"Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love,
but to use any violence to get what they want."
Mother Teresa

All persons, not just Catholics, can know from the scientific and medical evidence that what grows in a mother's womb is a new, distinct human being. All persons can understand that each human being -- without discrimination -- merits respect. At the very least, respecting human life excludes the deliberate and direct destruction of life -- and that is exactly what abortion is.

Catholics are also pro-life because our Christian tradition is pro-life. As Pope John Paul II says, Christians believe that "all human life is sacred, for it is created in the image and likeness of God." Aborting an unborn child destroys a unique creation which God has called specially into existence.

Christian teaching also obliges us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who spoke and acted strongly and compassionately in favor of the most despised and vulnerable persons in society. Jesus touched lepers, spoke with prostitutes, and showed special mercy and tenderness to the sick, the poor, and children. Our society today has many vulnerable persons --- including women in crisis pregnancies as well as unborn children whose lives may be legally ended at any time during pregnancy and for any reason.

In the tradition of Jesus Christ, Catholics have a responsibility to speak and act in defense of these persons.  The Church's mission to defend human life applies over the entire course of life, from conception to natural death.

The Catholic Church strives to be a prophetic voice, speaking out to protest injustices and indignities against the human person. Catholics will continue in this work, whether our words are popular or unpopular.

Since its beginnings, Christianity has maintained a firm and clear teaching on the sacredness of human life. Jesus Christ emphasized this in his teaching and ministry.

June 03, 2003 Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops