Catholic leaders in Texas and Minnesota blasted a new advertisement this week that urges Catholics to support abortion as a “Catholic social justice value.”
The group “Catholics for Choice” is running the full-page newspaper ad in dozens of states, encouraging Catholics to support abortion and taxpayer funding for it. The ad has sparked outrage in the Catholic community because it contradicts church teachings on the sanctity of life.
The full-page ad that ran in the Chicago Tribune had the bold heading “Abortion In Good Faith” and the photo of a woman described as a Catholic grandmother and former state legislator. A quote attributed to her read: “I know firsthand that today’s elected officials need to hear your voice so they do the right thing, ensuring that women who are not well off are not financially burdened by the choices they make.” Below was a red banner with the message, “Public funding for abortion is a Catholic social justice value.” The name “Catholics for Choice” appeared at the bottom.
On Monday, the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas under Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller responded to the pro-abortion ad after it appeared in the San Antonio Express-News. The archdiocese described the ad as inaccurate and a misrepresentation of Catholic Church teachings.
“For more than 2,000 years, the Church has steadfastly proclaimed that respect for all human life at every stage is foundational to the Catholic faith,” the archdiocese wrote on its website. “Abortion from the earliest tradition of the Church has been considered immoral.
“Direct abortion, or the intentional killing of a human being living in the womb, is always seriously immoral because as persons the right-to-life is the most basic and fundamental right we possess,” it continued.
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The Minnesota Catholic Conference similarly described the ad as a “woeful” misrepresentation of Catholic teaching on abortion, CNS reports.
The “Catholics for Choice” campaign “disregards the need to defend vulnerable human life in all its stages — a principle at the core of authentic social justice,” the Minnesota bishops’ conference said in a statement Monday.
The pro-abortion group said it published the ads on Monday in more than 20 local and national publications, including Politico, the Nation, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Dallas Morning News and La Opinion. People have reported seeing the ads in Texas, Florida, Illinois and Minnesota, according to Mercatornet.
The ad hints at one of abortion activists’ top goals: to repeal the Hyde Amendment and force taxpayers to directly pay for abortions. Pro-abortion Democrat Hillary Clinton promised to help the abortion industry achieve the goal, and her running mate Tim Kaine, a self-professed Catholic who has a pro-abortion voting record, is refusing to say how he would vote on the issue.
On a website set up to promote the pro-abortion campaign, “Catholics for Choice” states: “The harsh restrictions on public funding for abortion mean that lower-income women don’t have access to abortion when they need it. Women who are dependent on Medicaid, employees of the federal and state governments, military members, and millions of others who are dependent on public funding simply don’t get the same kind of care as women with money. That is not Catholic.”
The “care” that “Catholics for Choice” describes involves the deliberate destruction of innocent human beings. In contrast, the Catholic Church teaches that care and respect must be extended to every human being, not just select groups.
“Upholding the sacred dignity of all human life is the duty of every member of society and this duty must be taken seriously in order to ensure that we are a part of a culture that affirms the right to life for all, especially the most vulnerable among us,” the Texas archdiocese said.
“It is our hope that one day Catholics for Choice will take the time to acquaint themselves with basic Catholic teachings, and acknowledge the truth of the Catholic faith, and not choose to misrepresent her teachings with false and inaccurate information and ads that only work to confuse and mislead the public,” it continued.
In response to the ad, the Minnesota Catholic Conference suggested that Catholics donate to pregnancy resource centers that “care for both mothers and children in a manner consistent with true social justice.”
A number of Catholic bishops have denounced “Catholics for Choice” for describing itself as “Catholic” because of its pro-abortion mission. The group is not affiliated with the Catholic Church.
