Professional people who are pro-life and occupy positions of privilege and power should consider speaking up about abortion. This is because for the moment at least, it is not illegal to talk about abortion, subject to a few exceptions. If we don’t exercise this freedom when and where we can, we may lose it. Having said that, we would do well to remember that there is no positive duty to speak the truth if it is unlikely to do good. This means there may be instances where it is not appropriate to do so. Accordingly, context is everything when discerning whether or not speaking up will indeed do good. This article offers a personal opinion on this vexed issue and offers readers three simple pieces of advice.
In New South Wales, the Public Health Act makes it an offence punishable by gaol or substantial monetary fine for a person to “communicate” about abortion within 150 metres of an abortion clinic in a manner which is reasonably likely to cause a person anxiety or distress. Given this prohibition on communication does not apply to employees or other persons supplying services to the clinic, it clearly targets pro-life people witnessing to the truth about abortion in various ways. This truth is a hard pill to swallow, because it concludes that direct and intentional abortion procedures are morally wrong because it is the ending of a human life which although undeveloped, has a soul that is unique and made in the image and likeness of God.
Health professionals who have a conscientious objection to performing or participating in abortion have a duty under the law to disclose their objection to a patient seeking abortion and then refer the patient on to someone who does not have a conscientious objection. The justification for this duty is to ensure that a pregnant woman receives support from her doctor regarding her choice to undergo abortion. In both examples, the rights of the “pro-lifer” to assemble and express their views, and the freedom of a doctor to obey their conscience and not do what they consider to be the antithesis of healthcare, is subordinated to the legal right of the pregnant woman to access abortion and to the community’s desire for laws that approve her ability to choose it.
Both these examples demonstrate that for certain people, speaking up about abortion carries significant risk. This risk is considered proportionate by the lawmaker because they believe expressing a pro-life position causes harm to people, particularly women. Whilst this claim of harm is never really examined, it is based on an affront to the person’s free will and has taken on the name of “dignitary harm.” Totally subjective and therefore unlike traditional notions of legal harm, it is an effective claim to silence dissent as it implies a lack of respect by the pro-life person. Where the pro-life person is a professional in a position of power, it can lead to charges of unprofessionalism with its threat of disciplinary action, de-registration, and loss of career.
Three pieces of advice for pro-life advocates in the professions
As such, the professional person who decides to speak up about abortion navigates a tricky space. Certainly, they may occupy a privileged position such as in a university, school, or other institution, and they may feel they have a duty to speak up and share a pro-life message of hope. However, my first piece of advice to a person toying with the idea of speaking up is to pray. Certain people are chosen to do this work effectively for God’s greater glory. For such people, having theoretical knowledge about abortion is a given. So too is courage, which must be constantly distinguished from recklessness. But above all, they need to be able to exercise prudence and display tact in their discourse with others because charity must be their ultimate aim.
The second piece of advice I have is to discern whether your Catholic faith is part of your rhetoric. There are a variety of reasons why pro-life people choose not to reveal this. Many argue that to do so would alienate them from the community when they can make an effective argument without mentioning God. This may be true, but I say you should consider simply being Catholic and refuse to hide the source of the truth. The truth is not an abstract concept. It is a person and it is Jesus Christ. The point at which you may reveal it depends on the context. I disclose my Catholicism because I see it as a matter of personal integrity and I have found that having the courage to mention his name, at exactly the right time, is powerful beyond belief!
St Thomas Aquinas teaches that when facing an unjust law that is either contrary to human good or opposed to the Divine good, a person is not required to obey provided one avoids giving scandal or inflicting a more grievous hurt. This leads into my final piece of advice. For some people, when all things are considered, speaking the truth may be imprudent due to lack of ability, or the risks to self and family. This is nothing to be ashamed of. Rather, it is a matter for each person’s private conscience and requires deep and honest prayer.
The example of St Thomas More
When praying, one might consider St Thomas More who took great care in articulating and manifesting his conscientious objection to taking the Oath of Supremacy. He would not elevate the laws of parliament above his conscience. For this, he was held prisoner in the Tower of London, and literally lost his head, which was placed on a stake on London Bridge to be exhibited to the people for a month, but not before proclaiming famously that he died “the king’s good servant, but God’s servant first!” More made clear that in refusing to take the oath he was not condemning the conscience of anyone, including those who wrote the law and those who swore the oath. Rather, it was an act of preservative freedom wherein he knew he would be gravely harmed if he took it. Some people fail to see the value in More’s actions. Elevating obedience to conscience above one’s life or career, may seem unintelligible, but it highlights the links in More’s mind between conscience, objective truth, and freedom.
More displayed enormous courage, yet we all have unique God given gifts and can support the pro-life cause in many ways. Those who discern against speaking up can support others primarily in the form of prayer, which is powerful beyond measure, followed by any other reasonable thing the speaker requires that is within the other’s power to give and accords with their God given ability. In this way, we recall the words of St Paul in 1 Corinthians 4-6: “And there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.” So it is with pro-life service. Good work cannot be separated from God and there are many parts to play for those called.
Dr Anna Walsh is a Lawyer and Lecturer at School of Law and Business, University of Notre Dame