One of the major movements in our time is the world-wide emergence of the dignity of women and their rights. This began in Christian countries but has spread to all other non-Christian cultures throughout the world. Violence against women and the denial of basic human rights toward them is endemic in our world. But this new dawn is happening throughout every culture.
One has only to reflect that even in Christian countries the right to vote for women only came at the beginning of the 20th century!
It is not just a coincidence that in the dogma of the Church the two most recent infallible pronouncements were about women, or to be exact, the Woman par excellence: The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The Blessed Virgin Mary in her beginning and in the end of her earthly life has been marked as especially favored and blessed by God. Her impeccable sanctity is guarded in her beginning by the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and in her end by the teaching of her bodily Assumption. Both of these are modern doctrines. Surely, they were enunciated and believed by Christians through the centuries. But it was only in the middle of the 19th century that the Catholic Church defined the Immaculate Conception of Mary as an infallible doctrine of the Church (1854). And even later, in 1950, that the Assumption was defined as doctrine, whose definition was hailed by none other than Carl Jung as the greatest doctrinal moment in Christianity since the Reformation!
By centering on the unique role of Mary in the history of salvation and that specifically in her femininity and womanhood, the Church was preparing for the world-wide ascension of women in all their creativity, talents and special gifts.
But every time the Church utters a saving doctrine of the faith, the world of the demonic attacks it. And not only attacks it but does so at its very core. That the cause of equality of women is politically entwined with the issue of abortion is truly a demonic attack on the human dignity of women. By equating a woman’s human dignity with the “right” to destroy life within the temple of her body is satanic in inception, scope and consequence.
One has to admit the demonic intelligence at work so to hamper the welcome emphasis of the equality of women and the rightful denunciation of violence against women by tying this to the most unwomanly and dare we say “masculine” solution to the difficulties of pregnancy: to get rid of the developing child. It is not surprising that the early icons of women’s liberation, like Susan B. Anthony, were against abortion because it cut to the very heart of the unique dignity of women.
“Choice” does come into play in the stage before pregnancy when a responsible use of the power of sexuality needs to be used.
It is a measure of the duplicity of the argumentation for so called “choice” in destroying the developing human child in the womb, that the true nature of the act of abortion is not even mentioned. For if the violent and cruel nature of abortion were truly portrayed in all its vivid horror, it would be seen as the very opposite of the life-giving vocation that God entrusts only to women.
It is this stark departure from the true greatness of women in protecting and nurturing the eternal in the womb that one can perceive the essentially demonic nature of the widespread and pervasive acceptance of what should call forth revulsion and condemnation.
To women is given the privilege and responsibility of ensuring the continuance of the human race; and with this burden of conceiving, nurturing, growing and teaching that extends from the womb to the day-to-day infancy and childhood of the eternal being she protects, a special dignity is given to women that must be honored and respected. Society must extend its prolife stance to include substantial financial and medical commitment to the life-bearing woman so that the abandonment of women to near servitude in supporting their children, a terrible sin against God and His creation, is wiped out from our society and culture. Childcare needs to be a financial given in any truly Christian society. Concern for the mother and child must extend to both the pre-born and the post-born stages of child rearing.
What a wonderful Christmas gift it would be if we in America decoupled concern for the rights of women from the issue of abortion! What a powerful lesson this would be radiating from the Christ Child and His Mother who said ‘Yes’ to the angel even though it came with a sword of sorrow.
Some may say this is impossible. But we believe nothing is impossible for God!