A Hierarchy of Injustice

I make it no secret that I am not a big fan of President-elect Obama. Nor do I conceal the fact that my lack of enthusiasm for the incoming administration is based on the President elect's wholehearted support of the "right" of a woman to terminate her pregnancy at will. In fact, I'm rather outspoken in promoting my view that the right to life is the fundamental right upon which every other right is based.

A man I greatly admire, and whom, in my estimation, ought to know better, recently accused me and pro-lifers in general of being "one issue" voters. This man, my friend, is an ardent Catholic and a member of my parish, St Mary's, in downtown Indianapolis. His particular "hot button" issue is immigration, particularly, the rights of Hispanic immigrants.

A word about St Mary's and my membership there is in order here. St Mary's was founded in 1858 as a parish with a ministry to a particular ethnic group, the Germans. At various times she has hosted different ethnic groups, the Irish and Italians have at various times in her long history called her their own home parish. Currently, St Mary's is approximately 60% Hispanic. I belong to St Mary's by choice, not out of necessity. She is not the nearest parish to me. I am not a native of Indianapolis, so St Mary's is not the home parish of my family, nor does she hold any other emotional attachment for me. I love the pastor there. I love the devotion and enthusiasm of her Hispanic members. The thriving Hispanic culture is actually one of the reasons I selected St Mary's as my home parish.

Now, back to my conversation with my friend. I agree with my friend that there are serious flaws in the immigration system in the United States, particularly where that system is applied with our nearest neighbor to the south, Mexico. I know that the economic disparity between the two nations is remarkable; I know that many children sicken and die for lack of adequate medical attention and the unavailability of basic immunizations just because they live on the wrong side of an imaginary line dividing two nations. I, too, decry these occurrences great social injustices.

But there exists between the issue of immigration and the issue of abortion a gulf. There is a hierarchy of injustice here, with the abortion issue seated above the immigration issue. As such, the abortion issue "trumps" the immigration issue

Abortion is a conscious choice made by an individual to deliberately deprive another of their right to live. Further, the woman seeking an abortion seeks to abrogate her responsibility she incurred by engaging in an act, sex, the consequences of which, pregnancy, she was aware of when she undertook that activity.

My friend argued that a thousand children a day perished as a result of diseases which could easily be prevented via effective immunizations. I have not verified these numbers, but I'll accept them at face value. In the United States, four thousand children a day perish at the hands of the abortionist. You do the math.

The Obama administration proposes to ease or eradicate the restrictions currently imposed by the Mexico City Policy on funds provided to other nations for the purposes of birth control and abortion. More Mexican citizen will have the privilege of dying through abortion due to their efforts. I don't want my tax money to be used for this purpose. On the up side, immunizations may become less of an issue.

Certainly, the Democrats seem to have a better program regarding immigration issues, and when that program benefits the common good I will be rightly supportive of them. I'm an independent politically, affiliated with neither major party. I'd love to be able to be a Democrat, and as soon as I find a Democratic politician who is pro-life and pro-immigration, I will consider supporting that candidate. Until I find that candidate, however, life issues must be my primary consideration.

Until next time, all the best. Joe