“The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself,” said Mother Teresa on February 3, 1994, at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.
Mother Teresa went on saying, “and if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”
Mother Teresa, known for her selfless devotion to serving the sick and poor, spoke fearlessly against abortion in the United States. First, she talked about the love of God, which He showed the world through the cross of Jesus Christ.
“Jesus died on the Cross because that is what it took for Him to do good to us – to save us from our selfishness in sin…It hurt Jesus to love us…This is the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts,” she said.
Abortion, on the contrary, is not about love.
“By abortion, the mother does not learn to love but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world,” Mother Teresa insisted.
She continued, “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.”
Mother Teresa lamented that even though many people in the West were very concerned with impoverished children of India, starving children of Africa and violence in the United States, they rather turned a blind eye to millions of babies who were killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers.
But she stressed that God will never forget any unborn child.
“What does God say to us? He says: ‘Even if a mother could forget her child, I will not forget you. I have carved you in the palm of my hand.’ …that unborn child has been carved in the hand of God from conception and is called by God to love and loved, not only now in this life, but forever,” she said.
Mother Teresa then shared about how her congregation combats abortion. “I will tell you something beautiful. We are fighting abortion by adoption – by the care of the mother and adoption for her baby… From our children’s home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children from abortion. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopting parents and have grown up so full of love and joy.”
Lastly, Mother Teresa pleaded with the people of America to stop abortion, “If we remember that God loves us and that we can love others as He loves us, then America can become a sign of peace for the world. From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak – the unborn child – must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for.”