On June 28th of this year, the United States Supreme Court, in its Stenberg v. Carhart decision, wrapped the mantle of our nation's constitution around partial-birth abortion. Our belief in the sacred dignity of life at every moment from conception to natural death has led us as a people of faith to address a myriad of issues facing us both domestically and internationally, such as capital punishment and euthanasia, welfare and immigration policies, sexism and racism, nuclear weapons and gun control, cloning and health care reform, trade agreements and sweat shops, the buying and selling of women, and genocide, just to mention a few of the critical realities upon which our respect for human life must bear. However, I am convinced that the total disregard for the sanctity of human life evident in abortion is the linchpin to resolving these other issues and, thus, is the most radical moral challenge we face. We as a Church simply cannot remain silent in the face of a public policy which results in 1.2 million abortions annually in the United States.
Abortion violates our moral vision of life.
Thus, protecting innocent human life from direct attack is a fundamental human and moral imperative. We as a faith community are fully aware of the perplexity and moral dilemma that an unwanted child poses for the individual or couple. We are conscious of the fact that many persons of goodwill may have a different perspective on this issue. And we have an outreach to women who are grieving over having had an abortion. We must continue to strive, therefore, through the democratic process, to reverse the Supreme Court decision and to create a consensus that will maximize the opportunity for the unborn child to exist.