What keeps the Pro-Life crowd going?

Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology fated to push a boulder up a mountain only to have it roll back down each night, might seem to be the right image for those who struggle to change Canada's current abortion policy. Year after year since abortion was legalized by the Trudeau government in 1969, pro-lifers have prayed, protested and lobbied Parliamentarians, only to find their efforts come to naught. In fact, since the Canadian Supreme Court removed all limitations on abortions in 1988, almost one-third of all pregnancies in Canada today ends with an abortion.

It does not even seem as if all the prayers, demonstrations and policy statements have budged the 'sensus fidelium' of Canadians either. In 2001, 54% of Canadians were in favour of woman's right to obtain an abortion. After a decade of effort, that level of support has hardly changed – standing at 52% according to a 2010 EKOS poll. Pro-lifers can be forgiven if they believe that they suffer the same affliction as Sisyphus: destined to fight for a change in the law and culture that always seems out of reach.

Yet they do not stop. Indeed they believe that they cannot quit trying to inculcate what Pope John Paul II called a 'culture of life'. For them, the issue of abortion is not a question of 'choice'... it is a matter of 'life' and 'death'. Just as William Wilberforce was indefatigable in his crusade to end slavery in the early 19th century, spurred on by his moral conviction that change would eventually come, so too are the partisans of the Pro-Life movement inspired to continue their efforts for that they see as an equally righteous cause on behalf of the most vulnerable in society, the unborn.

We also fight for cause of life because those promoting abortion and euthanasia are a threat to all citizens. A poster in a previous comment thread here on the Holy Post who goes by the name of 'Madic' made the eminently clear when s/he posted that life is a 'privilege, not a right'. Rarely do the promoters of the Culture of Death so plainly expose themselves, for this statement reveals that they believe that they have the right to decide who merits this 'privilege' as well as those who do not! This face of evil has been seen before, under the Nazi and Stalinist regimes. Pro-lifers must resist their agenda lest untold numbers find their licence to life revoked. 'Self preservation' is not the purest of motives, but it certainly is an effective one!

What will make the difference? What if anything might turn the tide in their favour?

Advances in technology is providing additional weapons to the pro-life arsenal. Sonograms have pierced the veil of the uterus and now offer images which demonstrates the human form and likeness of what abortion advocates prefer to call a 'fetus' or 'zygote'. The demographic realities of a birth rate insufficient to sustain future medicare services and pensions might also change the prevailing opinion supporting unlimited abortion rights. Pro-lifers have reason to hope. History teaches that nothing is held more firmly than ' common consensus' until the moment it changes. The examples of Wilberforce and Martin Luther King who each worked to overcome the common held wisdom of their day in the face of long odd. Both of them drew upon wells of faith and belief to sustain them in their darkest days, much as the pro-life cause does today.

Perhaps if religious leaders begin to put their full institutional weight behind the efforts of pro-life advocates in a more tangible way. Position papers and policy statements do not mean nearly as much as seeing a Bishop walking in a 'Life Chain', or leading public prayer events such as the '40 Days for Life' campaign.

Who knows? With unswerving effort and devotion, the Pro-life cause might leave Sisyphus behind and, with the dedication of the 'Energizer Bunny', they will eventually push the abortion boulder over the peak of the mountain.

(Fr. Tim Moyle, a Roman Catholic Priest of the Diocese of Pembroke is a frequent participant on the Holy Post. He regularly blogs at www.frtimmoyle.blogspot.com and participates in pro-life events.)