Today is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. John of the Cross teaches that there are no exempt areas within spirituality and morality. Simply put, you cannot be a saint or a highly moral person if you allow yourself a moral exemption or two. Thus, I may not allow myself to split off one moral flaw or sinful habit and see it as unimportant in the light of my positive qualities and the overall good that I do. Fr. Ron Rolheiser writes that the same is true for our efforts to protect life and foster justice. The protection of life and the promotion of justice are all of one piece. Cardinal Bernardin says: “The success of any one of the issues concerning life requires a concern for the broader attitude in society about the respect for human life.” That’s a strong challenge for all of us on all sides of the ideological spectrum. Thus, those of us who are concerned about abortion need to accept that the problem of abortion cannot be effectively addressed without at the same time addressing issues of poverty, access to health care, sexual morality, and even capital punishment. The interconnection here is not wholly mystical. It’s real. Abortion is driven more by poverty and lack of adequate support than by any liberal ideology. Hence, the struggle against abortion must also focus on the issues of poverty and support for pregnant women. As well, to morally accept killing in one area (capital punishment) helps sanction its acceptance in another area (abortion). Sexual morality must also be addressed since abortion is the inevitable byproduct of a society within which two people who are not married to each other have sex with each other. It’s all one piece, and any opposition to abortion that fails to adequately recognize the broader perspective that more fully defines Pro-life leaves many sincere people unable to support anti-abortion groups. Conversely, those of us who are concerned with the issues of poverty, healthcare, capital punishment, ecology, war, racism, sexism, and LGBT rights need to accept that these issues cannot be effectively addressed without also addressing the issue of abortion. Again, the interconnection isn’t just mystical; it’s empirical: Failure to be sensitive to who is weak and vulnerable in one area deeply compromises one’s moral standing on other issues that deal with the weak and the vulnerable. We must advocate for and strive to protect everyone who falls victim within our present way of living, and that includes the unborn.