AP

Being Pro-Life: France, the World, and the USA

The pro-life movement continues to testify to the preciousness of life, no matter what the obstacle. In November 2024 the Catholic French TV channel CNews was fined €100,000 (US$103,000) for stating that abortion is the leading cause of death worldwide.

Michael Cook of Mercator News states: “The fine was imposed by the French media regulatory body Arcom after a CNews journalist made a reprehensible assertion in February 2024 on its program “En quête d’esprit” (“In Search of Spirit”). In a discussion amongst several women about the psychological consequences of abortion, presenter Aymeric Pourbaix said that abortion was killing babies. All hell broke loose amongst the ‘bien-pensants’ of the Twitterverse.”

All Pourbaix reported was the World Health Organisation’s statistics on deaths. He noted that the WHO recorded approximately 73 million abortions for the globe annually.

By way of comparison, the following statistics on cause of death were also reported:

• Heart disease (9 million)
• COVID-19 (8.7 million)
• Stroke (6.9 million)
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (3.5 million)
• Lower respiratory infections (2.4 million)
• Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers (1.8 million)
• Alzheimer’s and other dementias (1.8 million)
• Diabetes mellitus (1.6 million)
• Kidney diseases (1.4 million)
• Tuberculosis (1.3 million)

Pourbaix and Cook observed that “not only is abortion the leading cessator of human life globally, it accounts for more than all other cessators of human life combined.” 

The table appeared for about 15 seconds but the response was visceral – “nauseating and deeply offensive”, “simply unacceptable”, CNews should be nuked, and so on. It was denounced in the National Assembly.

So Acrom ruled that CNews failed in its “obligation of honesty and rigour in the presentation and processing of information.” Abortion could not be described as a cause of death, since that would imply that abortion was murder. To assert that a foetus was a person is “manifestly inaccurate”. CNews was peddling misinformation. 

Jean-Marie Le Méné, president of a pro-life group, responded saying: “Indeed, equating an aborted child to a death would make abortion murder. To make it possibleto practise it with a clear conscience, it is therefore forbidden to say that abortion takes a life. Otherwise, the keystone of the system collapses. Abortion must remain harmless. But who believes in this fiction?”

Clearly the pro-life movement has its work cut out in this fantasy-driven world. Nevertheless, Cook points out that there is hope. He believes that population decline will make every baby a wanted baby. Countries like Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea are already encouraging or even subsidising the costs associated with having and rearing babies.

In the USA there is more cause for hope. On January 24, 2025, the March for Life held in Washington DC was strongly supported despite freezing conditions. Vice-president J. D. Vance spoke strongly:

“We march to protect the unborn; we march to proclaim and live out the sacred truth that every single child is a miracle and a gift from God.”

“I want more babies in the United States of America. I want more happy children in our country, and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them.” 

“I know you all saw the news, the 47th president has already issued pardons to those unjustly imprisoned; and I want to be clear that this administration stands by you. We stand with you; and, most importantly, we stand with the most vulnerable.”

“It is a joy and a blessing to fight for the unborn, to work for the unborn and to march for life! God bless you all, and thank you for having me.”

We must continue to pray that our Sovereign God will overrule the wickedness of man and reverse this horrific practice of killing babies.

– Chris Athavle (pastor of Smithfield Baptist Church)