The Word from Lansing: To Respect Life is to Protect Life, Beginning at Conception

This year, as is the case every election season, Michigan Catholic Conference works to encourage Catholics to vote as faithful citizens with a well-formed conscience. It is incumbent upon all the faithful to form their consciences prior to voting, and to do so according to the truth of Catholic teaching.

Among the Church’s social teachings, there is none more important than protecting human life and dignity, which is highlighted every year in October during Respect Life month. I would like to focus on two specific life issues due to their continued presence and discussion in the public square among legislators, candidates, media, and the general public.

The Church proclaims that each human life is sacred, and that every human person has dignity. Human dignity is not conditioned on anything other than the fact that each human person was brought into existence. It applies to each person, regardless of his or her abilities, condition, race, age, or any other factor. It cannot be earned or taken away.

This inherent dignity means that each person’s life is worthy of protection, and that every person has a fundamental right to life. Since the earliest days of Christianity, the Church has clearly and consistently spoken against the taking of innocent life.

A person’s right to live begins at the very beginning of his or her existence, which is at conception, and extends to natural death. That human life begins at conception—which is not merely a religious belief, but a scientific and biological fact—has important implications for when human life should be protected.

In recognition of the sanctity of human life, the Church opposes abortion, which is the intentional killing of a child in the womb. Not only is abortion the direct taking of innocent life—Pope Francis has spoken of abortion as murder—but it also impacts the most vulnerable and voiceless member of the human family: The preborn child.

The U.S. bishops have identified abortion as their preeminent priority in this country not only because of its impact on the most vulnerable, but also because of its scope: Abortion has claimed the lives of some 65 million children in the half century that Roe v. Wade was in effect, including 1.5 million in Michigan alone.

It bears repeating that the Church has been and continues to accompany mothers in need from pregnancy to birth and beyond and is committed to ensuring no woman has to face a difficult pregnancy by herself.

Given the scientific fact that human life begins at conception, it should be no surprise that the Church also opposes in-vitro fertilization. IVF involves the conception of a new human being by joining a sperm and an egg in a laboratory to later attempt to implant into a woman, who may or may not be the biological mother of the child.

How can the Church be opposed to this reproductive technology that produces new human life? Along with the reality of separating the creation of a child from the loving embrace of his or her mother and father, IVF results in the destruction of countless human lives—just like abortion.

As part of the IVF process, numerous embryos are created with the hope of a successful implantation. But many “unused” embryos die, or they are disposed of like medical waste, or frozen in a perpetual state of uncertainty. These fertilized embryos are, in fact, human beings in their earliest stages of development.

The U.S. bishops in a statement earlier this year noted that the Church’s stance against IVF “does not mean that our brothers and sisters who were conceived by IVF are somehow ‘less than’ anyone else. Every person has immeasurable value regardless of how he or she was conceived—and that applies, absolutely, to all children created through IVF, the majority of whom have not been and may never be born.”

Whether it’s a baby in the womb or an embryo in a lab, we are talking about human lives. They should be protected, rather than made victims of the pervasive “throwaway culture” about which Pope Francis has spoken. Because both abortion and IVF intentionally destroy human life and are contrary to the authentic good of persons, they must always be rejected and opposed.

Catholics should be concerned about these and other threats to human life, whether it’s the death penalty, euthanasia and assisted suicide, war, gun violence, or other issues that cause death. For those who may struggle with these subjects, take time for prayer and study to better understand the wisdom behind the Church’s teaching.

Mindful of October as Respect Life month, Catholics are encouraged to think and pray about the pervasive threat to human life in our state and our nation as they form their consciences and weigh the choices to be made at the ballot.