industry promoting it cloaks it in euphemisms about “pregnancy care” and why there is a virtual media blackout on stories like the Gosnell case.
But 50 years on from the legalisation of abortion in England it is no good keeping silent and hoping that reason will prevail. I must witness to the humanity of the most defenceless in our society and to the damage that abortion causes those who choose it. Which is why I joined the March for Life in Birmingham last weekend: not to protest, but to witness and pray, so that when I come to judgment and Jesus asks what I did for the least of his brethren, in this case I can say I made some tiny effort to show that more than eight million babies already aborted in my lifetime was not something done with my tacit consent.
The pro-abortion protesters who tried to disrupt the rally in Victoria Square and the march actually hardened my conviction that there is a need for peaceful activism, for confrontation – by which I mean simply the willingness to look those who champion abortion in the eye, to be present at such rallies and outside abortion mills in the name of the humanity of those they would kill, to advert to the truth that this is neither a medical procedure nor without consequence for all concerned.
The weapons of the Evil One are concealment and lies, which is why abortion will not be countered by a polite silence, nor even by a silent majority. And while I understand and have enormous sympathy with mothers who choose an abortion out of fear, because they themselves are the victims of the culture of death, this in no way legitimises the act they choose or makes it less abhorrent.
For this reason, frankly, I do not understand how or why those who promote mass abortion can be welcomed to Vatican conferences or praised for their record of public service. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, not to endorse the evil they do by giving it a platform. Dialogue cannot proceed from a position in which evil is afforded a respect it does not deserve. I do not think one should allow scientific or political expertise to legitimise proponents of the culture of death any more than one would invite a white supremacist to a conference on the basis that he or she is a gifted anthropologist.
Nor, frankly, do I understand the suggestion that as a Church we ought no longer to “bang on” about abortion endlessly. Faced with slaughter on such a scale we need to bang on more than ever, since the greatest danger is that this evil gains legitimacy by the mere fact of repetition. Evil first wounds, then desensitises and hardens those who engage in it, thereby it creating its own perverse pseudo-legitimacy and momentum.
It was heartening therefore, to see a crowd of several thousand on a rain-sodden day representing all those who want to end the killing of children in utero. A significant proportion of them were young people. There was a good smattering of priests, Religious and seminarians, as well as the familiar faces of those few stalwarts of the pro-life cause in this country who bear the heat of the day, and provide peaceful and constructive outlets for activism by organising groups such as Life, the Good Counsel Network, Rachel’s Vineyard and 40 Days for Life.
That a small number of protesters tried to sabotage the march tells us that they are scared of such direct action. Their hegemony over public debate and the illiberalism of their “choice” slogan were powerfully challenged. Love and truth will conquer the culture of death and its lies. But love and truth are not ideas: they must have a voice and a presence in the public square.
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