In response to Christopher Damian's letter ("Who we are," Oct. 14), if you and all others who call themselves "pro-lifers" can honestly look at yourselves and stand before God and say that you are for the abolishment of capital punishment; that you are anti-war; that you are for a person's right to a dignified death; that you care deep in your heart about the welfare of children born into houses of abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, substance, etc.), neglect, abandonment and poverty and are willing to fight for those children; if you consider adopting a child from a mother who doesn't want it or is too young, or too stoned, or too inexperienced, or too lazy to raise the child; if you're willing to pay for a child born with numerous physical disabilities that will require a lifetime of medical care; if you care about equal educational opportunities, access to medical care and other means and programs to help the child succeed and become a valued, productive member of society, and to prevent the same child from becoming a ward of the state either through foster care or the prison system, then you can stand on top of the dome, wave your flag and proudly proclaim yourselves pro-life
If you meet these qualifications and standards, I too will admit to you being pro-life.
Otherwise, you are just "anti-abortion," or better still "pro-birth," because that's what most so-called pro-lifers really are. This is not sanctimonious validation on my part, just a definition. By your comments, you indicate to me that you are and will continue to be pro-birth. If you are, man up and accept that you are: there's nothing wrong with that, and fight for that. I applaud your efforts in arranging the cemetery. But fight also for ways to reduce the number of abortions as President Obama told our graduating seniors back in May.
The responsibility of being a pro-lifer is so much more than just setting up a couple of crosses. You can't consider yourself one until you reconcile your beliefs with your actions on what happens to the life of the child after he or she comes into this world, and how you and society at large will take care of that child. If you claim to be a follower of Christ, that is his charge to you and to me. "Christian" is not a title, it's a responsibility.
You get to justify your "pro-life" beliefs before God, not only through words but actions as well.
I personally believe abortion is abhorrent and evil. But I also believe in the sanctity of all human life - from the womb to the tomb.
Eduardo Magallanez
alumnus
class of 1983
Oct. 14
