The slaughtering of unborn babies in abortions is a “preeminent evil in our culture” and it is destroying society, the Catholic bishop of Grand Island, Nebraska said this month.
On Oct. 1, Bishop Joseph G. Hanefeldt wrote a strong message for Respect Life month, Breitbart reports. He urged Christians to “get on our knees and pray for God’s mercy to save our souls, guilty of the tragic disregard for his sovereignty and the sanctity of human life, made in his image and likeness!”
“Abortion on demand has been the preeminent evil in our culture since it was legalized in 1973,” Hanefeldt wrote. “To support those who champion abortion rights is to now blindly open the door for advancing widespread religious persecution.”
While abortion is not the only issue that Christians should be concerned about, Hanefeldt said some issues are more important than others. He urged Americans not to support pro-abortion politicians, even if they agree with them on other issues.
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“To support such people because one agrees with them on other issues is to disregard the deepest flaw of moral character: the willful affront to the sovereignty of God as the Lord and giver of life,” the bishop wrote.
“No one has the right to destroy pre-born human life, yet we have legalized it as a ‘right’ in this country!” he continued. “This is an unspeakable offense against the ‘Lord and giver of life,’ yet we have grown numb to the magnitude of this evil.”
Since 1973, about 62 million unborn babies have been killed in abortions. Though abortion rates have been dropping steadily because of pro-life efforts, Democrat leaders now are calling openly to “expand access” to abortions. They claim the killing of unborn babies in abortions is “essential health care” and Americans taxpayers should be forced to pay for them.
Hanefeldt said such extreme disregard for innocent human life is destroying society.
“Legalized abortion is bringing about the fall of this nation!” he wrote. “Far from being ‘one nation under God,’ we have become a nation in chaos.”
The bishop did not mention the Democratic Party or any candidates, but he did criticize its new “litmus test” on abortion.
“The litmus test for one’s participation in public office in this country is now determined by their position on abortion,” Hanefeldt continued. “Anyone who stands in the way of unlimited and unregulated taxpayer funded access to abortion is now being silenced and systematically persecuted.”
“Furthermore, abortion is so essential to the agenda of those who oppose traditional family values that they force taxpayers to pay for this evil act, which is an affront to their religious liberty,” he added.
A growing chorus of Catholic leaders has been urging voters to make the right to life for unborn babies a top priority at the voting booth in November. In a similar message this month, Cleveland Catholic Bishop Edward Malesic urged Christians to vote to oppose the “intrinsic evil of abortion” because it destroys the most fundamental of all human rights.
The two major presidential candidates have opposite views about abortion.
Joe Biden and the Democratic Party support abortions without restriction and want to force taxpayers to pay for them. Biden said he plans to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law and appoint Supreme Court justices who will support abortion on demand. Biden also said he would fight to end the Hyde Amendment and force taxpayers to pay for elective abortions – which could lead to 60,000 more unborn babies’ deaths to abortion each year.
In contrast, President Donald Trump and the Republican Party support protections for unborn babies. They want to defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups of taxpayer dollars, and restore basic human rights to every human being.
During his four years in office, Trump has taken numerous actions to protect unborn babies, both on a national and global scale. He defunded Planned Parenthood through his Mexico City and Title X policies and introduced new restrictions to stop taxpayer dollars from funding research using aborted baby body parts. Trump stopped giving American tax dollars to United Nations Population Fund because it pushes abortions on other countries and has worked with China for decades to implement its forced abortion population control policies.
Additionally, the Trump administration has been fighting to protect pro-life medical workers from employment discrimination. Last year, it became involved in a Vermont nurse’s case after she said her employer, the University of Vermont Medical Center, tricked her into participating in an abortion against her will. It also created a new rule to better enforce conscience protections and punish medical groups that discriminate against pro-life medical workers.
