I must say that I am disturbed by Mr. Ellsberg's phrasing of Dorothy Day as having "regretted and moved past her abortion." This severely diminishes and downplays the fact that Dorothy Day repented of her abortion and spent her life prioritizing the plight of the weak, the poor, the defenseless, and the "least of these." The innocent unborn child in the womb was of great concern to her. Mr. Ellsberg seems to indicate, I hope unintentionally, that Dorothy Day's abortion means that other women can also have abortions and then simply "move on" with their lives. I think this grossly misrepresents Dorothy Day's life and message. As a woman who thoroughly embraced the "consistent life ethic," we do an injustice to Dorothy Day's memory if we focus on her love for the poor and her opposition to war while diminishing or downplaying her opposition to abortion and her love for the unborn. Consider her own words: "We are living in an age of genocide. Not only war, but the whole program of abortion." So if Dorothy Day recognized abortion as a form of genocide, then let us also recognize it as such. We cannot seek to affirm Dorothy Day as a saint for her passionate social activism without realizing that her love for the unborn was as integral to her faith as her love for the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. For her, unborn victims of abortion also constitute the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. Not only that, but her deeply somber account of her own abortion reveals that she would never want other women to suffer from the same horrible experience. In fact, Dorothy Day’s Pro-Life convictions were so strong that she even opposed birth control. Again, consider her own words: “I’ll never forget the time that I had to literally stand up against birth control. My sister Della had worked for Margaret Sanger, foundress of Planned Parenthood. When Della exhorted me that I shouldn’t encourage my daughter Tamar to have so many children, I stood up firmly and walked out of the house, whereupon Della ran after me weeping, saying, ‘Don’t leave me, don’t leave me! We just won’t talk about it again.’ To me, birth control and abortion are genocide. I say, make room for children, don’t do away with them. The act that one is performing is for the purpose of fusing the two lives more closely together, and it so enriches them that another life springs forth from the union. Therefore, artificial prevention of conception and the aborting of a life conceived are sins that are great frustrations to the natural and spiritual order. No matter how cynically or casually the worldly may treat the birth of a child, it remains spiritually and physically a tremendous event.” For Dorothy Day, opposition to abortion was in fact a pro-woman issue as well as a pro-life issue. Mother and child are both victimized by the violence of abortion, and she opposed the inhumane legality of this violent destruction of the most sacred and natural of human bonds. Dorothy Day's life and writings challenge us all. Her life challenges anti-abortion folks on the right to embrace the same concern for poverty, racism, and opposition to war. And she challenges those on the left to understand that opposition to abortion is inseparable from working to eradicate poverty and social injustice. I appreciate Mr. Ellsberg's writings and insights, but I think he downplays and dismisses Dorothy Day's deep opposition to abortion. Again, perhaps he does so unintentionally, but I felt the need to clarify it here. May the prayers and intercessions of Dorothy Day guide and strengthen us. ~ Gebre Menfes Kidus ~
I agree. I think Mr Ellsberg may not have an idea of what conversion is. Sad, really, after spending so much time with someone so committed to our Lord. It just shows how we as catholics have to be active both in day-to-day justice issues as well as not being embarrassed to lay out clearly God's source of the reason we do these things.
Brilliant. Thank you to whoever posted this.
I must say that I am disturbed by Mr. Ellsberg's phrasing of Dorothy Day as having "regretted and moved past her abortion." This severely diminishes and downplays the fact that Dorothy Day repented of her abortion and spent her life prioritizing the plight of the weak, the poor, the defenseless, and the "least of these." The innocent unborn child in the womb was of great concern to her. Mr. Ellsberg seems to indicate, I hope unintentionally, that Dorothy Day's abortion means that other women can also have abortions and then simply "move on" with their lives. I think this grossly misrepresents Dorothy Day's life and message. As a woman who thoroughly embraced the "consistent life ethic," we do an injustice to Dorothy Day's memory if we focus on her love for the poor and her opposition to war while diminishing or downplaying her opposition to abortion and her love for the unborn. Consider her own words: "We are living in an age of genocide. Not only war, but the whole program of abortion." So if Dorothy Day recognized abortion as a form of genocide, then let us also recognize it as such. We cannot seek to affirm Dorothy Day as a saint for her passionate social activism without realizing that her love for the unborn was as integral to her faith as her love for the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. For her, unborn victims of abortion also constitute the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. Not only that, but her deeply somber account of her own abortion reveals that she would never want other women to suffer from the same horrible experience.
In fact, Dorothy Day’s Pro-Life convictions were so strong that she even opposed birth control. Again, consider her own words: “I’ll never forget the time that I had to literally stand up against birth control. My sister Della had worked for Margaret Sanger, foundress of Planned Parenthood. When Della exhorted me that I shouldn’t encourage my daughter Tamar to have so many children, I stood up firmly and walked out of the house, whereupon Della ran after me weeping, saying, ‘Don’t leave me, don’t leave me! We just won’t talk about it again.’ To me, birth control and abortion are genocide. I say, make room for children, don’t do away with them. The act that one is performing is for the purpose of fusing the two lives more closely together, and it so enriches them that another life springs forth from the union. Therefore, artificial prevention of conception and the aborting of a life conceived are sins that are great frustrations to the natural and spiritual order. No matter how cynically or casually the worldly may treat the birth of a child, it remains spiritually and physically a tremendous event.”
For Dorothy Day, opposition to abortion was in fact a pro-woman issue as well as a pro-life issue. Mother and child are both victimized by the violence of abortion, and she opposed the inhumane legality of this violent destruction of the most sacred and natural of human bonds. Dorothy Day's life and writings challenge us all. Her life challenges anti-abortion folks on the right to embrace the same concern for poverty, racism, and opposition to war. And she challenges those on the left to understand that opposition to abortion is inseparable from working to eradicate poverty and social injustice. I appreciate Mr. Ellsberg's writings and insights, but I think he downplays and dismisses Dorothy Day's deep opposition to abortion. Again, perhaps he does so unintentionally, but I felt the need to clarify it here. May the prayers and intercessions of Dorothy Day guide and strengthen us. ~ Gebre Menfes Kidus ~
I agree. I think Mr Ellsberg may not have an idea of what conversion is. Sad, really, after spending so much time with someone so committed to our Lord. It just shows how we as catholics have to be active both in day-to-day justice issues as well as not being embarrassed to lay out clearly God's source of the reason we do these things.
Serious ASMR vibes right here
Grace A Day.