Oregon’s day of thanksgiving for abortion up to birth draws flak from archbishop

An annual day dedicated in thanksgiving for abortion up to birth has met with severe criticism from an American archbishop.

Following a proclamation from Oregon Governor Tina Kotek that March 10 would henceforth be “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day”, Archbishop Alexander Sample of Oregon lamented the move as a moment “when you realise just how far culture can drift from reality”.

“The idea that those who make a living (by) ending innocent, unborn life should be publicly honoured, thanked, applauded – this isn’t just moral confusion, it’s something deeper,” said Archbishop Sample in a March 13 pastoral teaching on the sanctity of life.

“A kind of spiritual blindness so thick that what should be self-evident – the sheer wonder and worth of a human life – is obscured entirely,” Archbishop Sample said.

Kotek, signing the proclamation March 10, touted Oregon as a safe haven for abortion up to birth.

“Here in Oregon, we understand that abortion is health care, and providers are appreciated and can continue to provide care without interference and intimidation,” Kotek said in a statement.

“To our providers and to the patients who live in Oregon or have been forced to retreat to our state for care, know that I continue to have your back.”

According to data from the Oregon Health Authority, there were 10,075 abortions performed in the state in 2023, which is a 16.2 per cent increase from 2022.

A total of 1,661 of those abortions were provided to patients who reside outside of the state, the data shows.

Further, there was a 165 per cent increase in late-term abortions – those occurring after 23 weeks gestation – from 85 in 2022 to 225 in 2023.

Archbishop Sample, in his teaching, highlighted that the words “choice” and “reproductive freedom” were euphemisms used by supporters of pro-choice abortion laws to “obscure” the truth.

He said: “Because deep down, we know. We know what abortion is. We know what it does. And we know that no amount of slogans or legal jargon can make a wrong thing right.

“And yet, modern culture insists on turning tragedy into triumph. It demands not just tolerance for abortion, not just legal protection, but celebration. It must be honoured, enshrined.

“Why? Because modernity has exchanged the wonder of life for the pursuit of power,” he explained.

“If a baby is inconvenient, it must go. If it interferes with autonomy, it must be sacrificed. A life is no longer a gift. It is an obstacle, a burden, a problem to be solved.”

Archbishop Sample also makes the case that abortion is a spiritual issue, because it’s not about politics, law, or ethics, but “how we see reality itself”.

Still, he argued, the reality that an unborn child is a life is a truth that lingers, and something that cannot be fully erased.

“And that’s why, no matter how loudly abortion is celebrated, something feels… off,” he said.

“The need to frame it as a social good, as a moral necessity, reveals the guilt just beneath the surface,” he said.

“If abortion were truly nothing, no one would need to justify it. No one would need to celebrate it. The fact that it must be ritualised as progress is itself an admission of its darkness.”

Archbishop Sample added: “The call of Jesus is always the same: Repent. Open your eyes. Step out of the lie and into the light, and most of all – choose life. Not just biologically, but spiritually.

“Choose to see reality as it truly is, to embrace the mystery, the beauty, the wonder of existence itself because life – every life – is a gift, and a world that forgets that is a world that has lost its soul.”

(Pic of Governor Kotek signing the proclamation courtesy of State of Oregon via Crux)

The post Oregon’s day of thanksgiving for abortion up to birth draws flak from archbishop first appeared on Catholic Herald.

The post Oregon’s day of thanksgiving for abortion up to birth draws flak from archbishop appeared first on Catholic Herald.