Build a culture of life in a post-Roe world

In its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Justices ended the Court’s nearly 50-year nationwide regime of abortion on demand and returned the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.

Dobbs is a victory for justice. But for those of us who have prayed for this moment to arrive, it is the time to rededicate ourselves to building a culture of life and civilization of love. Justice is essential but it is not sufficient. To build a world in which all are welcome requires not only justice, but also compassion, healing, and above all, unconditional love.

In a post-Roe world, Catholics must now work together for another, even deeper paradigm shift. We must help people see who we can be as a nation by truly understanding what we owe to one another as members of the same human family. We must remember, as St. Teresa of Kolkata put it, “that we belong to one another.”

Abortion is a gruesome sign we have forgotten our mutual belonging. The logic of Roe v. Wade framed the issue of abortion as a zero-sum conflict among individual strangers. But the truth is that mother and child are not strangers; they are already bound together by flesh and kinship and the new life in the womb is already situated in a network of relationships.

To the contrary, the logic of the culture of life recognizes that the pregnant woman and her child are not alone – they are fellow members of our larger human family whose interwoven vulnerability is a summons to all of us, but especially Catholics because of the teaching of Jesus and his proclamation of the Gospel of Life.

In a post-Roe world, we must shift the paradigm to what St. Pope John Paul II described as “radical solidarity,” making the good of others our own good, including especially mothers, babies (born and preborn), and families throughout the entire human lifespan. It is a call to friendship and compassion rooted in the truth that we are made to love our neighbor as ourselves.

What does this mean concretely? First, we must speak the truth about abortion. Not only does it unjustly kill a preborn child and gravely wounds women, men and families; it degrades the practice of medicine and corrupts the law. We must speak these truths with compassion, and we must live these truths with compassion. We must extend the hand of compassion to all who suffer or are in need in the aftermath of abortion, including those who do not yet see the truth in its fullness. Moreover, love compels us to practice civility and charity toward those with whom we disagree.

Words alone are not nearly enough to bring about the revolution of love that is necessary. For this we must have the courage to love – to act and bear witness by caring for the least among us, without condition or expectation of recompense. It is only through such radical witness that hearts are open to receive the truth of the Gospel of Life.

Building a world in which women are esteemed, children are loved and protected, and men called to their responsibilities as fathers, requires us to understand and address the complex and tragic root causes of abortion. This is a massive and daunting undertaking.

Fortunately, millions of individual Catholics from all walks of life are already doing the work. Many are engaged in parish and community initiatives such as pregnancy resource centers, post-abortion counseling and, more recently, with initiatives such as Walking with Moms in Need.

The Catholic Church is the largest nongovernmental provider of social services to women, children and families in the United States. Catholics have already done much at both the institutional and personal level to help address the problems of poverty, healthcare, education, housing, employment, addiction, criminal justice, domestic violence and the like that push women toward abortion. Our Church understands that help is needed not just during pregnancy, but throughout the whole of life’s journey and millions of Catholics already accompany their neighbors in such circumstances. Additionally, such help involves accompanying parents who make the courageous choice to offer their child for adoption. The Church also extends healing and mercy to those women and men who suffer because of a past choice for abortion. But we must now do even more.

Our nation is in desperate need of healing from toxic polarization and anger that has poisoned so much of our politics in recent years. Radical solidarity can open the way to a new politics. It can allow those who disagree on the morality or justice of abortion to come together to pursue common ground solutions to provide care and support to mothers, children and families in need.

Through our collective and individual actions, we can build a culture of life and civilization of love in America. Let us begin. 

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