A recent article in the Worcester county Maryland paper The Dispatch titled “Battle Waged to Save Trapped Cat from Euthanasia; National Group Sparks Letter Writing Campaign to Elected Officials” caught my eye.   The article is about a cat named Oliver, who was part of the colony cared for by the local Community Cats Coalition.  Oliver was trapped in the area, during an effort to rid the area of rabid animals, and now apparently awaits its fate with the county’s Animal Control Department.

Oliver may or may not be rabid, so last week a group called Alley Cat Allies interceded with a letter to the Worcester County Commissioners urging them to allow the Animal Control Department to turn Oliver over to the local Community Cats Coalition organization to quarantine the animal for as long as it takes to ensure it is not rabid at its own expense and effort. After getting little in the way of response from the commissioners, shelter staff or Animal Control Chief Susan Rantz, Alley Cat Allies on Tuesday reached out to its vast membership to intercede on Oliver’s behalf and, as a result, over 56,000 emails were reportedly sent to the Worcester County Commissioners.

Now, you may be asking why we’re talking about some random cat in Maryland, but my point is simple.  If a stray, potentially rabid cat can get 56,000 emails, how many more emails, calls, etc. should the pro-life movement be able to generate for pre-born babies, and other vulnerable humans?

The question is not meant to disparage the vast number of pro-life volunteers and staff who spend countless hours praying outside abortion centers, writing letters to the editor, helping pro-life pregnancy centers, or otherwise working to protect the most vulnerable among us.  Truly, these volunteers are on the front-line of the movement, and are its heart and soul.

Rather it is meant as a challenge to all of us.  If a cat can get that kind of response, we should be able to get an equal, if not greater, response for pre-born babies.  Surely the lives of pre-born babies are worth more than that of a cat (as much as I love cats).  We need to see this response for Oliver as a challenge to all of us…is there one more thing we can do to protect those who can’t speak for themselves?  Is it spending an extra hour per week praying at an abortion center?  Maybe it’s forwarding that “call to action” email we received to ten more people (after answering the call to action ourselves of course).  Perhaps it is that “thank you” call to your pro-life legislator after he or she votes the right way on an important bill.  Whatever it is, each of us needs to consider what that “one more thing” may be, and then put that plan into action.  A cat’s life doesn’t depend on it, but the life of a pre-born baby just might!!!