A time to uphold the right to life: Statement by the
Catholic Bishops of Ireland
On the second day of the June General Meeting of the
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Maynooth, the following statement has
been issued:
A time to reflect
On Saturday last, tens of thousands of women, men and
children gathered in Dublin to
express their support for the equal right to life of mothers and their unborn
children.
We are at a defining moment for our country.
The Gospel of life is at the heart of the message of Jesus.
He came that we may have life and have it to the full (Jn 10:10 ). The Gospel challenges us to work
for a world in which the dignity and beauty of every human life are respected.
A time to uphold the right to life
The right to life is the most fundamental of all rights; it
is the foundation of all other rights. No individual has the right to
destroy life and no State has the right to undermine the right to life.
Yet the Irish Government is proposing abortion legislation
that will fundamentally change the culture of medical practice in Ireland .
For the first time legislation will be enacted permitting the deliberate
and intentional killing of an unborn child. This represents a radical change.
Every citizen, not just people of faith, should be deeply concerned.
We value the skill and efforts of our doctors, nurses and
other care professionals who have helped to earn Ireland ’s
place as one of the safest countries in the world for mothers and their babies
during pregnancy.
Catholic Church teaching is clear: where a seriously ill
pregnant woman needs medical treatment which may put the life of her baby at
risk, such treatments are ethically permissible provided every effort is made
to save both the mother and her baby.
This is different from abortion, which is the direct and
intentional taking of the innocent life of the unborn. No matter what
legislation is passed in any country, abortion is, and always will be, gravely
wrong.
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