Just like the silent St. Joseph, pro-life men need not always have to verbally voice their opinions in support of preborn babies. Instead, through concrete actions, pro-life men can support both babies and women when things go south in life (i.e. situations that may prompt women to contemplate murdering their babies).
Abortion is very much a man’s issue (as much as it’s a woman’s).
Last weekend, I joined some of my friends to pray the Rosary near a baby-killing clinic in Brixton (Archdiocese of Southwark), London.
Unsurprisingly, a few anti-life people came up to us and yelled at us in protest (as has been the case whether peaceful pro-lifers gather to pray in public).
One woman in particular, shouted as us, accusing us that we had “no rights” to determine what pregnant women “can or cannot do with their bodies”, as if to imply that abortion was a woman’s decision and other women (and men) had no “rights” to influence pregnant women to keep their babies.
During lunch later (after the vigil), one of my friends (a man who came all the way from Birmingham to London just to pray the Rosary at this vigil) mentioned how he observed that he was heartened to see many other men at the same vigil, praying for pregnant women and the lives of their preborn babies.
The abortion debate “is an issue of morality. It’s about the life – or death – of an innocent human being”. Therefore, in order to defend the lives of innocent preborn babies, women – and men – need to step up.
“More men need to be involved in the pro-life movement,” he said.
I couldn’t agree more with what my friend said.
In 2010, during a landmark suggestion of a Florida bill mandating pregnant women to obtain an ultrasound before having an abortion, anti-life Democrat Representative Janet Long lambasted her male Republican opponents, telling them to “stand down if you don’t have ovaries.”
Long’s views succinctly capture the gist of the pro-choice approach towards pro-life men who articulate their stances in defense of preborn babies.
For a long time, leftists have played the radical feminist card, nullifying men’s viewpoints in the debate on whether to murder the lives of innocent preborn children. \
After all, for the feminists/leftists, the abortion debate is about women fighting the so-called “oppressive patriarchy”, sacrificing the lives of their innocent preborn babies in the process.
Nonetheless, as pro-life platform Live Action aptly put it, rather than being a question of “women’s rights”, the abortion debate “is an issue of morality. It’s about the life – or death – of an innocent human being”. Therefore, in order to defend the lives of innocent preborn babies, women – and men – need to step up.
Hearing what my friend had to say above about how men need to take more responsibility in protecting the lives of the unborn, I could not help but think of how pro-life men could look to St. Joseph as their model of heroism and responsibility.
Just like the silent St. Joseph, pro-life men need not always have to verbally voice their opinions in support of preborn babies. Instead, through concrete actions, pro-life men can support both babies and women when things go south in life (i.e. situations that may prompt women to contemplate murdering their babies).
Strikingly, Schroff admitted: “I’m scared of what eliminating access to abortion would mean for my own life.” In other words, Schroff was afraid of taking responsibility as a father (in case the woman he was fornicating with got pregnant).
Rather than immediately abandon the Blessed Virgin Mary upon discovering the fact that She was pregnant (before an angel revealed to him that the child in Mary’s womb was the God-Man), St. Joseph, being a “just man”, suffered interiorly while pondering how to put the Blessed Virgin Mary away “privately”.
After learning that the child in Our Lady’s womb was none other than the God-Man (nevertheless still not his biological son), the humble and chaste St. Joseph still continued to provide for the Blessed Virgin Mary and Our Lord as “Head of the Holy Family”.
How solicitous St. Joseph must have felt after he learned that “there was no room for them in the inn” when the birth of Jesus Christ was drawing near.
How promptly St. Joseph acted when an angel warned him in a dream to “arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt”.
How anxious St. Joseph must have felt (together with the Holy Virgin Mary) when both of them lost Jesus for three days in Jerusalem. Our Blessed Mother herself testified to St. Joseph’s worry when She told Our Lord:
“Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”
As a just and responsible father,St. Joseph stands in contrast to irresponsible and promiscuous men (and women).
It is no surprise that a world saturated with lust and self-gratification would also be increasingly anti-life. After all, the procreative act, when no longer engaged in according to its divinely ordained purpose, breeds selfishness and irresponsibility.
Consider this piece written by a pro-choice man, Kaivan Schroff, about why he supportedabortion. In this sobering piece, Schroff shamelessly stated his desire to have as much sex as possible while shirking the consequences of his actions (i.e. the possibility that a baby (or babies) could be conceived as a result). Strikingly, Schroff admitted:
“I admit I’m scared of what eliminating access to abortion would mean for my own life.”
In other words, Schroff was afraid of taking responsibility as a father (in case the woman he was fornicating with got pregnant). For Schroff (and for many effeminate pro-choice men), the pleasures of sex (and not the responsibilities associated with it) were paramount.
“Abortion is about a man’s sexual freedom.” … “It’s ridiculous to think that just because I’m the father, I’m expected to be a dad.”
A satirical video (that Live Action made) on why pro-choice men support abortion is particularly revealing regarding some of the true underlying reasons why some men back abortion.
“I deserve to be free from any responsibility for some girl I get pregnant,” one man in the video declared.
“Abortion is about a man’s sexual freedom,” another man stated.
“It’s ridiculous to think that just because I’m the father, I’m expected to be a dad.”
In debates pertaining to abortion and “sexual liberation”, the angelic virtue of purity has been sadly kicked to the curb.
Many anti-life advocates champion “sexual freedom” and promiscuity without caring about the ramifications of their actions.
Yet God does not demand of us what we cannot achieve (by His grace). In His condescension of us weak men (and women), God gave to us St. Joseph as a model of chastity and self-mastery.
By learning to love purity and mastering ourselves can men and women imitate St. Joseph in defense of the unborn.
Fr. Donald Calloway, author of the book, “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father”, had this to say about the chastity of St. Joseph:
“Saint Joseph is pure of heart. To be chaste is to be pure of heart. If a person’s heart is not pure, they are incapable of seeing God. Saint Joseph’s heart is exceptionally pure. Saint Joseph gazed on the countenance of God in the Person of his Son for decades. Poets have often stated that the eyes are the window to the soul. If this is true, St. Joseph must have had the most chaste and pure eyes of any husband who ever lived. His eyes and heart were pure- intentioned, chaste, and afire with love for Jesus and Mary. Modern man has become blinded by impurity. The world encourages premarital relations, cohabitation, contraception, and many other immoral practices. Chastity is a forgotten virtue today. Even married couples live with the idea that they are free to do whatever they desire with the body of their spouse. However, this is not true. Chastity is required in marriage as well, in order for couples to truly love one another,to retain their dignity and respect for each other. Married men need to be chaste in marriage; priests and bishops need to be like St. Joseph in their chaste love for the virginal Church – guardians, defenders, and protectors of the beauty entrusted to them, not users and abusers of the sacred mysteries.”
By learning to love purity and mastering ourselves can men and women imitate St. Joseph in defense of the unborn.
St. Joseph, Christ’s Valiant Defender, Chaste Guardian of the Virgin Mary, Defender of life, pray for us.
