Back in 2002, Father Frank Pavone, the head of Priests for Life, came under fire for being charitable, respectful, and (Gasp!) even friends with abortion facilitator Bill Baird. Fr. Pavone and Baird had released a joint statement calling all sides on the abortion debate to use respectful rather than dehumanizing rhetoric. Despite their ardent disagreement on abortion, they worked together.
Due to Fr. Pavone's working with the enemy, his organization suffered loss of contributors, one of whom wrote to Pavone admonishing him for talking with evil. Fr. Pavone's response: "I do not dialogue with evil. I dialogue with persons and Bill is a person."
Demonizing the opponents is common practice in the abortion debate. Pro-lifers are accused of not really caring for the unborn but using the issue to impose their religion or oppressive patriarchal systems on society. Abortion rights advocates are called assassins, baby-killers, abortion enthusiasts who fight for the right to butcher babies in death camps. In my opinion, this language is not helpful; it is a hindrance to building a culture of life.
A culture of life is is not simply a culture in which persist legal protections of the unborn. It is a culture in which people have an awe and respect for life and respond joyously and fervently to the holiness of life. If we have any hope of changing the culture, we must open hearts and minds to the beauty of all life. This will not happen if we alienate others either with demonizing language or by wielding truth as a weapon. I think Fr. Pavone was precisely right to befriend and try to persuade a powerful and effective advocate for abortion.
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