Friday May 1, 2009
Commentary: Swine and Abortion
Commentary by Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International
May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As loathe as I am to sully the good name of "swine" by relating them to abortion, there is a story in the Mexican swine flu epidemic that you will not hear broadcast by the major media or lamented in the stories of its victims: it is the connection between the epidemic and the legalization of abortion in Mexico.
I learned of the story this week when I was conducting an HLI pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The swine flu scare was "officially" announced on Friday, the 24th of April, two days before our pilgrimage was set to begin. The outbreak at that time was mostly limited to Mexico City which seemed to be the epicenter of the viral storm and where 20 people had already died (although it appears that the facts are not yet in on the causes of these and other suspected "swine flu" deaths).
Despite the scare, 35 of our pilgrims decided to risk it and bring their intentions to the feet of Our Lady at the place where she chose to manifest her love to the people of that land in 1531. However - and this is the connection - it was also on April 24th, two years ago to the day that abortion was legalized in Mexico City, setting such an evil precedent for the whole nation. The connection just seems too eerie to be coincidental.
On the positive side, the fallout from the flu also affected access to abortion in the city. Since 2007 there have been 14 hospitals, both public and private, that put out a shingle to make a killing off of abortion in the world's second largest city. During the swine flu epidemic only one of them has continued to offer abortions. Our pilgrims went to that killing center this week to pray and counsel the women going in for abortions. The restriction of the killing in the place where abortion is newly practiced cannot but be a clear message from the Lord of life about the evil that has come upon them. When people are more disturbed by a virus than by the wholesale slaughter of babies, they need a wake up call. And it appears that they just got it. "Let him who has ears, hear."
Finally, our HLI affiliate in Mexico told us about another very curious effect of the epidemic: namely, that the pro-abortion governor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, who was scheduled to fly to the United States this week to receive an award for his role in getting abortion legalized in Mexico City, had to cancel his trip in order to attend to the disaster before him. It's hard to feel sorry for his tremendous misfortune. He helped bring an unmitigated disaster to his country, and we pray that he will get that particular message before he stands before the judgment seat of God to face his own personal and eternal disaster.
On the home front, the United States Senate has just confirmed President Obama's pick of pro-abortion "Catholic," Kathleen Sebelius, as our own Secretary of Health and Human Services. This expert in dealing with swine came on board just in time to handle the flu epidemic before it kills too many people in the United States. She may not realize that abortion kills more Americans in a day than the swine flu will ever kill in this country. Let us pray that she too will get the message that the true epidemic in this country is not swine flu - it's the killing of children by abortion - and history will remember her role in this modern plague.