For many years, the U.S. led the world in creating a society that empowered human flourishing. Despite our comparatively brief history, we worked harder and longer than most nations to uproot injustice and unleash the potential of our people. And while some are unwilling to admit it, most of the world was inspired by what they saw unfold here -- and even admired it.

Sadly, that is no longer the case. If this bizarre presidential election cycle shows us anything at all, it is how very far we have fallen from the recognition of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable rights given by God.

We can brand our ideas and market our candidates with slick ad campaigns and fill convention center stages with celebrities under canopies of red or blue balloons. But make no mistake: our nation is in a precipitous decline. And we have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing that to happen.

The concept of public service has given way to a culture of political savvy. Today, America's political landscape is deserted, except for those with an insatiable hunger for both wealth and power. Instead of a contest of ideas, the national arena now provides a venue for those who are rich to seek power and for those who are powerful to accumulate wealth. Considerable financial assets -- whether earned or inherited -- shouldn't automatically confer a share of the public trust. But it seems that is precisely what they do. A seat in Congress shouldn't pay off like a lottery ticket. But too often, it does exactly that.

While both political parties offer a few platform policies that people of faith can support in good conscience, it's becoming increasingly difficult for Catholics to find a place in either of them. That is largely because both parties -- Democrat and Republican -- have shifted away from unequivocally supporting the dignity and value of every human life.

The old DNC mantra was that abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare." In its place, today's Democrats have embraced abortion-for-any-reason-at-any-time-and-without-apology. The phrase "every abortion is a tragedy" has dropped completely out of use. Now, Democrats openly celebrate abortion as objectively good. The gravity of the matter no longer matters.

This callousness toward what is at stake proves that the logical conclusion of casual sex is what prophetic voices have always said it would be: casual abortion. Every decent human being should be shocked and offended by the Planned Parenthood van parked just outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Offering free abortions and vasectomies in a circus atmosphere reduces critically important and deeply personal decisions to acts of political speech. Wear a button, wave a flag, have an abortion. Donate, volunteer, and get a vasectomy while people in the convention hall chant U-S-A! U-S-A!

The Republican retreat from the longstanding pro-life plank of the party's platform is also deeply disconcerting. Yes, incremental approaches toward ending abortion are legitimate and often prudent. But, surrendering the matter of slavery to the states did not work. It fostered injustice, prolonged the misery of millions of people, and cemented divisions that eventually erupted in the Civil War. The life of the pre-born child should be protected, whether his mother lives in Massachusetts or Louisiana. Republicans spoke courageously on abortion policy for decades. We should not be content to allow the GOP to fall back into cowardice just because Roe has been overturned. Instead, we should challenge them to stand against all assaults on human life, including capital punishment.

Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, human trafficking, poverty, war, immigration, capital punishment: life issues are connected, woven in a single social fabric that defines us as a nation. All human life must be protected because all human life is sacred. We must challenge our leaders, both elected and appointed, to commit themselves to honoring the dignity of every human being. And we must resist the temptation to sidestep the issues that matter most in order to get along or fit in.

As Catholics, we are called to place ourselves in service to life. In that task, we do not dare separate civic duty from religious faith in our own souls. Rather, we are to do what we can to move our own hearts and those of our neighbors toward life, and not away from it.



- Jaymie Stuart Wolfe is a Catholic convert, wife, and mother of eight. Inspired by the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, she is an author, speaker, and musician, and provides freelance editorial services to numerous publishers and authors as the principal of One More Basket. Find Jaymie on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @YouFeedThem.