Reflection on trip to Austin

Pro-Life East Texans

in Austin

Sunday's readings can be found here.

Last Tuesday, I was privileged to join a huge group of East Texan pro-lifers in Austin for the voting on some important state legislation restricting abortion.  Thanks to the efforts of the priests and lay leaders of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, we were able to send six charter buses full of people to the State Capitol to show our support and pray for these intentions.  House Bill 2 and Senate companion Bill SB1 will provide safety measures for the mother and the baby.  These bills include four reasonable protection requirements: Abortion “clinics” must meet the safety standards of ambulatory surgery centers; It prohibits abortion after 20 weeks because of pain inflicted on babies; It requires the RU-487 abortion pill to be administered following recommendations by FDA standards; It requires that doctors performing abortions have “hospital privileges.”  Even though abortion would still be legal within 20 weeks, this type of restriction would still be a major step in the right direction in the pursuit of the legal guarantee to the right to life.

Rep. Hughes (R-District 5), Rep. Schaefer (R-District 6), and Rep. Simpson (R-District 7) greeted our group of almost 300 persons when we arrived in Austin.  These non-Catholic representatives thanked us for our support and expressed their respect and admiration for the Catholic Church’s consistent pro-life teaching and activism.  Most of our day at the capitol was peaceful, thank God.  There were state troopers from all over Texas who had been called into service at the capitol to keep peace.  I ran into a state trooper who used to work with me at Brookshire’s in Gilmer.  He secretly thanked us for our prayerful and peaceful presence.  I was able to lead a prayer in the rotunda (under the dome) of the capitol and we sang Holy God We Praise Thy Name and Faith of Our Fathers.  (We even sang Amazing Grace for the benefit of our Protestant brothers and sisters who were there with us standing up for life.)

As the day went on, the pro-abortion mob began to arrive and make noise.  I did have a calm conversation with someone from the mob.  It was clear that she had been deeply hurt by men in her life and treated unkindly by pro-life activists, which is unfortunate.  I apologized on behalf of the Pro-Life movement and was at least able to convince her of the evil of abortion in certain cases.  Overall, I was thankful to have had a chance to speak to someone “on the other side” and hopefully give a favorable impression of the Catholic priesthood and the Pro-Life movement.  These are truly historical days in Texas and in America for the cause of the Gospel of Life.  We should give thanks to the Lord for being a part of them!