We must reaffirm our commitment to life
“We must reaffirm our commitment to life”
In an article appearing in today’s on-line edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Archbishop Dennis Schnurr pronounces the dignity of the human person. The Archbishop teaches the importance of Ohio defeating the atrocious and evil ballot amendment initiative proposed by Planned Parenthood and the others that profit from taking innocent human life in the womb.
ARTICLE:God created humans as social beings. We are all dependent upon each other for mutual survival and for the recognition of our common human dignity. There are times when this dependency is most acute, especially in circumstances of vulnerability and poverty.
An expectant mother can face many challenges, including lack of support from the father, financial strains, concerns about her own health and that of her child, and pressures from family and friends. Every woman should be able to depend upon a community of support.
The Catholic Church, in Ohio and nationwide, also engages in public policy advocacy for access to quality pre- and post-natal health care, paid parental leave laws, affordable childcare options, preferential housing options for women and young children, and robust child tax credits.
At no point should any person, inside or outside the womb, be deemed less of a life because someone else says so. To think otherwise is to objectify that life. Society must never claim for itself the “right” to determine the value, worthiness or dignity of another person for any reason whatsoever, including whether or not that person is wanted. Yet, today, our culture suggests that some humans are more important than others, and those less-important humans might actually be expendable. Pope Francis has lamented, “The throwaway culture says, ‘I use you as much as I need you. When I am not interested in you anymore, or you are in my way, I throw you out.’ It is especially the weakest who are treated this way − unborn children, the elderly, the needy, the disadvantaged.”
We are currently facing an extraordinary threat to the dignity of life right here in Ohio: an amendment (deceptively named “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety”) to the Ohio Constitution that would enshrine the “right” to take the lives of innocent children in the womb and harm mothers in the process is being proposed to voters for the November 2023 ballot. This amendment also would remove existing parental notification laws and basic safety standards and enable abortion based solely on a preborn child’s disability diagnosis. Innocent children in the womb would be lost, and their mothers would be both wounded in the moment and emotionally scarred for years to come. Ohio does not need a constitutional amendment that only perpetuates violence and a culture of death.
God alone is the Author and Lord of life. Therefore, the intentional taking of innocent human life, no matter the circumstances, is intrinsically evil and must always be opposed. Any position to the contrary is inconsistent with the constant teaching of the Catholic Church because it is inconsistent with the nature of life itself.
In the name of the one Lord of Life, we must vigorously oppose any suggestion that there exists a “right” to take the life of an unborn child in the womb. Instead, let us all engage in prayer and a joyful outpouring of love and support for pregnant women, especially those most in need. No woman should feel so alone, coerced or hopeless that she chooses to end her child’s life through abortion. I urge everyone throughout Ohio to both pray for and actively assist all expectant mothers.
Together, let us redouble our commitment to caring for women, children and families so that abortion is not only illegal, but unthinkable.
Thank you Archbishop Schnurr!