"The Fundamental Good Is Life Itself"

On November 12, 2008, at the conclusion of the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Francis Cardinal George of Chicago released a statement congratulating President-elect Barack Obama and discussing Catholic concerns about the incoming administration. Cardinal George is the president of the USCCB, but he made it clear that "This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops."

Cardinal George's statement begins by quoting Psalm 127 and then pointing out the role of the Christian faith in advancing the common good:

"If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil." (Psalm 127, vs. 1)

The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historic transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all.

In order to advance the common good, however, we must as a nation have a proper understanding of that good, and here Cardinal George makes it clear that current political divisions undermine that understanding. He writes:

The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.

The legislation in question is the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), first proposed in Congress last session. FOCA would overturn all state "restraints and regulations on the abortion industry" and "coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars." President-elect Obama made the passage of FOCA a campaign promise.

The effects of FOCA would be far-reaching. As Cardinal George writes:

Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed, as would be laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions would be abrogated. FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human life.

FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities.

The Catholic Church in America must oppose FOCA, Cardinal George writes, because "It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil."

Reminding President-elect Obama of his stated desire for unity, Cardinal George notes:

If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. . . . Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.

Some Catholics have questioned why the Church places such an emphasis on abortion. Cardinal George explains:

Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected.

In other words, the widespread acceptance of legalized abortion makes government in the common good impossible.

Cardinal George notes that, on the question of life, "The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted." Catholics, and all Christians and others of good will, need to develop a similar single-heartedness. The measure of our society is how we treat the most innocent and vulnerable among us.