A week of observances

Today is a federal holiday, honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

Later this week will be the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an ecumenical project promoted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The year’s theme is “Do Good; Seek Justice.” We included prayers for that intention at Mass at my parish over the weekend.

I perceive a common theme.

Dr. King strove for the recognition – not the creation, but recognition – of the inherent rights of all human beings. Whatever civil rights might mean to the politicians making speeches today, I can’t see that any rights make sense unless the right to life is recognized first.

I couldn’t look anyone in the eye and say that I support that human being’s right to vote but only after someone else allows that human being to live.

Honoring Dr. King, recalling Roe, seeking justice: defending the right to life does all three.

How does a landfill figure into New Hampshire’s march for life?

At 9 a.m. tomorrow, January 14, people will gather at the gate outside Concord, New Hampshire’s transfer station. They will pray and hold signs. They will park their cars along the roadside, since no one builds parking lots at landfills to accommodate demonstrations. It seems an odd place for a gathering, especially since there’s a March for Life later in the day a mile or so away, in more conventional surroundings. Why pray at a landfill?

Because it’s a burial ground. The remains of between fifty and eighty aborted children were discovered there in 1988. It didn’t take long to identify the abortion provider. He was scolded for improperly disposing of medical waste, and he promised to do the job right (incineration?) in the future.  

Thirty-five years later, the dump is now the transfer station, and human remains are still in the former landfill. Each January since 1989, visitors have gathered to honor the memory of the children.

A 2015 post at Leaven for the Loaf provides more history about the discovery of the human remains.

What’s a “niche” issue?

The most recent edition of the New Hampshire Sunday News featured an op-ed column from a gentleman well-known in New Hampshire political circles.  The headline cheerfully blared “Senate GOP puts NH families first”. The column went on to list the policy priorities announced by leaders of the New Hampshire Senate majority at a recent press conference.

Something was missing. In the words of the columnist, “Absent from their agenda are niche ideological issues and special interest appeals.” I assume that the columnist and the senators are relegating the right to life to one of those niches.

Tough luck, ladies and gentlemen. The minority party has already introduced legislation to lock abortion into the New Hampshire constitution and statutes. There’s also a bill to repeal the Fetal Life Protection Act altogether. The right to life is on your agenda whether you like it or not. If you think stressing the economy is going to get you past that fact, take a look at the last election.

Read the rest of the post at Leaven for the Loaf.

Header image by Piro/Pixabay.