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| Related Pages Ending Abortion Abortion Is the Overriding Issue: What Bishops Have Said
Below are just some of the many bishops' statements related to the fight
to end abortion. All of the below are included in Priests For Life's extensive,
up-to-date collection of such -- all organized by date. You can use that
area to keep abreast of the latest bishops' pro-life statements:
... "Their argument was simple: Why fight a losing battle on the legal, cultural
and moral front since - according to them -- we haven't yet made serious
progress in ending legalized abortion? Let's drop the 'divisive' political
battle, they said, and instead let's all work together to tackle the economic
and health issues that might eventually reduce abortions," he explained.
But this argument doesn't sync with history, Archbishop Chaput stressed.
"Did Americans take a gradual, social-improvement road to 'reducing' racism?
No. We passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964," he pointed out.
Taking the logic a step further, the Denver prelate said, "Nor have I ever
heard anyone suggest that the best way to deal with murder, rape or domestic
abuse is to improve the availability of health care and job training. We
make rape illegal -- even though we know it will still sometimes tragically
occur -- because rape is gravely evil. It's an act of violence, and the law
should proscribe it.
"Of course, we also have a duty to improve the social conditions that can
breed domestic and sexual violence. But that doesn't change the need for
the law."
"Likewise," Chaput reasoned, "if we really believe that abortion is an intimate
act of violence, then we can't aim at anything less than ending abortion.
"It doesn't matter that some abortions have always occurred, and some will
always occur. If we really believe that abortion kills a developing unborn
life, then we can never be satisfied with mere 'reductions' in the body count."
The new groups that materialized during the last election seem to operate
from an "either/or" mentality, that argued that pro-lifers needed to choose
between abortion "reduction" programs and outlawing abortion, the archbishop
said. But protecting the unborn child "is not an 'either/or' choice. It's
'both/and'," he countered.
"We need to help women facing problem pregnancies with good health care and
economic support; and we need to pass laws that will end legal abortion.
We need to do both."
... The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this
moment of historic transition and look forward to working with President-elect
Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all. ...
The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good
state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the
human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme
Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops
see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad
legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.
In the last Congress, a Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) was introduced that
would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any "interference"
in providing abortion at will. It would deprive the American people in all
fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and
regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into
subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. It would counteract
any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce
the number of abortions in our country.
Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed,
as would be laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting
infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be
deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions
would be abrogated. FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human
life.
FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience
of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do
not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It
would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities.
It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church
should be intent on opposing evil.
On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one
mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have
listened to women whose lives have been diminished because they believed
they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that
kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the
sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded
because they are, first of all, single-hearted.
The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy,
for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here
and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as
a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and
all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion
kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the
common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is
legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive
orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would
be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.
This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops,
who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect
the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Those in public life do so, sometimes,
at the cost of great sacrifice to themselves and their families; and we are
grateful. We express again our great desire to work with all those who cherish
the common good of our nation. The common good is not the sum total of individual
desires and interests; it is achieved in the working out of a common life
based upon good reason and good will for all.
Our prayers accompany President-elect Obama and his family and those who
are cooperating with him to assure a smooth transition in government. Many
issues demand immediate attention on the part of our elected "watchman."
(Psalm 127) May God bless him and our country.
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