Activist Says Pro-Life Not Limited to Abortion Issue



by Rusty Pugh and Bill Fancher

(AgapePress) – One of America's leading critics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide says to be pro-life means more than being opposed to abortion.

Mark Pickup sits in a wheelchair. He describes himself as “incurably ill and disabled with chronic, progressive multiple sclerosis.” However, in spite of that — or perhaps because of that — Pickup has become one of North America's most recognized activists for the disabled. He is a passionate believer in the rights of the unborn child, but he says we were not asked by the Lord to pick and choose which human lives we would value.

“To be pro-life only for the child in the womb is really not pro-life — it's 'pro-cute'. If a person is really pro-life, it's a very tall order,” Pickup says. “It's to be concerned about life at the end of the life spectrum, it's to be concerned about the life that is unwanted, it is to be concerned about the life in Jerusalem that's at risk, it's to be concerned about lives in the Balkans.”

“To be pro-life is more than to be just opposed to abortion,” he says.

Pickup says it is important for all people opposed to abortion to come to the realization that pro-lifers should also become involved in objecting to assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Asking the 'Right' Question

Meanwhile, an expert on statistics says opposing sides of the abortion issue often use polls to support their arguments, each claiming their poll demonstrates that the people are behind their point of view. David Murray of the Statistical Assessment Service says the reason for the discrepancy can be found by examining what question is asked.

“If you ask the question carefully of Americans — Should abortion be available in all circumstances, for all reasons, up until the very moment of birth? — a majority of Americans consistently say … that is too lax, it should be stronger and more regulated than that policy,” he says.

Murray says if the same people were asked if abortions should be banned under all conditions, then a majority will reject that idea as too restrictive. “So what you sense, I believe, is that most Americans are very troubled about the frequency and the ease with which we engage in this activity,” he says.

Pro-life leaders suggest that more education on the issue will turn confused hearts to their way of thinking.


(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)

Subscribe to CE
(It's free)

Go to Catholic Exchange homepage

MENU