Motherhood is increasingly under attack in today’s culture

Mother and child.

This acknowledgment of the truth of the existence of a human being in the womb is not something you read too often in secular pieces. But then the language goes downhill after that in an attempt to obfuscate and possibly appeal to woke audiences.

As the article progresses to talk about the dangers of STDs, the author writes, “Pregnant people are supposed to be screened for syphilis in the first and third trimesters.”

Pregnant people?

No, it is never correct to say pregnant people, as it’s a biological fact that only women can get pregnant. Her ridiculous use of the word people demeans both women and mothers. Only women have a uterus. Men cannot become pregnant.

It’s our responsibility to call out the media for pushing absurd narratives about biology and to speak up when we hear language such as this. In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul gives evidence of this obligation to speak the truth when he writes, “Living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.”

Thus, our silence on these matters helps lead to confusion and to the breakdown of society. But when we speak the truth in love, that body — the kingdom here on earth — grows.

Yet this is only one part of the two-pronged problem we see when reading this article. The other is the finding that “the rate of maternal syphilis rose by 28% from 2022 to 2024.” This should horrify us as a population, as it speaks to a culture not afraid to use people for gratification.

Pinto, a self-proclaimed “public health researcher and infectious disease nurse practitioner,” lists the symptoms of syphilis that, as many know, are terribly unpleasant and even dire. But what’s even more concerning is the fact that these symptoms should be obvious to the person experiencing them, at least at first. Depending on the phase of the disease, symptoms range from ulcers in the affected area to flu-like symptoms to a rash to swollen lymph nodes and more. Syphilis then enters a latent phase, where no symptoms are present. But there is little to no chance that the infected person didn’t know something was wrong at some point. So the passing on of this disease comes from a lack of concern and care for others, as the infected person decides that personal gratification is much more important than the health of another human being.

Pinto states that she is currently studying syphilis in pregnancy and explains what happens when a baby becomes infected because his mother has contracted syphilis:

Congenital syphilis can result in a range of negative outcomes, the most serious of which is miscarriage or stillbirth. If the fetus survives, long-term developmental delays, blindness, hearing loss, permanent teeth and bone malformation, heart defects and rashes can occur. Symptoms of congenital syphilis can happen immediately at birth, or they may not be recognized until the child is over 2 years old, when molars erupt, or as bones grow and the changes become more pronounced.

According to the author, we must understand two things when it comes to this increase in cases: “One is the rise in syphilis cases in the general population – which naturally leads to an increase in maternal syphilis – and the other is the specific variables such as funding and access to care barriers that affect pregnant women when it comes to the spread of this disease.”

Pinto attributes the rise of cases to government funding cuts, to COVID closures, and to the fact that “safer sexual behaviors” began to decline in the early 2000s. To her, safe sex practices mean using a condom to prevent STDs. But she never takes into account the personal responsibility people have to abstain from sex outside the marriage and the fact that our culture promotes the idea that anyone can have sex with anyone else anytime, as long as it makes them happy in the moment.

This article brings to mind two very important battles we face today.

One is the diminishing of the role of motherhood and even womanhood in a culture that claims that a man can become a mother. This lie is perpetuated by the use of language such as “pregnant people” and is pushed on a society where I venture to say that most people know better. So I encourage you to not just scroll past articles like this; speak up and tell the truth. Silence begets confusion, and silence in this case will eventually destroy the unique beauty of women and motherhood. Speaking the truth in charity and love is a charge we must take seriously, especially as we ponder the psychological and moral damage inflicted on our children when they hear lies that claim that men can become women and vice versa.

And two, people are not commodities to be used and discarded. Bodies are not toys meant for momentary pleasure. Sexuality is meant to be a self-giving gift that can and should only be enjoyed by a man and a woman within a marriage. Sexual promiscuity only leads to emptiness, sadness, and possibly diseases.

So as we approach Mother’s Day, let us acknowledge the truth about mothers: A mother is a woman who has a child or who has ever been pregnant. As such, it is her responsibility to put that child’s needs before her own and to care for that child to the best of her ability. That includes before the baby is even conceived — by not putting herself in dangerous situations where she could contract a disease and then pass it on to her baby — and it includes after that baby is created. This is the “gift of self” that St. John Paul II once wrote about when he said that “motherhood is the fruit of the marriage union of a man and woman, of that biblical ‘knowledge’ which corresponds to the ‘union of the two in one flesh’ (cf. Gen 2:24). This brings about — on the woman’s part — a special ‘gift of self.’”

Let us take his words to heart and not only acknowledge this gift but cherish and protect it.

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.