January 22, 1997
We, as Catholic Bishops of Florida, join in and renew the appeal of John Paul II on this, the twenty-fourth anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. That decision, more than any other event, undermined our nation's guarantee of the "right to life" for all persons by giving governmental sanction to destroying innocent life within the womb. It paved the way for an individual's liberty and privacy interest to take precedence over the lives of children; it provided a pretext for the legal right to kill the most innocent and defenseless among us. That decision led not just to legalized abortion, even of a partially delivered baby, but to a culture accepting the arbitrary and discriminatory destruction of human life -- a culture that now seeks the legalization of assisted suicide for certain ill and elderly members of our society. "This culture [of death] is actively fostered by powerful, cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency." (The Gospel of Life, 12) Our challenge is to confront this utilitarian ethic, which sees each person not for his or her true value, but for what he or she can contribute to society. Under it, the unborn, the frail elderly, the vulnerable disabled and terminally ill are entitled to less care and protection than those who are healthy and productive. What we propose is the authentic ethic. It holds that each and every human being is precious and has an inherent value from the time of being formed in the womb by God's hand until taken by natural death. The founding document of our nation, the Declaration of Independence, pronounced this principle, which remained the law of this land until Roe v. Wade. The ethic we propose precedes even that document and is found in both the Old and New Testaments, forming the basis of Judaic and Christian morality. God took on human form in the person of Jesus. His humanity proclaims the inestimable value of every human from the moment of conception to natural death. Our salvation, personally and as a society, depends on our fidelity to one another. Jesus, our Redeemer, demonstrated the obligations we have to one another, both those we choose and those given to us. As we begin 1997, in preparation for the new millennium, we invite Catholics and all people of good will, parents and children, married and single, young and old, to offer this world new signs of hope. Let us work in families, parishes, churches and communities, reaching out to those most in need: pregnant women, poor children and families, the elderly, the infirm, and persons with disabilities. As we work for justice and solidarity among all, let us embrace a culture of life that protects the defenseless unborn and builds an authentic civilization of truth and love. John C. Favalora John J. Snyder John J. Nevins J. Keith Symons Norbert M. Dorsey Robert N. Lynch Agustin A. Roman |