But a consistent ethic identifies both the protection of life and its promotion as moral questions. The fundamental human right is to life from the moment of conception until death. It is the source of all other rights, including the right to health care. Some are more fundamental than others. On this Respect Life Sunday, I wish to emphasize that no earthly value is more fundamental than human life itself.
Human life is the condition for enjoying freedom and all other values.
Consequently, if one must choose between protecting or serving lesser human values that depend upon life for their existence and life itself, human life must take precedence. Today the recognition of human life as a fundamental value is threatened. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of elective abortion. At present in our country this procedure takes the lives of over 4,000 unborn children every day and over 1.5 million each year. The numbers are staggering.