This week at AQ we're celebrating St. Thomas Aquinas Week, where we celebrate his birthday all week with various events. That's quite the birthday week huh? I love the free cake in the lobby they have on Mondays. But, today is also another important day.
Today is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, which made abortion a fundamental right under the U.S. Constitution. This means that if a woman wants to get an abortion they have every right to have one.
I can go on about how I'm pro-life and how it's injust, but that could take forever. So, I'll just quickly sum up why I'm Pro-Life. My Christian background: I was raised Catholic and while I try to go to church, I'm still debating if I want to remain Catholic or convert to a different Christian faith. Regardless, the Catholic Church believes a person first becomes a person not when they're born, but when the person is first conceived and while it is still growing in the mother. The story of Samual Armas proves this: before he was born he needed surgery. This was very risky, but the doctors decided to operate on him anyway and allowed cameras in the operation room. During the operation, the child Samuel reached up and grabbed the doctor's hand and one of the photographers was lucky enought to capture the shot below (bit graphic, forewarning). The doctors just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. But on the contrary, it was:
While I'm all in favor of women making their own decisions, I'm not in favor of them hurting others in the process, especially those that don't yet have a voice. Which is why I'm pro-life. I speak for the rights of the unborn. I'm currently a member of Saints for Life at Aquinas, though I don't normally go to the meetings (which I will start going to I promise).
I was fortunate enough to go to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. when I was 16 years old. I went with my class from high school and we saw not only a lot of historical sites (i.e. Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Spy Museum, Holocaust Museum, etc.) but also got to go to this big mass held where the Washington Wizards play right before the march. This mass was incredible, I've never seen so many people at one service. As I looked around, I noticed many of my classmates getting into the service as well, even those who wouldn't normally show it at school masses. Another highlight was seeing Steve Agrisano performing, whom I knew earlier from other youth retreats. Hard to believe so much has changed about us in 4 years right?
My goal for next year is to go to the March for Life again, hopefully with the Saints for Life group. It was an incredible experience and I would love to go again and speak for those who can't speak. if anything comes out of reading my post for today, remember: "A person's a person, no matter how small. ~ Dr. Seuss"