The Challenge of Peace and serving as chairman of the pro-life committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. He saw that in order to effectively respond to the wide range of menacing threats to human life, brought about by new forces of destruction made possible by modern technologies, Christians must emphasize the interconnection of the many and varied efforts to defend human life. He noted that progress in the defense and protection of life in one arena meant progress for the defense of life in all arenas. Some object to the idea of the consistent ethic because they interpret consistency to mean of equal importance or urgency. But that is not what the teaching means, as the Cardinal himself made clear many times.
All human life is sacred.
It comes from God, it belongs to God, it returns to God. All human beings have equal dignity, and nobody may ever directly destroy the innocent. These principles apply whether we are talking about abortion, capital punishment, war, poverty, drug abuse, street violence, or any other societal issue. But that does not mean that these issues are morally equivalent. Each issue, along with the general principles which we have already stated, has its own particular principles and moral considerations that need to be brought into the discussion whenever one debates that particular issue.