Chad Pecknold , associate professor, theology, published commentary in the Examiner on how he came to become pro-life. He was also quoted in a Voice of America story on President Trump and the pro-life movement. See below.
From: The Washington ExaminerDate: Jan. 23, 2017Author: Chad Pecknold
I wasn't always pro-life.
I was never pro-abortion, a terrifying prospect, but I once thought it was something which was so terribly complex, and not at all "clear-cut." A "gray area," we sometimes say. Mind you, if asked, I would've said abortion was wrong, but I couldn't have said why it was wrong.
Like ancients and medievals, I vaguely believed that, while life began at conception, such a hidden life was merely a potential person, not an actual one. I wouldn't have used the crass Planned Parenthood talking-point, "just a blob of tissue," but I might have entertained the idea that such a life was akin to a plant, which only later developed into a human person made in God's image. Maybe I could say decisively that abortion was wrong after the woman felt the first kick (roughly about halfway through the pregnancy, around 20 weeks).
Read more about Pecknold's expertise.
From: VOA News Date: Jan. 27, 2017Author: Katherine Gypson
... "President Trump is an opportunist when it comes to the pro-life cause and we're happy for his opportunism," Chad Pecknold, a professor of theology at the Catholic University of America, told VOA. "I think the movement is happy with that. Even if you opposed his presidency, even if you opposed his candidacy, I think we're grateful for any support he lends to the cause." ...