Church Teaching Sanctity of Life
Catholics care about the sanctity of life because the entire purpose of each soul God endows with life is to find its way back to God by loving God and caring for all the souls God has placed around it. Voluntary termination of life any time between conception and natural death necessarily frustrates that purpose.
The source of human dignity is the likeness to God that is bestowed on each of us at the moment we are conceived. We respond appropriately to this gift by using all the time, talent, and treasure that God has entrusted to us to seek and grow closer to God, by sharing in His continuing act of creation and caring for those around us. Our first purpose is to seek God, especially in one another. If we do that, everything else will be given to us. Anything that interferes with that is contrary to the Word of God. Genesis chapter 1; Matthew chapters 6, 22 & 25
Abortion & Euthanasia
“You shall not kill.”
– the 5th Commandment
The right to life from conception to natural death is the foundation of all Catholic Social Teaching, and in particular, implies the illicitness of every form of procured abortion and of euthanasia. – 155, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
“This is not something subject to alleged reforms or ‘modernizations.’
It is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.”
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium 214
Human Engineering
Cloning and Cell Manipulation
An issue of particular social and cultural significance today, because of its many and serious moral implications, is human cloning… the simple replication of normal cells or of a portion of DNA presents no particular ethical problem. Very different, however, is cloning understood in the proper sense. Such cloning is contrary to the dignity of human procreation because it takes place in total absence of an act of personal love between spouses, being agamic and asexual reproduction. In the second place, this type of reproduction represents a form of total domination over the reproduced individual on the part of the one reproducing it…
Cloning for therapeutic use does not attenuate its moral gravity, because in order that such cells may be removed the embryo must first be created and then destroyed. 236, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Gender Identity & Election
Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral and spiritual difference and complementarities are oriented towards the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. -224 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Men and women with homosexual tendencies must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. – 358 Catechism of the Catholic Church
Population Growth; Birth Control; Family Planning
Judgment concerning the interval of time between births, and that regarding the number of children, belongs to the spouses alone. This is one of their inalienable rights, to be exercised before God… The intervention of public authorities must be made in a way that fully respects the freedom of the couple. All programmes of economic assistance aimed at financing campaigns of sterilization and contraception are to be morally condemned as affronts to the dignity of the person and the family.
The answer to questions connected with population growth must instead by sought in simultaneous respect both of sexual morals and of social ethics, promoting greater justice and authentic solidarity so that dignity is given to life in all circumstances.
All reproductive techniques — such as the donation of sperm or ova, surrogate motherhood, heterologous artificial fertilization — that make use of the uterus of another woman or of gametes of persons other than the married couple, injuring the right of the child to be born of one father and one mother who are father and mother are ethically unacceptable both from a biological and from a legal point of view. – 234-235, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Human Trafficking
The solemn proclamation of human rights is contradicted by a painful reality of violations, including new forms of slavery such as trafficking in human beings, illegal drug trafficking, prostitution. “Even in countries with democratic forms of government, these rights are not always fully respected”. Some serious problems remain unsolved: trafficking in children, the phenomenon of “street children, and the use of children for commerce in pornographic material. – 158, 245 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Green Party of Manitoba The party advocates:
– expanding health care coverage in Manitoba by:
(i) increased funding for conception planning under Medicare and Pharmacare; and
(ii) ensuirng access to abortion services across the province, including non-surgical abortion options
The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– the sanctity, meaning or purpose of life
– euthanasia or alternatives thereto
– human engineering, including cloning or cell manipulation, or gender election surgery
Green Party Abortion & Alternatives for Mothers & Children
The party states that:
– women’s rights must be protected and expanded to guarantee each woman’s right as a full participant in society, free from sexual harassment, job discrimination or interference in the intensely personal choice about whether to have a child
– women’s right to control their bodies is non-negotiable. It is essential that the option of a safe, legal abortion remains available
– the “morning-after” pill must be affordable and easily accessible without a prescription, together with a government-sponsored public relations campaign to educate women about this form of contraception
– clinics must be accessible and must offer advice on contraception and the means for contraception; consultation about abortion and the performance of abortions, and; abortion regardless of age or marital status
– contraception and abortion must be included in all health insurance policies in the U.S., and any state government must be able to legally offer these services free of charge to women at the poverty level
– public health agencies operating abroad should be allowed to offer family planning, contraception, and abortion in all countries that ask for those services. We oppose our government’s habit of cutting family planning funds when those funds go to agencies in foreign countries that give out contraceptive devices, offer advice on abortion, and perform abortions
– it encourages women and men to prevent unwanted pregnancies. It is the inalienable right and duty of every woman to learn about her body and to be aware of the phases of her menstrual cycle, and it is the duty for every man to be aware of the functions and health of his and his partner’s bodies. This information is necessary for self-determination, to make informed decisions, and to prevent unintended consequences. Unplanned conception takes control away from individuals and makes them subject to external controls
Human Engineering
Population control
The party states that:
– humans have a unique responsibility for stewardship of the Earth. No species, especially on the upper end of the food chain, can have unchecked exponential growth without depleting the Earth’s carrying capacity. Human population expands at the expense of other species
– limiting the discussion to population numbers and birthrates diverts attention from over-consumption in the industrial world and historic patterns of exploitation of developing countries
– consumption-oriented lifestyles have resulted in a minority of people consuming a majority of resources. This is as significant a threat to the Earth’s carrying capacity as the high birth rates in low-consumption countries
– current global demographics demonstrate that economic wellbeing promotes low birthrates.
– documented evidence suggests that when women have control over their lives, birthrates decrease
– a major barrier to the improvement of women’s reproductive health is a lack of shared responsibility between men and women in family planning
– higher human consumption rates and populations increase the pressure on the environment in every ecological problem area. Those living in the industrialized world must end the habits of waste and over-consumption that place as much stress on the environment as does population growth in developing nations
– funds must be allocated for expanded scientific research into safer and more effective birth control techniques and devices
Genetic engineering
The party states that since the efforts to clone animals — and eventually humans—has been undertaken by profit-making corporations, the purpose behind such projects is to manufacture commodities. To classify a human (or any part thereof, including human DNA and body organs) as a commodity is to turn human beings into property
Gender Identity & Election
The party states that:
– it affirms the right of all persons to self-determination with regard to gender identity and sex
– it affirms the right of choosing non-binary and gender fluid identification, and therefore supports the right of individuals to be free from coercion and involuntary assignment of gender or sex
Human Trafficking
The party states that:
– of the millions of humans trafficked worldwide, the large majority are women and children who are bought and sold as slaves. Most are sold over and over again for forced sex prostitution. Estimates of human trafficking in the U.S. vary greatly from 18,000 to 50,000 to over 100,000 with a worldwide estimate of 12.5 million
The party advocates:
– new U.S. legislation relating to prostitution modeled on the Swedish law passed in 1999, now adopted by other countries and being considered by more, that has drastically reduced human trafficking and prostitution in Sweden, which criminalizes the purchase of services from prostitutes, pimps and brothel keepers instead of criminalizing the prostitutes
– all efforts to eradicate this extreme abuse of human rights, including but not limited to enforcement of existing laws and passage of tough new ones, punishing traffickers, aiding victims, increasing public awareness, reforming immigration laws, supporting existing programs and creating new ones
– enforcement of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (HR 3244) signed into law on October 28, 2000. This Act authorizes funding for the prevention of trade in human beings and for protecting victims
The party has published no official statement of its positions on
– assisted suicide, or alternatives for patients and families
Libertarian Party Abortion
The party states that:
– recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, it believes that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration
– its silence about any particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval
The party has published no official statement of its positions on:
– euthanasia, assisted suicide, or alternatives for patients and families
– human engineering, including gender identity or election
Republican Party Sanctity of Life
Abortion & Alternatives for Mothers & Children
The party:
– advocates the Constitutional guarantee that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property,” and its application to unborn children
– supports amendment of the Constitution to affirm that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth
– opposes use of public funds to perform or promote abortion, or the sale of fetal body parts
– respects states’ authority to exclude abortion from Medicaid and other health care programs
– affirms the moral obligation to assist women who face unplanned pregnancy, and supports legislation that requires financial responsibility for the child be equally borne by both the mother and father upon conception until the child reaches adulthood
– supports funding for adoption assistance
– supports conscience rights for health care providers in providing abortions and euthanasia, or making referrals therefor
– supports the parental right of consent prior to abortions by minors
Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide
The party:
– opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide, including non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment including food and water, from individuals with disabilities, newborns, the elderly, and the infirm
– advocates restoration of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ban on the use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide
Human Engineering
Stem cell & embryo research
The party:
– supports non-embryonic stem-cell research
– opposes embryonic stem-cell research, and federal funding of it
– supports adult stem cell research and urges restoration of the national placental stem cell bank
Gender Election & Identity
The party condemns sex-selection abortions
Population & birth control
The party advocates:
– replacing ‘family planning’ programs in schools with courses in sexual risk avoidance which promote abstinence until marriage, in order to reduce unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted disease
– banning school-based referrals or counseling for abortion and contraception
Human trafficking
The party advocates:
– tough penalties for those who traffic in human beings
– use of the full force of the law against those who engage in commercial sexual exploitation and forced or bonded labor of men, women, or children; involuntary domestic servitude; trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal; and the illegal recruitment and use of child soldiers
– increased diplomatic efforts and accountability for foreign governments to prosecute traffickers, including penalties for any public officials who may be complicit in trafficking
– strategizing with partners around the world to prevent demand for trafficking victims
Points to Ponder Points to Ponder: Life & Human Dignity
Consider discussing the following questions with your local candidates, elected officials, and the parties, and with your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and fellow parishioners:
– If all souls are children of God, placed by God in this world to find their ways back to God and to help other souls in finding their own ways home, what limits should be placed on voluntary termination of human life, either prior to birth or at any time before death? What can or should be done at the federal level, and what should be left to the states, or to private, religious, or other non-profit organizations?
– What options are our society, including the church and other non-profit agencies in addition to government, offering, or able to offer, to reluctant or unwilling mothers as alternatives to abortion and to support unwanted children? What can or should be done at the local, or federal, or state level, or by private, religious, or other non-profit organizations?
– Are federal restrictions and controls on cloning and the use of human cells, fetuses, and body parts properly crafted? What, if anything, should be done differently including at the state level? Should there be more discussion of this serious moral issue in our society?
– To what extent should voluntary, elective services that are morally questionable to large numbers of individuals, such as the voluntary termination of life or the voluntary modification of gender, be financed publicly through mandatory taxation? If such services are to be offered, should they be financed by the individuals who elect to access them, or by sympathetic charities, or by dissenting taxpayers?