Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, encouraged
the NFP volunteers at the convention to remember their work can actually help
bring an end to abortion. He said the key is to help society see the connection
between contraception and abortion.
Fr. Pavone encouraged those involved in pro-life activities to visit the
website of the Alan Guttmacher Institute (a division of Planned Parenthood) at
www.agi-usa.org.
He said he finds a lot of information on this website that he uses
against them. For example, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, of women
who have abortions:
75% say having a baby would interfere with their schooling, work, or
lifestyle;
66% say they cannot afford a baby;
50% say they don't want to be a single parent or are having trouble with
their partner.
"Look at these reasons!" Fr. Pavone exclaimed. "They're the same ones people
give for using contraception!"
He also touched on the economic link between abortion and contraception,
noting that the same people making money on abortion are also making money on
contraceptives.
Pope John Paul II's encyclical, The Gospel of Life, clearly connects
abortion and contraception, Fr. Pavone said. For instance, paragraph 13
maintains that the negative values inherent in the contraceptive mentality
increase the temptation to abort.
While contraception and abortion are both sinful, Fr. Pavone explained that
they are specifically different evils. "Contraception is opposed to chastity,
while abortion is opposed to justice," he said. "Yet despite their difference
and gravity of sinfulness, they're connected as fruits of the same tree."
"We've forgotten that freedom must be connected to the Truth," Fr. Pavone
explained. "We say something is good because we choose it. That's why
some pro-choice people can look you in the eye and say, `Yes, I know abortion
kills a baby, but I still want it.' It's a self-validating choice - what I say
is right for me is right."
The Gospel of Life clearly says that the root of the tree connecting
abortion and contraception is the eclipse of the sense of God and of man,
said Fr. Pavone. "People have a distorted notion of what freedom is. They've
lost sight of God Himself," he said.
Bringing this notion back to the idea of teaching NFP, Fr. Pavone emphasized
that "When you teach NFP, you're not simply teaching a method; you are actually
teaching the sovereignty of Almighty God, who is the Master of Life. You're
teaching that sexuality belongs to God. It has a meaning inscribed by the
Creator. You're teaching that there is a plan, that there is a reason for
chastity, even for married persons."
Fr. Pavone said that spreading this message is what will ultimately undo the
abortion industry. "When people allow God to have dominion over their sexuality,
if the time isn't right for a child, they will step back and respect His design,
His plan, His sovereignty."
Fr. Pavone concluded by pointing out that the pro-abortion movement's slogan
is, "This is my body"; yet in contrast, NFP couples are "living Jesus'
words - `This is my body, given up for you.' "
Click here to listen to
the talk.
