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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Minnesota bishops emphasize ‘prenatal justice’ in November elections

Noting the June 24 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the high court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion across the country, Minnesota’s bishops released a statement calling on Catholics to make “how a candidate will work for prenatal justice a pre-eminent consideration” as they enter the voting booth Nov. 8.

“Prenatal justice is not simply being anti-abortion, though that is the foundation of the pro-life witness,” the bishops said in the statement posted Oct. 5 on the Minnesota Catholic Conference website.

“Prenatal justice means establishing right relationships between the mother and the unborn child in her womb, between society and the unborn child, and between society and the mother and father of the unborn child. As life begins in the womb, so must justice,” said the bishops, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Joseph Williams of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Protecting innocent children from abortion and ensuring that parents meet their obligations must include society ensuring that mothers and fathers are supported when necessary due to economic hardship, the bishops said. That means, among other things, policies that fund nutritional support for expectant mothers, adequate health care, child care assistance, housing support and other aids to parents and children, they said.

The high court’s June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, declaring there is no right to abortion protected by the U.S. Constitution, has returned the matter of abortion to the political process for deliberation, the bishops said.

“Will states allow the continued killing of innocent human life? What are our responsibilities to the child and the mother? How do we foster right relationships between them and the broader society for the common good? These are questions elected officials must answer as they work to foster prenatal justice,” the bishops said.

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“It would be a dereliction of duty for us as bishops to pretend as though the abortion question was not a focus of Minnesota’s election discourse this year, especially as Dobbs has changed the abortion landscape in this nation,” they said.

In Minnesota, all state legislative and executive officers are up for election, the bishops pointed out.

“What we seek to emphasize here is that, just as the bishops of the United States have identified the ending of abortion as a pre-eminent policy priority, so too should Catholic voters make protecting innocent human life and stopping abortion extremism a pre-eminent consideration in our voting calculus,” the bishops said.

“Unfortunately, many candidates are openly advocating for Minnesota to become an abortion sanctuary state with taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, as well as pledging to deregulate the abortion industry by removing safeguards put in place to protect women from medical malpractice or to protect teenage girls from ill-considered abortions,” they said.

“Far too many others, moreover, although professing to be pro-life on paper, are going out of their way to avoid talking about Minnesota’s future as a potential abortion sanctuary or what should be done to limit abortion, preferring to avoid the subject altogether,” the bishops said.

“In this situation, it is incumbent on the Catholic laity to be especially proactive in speaking to candidates about prenatal justice and supporting legislative and judicial efforts to limit abortion,” the bishops said. “The effect of proactive engagement with candidates, not just in this election cycle but also during their term in office, will give courage and political will to those who support pro-life policies in principle, and moderate the pro-abortion extremism of other candidates and elected officials.”

Signing the statement with Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Williams were Bishops Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Daniel Felton of Duluth, Donald Kettler of St. Cloud and Chad Zielinski of New Ulm.

 


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