Bloggers note: As I read this article I am reminded of....
“I’ve sat down with a
number of bishops, archbishops and even a cardinal and I’ve talked
about the fact that their job as priests is very different than my job
as a leader, as a politician,” he said.
#elxn42 #cdnpoli #lpc
It is not a liberal cause to support abortion:
It is anti-life and anti-Church
The following article was first
published in the August 18,
2000 issue of The
Catholic Voice, Omaha's
archdiocesan newspaper. It is reprinted here with permission. His Excellency
Elden Curtiss is the Archbishop of Omaha,
Nebraska.
After Hitler gained political
power in Germany, he made the Jews the scapegoat for all the economic woes that
assailed the country following its defeat in World War I; he persecuted
believers who had the audacity to place religious values over those of the
state when there was a conflict; he sought to control all youth movements
through the state monopoly of education; he stifled political dissidents who
would not accept total party supremacy; he sought to systematically eliminate
everyone with physical and mental disabilities; he sought to control all
non-Aryan peoples through enslavement and "selective breeding."
This
was survival of the fittest taken to its ultimate conclusion. It would have
been the brave new world, the Nazi utopia, without racial strife, without
undesirable people, without intellectual dissent, without religious
interference and without population pressures from "inferior"
peoples.
It is a good thing for most of us
that the Allies were able to stop Nazi military power before Hitler conquered
the world. But this does not mean that certain Nazi ideas and policies have not
survived to our present day.
Official support for
partial-birth abortion
A disturbing example of current state-sanctioned elitism is the determination
of our present federal administration and the majority of justices of the
Supreme Court to refuse to let states ban partial-birth abortions. Infanticide
the deliberate killing of babies outside the womb has been condemned by the
moral law (you shall not kill) and most societies in the world throughout
recorded history.
When the killing of innocent human beings by other human
beings is justified by law then, in the long run, no one is safe from violence,
and the good order of society is undermined. In time, following the same logic,
babies totally outside the womb will be in danger, especially if they have some
physical or mental defect.
If a woman has the right by law to destroy her baby
even when it is partially out of the womb, then why should she not have the
right to destroy the baby when it is totally out of the womb if she decides she
cannot care for it, or it will cause her emotional stress, or the baby is
defective in some way? The issue of abortion is not simply a religious issue
but a human life issue.
We are entering into a culture of
death that has its roots in a discredited political system. We are allowing by
law the wanton destruction of beginning human life in the womb and partially
out of the womb. We are beginning to encourage the sick and elderly to end
their lives (so-called death-with-dignity laws) if they become burdens to
themselves or to others.
We are continuing to limit medical care to people most
in need of protection. Our administration promotes population control to limit
birth rates, especially among Third World
peoples, so that populations will stabilize.
But what our government means by
stabilization is zero population growth. Already in some countries the elderly
are outnumbering the young. This is the reason that euthanasia will gradually
become the preferred method of population control instead of abortion.
Strange reversal of roles
It is a strange reversal of roles these days for people who call themselves
liberal to be supporters of abortion while those who are opposed to abortion
are called conservative. Traditionally liberals have championed the cause of
people in need, people who fall through the protective social net provided by
government. Liberals have supported the working poor and those who cannot
compete in the marketplace. They have championed individual rights against
economic and political pressure, and provided a voice for those who were
voiceless in our society.
This is the reason that most
immigrant Catholics were at one time members of the Democratic party in this
country. This was the party that looked out for the interests of minority
people and their security in a highly competitive society so that the gap
between the wealthy and the poor would not continue to widen. This effort
resulted in a coalition of different movements in this country: labor unions,
liberal politicians, and social activists in the Church.
But then a strange development
began to take place. Somehow the issue of women's rights became linked with the
issue of abortion. It became a liberal issue to promote equal rights for women,
and the right of a woman to control her own agenda and her own destiny and her
own body.
The Church was generally supportive of this liberal development, as
long as Catholic women maintained objective moral standards regarding sexuality
and human life. But the issue of abortion was another matter.
Once a distinct
living person is formed in the womb, the mother does not have absolute right
over this separate person. The fetus is not just a glob of protoplasm or an
"intrusive biological force," a term I heard the other day on the
radio.
It is a distinct living person with a soul. To say that this distinct
person has no rights is not a liberal
position, but an elitist one. To rid the world of unwanted people is a totalitarian principle, not a democratic
one.
Party platform regarding
abortion
And so for the first time, the platform of the Democratic party introduced a
pro-abortion plank that was clearly anti-life and therefore anti-Catholic.
The
protection of pre-born human life, the most vulnerable of all human life, was
discarded in favor of a woman's right to do whatever she wants with the
developing human life within her because it is in her body.
The party went on
record discriminating against a group of human beings babies in the womb who
had no protection and in fact could be destroyed at any stage of development
(witness Clinton's refusal to support state laws against partial-birth
abortion).
Instead of promoting a
liberal cause in support of birth mothers and their babies, the Democratic
party embraced an elitist cause by promoting the destruction of pre-born and
partially-born human life.
Catholic Democrats, therefore, have an obligation in conscience to do
everything they can to reverse the pro-abortion policy of their party and to
support those candidates who will protect human life in the womb.
Catholic Republicans, on the other
hand, have the obligation in conscience to see that their party plank against
abortion is acted upon rather than ignored in legislative processes across the
nation.
Fidelity of Catholics to Church
teaching
Abortion is a major issue for anyone who embraces the Church's teaching
regarding the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death.
To dissent
against a major teaching of the Church regarding sexual morality is a serious
breach for Catholics and a cause for scandal for people who become aware of it.
Any Catholics who support direct abortion as a viable option for ending a
pregnancy participate in the serious objective evil of abortion and give aid
and comfort to the enemies of the Church regarding human life ethics. Their
position needs to be publicly condemned by Church leadership so that the
scandal does not continue to be compounded.
You can be assured that I will
challenge any Catholic in Northeastern Nebraska
who claims to be a member of the Church and at the same time supports abortion.
It is not a liberal cause that is
being supported but an elitist anti-Catholic one.
There is no place for
discrimination against pre-born or partially-born babies in the Catholic
Church. Catholics who are against the Church on this important issue are in
serious dissent against the Church. They and everyone else need to be clear
about this breach with the Church. It is
not a liberal cause to support abortion: it is anti-life and anti-Church.
We
are Pro-Life
In September, Archbishop
Curtiss issued the following pastoral letter to the people of the Archdiocese
of Omaha
regarding the obligation of Catholics to actively oppose direct abortion in all
circumstances. "It is important for all our people to read what I have
written rather than what is reported in the secular media", he said.
The Catechism of the Catholic
Church outlines the official teaching of the Church regarding the evil of
abortion and the responsibility of Catholics to protect beginning human life:
2270 - Human life must be respected and
protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of
his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a
person among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
"Before I formed you in the
womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you" (Jeremiah
1:5).
2271 - Since the first century the Church has
affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not
changed and remains unchangeable. Direct
abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or means, is gravely
contrary to the moral law. "Your shall not kill the embryo by abortion and
shall not cause the newborn to perish" (Didache 2,2).
2272 - Formal cooperation in an abortion
constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of
excommunication to the crime against human life. A person who procures a
completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae by the very
commission of the offense (Canons 1314-1398) and subject to the conditions
provided in Code of Canon Law (canons 1323-24).
The Church does not thereby
intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of
the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to
death, as well as the parents and the whole of society.
2273 - The
inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive
element of a civil society and its legislation.
"The inalienable rights of
the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political
authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals not on parents:
not do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong
to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act
from which the person took his origin.
Among
such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's
right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death
(Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, Donum Vitae III
- 1987).
"The moment a positive law
deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation
ought to accord them, the state is
denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not
place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular
of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are
undermined...
As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be
insured for the unborn child from the moment of conception the law must provide
appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."
(ibid.).
2274- Since
it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in
its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human
being.
Practical implications of this
official teaching
To dissent against the official teaching of the Church regarding the serious
evil of abortion creates a breach between Catholics and the Church and causes a
serious scandal when it becomes public.
Catholics who actually participate in a
woman's decision to have an abortion share in her alienation from the Church
because they share in the destruction of a beginning human life which is
forbidden by divine law and natural law.
Consequently, I ask the people of
this Archdiocese to join me in challenging any Catholic who claims to be an
active member of the Church and at the same time supports the right of a woman
to have an abortion (pro-choice means essentially support for the right of a
woman to terminate the life of her pre-born or partially-born baby). Such a
person either does not know the clear teaching of the Church or is indifferent
to it.
This means an incorrectly formed conscience or ignorance of the law or
rejection of Church Teaching. In any case, these people are at loggerheads with
the Church over a major doctrine of faith. They need conversion and
reconciliation with the Church and a new heart.
I ask all our people to pray and
fast in reparation for all the innocent lives that are destroyed daily by
abortion.
I ask all our people to pray for
the women and their families who suffer the personal tragedy of abortion. Pray
for their reconciliation with the Church, with Jesus. Support Project Rachel
and all similar efforts to help women overcome the impact of abortion in their
lives.
I ask all our people to pray for
abortionists and those who assist them so that their hearts of stone may be
turned into human hearts before they face the God of life.
Be steadfast
The Catholic Church is the main supporter of human life from conception to
natural death in the world today. Despite public media which for the most part
support abortion as the right of women over their own bodies without any
concern for the rights of their pre-born babies -- despite massive opposition
from a multimillion dollar abortion industry which has Planned Parenthood as a
front -- despite Supreme Court decisions which continue to leave pre-born and
partially-born babies vulnerable to painful deaths -- we Catholics must not
cease our efforts to declare abortion in our cities and neighborhoods. We must
not cease our efforts to pray for an end to abortion on demand and the barbaric
procedure called partial-birth abortion.
If we are constant in our prayer
and steadfast in our opposition to abortion privately and publicly -- if we
continue to make our case for the continuum of human life from conception until
birth from the scientific evidence -- if we continue to proclaim the sacredness
of human life from the Scriptures and the long tradition of the Church -- then
we will be able to change the minds and hearts of many people who are hesitant
to grant inalienable rights to pre-born babies because of cultural pressure.
We must never give up on this
sacred crusade to protect innocent human life in the womb. If we grow tired of
the struggle or want to be free of the hassle, then the culture of death will
continue to spread across our nation. It is up to us to make the case for the
rights of pre-born babies based on God's revelation to us about the sacredness
of human life. It is a duty no Catholic can shirk.
The Church is consistently
pro-human life from conception until natural death. This is the reason that we
oppose the death penalty as well as euthanasia and abortion. However, Catholic
teaching does not weigh opposition to capitol punishment the same way it weighs
opposition to abortion.
The thousands of innocent pre-born babies killed every
year by abortion constitute a greater evil than the execution of a few
convicted felons by the state not only because of the sheer number of deaths,
but because of the gravity of the act itself.
Therefore opposition to abortion
must be a prority for Catholics who support the Church's teaching about the
sacredness of all human life.
Voices
Online Edition
Fall 2000, Volume XV, No. 3 - Jubilee Year
