Justice and the Right to Life Respect, protect, love and serve life, Every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness. -Pope John Paul II

Please discuss in small groups: What does it mean to say that you are “pro-life”? What aspects of life are protected under that definition? Where do you stand?

What does the Church say about “life”? • God is the Author of Life from its beginning until its natural end. • All life is sacred from the moment of conception through natural death. • Humans do not enjoy absolute freedom of actions. The right to freedom is limited by consideration of others (both in the womb and in the world). • The family is the sanctuary where life is welcomed, protected and respected throughout the life cycle. • The “Consistent Ethic of Life” is at the heart of the Church’s teaching.

What is the Consistent Ethic of Life? First described by Cardinal Joseph Bernadin in 1983. He connected the Church’s underlying teaching of protecting life at every stage to the various threats to human life.

What are the identifiable threats to human life? The consistent ethic of life is a moral vision for life in community and is at the heart of the gospel, and the Church’s social teaching. From Guadium et Spes: Because of this essential sociality that orders society to the good of the person, society, in turn, bears a duty to foster, promote, and to protect human life - from conception to natural death. This Catholic ethic of life contradicts the current American legal system’s vision that maintains that human beings are a means and not an end in themselves. The moral law is at odds with the civil law. The threats to human life can at times be legal as well as technological. What are the identifiable threats to human life?

'The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death.’ If one contends, as we do, that the right of every fetus to be born should be protected by civil law and supported by civil consensus, then our moral, political and economic responsibilities do not stop at the moment of birth. Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed worker. The right to life and quality of life complement each other in domestic social policy.

Quarter 2 Project In Groups: Prepare a MINIMUM ten-minute in-class presentation on your groups specified topic. Be Creative! TOPICS: Euthanasia Contraception Abortion Death Penalty Cloning/Stem Cells Life Support Include a definition of your topic and any other necessary information, background information regarding the history of your topic, (including major names, dates, landmark court decisions), the Church’s stand and landmark Church decisions, and connect your topic to any applicable areas of Catholic Social Teaching and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. **You may include songs, or video, but any time dedicated to those will not be counted out of your 10 minutes.