As we approach the 2026 March for Life, many are criticizing the pro-life movement for what they call its obsession with ridding the nation of the sin of procured abortion.
They claim other issues are just as important, if not more so, than abortion. They insist that immigration, inflation, climate change or caring for poor children must now be given equal or even higher priority.
Indeed, those who show so little regard for the unborn child now become cynical champions of poor children who managed to survive the abortion holocaust.
Thus, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) invites all those involved in the fight against procured abortion to resist the pressure to embrace other causes or diminish the zeal for the unborn.
Legal procured abortion is a collective, national sin. We must never give up or even reduce the pace of our march until we have achieved complete victory: an abortion-free America in our times.
A Broader Perspective
Our insistence upon defending the unborn does not deny the importance of other causes. Wherever sin, injustice and unnecessary suffering prevail, we must show concern and do what we can to address them.
However, we must be wary since the left shamelessly uses these collateral issues to foment class struggle. The left is a master at creating false moral equivalence with problems that have been twisted to favor its agenda.
In this case, the left does everything possible to discourage and deviate those who fight for God’s Law. This call is meant to distract us in the moment when so many pro-abortion forces are in disarray.
The best response to this threat is to view our fight within a broader context. Then we can affirm that we are not just defending a “single issue,” but part of a larger battle over what remains of Christian civilization.
This broadened perspective will also allow us to see that the pro-abortion radicals are not single-issue activists but unite themselves with all who resist God’s law.
Revolution and Counter-Revolution
This broad historical perspective can be found in the book Revolution and Counter-Revolution, by the Catholic intellectual and man of action, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.
The author claims modern history can be seen as a struggle between two forces: the enemies of the Church and Christendom (the Revolution) and those who defend them (the Counter-Revolution).
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This Revolution (with a capital R) is the unifying force of a vast attack upon Christianity that spans centuries. Its pursuit of procured abortion is only one of its many facets.
The Counter-Revolution finds unity in the Catholic Church’s efforts to uphold Christian civilization and stem the tide of revolutionary aggression.
If we put the abortion battle inside the context of the Counter-Revolution, we can more effectively work to save the unborn.
Five Characteristics
In his book, Prof. Corrêa de Oliveira lists five characteristics of this Revolution throughout modern history. Each characteristic also manifests itself in the fight for the unborn.
Thus, we will define these characteristics in general and then examine how they apply to the pro-life struggle in America and around the world. In this way, we will adopt a broad perspective.
The Revolution is universal. By this first characteristic, Prof. Corrêa de Oliveira claims that all peoples are affected by this Revolution to a greater or lesser degree. It employs similar tactics and strategies everywhere. No one can entirely escape its influence.
In our fight for the unborn, we find this same universal drive to impose abortion everywhere. No people or culture is spared from this offensive. Everyone must be exposed to the sin of procured abortion. No exceptions are allowed.
The Revolution is one. The Revolution unites a wide range of crises targeting Christian civilization. It is like a forest fire that cannot be described as a thousand autonomous and parallel fires side by side. Rather, each crisis is like a separate fire within the single event known as the forest fire. Each crisis contributes to the dynamism of the whole crisis.
Similarly, abortion is just one of many moral issues. It burns like a separate fire but easily unites with other issues to form the general moral crisis afflicting humanity. Indeed, the radical activists who promote abortion will often promote homosexual vice, euthanasia, radical feminism, transgenderism, socialism and many other sinful causes. Each fire represents a single cause that generally acts in conjunction with all the others.
Thus, when fighting against abortion, the consistent prolife activists naturally tend to fight against the whole leftist cultural agenda.
The Revolution is total. In every country, the Revolution develops at profound levels, spreading to all the powers of the soul, all fields of culture and all realms of human action.
Thus, in the pro-life battle, abortion is never limited to the field of women’s issues. The Revolution expands the debate into every field. It encompasses religion, law, ethics, psychology, civil rights, sexual morality, education, medicine, and other related areas. Wherever the issue of abortion can further the progress of the Revolution, it does so. The totality of its message is such that abortion is rightly identified as a “culture of death.”
The Revolution is dominant. On the surface, the multitude of crises appears chaotic and unintelligible. However, we can discern profoundly consistent and vigorous results from the disorder. Thus, we must recognize a dominant and intelligent force that directs it and defines its goals.
Likewise, amid the chaotic menagerie of pro-abortion radicals, we can discern a dominating force that directs the abortion movement in America and the world. This direction is often found in the liberal establishment that keeps the movement focused on its sinful target.
The Revolution is a process. The Revolution is not a spectacular, isolated episode, but rather a process that sets in motion causes and effects aimed at destroying Christian civilization. Thus, it will always be progressing towards this goal. The Revolution is endangered by obstacles that threaten its dynamism.
Similarly, the pro-abortion movement is always pushing ahead with an agenda that extends far into the future. Many times, pro-abortion forces will introduce abortion in incremental stages, but it never changes its goal of abortion on demand and the destruction of all morality. The victories of the pro-life movement jeopardize the process by putting up roadblocks.
Why the Pro-life Reaction Is Important
Thus, this Revolution is universal, one, total, dominant and processive. The Revolution only progresses to the extent that it can convey success across all five characteristics.
In this broader context, we can see why the pro-life struggle is so important. According to the logic of the revolutionary process, abortion is an obstacle to its progress.
The unexpected reaction to the sin of procured abortion has interrupted and slowed down this process for decades. The stubbornness of this resistance challenges every one of the Revolution’s five characteristics.
This fact explains the fury of the pro-abortionists against the pro-lifers for breaking the consensus. They understand that the pro-life resistance is a powerful challenge to the Revolution’s unity, totality, dominance, universality and processiveness. The pro-life movement has secured important reversals that prove the revolutionary process is vulnerable and not inevitable.
Thus, the left has turned the abortion issue into one that symbolizes all moral issues. Its activists concentrate much of their prayer and public witness on abortion since it encompasses all the other issues. The left sees the broader picture. It knows, for example, that its defeat on abortion will lead to the reversal of same-sex “marriage” as well.
Framing the Debate
If the debate is framed in this universal moral way, it broadens the scope of our action. There is no need to refocus on other issues that are wrongly deemed more important.
When we fight against abortion, we fight against the Revolution that aims to destroy Christianity. When we fight against any aspect of the Revolution, we advance the pro-life cause.
Once we start thinking in broad terms, we can expand our horizons even further by calling upon a supernatural power, as we fight against “the principalities and powers, the dominators of this world of darkness.”
By having recourse to God and His Blessed Mother, we will receive the heavenly aid needed for victory.
Therefore, let us march with confidence toward our goal of a moral and abortion-free America, one nation under God. Let us march for the defeat of this Revolution that so threatens the Faith.