STATEMENT

on

ABORTION

National Conference of

Catholic Bishops

April 17, 1969

In recent years there has been a growing

concern for the dignity of human life. The crisis

of conscience that has gripped the country over

the war in Vietnam, the re-examination of the

question of capital punishment, the ethical

questions raised by newly developed skills in

the transplantation of vital organs are all indi-

cations that our people continue to place a high

value on human life. Moreover, our society rec-

ognizes that it must increasingly guarantee the

basic rights of every person, particularly of those

who are least able to defend themselves.

At the same time, we face a widespread effort

to "liberalize" the present laws that generally

prohibit abortion. Initial efforts to liberalize

these laws focused on specific problem situa-

tions—some of which have already become less
problematical due to scientific discovery and

advance. During the past year the emphasis

has begun to change, and we are now facing a

determined effort to repeal totally all abortion

laws—thereby resulting in abortion-on-demand.
In previous statements on this question we

have drawn upon our Judaeo-Christian heritage

of concern for the person and have stressed the

intrinsic value of human life—a value that
bridges the gap between man's temporal exist-

ence and his eternal destiny.



In a pastoral letter on Human Life in Our Day

(November, 1968) we urged that “society al-

ways be on the side of life," that “it never dic-

tate, directly or indirectly, recourse to the pre-

vention of life or to its destruction in any of its

phases.” Our concern is heightened by the

awareness that one of the dangers of a tech-

nological society is a tendency to adopt a lim-

ited view of man, to see man only for what he

does or produces, and to overlook the source

of man's dignity, the fact that he is made in

the image of God, and that from the moment of

his conception he is worthy of the full support

of the human family of which he is a member.

Consequently, we have frequently affirmed

as our own the teaching of the Second Vatican

Council, that “whatever is opposed to life itself,

such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion,

euthanasia or wilful self-destruction, whatever

violates the integrity of the human person . . .

all these things and others of their like are

infamies indeed. They poison human society

but they do more harm to those who practice

them than those who suffer from the injury.

Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the

Creator” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in

the Modern World, #27). At the same time,

we have emphasized that society has an obli-

gation to safeguard the life of every person from

the very beginning of that life, and to perfect

a legal-political system that assures protection

to the individual and the well-being of the

community.

We restate with strong conviction and grow-

ing concern our opposition to abortion. In so

doing, we do not urge one ethical conviction

as the sole basis of public policy, but we artic-

ulate the concerns that are also held by persons

of other faiths and by specialists in the field of

medicine, law and the social sciences.

Fully aware of problem situations that may

exist at times, such as illegitimacy, great emo-

tional stress, possible disadvantage for the

child after birth, we find no evidence that easy

abortion laws will solve these problems. In



fact, the termination of life in these particular

situations violates our whole legal heritage, one

that has always protected the right to life. More-

over, it allows for an extension of the principle

that may well endanger the lives of persons who

are senile, incurably ill, or unable fully to exer-

cise all their faculties.

We strongly urge a renewed positive attitude

toward life and a new commitment to its protec-

tion and support. We affirm our social responsi-

bility, together with all society, to bring encour-

agement, understanding and support to the

victims of rape, to intensify our scientific inves-

tigation into the causes and cures of maternal

disease and fetal abnormality, and to provide to

all women adequate education and material sus-

tenance to choose motherhood responsibly and

freely in accord with our basic commitment to

the sanctity of life.

We are certain that respect for human dig-

nity and the reverence for human life are such

widely shared values in our society that the dis-

cussion by lawyers, doctors, ethicians, social

scientists and all concerned citizens of ethical

questions like abortion will lead to a deeper

understanding of the eminent value and inviola-

bility of human life.



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