October is a month when the Catholic Church reminds us of our call to respect the life and dignity of all human persons. Leading up to "Respect Life Sunday," Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia has spoken out recently about the various forms that respecting life takes, especially with the prospect of health insurance reform in the US. In one letter, he says, "Each and every one of us has intrinsic and immeasurable worth. That is because God created each of us in his image by the outpouring of his infinite and unconditional love. In return he asks only that we share that love with others, beginning with those most in need – the poor, vulnerable, and despised of this world... In defending the right to life, our first duty is to oppose the direct taking of innocent human life – any human life, at any stage."
In another letter, he addresses health insurance reform as a right-to-life issue. He points out how this runs counter to such secular trends and beliefs, such as population control, physician-assisted suicide, and health care that is rationed based on income, citizenship, or quality of life. He states: "Such an attitude is deplorable, all the more so in the context of health care. Sanctioning discrimination in the quality of care given to different groups of people has no place in medicine, and directly contravenes the ethical norms under which Catholic hospitals and health care providers operate."
For more information, go to www.usccb.org/prolife.
Copyright © 2009, Deacon Carl D. Smith. All rights reserved. Reprint permission granted to parishes for use in Sunday bulletins.
