As I got settled into a hotel room in West Virginia on Wednesday night, I read a text message from a young man I’ve known for a number of years. Nick is a bit of the heart of Hard as Nails ministry and wrote me to thank me for something I said when speaking to a group of missionaries in Columbus earlier this week: “Sometimes God needs you to fall because in getting back up again you realize you need Him.” I will trust my young friend that I said that. What does that have to do with your friendly neighborhood pro-life newsletter, The Lifeline? To know that you need God, you need to realize that He loved you enough to create you. When we realize that — and so much else — we must give thanks.
But it’s hard.
It’s hard to feel love when you are being used or abused or watching someone you love going through misery and injustice. It takes a miracle for someone who has never felt loved for who they are, not what they do, to embrace new life, especially in desperate circumstances. Hard as Nails is about knowing the love of Christ, with a sensitivity to the pain that people all too often are experiencing. They encourage people because that’s a way to show love.
What if every unwed teenage mother had such people in her life? What if that kind of true Christian love challenged young men so that they might have a shot at stepping up to the plate when they become fathers of a child who was not planned? Hard as Nails, and its founder, Justin Fatica, have the right idea about how we can accompany one another in the kind of healing that will change the way we treat one another, and the culture.
With that said, please read on — and sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox if you haven’t.
Not So Fringe
The New York Times doesn’t even take the time to get into its article on restorative reproductive medicine before suggesting it is just another wacky/dangerous RFK Jr. fake-medicine pet project (fringe is in the subhead, not to mention scary quotes throughout once you get into the supposed piece). In truth, restorative reproductive medicine is something most of women’s medicine isn’t: actual medical care. It’s a doctor, looking at a patient and her needs and obstacles, and working toward actual solutions for the sake of her health and that of a potential child (who she might want to be having, but can’t on her own, without resorting to IVF or surrogacy).
It’s called: following the science.
It’s a maddening piece from the Times. Women, men, families — all deserve better.
For a little honesty about IVF, watch my recent interview with Ericka Andersen about her experience with it here.
Buckeye Love for Life
While in Columbus on Tuesday, I got to hear an update from and compare some notes with Kimberly Henkel, founder of Springs of Love, the Catholic ministry for foster care and adoption. She has a curriculum coming to help educate about fostering and adoption, and so much more. With a few good donors thankful for their own birth mother or adoptive parents, or anyone else with a heart for children in need of loving, permanent homes, this ministry will be a powerhouse.
Speaking of, also in the general Columbus area, my friends at Sancta Familia care for families in the grips of mysterious medical challenges — autoimmune diseases, autism, PANS, to name the big ones. Among other things, like Springs of Love, their witness counters the accusation that pro-lifers care about children only until they are born. They look for real solutions for families and do so with a full appreciation for the gift that is every single human life. Again, with a little committed funding, the hearts of founders Dr. Allen and Kristen Lewis — overflowing with love for the suffering of “little ones in darkness,” as Kristen often refers to some of the children her husband treats — will bear spectacular healing fruits.
Wheeling Away from Abortion
A few words from West Virginia, where I am as I write:
In these last three years, West Virginians have hosted baby showers for struggling mothers. Pregnancy centers and maternity homes, dedicated to serving moms and babies, met critical needs for emotional and material support and provided housing and transportation assistance. . . .
Walking With Moms in Need, a nationwide, parish-based initiative to increase support for vulnerable pregnant and parenting mothers, has been here for [women in these circumstances]. This ministry ensures that any woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant or parenting in difficult circumstances can turn to her local Catholic Church and connect with the resources she needs. Volunteers are here to walk with moms throughout their journey of motherhood, offering tangible, ongoing support and authentic friendship.
The nearly 6,000 life-affirming providers and resources on Her PLAN’s Directory — with over 260 of them right here in West Virginia — have been here for her [these women] by providing quality, life-affirming support across seven categories of care, including mental health support, childcare, food and nutrition assistance, job training, medical care, and so much more.
Take a look at the critical Walking with Moms in Need here. And Her PLAN resource here. This is the work of culture change. The authors of the piece are leaders in both in the Mountain State.
Dr. Bernard, Pray for Us
Wednesday was St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s feast day. I had to smile. I was at a humble Ascension parish in Johnstown, Ohio, and the man who was reading on the altar had a U.S. Constitution dress shirt on. It had the flag everywhere and the actual words of the Constitution. This is America! And more important, this is a man who prays for America, I have no doubt. I was in a church in Westerville, Ohio, the day before, and there was a whole section of the little (big for a church) Marian gift shop dedicated to “God bless the USA” kinda items. No Lee Greenwood playing in the background, though. I couldn’t help but think of another Bernard, Dr. Bernard Nathanson. His life was testimony to the spectacular mercy of God. Nathanson was one of the leaders insisting on legal abortion, overseeing at least 75,000 of them — 5,000 by his own hand.
But he changed his mind. He repented.
One of the honors of my life was being at his funeral Mass. My (and National Review’s) friend Father Gerry Murray preached at St. Patrick’s Cathedral that day, with Cardinal Timothy Dolan presiding:
I am not exaggerating when I say that Dr. Bernard Nathanson is a towering figure in the history of the United States because he was an unflinching witness on behalf of those millions who have been killed, or are threatened to be killed, by abortion. He was a witness who spoke out against what he himself had helped to bring about, namely the legalization of abortion in our country, along with his fellow founders of NARAL, the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.
He broke with this evil movement, and repented of his sins. His epiphany came when he saw ultrasound images of the developing human being in the womb. He wrote: “Ultrasound opened up a new world. For the first time we could really see the human fetus, measure it, observe it, watch it, and indeed bond with it and love it. I began to do that.” He continued, “Having looked at the ultrasound, I could no longer go on as before.”
You can read the full homily here. If you pray, pray for more conversions.
This Isn’t Your Father’s Record
An interview I conducted early in my time at NR was with James Carville. The famous Democratic strategist and husband of my friend the dear Mary Matalin had worked for the late, great, pro-life Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey. I contacted Carville because he had worked for Casey. The former governor had just died, and I knew Carville loved him and would want to honor him. Carville was beautiful and emotional. It was a good thing for America, in some small way, for Carville to be on NRO honoring Casey. Casey was a Democrat dishonored by his own party because he had too much courage and conviction defending the innocent unborn. God rest his soul.
The American treasure John J. Miller created The College Fix. And one of its reporters broke the news that the University of Scranton has established a relationship with Casey’s son, now a former U.S. senator.
The story explains:
His role will include mentoring students on public service and advising the university’s Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service. He also will give lectures and seminars on “health care, aging, ethics, government accountability and public service issues.”
“I believe it’s critically important that young people are inspired and even taught that if you serve in public office, you have to do it ethically. You could have different points of view or a different philosophy, but everybody’s got to be ethical,” Casey said in a statement.
Casey said he believes Catholics should bring their “values to the public square and try to move our society forward.”
Surely the Jesuit school must have missed that Casey isn’t his father when it comes to commitment to the innocent unborn. And yet they’ve hired him to mentor — to be an example — to their students about being a Catholic in politics. Unless he’s teaching what not to do, anyone associated with Scranton or Catholicism in America should be disappointed.
Editor in Chief Alert
Today is Rich Lowry’s birthday. I’ve worked with Rich since 1997. Back then he was a reporter on Capitol Hill. He has long loved National Review so much that he snuck issues in his textbooks in high school to read during class. As a youngster on staff at NR, he would write memos to then-editor John O’Sullivan with feedback on each issue, with ideas for the future. Among other things, he saw the great treasure the internet was just as soon as Al Gore invented it. (If you are under 25, do you have any idea what I’m talking about?) NR was a trailblazer in what the kids call (or called) digital journalism, and it was because of Rich and William F. Buckley Jr.’s confidence in him.
So please, join me in wishing Rich a very happy birthday. We could all use celebration of our lives.
He’s a husband and father and good steward of NR. Pray for him — for many years of life and love and continuing commitment to helping freedom flourish.
Around National Review
- John Mize: ‘Choice’ Cannot Coexist with Abortion Coercion
- Ramesh Ponnuru: Judge Beetlestone’s Arbitrary Musings
- Ed Whelan: The Saga of the Little Sisters of the Poor Crawls On
Other Things
Congratulations to the awardees of Students for Life of America’s first Standing with Her scholarships for women — and men — doing the most important work in the world: parenthood.
Pope Leo XIV had a pro-life message in his homily for the feast of the Assumption of Mary:
Let us not be afraid to choose life! It may seem risky and imprudent. Many voices whisper: “Why bother? Let it go. Think of your own interests.” These are voices of death. But we are disciples of Christ. It is his love that drives us — soul and body — in our time. As individuals and as the Church, we no longer live for ourselves. This — and only this — spreads life and lets life prevail. Our victory over death begins here and now.
National Council for Adoption: What Is a Post-Adoption Contact Agreement?
Upcoming
- September 25: Join me (I’m emcee) at the Aid for Women benefit in Chicago. Details here.
- October 20: The Center for the Rights of Abused Children will have a night with actress Nia Vardalos at the Phoenix Art Museum. See here.
Thank you for reading. Please spread the word about The Lifeline, National Review’s new weekly pro-life newsletter. Anyone can sign up for it for free here.
I’ve moved on to Franciscan University right now, in Steubenville, Ohio, and just ran into three Sisters of Life friends who are newly studying here. They wouldn’t mind your prayers. I know they are praying for you. Theirs is the work of life and love. As another kind of mother, they show us how.
More next week, or so we also pray.