An Open Letter
to Political Parties on the Drafting of Platforms for the 1996 Elections by the Catholic Bishops of New York State
As Catholic
leaders and as responsible citizens, we are deeply involved in works which
foster the dignity of each human life. The principle which guides our efforts is
that human life is sacred and worthy of our care. This is why we feed the
hungry, shelter
the
homeless, care for the aged and seek to protect unborn children.
We ask you, too, in drafting your platform, to make respect
for human life your touchstone, your focus, your reasoning, for every
position you hold. Never before in the history of our nation has this been more
urgently needed.
We urge you to reject a "pro-choice" position on abortion. For at the heart
of the abortion issue lies the question: "What is the moral value of each human
life?" And from the heart of the American, the Republican and
the Democratic traditions, we would suggest, comes the unequivocal answer -- all
human lives have equal dignity and value. No court, no legislature, no political
party can validly assign lesser value to the lives of some.
A "pro-choice" position, in any party's political platform, in effect means
acceptance of legal abortion throughout pregnancy and historically has led to
abortion on demand, even when unborn children are viable, even when brutal
methods unworthy of a civilized society are used.
A legal system which permits the destruction of unborn life denies the
humanity of the unborn and therefore denies the responsibility of government to
protect the inherent and inalienable rights of the unborn.
Similarly, we urge your platform to specifically reject policies which
condone euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Recent court decisions have
erroneously read into the Constitution an unprecedented "right" which allows one
person to facilitate the killing of another person. Such misguided judicial
activism severely erodes the value and dignity of human life.
Rather than assistance in dying, we urge your platform to promote assistance
in living, through expansion of hospice programs, pain management and palliative
care. It is only through such support and compassion that we will affirm the
dignity of life at every stage of existence.
Support for legal abortion and euthanasia is antithetical to the American
tradition of extending special care and support to the vulnerable to give them
truly equal opportunity. This is a tradition of which we are rightly proud
and rightly protective. We urge all political parties to shape their platforms
first and foremost by how they touch each human person. We ask you to attend to
the needs of vulnerable families and children, especially
the
unborn, the sick, the elderly and the poor. We ask you to respect the life and
enhance the dignity of all our brothers and sisters. A consistently pro-life
platform is the only truly inclusive position, upholding the inalienable
rights of all human beings.
John Cardinal O'Connor
Archdiocese of New York
Most Rev. Paul S. Loverde
Diocese of Ogdensburg
Most Rev. Matthew R. Clark
Diocese of Rochester
Most Rev. Henry J. Mansell
Diocese of Buffalo
Most Rev. Thomas V. Daily
Diocese of Brooklyn
Most Rev. John R. McGann
Diocese of Rockville Centre
Most Rev. Howard J. Hubbard
Diocese of Albany
Most Rev. James Moynihan
Diocese of Syracuse
Adopted June 14,1996
Transmitted July 24, 1996
