(LifeSiteNews) — Our nation’s disgust for children continues to rise to new levels. I’m sure there are many untold stories of horror out there that will break our hearts, but two caught my attention recently. Each one shows the disdain people have for children, and I think we only have ourselves as a society to blame.

In the first case, a seven-year-old Michigan boy weighing 255 pounds died of heart failure and other related health problems. ABC explains that his morbidly obese parents “have each been charged with second-degree murder, torture and three counts of second-degree child abuse.”

And even more horrific is the story of 16 children who were found in an Ohio home that the police chief called “disgusting.” NBC News reported that the home was littered with human feces and that “the children [ages 18 months to 18 years] were being kept in a 12-by-12-foot room for nearly four years.” The parents and grandparents have been charged with “more than a dozen felony child endangerment charges” and the children all taken to a hospital. One had to spend some time in the ICU, and “two were flown to Level One trauma centers because of their injuries.” Ohio’s attorney general described the scene as “pure evil.”

Our hearts and our prayers go out to these innocent children so badly abused. But the truth is that we all have a role to play in these tragedies, as we collectively are a society that doesn’t do enough to protect children. We send a very clear message that children are commodities that can be wanted or unwanted, and when unwanted, they can be thrown away.

Laws allowing the slaughter of babies before they are born, laws permitting children to be bought and sold via IVF and surrogacy, and laws permitting underage girls to obtain judicial bypasses to procure abortions send a clear message: Children are a burden. Children are discardable.

And we all pay the price for this.

In the book of Psalms, we read that children “are a gift from the Lord.” But when was the last time you saw laws and politicians treating our children like gifts?

They are few and far between, as even those who call themselves “pro-life” will advocate for exceptions. Was your mother raped? You have no value. Are you the product of a fling or one-night stand? You have no value. Might you have Down syndrome or some kind of genetic abnormality? You’re better off dead. Let’s schedule the abortion.

This happens every single day in America.

Our nation’s 250th birthday is a stark reminder that a “land of the free” has taken on a whole new nefarious meaning. Today, we are free to kill any baby before birth for any reason. We are free to shout that this is okay and “normal.” We are free to bring sexual material into children’s classrooms.

But the truth is that these freedoms have actually made us slaves to the evil one. And, yes, he’s gloating.

So it really should be no surprise that this disdain for babies before birth translates to a disdain for them after birth. When you raise a generation of people to hate babies, they will hate babies. It’s a no–brainer.

Yet while the headlines do often sound bleak, we can change the attitude and actions of society. Remember, God has already won the war; we just need to faithfully fight the battle.

To do that, first we must pray. Unceasingly, as St. Paul said.

Then we must also summon the courage and the will to make a difference. That means taking action, even when it’s difficult. We vote for pro-life laws, firmly but lovingly call out those politicians who claim to be Catholic and who clearly don’t live according to the faith, and speak out when our friends or coworkers advocate for threats to life. We educate not just ourselves but our children. We learn as much as we can about our faith by reading holy books, the Bible, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We grow in understanding. And then we live our faith proudly and unapologetically.

If we truly want to live in a society where young children are not abused, locked in rooms, and allowed to gain so much weight that it kills them, we must teach a love for children before they are born. It’s the only way to change minds and hearts. This takes effort. When you’re standing before God at the end of your life, would you rather say you made the effort, or would you rather say you were too busy or too apathetic to care?

Susan Ciancio is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has worked as a writer and editor since 2003; over 17 of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently, she is the editor of American Life League’s Celebrate Life Magazine — the nation’s premier Catholic pro-life magazine. She is also the director and executive editor of ALL’s Culture of Life Studies Program — a pre-K-12 Catholic pro-life education organization.

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