The recent mayoral election in Chicago drew national attention since it involved the end of Richard M. Daley’s 22-year tenure and the “swapping out” of Rahm Emanuel and Bill Daley as Chief of Staff for President Obama. In that election the issue of abortion never came up.
But concurrent with the mayoral campaign was the election of aldermen in the 50 Chicago wards. In those wards where a candidate failed to garner 50% of the vote, there is a run-off election on April 5.
Monday’s Chicago Tribune ran an article comparing the two candidates in the 45th Ward—which, coincidentally, includes both my own home and the Albany Medical Surgical Center abortion clinic. (The article, titled “Party lines drawn in sand across 2 wards,” is only available in the print version.)
There is a consistent prayer presence and sidewalk counseling ministry at Albany, and there have been four 40 Days for Life prayer vigils held there. Clinic personnel frequently call the police on the prayerful, peaceful pro-lifers, and deathscorts have begun showing up on Thursdays and Saturdays.
The Tribune article begins with this opening paragraph:
As aldermanic candidate John Garrido shakes hands and knocks on doors around the 45th Ward, potential voters consistently ask him one question, “Are you against abortion?”
This is good news to a pro-life activist. And it is proof that after 38 years of legal abortion in the United States, abortion is not a settled issue. The reality is that no one likes abortion, even most of those who claim to support it.
Pro-Life Activists Keep Abortion Front and Center in the Public Eye
The persistence of the pro-life movement and the dedication of those faithful pro-life people who continue to go out to abortion clinics like Albany in the 45th Ward keep abortion before the people and in the news.
I pray that every candidate for every office in every election will consistently be asked the question: “Are you against abortion?” And these candidates, if they really want to serve the public good, will have to answer “Yes.”
What good is it for a politician to favor a good education for kids who never get born, or to vote for health care provisions for people who are killed before birth? A candidate can only adopt a pro-abortion position out of complete ignorance of what it actually means to support abortion.
But we live in a schizophrenic society where some people just don’t get it. They can’t seem to separate the short-sighted attraction of a quick fix for a problem from the philosophical reality that human life has an intrinsic value. If some lives are expendable, all life is in jeopardy.
Thank you, voters in the 45th Ward, for asking the question. Let’s hope your example spreads to all American voters in the wards, counties and states of these United States.
