Individual bishops and bishops of individual states or regions have labored privately and publicly to form the consciences of their flocks and to exhort wayward Catholic politicians to defend the lives of the unborn. Bringing a respect for human dignity to practical politics can be a daunting task. There is such a wide spectrum of issues involving the protection of human life and the promotion of human dignity. Good people frequently disagree on which problems to address, which policies to adopt and how best to apply them. In other words, the choice of certain ways of acting is always and radically incompatible with the love of God and the dignity of the human person created in His image.
Direct abortion is never a morally tolerable option.
It is always a grave act of violence against a woman and her unborn child. . . . This is seriously mistaken on several key counts. First, regarding abortion, the point when human life begins is not a religious belief but a scientific fact a fact on which there is clear agreement even among leading abortion advocates. Second, the sanctity of human life is not merely Catholic doctrine but part of humanity s global ethical heritage, and our nation s founding principle. Finally, democracy is not served by silence.