1. Question of the Day What two convictions are at the heart of the Catholic approach to issues involving human life? Please turn in the homework from last class, the last question on the chapter four notes.

2. Review of homework If human life is sacred and all human beings are equal, why do you think that the Church teaches that abortion and capital punishment violate human dignity?

3. Abortion If all human life is sacred, the all human beings have human dignity, whatever their state of development. A baby becomes a human being at the moment of conception, when the woman’s ovum and man’s sperm fuse or combine. Whether a child is born or unborn, that life is still sacred. That is why the Church teaches that abortion is ALWAYS wrong, no matter what the circumstances.

4. The circumstances of the birth of a child do not affect its sacredness. For this reason Church teaching opposes abortion, even in cases of rape.

5. Capital Punishment The sacredness of human life also applies to violent criminals. No matter what their crime may be, they are still made in God’s image. For that reason the Church generally opposes capital punishment, also called the death penalty.

6. Reflection questions Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? 1. A person who murders another person is less than human. 2. The purpose of criminal justice is to punish the criminal.

7. Article: Capital punishment Read the article and answer the questions. You have 20 minutes.

8. Retributive justice The belief that criminal justice is all about hurting the offender is called retributive justice. (Retribution is another way of saying revenge.) The biblical verse often used to support capital punishment is “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” What do you think that means?

9. Meditation: Matthew 5: 38 – 41 After listening to the verse, do you think Jesus would agree with retributive justice?

10. A “both-and” approach Most debates on abortion and capital punishment argue in terms of either or. Either we help choose the well being of the mother or the life of the baby. Either we preserve the criminal’s life because of his human dignity or we execute them to preserve the dignity of those harmed by him.

11. The Catholic approach seeks to protect the BOTH the well being of women AND the baby, to protect BOTH the well being of crime victims AND those who harm them.