The headline of Congressman Tim Ryan’s (D-OH) recent op-ed is: “Why I changed my thinking on abortion.”
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH)If that doesn’t give away the ending, this line from the second paragraph pretty much seals it: “My faith is important to me, and like many Catholics I strive to adhere to its principles, especially one of the essential and highest teachings of ‘judge not, lest ye be judged.’” You just know this is not going to end well.
Unless, of course, you’re make several hundred grand a year using federal funds to promote abortion, in which case…
“Powerful and brave”—that’s how Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood described Ryan’s decision to publically disavow the last vestige of his pro-life past and fully embrace the culture of death.
I can think of a few words other than “brave.” Here we go:
“Cynical”
It seems that Congressman Ryan is eyeing a run at the U.S. Senate in 2016 (surprise!) and since the slightest whiff of a pro-life record is a non-starter in the upper echelons of today’s Democratic Party, defense of the unborn got the old heave-ho. Throwaway culture, anyone?
“Hypocritical”
Not that Congressman Ryan was especially pro-life before this, mind you. He was dropped by Democrats for Life of America back in 2009 for his support of taxpayer-funded abortion.
That’s right: Tim Ryan thinks “the heavy hand of government” should not interfere with this “personal choice, which we should not judge.” He does, however, insist that the government force taxpayers to foot the bill for this personal choice, which we should not judge, except to judge that its worthy of government funding.
“Disingenuous”
Call me old fashioned, but I’ve always thought that good judgment was something you want in a candidate for public office. Now, here’s Tim Ryan advertising his unwillingness to make sound ethical judgments—as if that makes him better qualified to be a custodian of the common good.
Of course, being deeply oblivious to the common good is not a qualification for higher office—as Ryan attempts to point out when he wraps himself in the mantle of Catholic principles—he just makes an exception where the lives of the unborn are concerned.
“Unoriginal”
Ok, being unoriginal might not be the worst thing in the world, but it’s worth pointing out: We’ve heard this all before.
“Cowardly”
Ryan is right about one thing: women facing an unwanted pregnancy need our love and help and compassion. But telling women that, since the decision is difficult, right and wrong don’t apply, is a lie; telling women that abortion will set them free is a lie; telling women that their autonomy trumps even the life of an innocent child, is a lie. To perpetuate these lies is heinous enough; to spout these lies because the truth is too hard or too unpopular—that’s cowardice.
The price of these lies is hard to measure: they have cost millions of lives, scarred millions of women (and men), and done deep damage to the moral fabric of this nation by undermining the very foundations of our democracy. No one put it more succinctly than St. John Paul II, in Evangelium Vitae:
“In the name of what justice is the most unjust of discriminations practiced: some individuals are held to be deserving of defense and others are denied that dignity?” When this happens, the process leading to the breakdown of a genuinely human co-existence and the disintegration of the State itself has already begun.
To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom: “Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin” (Jn 8:34).
Pray for the unborn. Pray for expectant mothers. Pray for those who support abortion. Pray for our country.