Continuing the battle: Arroyo says prayer, speaking out are keys to supporting life issues

Photo caption: Raymond Arroyo, creator and host of “The World Over Live” on EWTN, urges pro-life supporters to continue their battle against the culture of death in society during his keynote address at the “Celebrate Life” dinner on Sept. 14 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

By Mary Ann Wyand

Evil is on the loose in the world, Catholic broadcaster, columnist and author Raymond Arroyo told “Celebrate Life” dinner participants on Sept. 14, and pro-life work is more important than ever because the culture of death is advancing with an all-consuming ferocity.

The creator and host of the Eternal Word Television Network’s international news magazine “The World Over Live” painted a grim yet hopeful picture of life in contemporary society during the 24th annual Right to Life of Indianapolis fundraiser at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

During the dinner, the organization honored St. Luke parishioners Mary Alice (Grande) Boarini, Mary Ann Noble and Mollie Noble of Indianapolis with the Charles E. Stimming Sr. Pro-Life Award and Dr. Paul Jarrett, a retired obstetrician and gynecologist from Zionsville, Ind., with the Respect Life Award.

“There’s something surreal, almost absurd, that one should have to come and speak about the importance of life,” Arroyo told 950 pro-life supporters at the dinner. “But the fact is, given the times we’re in, we don’t have the option any more to stand aside and be quiet. I must be here and so must you.”

Calling their volunteer service “a vocation for life,” Arroyo said they must continue the battle to save lives by praying, speaking out against and working diligently to end abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem-cell research.

Pro-life supporters are witnesses of God’s power to bring good from evil, he said. Evil must not be feared because it crumbles when we confront it, and lives hang in the balance so we must attack it with spiritual warfare.

“It’s not only the small, innocent, defenseless ones who are at risk,” he explained. “It’s all of us. … The culture of death has now marked the young, the old, and God forgive you and protect you if you get sick.”

Arroyo said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which legalized abortion during all nine months of pregnancy, “unleashed a maelstrom that has left deep cultural and spiritual wounds in our country.”

Abortion is the most frequently performed surgery in America, he said, citing statistics from the Alan Guttmacher Institute indicating that more than 1 million unborn babies are aborted in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy every year.

Calling it “homicide in the name of privacy,” Arroyo reminded the gathering that “the Supreme Court insisted that abortion must be legal because we have a right to privacy.”

Now, he said, that legal right to privacy also extends to euthanasia and embryonic stem-cell research.

“As the war on terrorism has demonstrated, when the American people feel their lives are in danger we are willing to give up a little privacy, to cede a bit of privacy. How about giving up a little bit of privacy for the unborn, the frail elderly? Where is the war to protect those lives? Why are we so selfish?”

Arroyo said he worries about America, but finds hope and strength in God, who expects us to protect the defenseless, whether in the womb, a laboratory or a nursing home.

“There are estimates that more than 400,000 human embryos are on ice in this country,” he said. “Americans can boast having more little lives in suspended animation than any country in the world. Isn’t that grand? And of the hundred thousand or so embryos implanted [in women], only about 35,000 make it to birth. Eighty percent of these poor little fellas die in the thaw. Those whom their parents decide to ignore, the leftovers, become fresh victims for experimentation.”

The Constitution explicitly forbids the killing of the innocent, Arroyo said, yet abortion is legal.

“The Fifth Amendment says no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law,” he said. “Where is the [unborn] child’s due process? Where is the trial? What did he or she do to deserve to die in unrestrained capital punishment?”

Sadly, personhood depends on someone else recognizing your life, he said, and the mother who chooses abortion is the second victim because she is often poor, frightened and emotionally confused.

“Everybody wants to love, but love is proved, made perfect, in sacrifice,” he said. “If you love, you offer yourself for another. You miss the chance to love, to be fully human, when you do otherwise. A child is not a burden. A child is not a collectible. He or she is a person to be cherished, nurtured and, yes, sacrificed for.”

Decrying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of Plan B—the “morning after pill” used for emergency contraception—for over-the-counter sales, Arroyo cautioned that there are no long-term studies about how it will affect the health of women.

He said the good news in the war against abortion includes legislation to protect unborn children—the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, the Born Alive Human Protection Act and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act—that erodes the destructive reasoning of Roe v. Wade.

A recent Zogby Poll showed that one-third of young people now believe that abortion should be outlawed, he said, and a CNN Poll found that 71 percent of Americans favor some restrictions or total restrictions on abortion.

This 30-year spiritual battle for life needs Christian soldiers who pray and fast, he said. “Everybody wants a message from God. You, my friends, are those messengers. You are the Lord’s eyes, ears and mouth, so use them. … Scripture should fuel our activity, light our way. But it will not play in the pagan temples of our culture. Use science, use logic, use reason. You can win them over on these grounds.” †