Originally published at National Catholic Register
Among my earliest childhood memories is my mother dragging us four kids around from studio to studio debating the heaviest pro-choice hitters on television and radio in the early 1970s.
Attractive and articulate, she was well-positioned to play hardball for People Concerned for the Unborn Child (PCUC), one of the country’s first pro-life organizations. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the office consisted of a rented corner store stuffed with picket signs, bumper stickers and pamphlets. The material was often gruesome, but it worked. Yet I wondered how long my mother would last.
Roe v. Wade has been overturned, but, clearly, the battle isn’t over. In the ’70s, it was a matter of showing that an unborn baby is truly alive. But what about today?
I would argue that now, more than ever, it’s a matter of widening our sphere of concern to include the full breadth and depth of Catholic teaching on the family. Every attempt to protect the life of the unborn must be matched by a vigorous and unwavering promotion of the family.
The Church’s deep concern for marriage and family life in the modern world began long before the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that “the right of personal privacy
