On January 22, 1973, I was a little over eight years old. I was not old enough to understand the social upheavals of the day or the issues involved in the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand in the United States. But I do remember that the following weekend, Fr. Tom Connery stood in the pulpit at Holy Family exclaiming loudly, “Abortion is murder!” several times. I didn’t know what abortion was at that time or why it was murder. That horrible understanding came later.
Now, after almost 50 years, that decision which resulted in the deaths of over 50 million infants in the womb has been reversed and the issue has been remanded back to the individual states. While there is cause for rejoicing that an eclipse of reason resulting in a grave injustice has been ended, we must not gloat. If we are to heal the polarization that has characterized the tenor of public discourse in recent decades, now is a time for the exercise of charity more than ever. We must choose our words charitably and wisely. Furthermore, we must be able to articulate what it means to support and defend human life in all of its stages from conception to natural death if we are to grow a culture of that chooses life within our great society.
One of the most compelling and succinct such articulations was formulated by the late Joseph Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago. It is not enough to be anti-abortion. What we need, the Cardinal said, is a consistent ethic of life, “a seamless garment.”
Briefly stated the consistent life ethic is this. Life is sacred and social. Because it is sacred, its dignity must be defended and upheld at all times and in all circumstances from conception to natural death. Because it is social, society has a duty to defend and uphold it at all times and in all circumstances.
Understanding the breadth of the implications of a consistent ethic of life is important. If we are to defend and uphold the dignity of life in all stages and all circumstances, that will certainly mean at its beginning. But it also means that we must support and defend those things which support the dignity of human persons throughout their lives. As the U.S. Bishops have exhorted us, it means walking with women in crisis pregnancies so that they may have the material, psychological and spiritual resources available to choose life. It also includes things like affordable housing, education, a just wage, affordable child care, and affordable health care. It also causes us to reexamine closely the morality and practicality of the death penalty. Finally, it involves end of life issues such as palliative care and related issues. And the list goes on.
It is a time for rejoicing but not in the sense of winners and losers. Not it is about moving deeper into the truth and walking with others in that truth with love. Our greatest work is still ahead of us.