AOH PRO-LIFE POSITION STATEMENT

The following is the position of the National & State Boards of the Ancient Order of Hibernians on Pro-Life issues: From the beginning, the Ancient Order of Hibernians has shared the Church's view that elective abortion is a murderous and inexcusable practice. One cannot logically claim to care about human rights in Ireland while turning a blind eye to the holocaust of abortion. Duty demands that Hibernians resist the evil of abortion with every means available. The same moral and philosophical truths that compel us to struggle for a free Ireland move us to defend the unborn. True patriots have not fought for Irish freedom out of some sentimental notion of team loyalty. Indeed, Ireland's champions have come from a wide spectrum of national, geographic, and religious backgrounds. Something greater than affection drew Erskine Childers and G. K. Chesterton to the Irish cause. They saw objective moral principles at stake and sacrificed their own interests and affections in the interest of truth. A family's grief adds no worth to the life of the victim of a Loyalists/British murderer. Society's criminal indifference detracts no worth from the life of a baby killed by an abortionist. The value of life resides in each individual regardless of society's indifference. In both cases, the establishment destroys victims whom it deems insignificant or threatening. We will not fall for the same trite rationalizations and arrogance that for centuries made would-be conquerors regard Irish people as less than human. We will be true to our heritage by defending our fellow citizens against their oppressors. The great patriot Liam Mellowes, who gave his life for the Irish Republic on December 8, 1922, spoke eloquently of the potential abuses Ireland would incur by accepting membership in the British Empire. In the Dail Eireann debates on the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, he made the following statements: "The British Empire represents nothing to me but the concentrated tyranny of ages. It means to me that terrible thing that has spread it tentacles all over the earth, that has crushed the lives out of people and exploited it own when it could not exploit anybody else. That British Empire is the thing that has crushed this country; yet we are being told that we are going into it with our heads up. We are going into the British Empire now to participate in the empire's shame, even though we do not actually commit the act; to participate in the shame and the crucifixion of India and the degradation of Egypt. Is that what the Irish people fought for freedom for? We hoped to make this country something the world should be proud of, and we did not enter into the fight to make this country as the other countries, where its word was not its bond and where a treaty was something to be struggled for. This was not the ideal that inspired men in this cause in every age, and it is not the ideal, which inspires us today. We do not seek to make this country a materially great country at the expense of its honor whatsoever. We would rather have this country poor and indigent; we would rather have the people of Ireland eking out a poor existence on the soil; as long as they possessed their souls, their minds, and their honor. This fight has been for something more than the fleshpots of empire." In the middle of the fifth century, a Briton named Coroticus raided a settlement in Ireland, murdering many recent Christian converts and Enslaving the rest. Of his murdered converts, Saint Patrick wrote, "I can see you all clearly: you have set out for where 'there will be no more night, no more lament, neither death. There your hearts will leap, like calves let free from the tether, and you will trample down the wicked underfoot, and they will be like dust under your feet." Saint Patrick wrote of Coroticus and his men, "to me they are outcasts: cast out also by Christ my God, whose ambassador I am. Patricides they are, yes, and fratricides, no better than ravening wolves, devouring God's own people, for it is written, not only those who do evil, but also all those who agree with them, are to be damned. Saint Patrick occupied a very tenuous position as the bishop of the fledgling Christian community in pagan Ireland. Nevertheless, he condemned the powerful Coroticus despite the risks. American society imposes sanctions on those who defend these children. The words of Our Lord should provide the answer, Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. The words of Mellowes, Saint Patrick, and Our Lord instruct us today. Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians will continue to fight crime of abortion in America and around the world.