Were there to be no support in the whole history of ethical and moral thought, were there no acknowledged confirmation from medical science, were the history of legal opinion to the contrary, we would still have to conclude on the basis of God's Holy Word that the unborn child is a person in the sight of God. He is protected by the sanctity of life graciously given to each individual by the Creator, Who alone places His image upon man and grants them any right to life which they have.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Bishop Scharfenberger: Material Cooperation in Abortion is a Mortal Sin
The
public policy issue of defunding Planned Parenthood was the subject of
demonstrations and counter-demonstrations across the country this
weekend, including here in the Capital Region. Without question, Planned
Parenthood provides some morally unobjectionable health services to
women. However, this statement is not unlike saying that a man who beats his wife sometimes gives her flowers.
Planned Parenthood is the unquestioned number one provider of abortions
in our country. This is the primary “product” for which it is known. Abortion is not health care;
it is the intentional killing of a unique human person in his or her
mother’s womb. This is a scientific fact that has nothing at all to do
with religion or religious belief.
Consistent
with this scientific fact, the Catholic Church clearly teaches the
objective truth that abortion is a grave moral evil, and that material cooperation in abortion is a mortal sin.
Politicians: Let This Be Your Warning
When
individuals, particularly those in political office, gloss over or
ignore the core issue of whether or not taxpayers should be funding the
world’s largest abortion business by citing Planned Parenthood’s other
services, they are engaging in obfuscation that is, at best, confused
and, at worst, dishonest. And when such individuals publicly hold
themselves out to be Catholic, their local bishop has a responsibility
to offer correction, both for the well-being of the individuals’ souls
and to avoid scandal among the Catholic faithful.
Catholic Politicians: Renounce Their Public Support for Planned Parenthood
Such
is the unfortunate case that I, as the Bishop of Albany, find myself in
today. In a local protest over the weekend advocating for the continued
public funding of Planned Parenthood, three Catholic politicians – one
federal, one state, and one local – not only participated but spoke
passionately on behalf of maintaining such funding. And while any
judgment of these individuals’ hearts or souls is left only to God, I am entrusted with the solemn duty of reminding them of the unambiguous teaching of our faith on the matter of abortion,
informing them that it is inappropriate and confusing to the faithful
to hold yourself out publicly as a Catholic while also promoting
abortion, and challenging them to embrace the Gospel of Life and to renounce their public support for Planned Parenthood.
My
prayer is that these and other elected officials will come to see the
truth that abortion harms women and babies, and that they courageously
fight to defend the right to life of every human person from the moment
of conception until natural death.
