It was depressing to see Simone Biles declare herself “very pro-choice” on Instagram this week.

This incredible young lady inhabits a realm all her own in terms of athletic accomplishment. She has talent, determination, discipline, and raw ability that is truly amazing. It is no wonder they call her the G.O.A.T.

Simone is Simply Wrong

Simone is also Catholic. I will assume she knows what her Church teaches regarding the evil of abortion, since every Catholic ought to know and she is an intelligent woman. Her rejection of that teaching, then, seems willful. She’s certainly in good company, as many Catholics say they “disagree” with Church teaching on abortion, as though it is merely a prudential matter of opinion.

Simone mentioned her own difficult childhood experiences with the foster care system as part of her statement. She also mentioned the expense of adoption. Ultimately, she said it comes down to, “Your body, your choice.”

I humbly submit that Simone Biles, like every other “pro-choice Catholic,” is simply wrong because she refuses to begin from the right place.

This is Startlingly Simple

It seems one of the “tells” of disobedience in our modern era is the insistence that everything is complicated. Nothing can simply be right or wrong. Things are grey and everyone’s needs are different, we say. We can only do what we feel is best for us.

But this isn’t complicated. The central issue of abortion is not complex at all. It is startlingly simple.

It is wrong to kill the child in the womb for the same reason it is wrong to kill Simone Biles. It is wrong to kill the child in the womb for the same reason it is wrong to kill you or me. It is wrong to murder.

Right there we truly need to come to a full, complete stop for a long moment. We must acknowledge the objective moral truth of that principle. That truth is unchanging and not dependent upon any mitigating circumstances.

The Humanity of the Child

The humanity of the child in the womb is objective and demands to be seen and protected with equal force as does your humanity and mine.

Arguing about development or viability or “potential” is just smoke and strategy. It is our way of trying to justify violence against an innocent, utterly helpless person who is entirely at our mercy.

We cannot escape the truth that abortion kills a child. Abortion does not end a “potential life,” else the “termination” would not actually need to be carried out. One does not chop a “potential life” into pieces and turn on the suction machine. These are real, violent actions done to a real, living human being.

It is wrong for parents to kill their own children. It is wrong to pay someone to kill a child. Full stop.

Settle on the Objective Truth

Only after we settle on the objective truth that abortion is inherently, always wrong can we proceed to address the myriad issues surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and caring for children. We can never end up at right conclusions if we do not begin with the right premise.

Finding the right answers to the needs of women and children must begin here: we do not kill our own children to solve our problems.

Yes, the circumstances surrounding a woman’s pregnancy can be complex and challenging and distressing. Yes, those circumstances must be acknowledged and alleviated as much as humanly possible. No argument. But to do that once and for all, we must go back to the beginning. Otherwise, we are stupidly living out the definition of insanity.

Our Culture is Rotting From Within

Our culture is rotting from within thanks to our insatiable, sinful sexual appetites and our obstinate disobedience of God’s law. We have created the cyclical, dysfunctional situations that ensnare too many women and children, who then grow up to perpetuate the mess and on it goes. Abortion is not the solution because violence is not the solution.

The Church has the answer to the rot. She always has, because the answer comes from God’s law and His design for the human family. It isn’t complicated.

Sexual intercourse must be reserved for marriage. Marriage — husband and wife — must come first. Marriage must be regarded with sobriety, reverence, and humility. Sex makes babies, and children need their mother and father. Father, mother, and child are the family unit. This is the only way to ensure that women and children are protected and cared for properly.

Any other use of the powerful gift of sexual intercourse is a misuse and a sin against God’s law, plain and simple. We simply don’t want to obey, so we want to make things complicated.

Killing our babies will never repair the mess we’ve made of our families, our communities, our society through our desecration of sex and marriage. I pray Simone Biles will reconsider what she’s truly advocating and stop promoting violence as an answer.

I hope she hears the dissonance in telling women they need to be able to kill their own babies to be happy and successful.

 

Jennifer Hartline is a senior contributor to The Stream. You can follow her at @jenniehartline.