Priest offers pro-life message
Those who attended the “Silent No More” right-to-life program Friday came away with a clear message from the guest speaker: “Abortion is the most basic fundamental human issue, and we need to bring this issue to the forefront.” The Rev. Walter J. Quinn, priest associate for Priests for Life, spoke to a crowd gathered at the Uniontown Holiday Inn, encouraging them to stand up and defend the life of the unborn child against abortion.
About 60 people attended the program.
“This is a matter of fact, not a matter of belief,” Quinn said. “No one can deny that a fetus in the womb is not a real human life. Everyone has personal beliefs, but that doesn’t change the fact that life begins at conception. Those who deny there is life in the womb are denying reality. It’s a scientific fact that a child in the womb is alive.”
Quinn backed up his message with a video titled “Before You Were Born,” which showed actual footage of the human embryo and fetus in the womb.
The video, narrated by children, showed a human embryo four weeks after fertilization. With such translucent skin, viewers could see through to a tiny red pulsing heart. The video continued through the growth of the embryo to a fetus of about 12 weeks after conception when fingernails start to grow on clearly developed fingers, sex can be determined and complex facial expressions can be seen.
“Human life has become cheapened,” Quinn said. “There are more abortions every single year that has caused more deaths than from all American wars together.”
He stated there are 1.3 million abortions performed every year in the United States, or about 3,000 of the procedures every 24 hours.
Quinn is a member of the Augustinian province of St. Thomas of Villanova, headquartered in Villanova. He has been actively involved in the pro-life movement since the late 1960s. Quinn joined Priests for Life, a national Catholic pro-life organization, in 1999 and has been preaching pro-life issues throughout the nation.
“This is not a sectarian issue; it’s not a Catholic issue,” Quinn stressed. “We have no right to ask for the right to kill.
“God gave us the Ten Commandments, not the 10 suggestions,” he added. “We are talking about human life. We need a nationwide awareness.”
Quinn also mentioned there is help available to women who are pregnant but not sure what to do in all states 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He also discussed various resources available for those wishing to learn more about the pro-life movement, including the “Silent No More” awareness campaign which seeks to expose and heal the secrecy and silence surrounding the emotional and physical pain of abortion.
The event was sponsored by “Standing in the Gap,” a local group of Christian believers of different denominations committed to addressing issues concerning Christian and moral values.
Quinn anticipates returning to the area in November to present another discussion on the pro-life issue.
For more information about Priests for Life, call 1-888-735-3448 or visit the Web site www.priestsforlife.org. For more information on “Standing in the Gap,” call Barb Van Verth at 724-439-6523.