Throwing The Poor Out With The Bathwater

I was listening to John Strand's Nightside show last evening on KFGO. High Plains Reader columnist and ne'r-do-well Ed Raymond was the guest. In discussing Ed's past columns they began to talk about the Catholic Church's attempts to block the Clinton era universal health plan.

The Catholic Church asked its American members and clergy to voice its opposition to a universal health plan because it would include provisions for abortion. They both agreed that it was a shame that the Catholic Church would oppose a system that would benefit millions of Americans simply because of its opposition to one procedure. Immediately they had a caller.

The caller was not defending the Catholic Church's view nor was she calling to discuss universal health care. She was calling to preach the evils of abortion. I'm constantly amazed at the anti-abortion movement and how they can lose focus of every other issue in the world when they're on their pedestal.

I remember reading a letter to the editor in the Forum immediately following Hurricane Katrina. The writer somehow used that event to spin the anti-abortion message. He said that although the devastation and loss of life in the south were terrible, the loss of life from abortion was far greater and we should think about those deaths instead.

I have several issues which I believe are extremely important but I also have the ability to focus on reality. There are many inappropriate times to voice an opinion and I think I have to ability to understand when my message would be unwelcome or unnecessary. I wish the anti-abortionists could do the same.

A few years back the Fargo women's clinic, where they performed abortions, came under attack from the anti-abortion group 'The Lambs of Christ'. They began to picket not only the clinic but also the homes of the clinic staff. When I saw the tactics this group used I became angry. They would stand on the street corners with huge grisly posters of supposedly aborted fetuses and would attack those coming in or near the building with vicious language and fear tactics. Martin Wishnatsky chained himself to the building at one point.

Although my views would be considered pro-life I felt compelled to uphold the legal rights of those who worked at or visited the clinic. I volunteered as a guard and stood inside the fence line around the building. During the weeks that the building was under siege I was spit upon, grabbed, insulted and called every nasty name I knew and some I didn't. When I tried to engage them in some intelligent conversation my attempts were met with what seemed to be scripted retorts.

I remember standing on the porch outside the clinic watching the melee ﾖ listening to the cursing of the protesters shouting that we'd all burn in hell ﾖ and wondering to myself 'If Jesus was here right now, where would he be?' Would he be in the angry mob on the sidewalk hurling insults and derision at anyone who came within earshot? Would he be shouting at the passing traffic and holding up huge photos that would cause children to have nightmares?

For me Christ is compassion, caring and love. I imagined Jesus would be inside the clinic, holding the hand of a young woman making the toughest choice in her life and telling her 'I'm here with you'.