Colorado Christian Chronicle

Vol 11, Issue 5, December 1999

The Catholic Herald

Volume 15, Number 12

By David Stiver

Since 1973, a "silent killer" has been stalking our nation. This disease preys upon its victims (often under a cloak of secrecy), cutting short their lives in an instant. Researchers are uncertain just how many lives of future doctors, lawyers, researchers, educators, business and political leaders, pastors, evangelists, or missionaries have been lost as a result of this disease.

What we do know, however, is that these innocent victims were sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and cousins. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 1996 a total of 9,710 lives were claimed as a result of this disease in Colorado alone. That equates to approximately 11 lives per every 1,000 females.

Surprisingly, this disease is not AIDS, childhood leukemia, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), chickenpox, measles, nor polio. The silent killer to which I am referring to is "indifference." It is the ability (on the part of Americans from all walks of life, ethnic, or racial backgrounds, gender, and religious faiths) to tolerate the relegating of human remains (America's future) to the trash bins, dumpsters, and back alleys of abortion clinics throughout this country. This "indifference" is characterized by such politically correct phrases as, "Not in my backyard," "Personally I'm opposed," and "Thank God it's not me!"

If only one of these innocent lives (since the passage of Roe v. Wade) had grown up to discover the cure for AIDS, breast and ovarian cancer, or heart disease, would not the financial inconveniences associated with raising this child have been more than worth it? After all, can we (with any level of certainty) be assured that the human life that might have done so - has not already been destroyed? By our "indifference," our silence, are we not contributing to the continued destruction of America's future, and furthering its moral decay. I believe so.