Murder, Government-Sanctioned

The 1994 Guinness Book of World Records (GBWR) includes the entry: “Murder, government-sanctioned.”  The world record goes to Mao Zedong’s communist regime in China, who, from 1949 to 1971, killed an estimated 63 million Chinese.  Second place goes to Lenin and Stalin’s communist run Soviet Union, which killed approximately 40 million citizens.  Ranking third is Hitler and his National Socialists (Nazis), who killed 5-6 million Jews and 1-2 million non-Jews.  Fourth is the communist (again!) regime in Cambodia, led by Pol Pot, who killed about 2.7 million, or one in three, of their countrymen.

How many living in the United States know this? It might give those who dream of a Godless, just, and peaceful paradise on earth second thoughts.

Then, this information slowly disappears from the GBWR.  In 1995, there’s no mention of the Soviet Union.  In 1998, China disappears.  In 1999, the entire entry disappears.  It’s like something out of the book 1984, by George Orwell.  In that book, the “Ministry of Truth” puts information that undermines its ideology down the “memory hole.” 

In August, 2015, I wrote the editor of GBWR, and asked why this record was removed.  After receiving no response, I wrote again, registered mail, and again, no response.  Could an awareness of the number of legal abortions done around the world have made GBWR uncomfortable with this particular entry?

The website “numberofabortions.com” gives statistics on the number of abortions in the United States and worldwide.  It says that since 1970, there have been more than 66 million abortions in the United States.  Over 10 million of these were done by Planned Parenthood.

If one takes into account birth control pills and their abortifacient action, which can prevent the fertilized ovum from implanting in the uterus, the number of abortions is higher still.  Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, wrote in the December 1918 Birth Control Review: “…if… the sperm meets the ovum and development thus begins, any attempt at removing it or stopping its further growth is called abortion.”  Planned Parenthood dispenses birth control pills.

With this in mind, it’s dismaying to see Catholics supporting what are euphemistically called “reproductive rights.”  This past November, President Biden, a Catholic, gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award to Cecile Richards, a past president of Planned Parenthood.  President Biden wrote: “Through her work to… defend and advance women’s reproductive rights… she has carved an inspiring legacy.”  President Biden’s bishop made no public comment.  By contrast, in 2022, Abp. Cordileone of San Francisco publicly stated that Nancy Pelosi was not to present herself for Holy Communion until she publicly repudiated her advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion.

Some people think it is wrong for a bishop to publicly tell a highly influential Catholic who has gravely sinned that he may not receive Communion until he has repented of his error.  It is not; it is charitable.  It is a sin to be an accessory to another’s sin by condoning it or praising it.  President Biden caused scandal by conferring this award. “Instructing the ignorant” and “admonishing the sinner” are Spiritual Works of Mercy.

The most heartrending sound I’ve ever heard was the uncontrolled sobbing and wailing of a woman who regretted her abortion. These women need healing. Of course, some women do not regret their abortion. These women (and the men involved) need a greater understanding and healing too. They need to understand that from the moment of conception a new human being exists, who possesses the right to life, who deserves to be defended, cared for, and healed like every other human being.

It’s difficult to speak up on the issue of abortion because so many women have had one, or know someone who has had one. We can help these women, and men, who desire post abortion healing by directing them to organizations such as Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities www.rvineyardmn.org, 763 250-9313, Rich in Mercy www.richinmercy.org, or Project Rachel respectlifelife@archspm.org.

We must love and care for those women who are contemplating, or have had an abortion.  We, the laity, need to pray, act and speak up on this issue. This means charitably bringing up this topic with friends and co-workers, perhaps volunteering at a prolife organization, or engaging politically. Organizations such as Pro-Life Action Ministries, Abria, Prolife Across America, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, Human Life Alliance, SouthWest Options for Women, and Women’s Life Care Center are working to change hearts, minds and laws. 

Finally, we must pray. “Unless the LORD build the house, they labor in vain who build.” (Ps. 127) This means, for example, offering up a Mass, praying before the Blessed Sacrament, praying a Rosary, or offering up Holy Communion. As Mother Teresa said, “God does not require that we be successful, only that we be faithful.”

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