According to the Guttmacher Institute which collects statistics on abortion in the United States, abortions in the US increased 11% since 2020 with the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and which currently averages 3,000 every day, the highest number and rate in a decade.
(https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/despite-bans-number-abortions-united-states-increased-2023)
In 2021 according to the CDC, 49,000 gun-related deaths were reported in the U.S., an increase of 45% in gun murders and 10% in gun suicides from 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic, and a 50%increase in gun deaths of children and teens.
(https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/)
Provisional data from the CDC indicate an estimated 107,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2023—a decrease of 3% from the estimate in 2022.
(https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm#:~:text=Provisional%20data%20from%20CDC’s%20National,111%2C029%20deaths%20estimated%20in%202022.)
In an effort to bring awareness to our community of our Catholic commitment to life, St. Therese will plant 3,000 crosses on our front lawn to represent all human lives lost through human action or neglect. October is Respect Life Month, and we will display the crosses from October 6 until October 26. This is something we have never done before. We ask for your support to fund this project, which will cost about $1200. We invite you to help us with the actual work as well. We will need your prayers. And most importantly, we will need your resolve. This will be a very public display of our faith in the mercy of our God, the saving work of His son Jesus, and the courage and power of the Holy Spirit. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please reach out to Jimmy Culpepper at [email protected] There will be a table in the commons after mass with a representative from Respect Life if you have any questions or you would like to support this cause.
The grim reality is unacceptable on many levels, not the least of which is to the Christian faith we cherish. Our hope is to invite deep reflection, prayer, and perhaps a mature examination and dialogue beyond soundbites and “thoughts and prayers.”