Abstract
Discourse about abortion within the Catholic community - not to mention the broader world - is broken. There are a number of reasons for this but one is surely the way that ideological forces have captured the minds of intellectuals. In his 1951 classic, The Captive Mind, the great Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz examined the phenomenon of Polish artists surrendering their creativity to the demands of Stalinist socialist realism. The book has endured because Milosz’s powerful insights transcended his own time. Indeed, those insights can be drawn on as cautionary notes and wise suggestions for how to approach discourse on abortion at Catholic universities in our own day. This essay identifies the ideological pitfalls of the present: Catholic absolutism, postmodern identity cancel culture, Trumpian lies, and more. The essay also draws on Milosz to suggest that the following could aid Catholic universities as they ponder how to talk about contemporary Catholic challenges around law and abortion. Universities should beware of the distorting effects of their affluence; reject the notion of one Catholic legal solution to abortion; and turn to the artists and poets.
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