1/22/1973 x 35

Another January 22, another Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Dalton anniversary.

Number 35 for those of you keeping score at home.

For those of you wanting to send the appropriate gift for this occasion, the traditional one would consist of coral while the modern approach would be something of jade.

Somehow, I think the pro-lifers would appreciate the irony if the precious green gemstone were sent to them. They have been jaded by the political process of reversing this judicial decision for the past four decades. They can't even get a sincere promise ring from their suitors.

Yet they continue to fight the good fight. Silent No More, Rachel's Vineyard, Priests For Life, Pro-Life Across America. These groups among the many who fight for life. Those among the millions of people who ora et labora for this to end. Picking up this cross every day and carrying it up toward what they hope will be their version of Calvary. Mindful of what Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said in her acceptance speech of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize:

...We are talking of peace. These are things that break peace, but I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing -- direct murder by the mother herself. And we read in the Scripture, for God says very clearly: Even if a mother could forget her child -- I will not forget you -- I have carved you in the palm of my hand. We are carved in the palm of His hand, so close to Him that unborn child has been carved in the hand of God. And that is what strikes me most, the beginning of that sentence, that even if a mother could forget something impossible -- but even if she could forget -- I will not forget you. And today the greatest means -- the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion....

Yes, peace. How can we be at peace when society has "written" into our laws permission to terminate ourselves into extinction? How can we claim to be a rational creature when we have "logically" determined eventually not to exist? How can we exercise the faculty which make us the most unique of creatures when we have chosen death rather than life?

Makes one wonder if God cringes more about giving us reasoning ability rather than free will.

But, yet again, the annual big skirmish has happened. The marches across the country are over. The speeches have been made. Both sides have had their say. Point and counter-point; thrust and parry. In this battle of the Culture War, the bullets may be words but the casualties can be counted.

Still no winner.

Still no prize.

Still no peace.