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A wide spectrum of issues touches on the protection of human life and the promotion of human dignity. …
Among important issues involving the dignity of human life with which the Church is concerned, abortion necessarily plays a central role. …
[Abortion’s] victims are the most vulnerable and defenseless members of the human family. It is imperative that those who are called to
serve the least among us give urgent attention and priority to this issue of justice. …
To focus on the evil of deliberate killing in abortion and euthanasia is not to ignore the many other urgent conditions that demean
human dignity and threaten human rights. Opposing abortion and euthanasia "does not excuse indifference to those who suffer from poverty,
violence and injustice. Any politics of human life must work to resist the violence of war and the scandal of capital punishment. Any
politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing and health care"
(Living the Gospel of Life, no. 23). We pray that Catholics will be advocates for the weak and the marginalized in all these areas.
~ Excerpted from USCCB’s Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life
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