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| The San Antonio Right to Life Rally was held at the gazebo at Milam Park.
Jordan McMorrough | Today's Catholic |
Now is the time for a rebirth of the pro-life movement in San Antonio. That was the theme of a keynote address given by Rick Doucette, pro-life director of the archdiocese, at the San Antonio Right to Life Rally held at Milam Park Jan. 13.
“A new president-elect and Congress are intent on codifying, once and for all, the right to kill the innocent as a ‘fundamental right’ of our land,” he said. “The founding fathers got it right — the right to life — from conception to natural death — is woven into the very DNA of our country. Unfortunately, the powers of darkness have been working overtime to perform ‘gene therapy.’”
Doucette described this ‘gene therapy’ as changing “freedom of religion” to “freedom from religion” by defining the right to life as beginning at birth, not at conception, by allowing people to be killed when they become sick or elderly and become a burden on others or on society, and by using physical, chemical and other means to terminate unwanted pregnancies as a form of birth control.
“Today, we face the gravest danger to innocent human life since Roe vs. Wade,” he emphasized.
Doucette reviewed some of the history of the pro-abortion movement and how is it relevant to the rebirth of the pro-life movement, of which the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973 was the catalyst.
“Once abortion became legal, abortion providers came out from behind the curtain of illegality and were, and are, able to advertise their services. Prominent among them was Planned Parenthood,” he said. “Out of a need to protect the unborn, people of conscience, moved to action, took part of movements like Operation Rescue. Active confrontations at abortion facilities resulted in the arrest of many, including ministers and clergy.”
The pro-life director noted that some that were part of the movement were in attendance at the rally, namely retired Amarillo Bishop John W. Yanta, whom he called “the father of the pro-life movement in San Antonio.”
In the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II focusing church teaching on life issues through several encyclicals. The American bishops also published, in 1975, their Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities. It provided a detailed plan to promote life at the national level, state level, diocesan level and in each parish. The key to this was having an active pro-life director in each diocese and pro-life committee in each parish.
“In response to these pro-life efforts,” said Doucette, “the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act was passed in 1994, under President Bill Clinton, making it a federal crime to obstruct abortion clinics or abortion providers.”
In response, various ways of “legal” anti-abortion counseling and support were set up. Crisis pregnancy care centers were established and continue to this day. “Many of you who do this are here today,” Doucette pointed out.
The Gabriel Project was started to provide these same support services directly in a local parish, and to help heal the wounds of abortion, post-abortion counseling and education programs (PACE) were developed and continue, such as Project Rachel.
Various means were developed to demonstrate support of the pro-life message to the general public, some being the annual Life Chain and the new 40 Days for Life campaign.
Organizations affiliated with religious denominations made pro-life a part of their core message and organizational goals. “An outstanding example of this is the Knights of Columbus, who are represented here today,” Doucette, a Knight, said proudly.
Many umbrella organizations have been developed over the years to focus pro-life efforts, including San Antonio Right to Life, San Antonio Coalition for Life and Choose Life Ministries.
“My intention is to show that we already have the tools at our disposal to fight for life. We need not reinvent the wheel. What we do need is rebirth of our efforts for life here in San Antonio. Do you agree?” asked Doucette.
After a resounding “yes” came from the crowd, he responded, “OK, here’s what we need to do. First, we need to strengthen the commitment and resolve of the institutions we already have. Religious institutions need to rededicate themselves to the pro-life message and their pro-life program.”
Doucette continued, “In the Catholic Church, we need to continue to implement the whole Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities and establish pro-life committees in each parish. I am happy to report that we are making good progress.”
He cited the need to support the various religious and umbrella organizations that are already set up for pro-life activities, whether they be existing organizations such as San Antonio Right to Life or newly established organization such as San Antonio Coalition for Life and the Majella Society.
“We need the leaders of pro-life related groups to reaffirm their commitment to the pro-life movement and expand their support of the movement. We need to expand our educational outreach, especially in our churches,” said Doucette. “For most of us, the belief in the dignity of the human person is the key to our commitment and comes from the tenants of our faith. We need to improve our care of those seeking abortions, those who are pregnant and those who are suffering from the aftermath of abortion.”
He urged continued support for Crisis Pregnancy Care centers to increase their reach into the community.
“They need expanded financial support in order to keep operating, and they need more volunteers,” said Doucette.
In the Catholic Church, we need to expand the number of Project Gabriel parish-based crisis pregnancy centers, he added.
Doucette called for an expanded prayerful presence at abortions clinics. Volunteers have been praying in front of four abortion clinics for years on Saturdays and Mondays, but more are needed to pray in front of all of them, and more regularly. “There are many more Planned Parenthood locations that need our regular, prayerful presence,” he said.
The San Antonio Coalition for Life, represented by Executive Director Amy Vorhees, has dedicated itself to this mission at the Planned Parenthood location on Babcock, “and we need to support them,” said Doucette.
He stressed the need to expand public demonstrations of the pro-life stance. In the 80’s, he recalled, Life Chain filled San Pedro with pro-life demonstrators from Rector to San Antonio College and formed a cross near 410. In recent years, participation has fallen considerably. “Now is the time — this year — to make this a huge demonstration once again,” Doucette said.
Lastly, he highlighted a need to do a better job of coordinating efforts, and proposed the establishment of a consortium of all pro-life promoters in San Antonio. “There are many different types of organizations and groups that support pro-life, but they are mostly working alone. This includes all the groups I’ve mentioned already, and others, including pro-life medical professionals and institutions, those in the legal profession, and others,” said Doucette. “A consortium, meeting on a frequent basis, could be a catalyst to really improve all of our pro-life activities and missions. We can work together to help one another.” He then offered his services to help get this new consortium started, and asked those in attendance to join him in being a part of the rebirth of the pro-life program in San Antonio.
“We need to work hard to ensure that we halt the terrible ‘gene therapy’ being done in our country, so that, once again, we can say that all of us are endowed by our creator with the unalienable right to life — from conception to natural death,” Doucette concluded.