Catholics must draw closer to Jesus Christ in order to advance a pro-life culture, with Colorado a particular battleground because of its recent radical abortion law.
That was a key message from the Gospel of Life Presentation 2022, which featured Louis Brown, Jr., JD, executive director of Christ Medicus Foundation, and Sister Maris Stella, SV, of the Sisters of Life in Denver. The event was held at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Centennial on Saturday, Oct. 22. That was the memorial day of St. Pope John Paul II, the pontiff famed for — among other achievements — his inspirational 1995 encyclical, “The Gospel of Life.”
“As Sisters of Life, we have the joy to see hearts shift in the women we’re serving, to help them choose life for themselves and for their children. And therefore, they transform the culture one heart at a time,” said Sister Maris Stella. “Today, I’d like to speak about building the culture of life from the inside out, beginning with the interior, with the invisible world. This is the way the saints, throughout history, shaped culture. As mystics, so on fire with the love of God, steeped in prayer, they’re caught up in the beauty and wonder of Christ in the Eucharist. Their love became a spiritual force that radiated outward.”
This year’s Gospel of Life Presentation, titled “A New Birth of Human Dignity and Civil Rights: Understanding the Dobbs Decision on Abortion,” came four months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case that returned the issue of abortion to the states, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
“Because of the Dobbs decision, just in the last couple of months, pro-life state laws have gone into effect that have saved the lives, literally, of thousands of unborn children and have protected thousands of pregnant mothers from severe harm,” Brown told attendees. “That’s real. Lives saved. Precious ones saved. Souls saved. Praise the Lord.”
Prior to the Dobbs decision, however, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in April signed into law the Reproductive Health Equity Act.
“Tragically, Colorado passed the immoral, unjust and evil Reproductive Health Equity Act that makes Colorado one of the most radically abortion-permissive political jurisdictions — just not in the United States — but in the world,” said Brown, who leads the Christ Medicus Foundation, based in Troy, Mich.
“This evil law makes it legal to kill an unborn child in Colorado at any stage of development of the unborn child. And contrary to what everyone knows and what a five-year-old can see in an ultrasound of an unborn baby, this evil law — in the text of the law itself — specifically denies the biological, scientific and rational reality of the value, dignity and rights of the unborn child. Specifically, in the text of the law. This is evil. This is unjust. My faith informs me, but our intellect and reason demonstrates and proves it. Even after the Dobbs decision, Colorado’s deceptively-named Reproductive Health Equity Act remains in effect in Colorado, for now.”
Brown outlined a series of action steps, beginning with prayer, repentance and fasting.
“God is calling us now to pray and fast for the protection of the right-to-life of the unborn and all human life,” Brown exhorted.
He later added, “Whenever I’ve seen anything move on the natural level — in some work I’m doing, ever since my reversion to the faith — the only time I’ve seen things move has been because of prayer. And supernaturally, turbo-charged move, because of fasting.”
He encouraged evangelization and public witness leading to advocacy for pro-life laws to protect the unborn, as well as defending medical conscience rights and religious freedom — all of which are a focus for the Christ Medicus Foundation.
“Now is the time to begin a new era for human dignity — for the pro-life movement, for civil rights in Colorado, beginning with the unborn and extending to all other members of our state who experience injustice and denial of their equal human dignity,” said Brown. “Now is the time. Now is the time to defend medical conscience rights of Catholic and pro-life medical professionals and health-care centers that care for the most vulnerable in Colorado. Now is the time for the Catholic community to engage in a profound dependence on Jesus through prayer and to engage in maximum effort, right now, to accelerate and expand Catholic pro-life medical care for pregnant women and children and all people in Colorado. We must do everything God asks us to do, right now, for the unborn.”
Videos of the presentations from Louis Brown, Jr., and Sister Maris Stella are available at respectlifedenver.org.