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Politics & SocietyShort Take


THE U.S. BISHOPS AREN’T THE EXTREMISTS IN THE ABORTION DEBATE.

Richard M. DoerflingerOctober 05, 2022
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FILE - Abortion-rights protesters attend a rally following the United States
Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the federally protected right
to abortion, outside the state capitol in Lansing, Mich., Friday, June 24,
2022.  (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Editor’s note: This article is part of The Conversation with America Media,
offering diverse perspectives on important and contested issues in the life of
the church. Read other views on abortion and the reversal of Roe v. Wade, as
well as news coverage of the topic, here.

In the September issue of America, the esteemed Catholic author Peter Steinfels
wrote that the U.S. bishops “must explicitly separate themselves and the church”
from “extremism in the pro-life movement” and emphasize support for women as
well as children. I think the bishops are in fact doing these things, and I want
to raise the question of where extremism on this issue is more often found.

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A commonly cited example of extremism is the idea of bringing charges against
women who obtain or seek abortions. One state representative in Louisiana did
propose that, after the May 2 leak of the draft Dobbs opinion. But on May 12,
the leaders of 70 pro-life organizations landed on his proposal like a ton of
bricks, strongly repudiating it. The third signer of this open letter to “all
State Legislators in the United States of America” is the chairman of the U.S.
bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. The proposal has been withdrawn, and
state lawmakers across the country have been put on notice.

> 

Candidates who had described themselves as pro-life were subjected to attack ads
implying that they want to ban abortions even when the mother’s life is
endangered (a feature of no existing law).
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There has also been a backlash against some legislators and candidates who
assumed that their constituents, after almost half a century of judicially
imposed abortion on demand, would immediately be willing to support nearly
complete bans on abortion. Candidates who had described themselves as pro-life
were subjected to attack ads implying that they want to ban abortions even when
the mother’s life is endangered (a feature of no existing law).

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But when they removed such language from their websites and said they would
consider more modest laws that have broad support (e.g., laws against later-term
abortion), they were then attacked by major media outlets as “sneaky”
flip-floppers. The pursuit of overly ambitious agendas is generally
self-correcting in politics, especially in an election year (the legislation
from abortion proponents that I discuss below is an exception). Currently,
however, pro-life moderation does not seem to be stopping the attacks.

The U.S. bishops’ position, announced in their Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life
Activities, has been to support passage of laws to “restrict the practice of
abortion as much as possible.” The phrase “as much as possible” is important to
the discussion of extremism, as Pope St. John Paul II recognized in writing that
pro-life legislators can validly support incremental laws aimed at “limiting the
harm” of pro-abortion policies (“Evangelium Vitae,” No. 73).

> 

Pope St. John Paul II recognized in writing that pro-life legislators can
validly support incremental laws aimed at “limiting the harm” of pro-abortion
policies.
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In addition, the bishops have always said that changing laws is not enough by
itself. Since 1975 they have urged a three-pronged effort at education (directed
to Catholics and the general public), public policy and pastoral care—with
prayer given separate emphasis as a fourth prong in more recent editions of the
Pastoral Plan. Their most ambitious pro-life project in recent years is “Walking
with Moms in Need,” launched in 2020, but its full implementation was delayed by
the pandemic. It challenges dioceses and parishes nationwide to expand their aid
to pregnant women and their children, and to serve as accessible resources for
connecting these women and their families with social services, health care and
other needs. Some church programs provide support and accompaniment through the
child’s fifth birthday.

We should also be aware of the abortion proposals collectively supported by the
bishops (and by opponents of pro-life legislation) in Congress. Specifically,
the bishops support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (called H.R.
1080 in its current form), restricting abortion at 20 weeks or more after
fertilization (or the 22nd week of what physicians call gestational age). At
this stage, the child not only can feel pain but is fully formed and may be able
to survive outside the womb—and some studies suggest that abortion at this point
is a greater threat to the mother’s life than childbirth. This legislation has
exceptions for when a mother’s life is endangered, as well as for cases of rape
or cases of incest involving a minor. Yet abortion advocacy groups oppose it as
fiercely as though it were a complete ban on abortions, and it cannot get even a
committee hearing in the current Congress.

> 

On the pro-abortion side, extremism is very much in the driver’s seat—and
mainstream media protect it through bias and misinformation.
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What is moving forward instead? Something called the Women’s Health Protection
Act (H.R. 8296), which had been endorsed by dozens of pro-abortion organizations
(including Catholics for Choice). It has been approved twice by the House
(supported this year by all but one Democrat in that chamber) and is supported
by President Biden and by all but one Democrat (Joe Manchin of West Virginia) in
the Senate. Far more sweeping than Roe v. Wade, it attacks hundreds of modest
and widely supported state laws upheld under Roe on matters such as parental
notification, health regulations for clinics, informed consent and requirements
that abortions be performed by a licensed physician. Yet national news media
routinely misrepresent it as simply “codifying Roe.”



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Are there extremists on the fringe of the pro-life movement, as in all
movements? Yes. But on the pro-abortion side, extremism is very much in the
driver’s seat—and mainstream media protect it through bias and misinformation.
My hope is that Catholic journalism will provide a corrective. Meanwhile, the
U.S. bishops remain committed to principle—including the principle of respect
and support for both patients involved in abortion—as well as to recognizing
political realities in a pluralistic society. That deserves to be recognized and
emulated.

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More: Abortion / Pro-Life / Bishops
Richard M. Doerflinger

Richard M. Doerflinger worked for 36 years at the Secretariat of Pro-Life
Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is a fellow with the De
Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, and an
adjunct fellow in Bioethics and Public Policy with the National Catholic
Bioethics Center.


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