A missed opportunity to affirm life, dignity
During the summer and throughout the year, conventions roll into the City of Brotherly Love. One meeting in particular last weekend carried an admirable title. The Convention for the Common Good brought together in Philadelphia the representatives of many groups of Catholics dedicated to social justice and peace.
They agreed upon a public platform of solutions to issues ranging from immigration reform to economic justice to foreign policy. These solutions, the convention asserted, aimed to improve the common good of all Americans.
It was certainly a noble goal. A careful observer of the convention’s policy platform summary might note, however, that among its 624 eloquent words was a glaring omission of one: abortion. Buried in the fourth of five sections that present the platform are calls to “promote and protect life and all of the systems and supports that are required for life and human dignity.” The full published platform calls for government action to “promote policies that prevent and reduce abortions by supporting women and families.”
This scant language hardly constitutes a firm rejection of abortion. Clearly the convention platform did not give the issue the precedence and great gravity as did the U.S. Bishops in their document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”
Abortion represents the greatest annual loss of life in the United States today, and it is an affront to the dignity of the women and men who opt for this false choice. It cannot be glossed over and relegated to a peripheral issue, no matter how important the others may be. All threats to life and dignity must be confronted with utmost resolve, the grave threat to innocent human life paramount among them.
It is a shame the convention chose this course, because a good opportunity has been missed. The Catholics in attendance could have strengthened the bonds of collaboration with Catholics who do not share the same political convictions by giving the fundamental right to life the high priority it deserves. Their powerful witness to the inner unity of Catholic teaching, expressed by the Bishops of this country and throughout the world, could have stood as a sign that politics and policy must remain at the service of protecting the life and dignity of the human person.
Catholics of the political left or right should acknowledge a diversity of viewpoints but apply the truths of Catholic teaching consistently, together leading the way in the public debate. In the present atmosphere of polarized politics, Catholics can offer the country a witness of truth as we together work to protect all life and foster justice and peace.