A civilization cannot stand when it abandons the values of human life and dignity, Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan said in his message for Respect Life Month in October.
Dolan, a well-known Catholic Church leader in the U.S., said abortion on demand has had a “toxic effect” on the U.S., leading its citizens to abandon what should be their first priority – defending the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person.
Dolan delved into the divisive politics of the upcoming presidential election and pointed out what is at stake.
From his message published in Catholic New York:
If the baby in the womb can be sucked out and left dead, with health care workers coerced to perform the hideous procedure and all of us forced to pay for it; if the physically challenged and mentally depressed can pay their doctor to put them to death; if the immigrant is caricatured as a criminal and threat; if women are looked upon as chattel whose main purpose is to be groped and satisfy a leering man; if the human person’s first and most cherished freedom—religion—is mocked and reduced to bigotry; if black lives and blue lives are considered enemy targets rather than sacred individuals; if a climate of political correctness keeps us from calling radical fundamentalists the psychopathic murderers they are…well, then, human life is treated as rubbish, which can be eliminated to suit our preferences.
Am I wrong to wonder especially about the toxic effect that the unlimited abortion license has had on the Republic founded on self-evident truths, and the right to life? When what should be nature’s safest sanctuary, the mother’s womb, becomes the most perilous place for the most innocent and fragile life, should we be shocked when any life deemed “in the way” is in hunting season?
Some of what Dolan said is happening already across the U.S. Euthanasia advocates are pushing states to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide; four already have. Candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party want to funnel more tax dollars into the abortion industry and force taxpayers to pay directly for abortions.
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Religious freedom also is a major issue as medical professionals’ conscientious objection rights and religious organizations’ rights to practice their beliefs are being eroded. Right now, for example, California is forcing churches to pay for abortions in their employee health plans, and the Obama Administration has refused to stop it.
Hillary Clinton’s statements indicate she would follow in President Barack Obama’s footsteps. In a speech last year, Clinton essentially said Christians must be forced to change their religious views to accommodate abortions.
“Far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth,” Clinton said at the time, using the euphemism for abortion. “… And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”
She also wants to force religious organizations and businesses like Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for abortion-causing drugs and birth control in their employee health plans, against their religious beliefs.
Dolan did not mention candidates’ names, but he concluded his message with a challenge to Catholics to consider the impact of such policies.
He wrote:
The dignity of the human person, to be defended and promoted as a first priority, a dignity not dependent upon race, green card, stock portfolio, age, or health; the sacredness of human life, from the instant of conception to the holy moment of natural passing, to be defended vigorously rather than diluted and then discarded…these are essential to civilization. How grateful we are as Americans that these two principles are at the foundation of our Republic; yet how vigilant we are that they are under threat; and how committed we are as patriotic Catholic citizens to promote and defend them.
