On Sept. 17, a column appeared in the Tribune in which the author defended keeping abortion legal because by banning it, care for many would be blocked. I have contemplated that theory and have come to the conclusion that the battle for or against abortion is not a legal issue, but a spiritual one.

How have we come to the point in our history where we allow 1.2 million abortions every year in our nation while annually subsidizing the largest abortion provider of all, Planned Parenthood, to the tune of nearly $600 million from the taxpayers? As citizens who believe in the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, shouldn’t we be appalled by this? Innocent unborn lives should not have to be sacrificed on the altar of Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers because the mothers of these babies felt they had nowhere else to turn.

The truth is that many organizations do exist that offer alternatives to abortion — crisis pregnancy centers, Catholic Charities, Project Rachel, Pro-life Across America and Birthright, just to name a few. Adoption services abound that offer these mothers help and life-giving alternatives to the hopeless choice of abortion. Sadly, these alternatives are not encouraged once a woman enters the doors of Planned Parenthood.

I said earlier that the problem of abortion is a spiritual one. God alone can transform the hearts of our people into the ending of abortion and the culture of death that it perpetuates. Our politicians and courts have failed because they lack the will to confront evil and call it by name. Only through prayer, fasting and being a witness for the beauty and dignity of every human person can we ever hope to achieve an end to the evil of abortion. Go to www.40daysforlife.com for more information. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that the end does not justify the means. One can never participate in evil so that good may come from it. We have to be better than this. There is always a life-giving option to abortion.

Scott Bute

Alden