Pro-Life Resources and Communications
from Supreme

Introduction: Every year Supreme sends out as part of the Council officers package the Surge...with Service program catalogue, (#962-03). We have copied the Pro-Life section below which lists several important activities for Pro-Life Chairmen/couples to initiate. It also offers many excellent and valuable Pro-Life resources Supreme makes available at no charge.

We present this here in order to help get this vital information Supreme has laid out into the hands of the Council Pro-Life Chairmen. Knights For Life uses this as our starting point and frame of reference for all our activities.


COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Shaping the World Around YouShaping the World
Around You

Wherever we live, whether New York or British Columbia, we all have our own perceptions of "community." Usually, these perceptions are formed by the concrete reality of the world immediately around us. It may be a bustling metropolis, a town, a tiny village, a large county, a broad rural area. It is the place we call home - with all its good and bad features, its beauty and ugliness, its strengths and weaknesses.

Every individual has a voice in shaping the world around him, and every individual can make that voice heard. Make your voice heard in your community. Do more than throw up your hands in despair over what's wrong with the world.

Your community offers limitless opportunity for action that can be seen, felt and judged for its true worth. Look for something that's needed and workable in your community - fight poverty, aid individuals with mental retardation, plant a tree, sponsor a blood pressure screening, support law enforcement, campaign for every baby's right to life, help the aged - whatever your community's needs, your members' interests and your council's resources allow. No matter what you choose. . . get involved!
 
PRO-LIFE


Join the Knights of Columbus Day of the Unborn Child observation held annually on the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25). On this event Knights and their families should pray, fast and work to restore respect and protection to the child before birth. Also consider sponsoring events to support pro-life organizations and/or promote the respect life cause.



State Convention Booth
Knights For Life booth at the 2004 Louisiana State Convention
April 30 - May 2



Organize a council pro-life program under the direction of the pro-life chair couple.

Send letters or personally contact your chaplain, pastor and members of the clergy offering whatever assistance they request in the fight against abortion.

March for Life. Each year, in conjunction with the January anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision of the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing abortion, thousands of pro-life supporters March for Life in Washington, D.C. Since 1973 the Knights of Columbus have been visible participants in this demonstration to demand legislative protection for the unborn. Send a delegation from your council to the March for Life in Washington. If you live too far away, organize or participate in a pro-life demonstration in your state capital or your own community on that day.

Promote and support the Order's pro-life efforts by displaying materials featuring the theme, "Defend Life." A billboard (#1938) and posters (#s 2531,2533, and 4238) are all available at no cost from the Supreme Council Supply Department. The billboard consists of 30 sheets and measures 21 1/2' x 9 1/2'. Allow 4 weeks for delivery. Other pro-life materials are described in the Supply Catalog (#1264).

Distribute the Church's teachings on the sanctity of life as outlined in the Study Guide to Evangelium Vitae (#2914). The guide has been prepared by the Knights of Columbus for groups and individuals who wish to become more familiar with the Church's teaching on the respect due human life as presented by Pope John Paul II in his 11th encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). Copies can be obtained for 25 cents per copy from the Supply Department.

Contact right-to-life committees or other pro-life organizations in your area. Work to coordinate your programs with those already in existence. Volunteer support, manpower, finances.

Create a public display of pro-life support. Place small white crosses in the lawn of your Council home or parish, representing the number of lives lost to abortion locally each year.

Promote letter-writing campaigns to the state and provincial legislatures. Bring stationery to council meetings and have members write letters on the spot. Letters should express your views clearly, firmly and courteously, ask questions and demand answers.

Raise funds for BIRTHRIGHT and similar pro-life organizations which help convince pregnant women to carry their babies to birth rather than to abort them. Volunteer manpower and services. For more information call: BIRTHRIGHT Inc., (770) 451-6336. In Canada call: BIRTHRIGHT/Grossesse-secours, (416) 469-1111. Other pro-life groups that provide assistance to women facing crisis pregnancies include: The Nurturing Network, (800) 866-4666, and National Life Center, Inc., (856) 848-1819.

Carry the pro-life message to youth through the CCD, high schools, colleges, Squires, Scouts, etc. Deliver speeches, distribute literature and sponsor pro-life essay and poster contests. arrange for a showing of pro-life films at council meetings, family events, community meetings. A listing of pro-life films and their distributors is available from the Supreme Council Department of Fraternal Services.

Criticize any and all pro-abortion programs sponsored by radio and television stations and ask for equal time dedicated to pro-life arguments.

Erect a memorial to children killed through abortion.


Knights For Life booth at the 2005 Louisiana State Convention
April 29 - May 1

Arrange petition-signing campaigns. Set a goal for signatures and keep working until that goal is attained.

Give gifts of thanks and congratulations to women who have "chosen life” by carrying their babies to term. On behalf of your council present new mothers with something as simple as the Knights of Columbus Congratulations Card (#2087, E, F, S, available at 2M each from the Supply department), or provide other practical gifts like diapers, food, blankets or clothing. Consider donating Christmas gifts to newborns and their single mothers temporarily housed in shelters. Work with local social service agencies or programs that counsel women to keep their babies or place them for adoption.

Sponsor a "Tree for Life" program to collect baby items/and supplies for unwed mothers and crisis pregnancy service centers.

Demonstrate publicly your pro-life stance by presenting savings bonds or other gifts to the first child born at your local hospital on Columbus Day or New Year's Day or the January anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Consider presenting roses from the council to all mothers attending Mass on Mother's Day.

Knights For Life booth at the 2006 Louisiana State Convention
 May 5-7


Pray the rosary to end abortion. This simple, yet effective act can have enormous impact. A poster urging the recitation of the rosary as a weapon against abortion (#2073) and a prayer card with a pro-life prayer by Pope John Paul II on the back (#2072) are available at no charge from the Supply Department.

Offer your rosaries publicly outside abortion clinics. Individuals or groups peacefully praying the rosary outside such facilities are highly visible and effective.

SUPREME KNIGHT’S REPORT
121ST Annual Supreme Council Meeting –
August 5th, 2003 – Washington, D.C.

(Pages 18 -20)

‘A PEOPLE OF LIFE AND FOR LIFE’

Recently, Pope John Paul said,
“There can be no true peace without
respect for life, especially if it
is innocent and defenseless as is that of
the unborn child. Elementary coherence
requires those who seek peace to
safeguard life. No pro-peace activity
can be effective unless attacks on life at
all its stages, from conception until
natural death, are as energetically
opposed.” The pro-life movement, he
said, is an “authentic peace movement”
precisely because of its constant
efforts to protect life.

“Building a World of Justice and
Mercy, Freedom and Peace” must
include building a world where the
rights of the innocent unborn are protected.
When that is done, justice and
mercy, freedom and peace will follow.
With eloquent simplicity, Mother
Teresa said much the same thing in
her famous address at the National
Prayer Breakfast here in Washington in
1994. “The greatest destroyer of peace
today is abortion,” she said.

This past year saw positive gains
for the pro-life movement. We must
capitalize on these successes to restore
the right to life for all from conception
to natural death. Our efforts to make a
difference for life are working.

Nowhere do we stand stronger for
life than when we stand together each
Jan. 22 at the March for Life. I cannot
tell you how proud I am to see thousands
of Knights and family members
marching shoulder to shoulder here in
Washington in defense of life. At this
year’s March for Life we not only provided
thousands of our “Defend Life”
posters, but we also collaborated with
the U.S. bishops and a new group, the
Women Deserve Better Campaign, to
provide posters, bus and subway signs
and other advertisements that read,
“Women Deserve Better than
Abortion.”

We know how important standing
strong for life is in each of our countries:
in Canada where the culture of
death has made deep inroads; in the
Philippines where a tradition of strong
family values is under attack; in
Mexico where the bishops are leading
the way in protecting the unborn.
But it is in the United States that
victories for life have recently been
achieved and where further opportunities
to safeguard life may be possible
this year.

On the 30th anniversary of Roe v.
Wade it was all too clear that this
Supreme Court would not change this
terrible decision. And so, my brother
Knights, we must change the Supreme
Court.

We must be prepared in the coming
months to do all we can to confirm
new judges should vacancies occur on
the court.

Tragically, the confirmation of federal
judges is being blocked by U.S.
senators who demand that every
federal judge publicly pledge support
for Roe v. Wade. This goes far beyond
the Senate’s proper responsibility in
the confirmation process.

Roe v. Wade has never achieved
unanimous support among legal scholars
— far from it! In 1973, the distinguished
Harvard Law School professor
John Hart Ely wrote in the Yale Law
Review that Roe v. Wade is a “very bad
decision…. It is bad because it is bad
constitutional law, or rather because it
is not constitutional law and gives
almost no sense of an obligation to try
to be” (Yale Law Review, vol. 82, p.
947, 1973).

But by far the best analysis of Roe
v. Wade was made at the time it was
issued in the dissent from it by the
distinguished justice of the Supreme
Court, Byron White. He wrote: “I find
nothing in the language or history of
the Constitution to support the court’s
judgment. The court simply fashions and
announces a new c o n s t i t u t i o n a l
right…. As an exercise of raw judicial
power, the court perhaps has authority
to do what it does today; but in my
view its judgment is an improvident
and extravagant exercise of power.”

Yet, today these legal scholars
would fail the litmus test imposed by
pro-abortion extremists in the Senate.
But I say to you now: Justice White
was right in 1973 and he is still right
today!

The Knights of Columbus will be
forever proud that it was a brother
Knight and the first Catholic president
of the United States who nominated
Justice White to the Supreme Court.
Is it not a shameful irony of history
that were Justice White today nominated
to the Supreme Court it would
be pro-abortion Catholic senators who
would work to filibuster and block his
confirmation?

We must not allow them to succeed.
 
Every council must have an active
and dedicated pro-life chaircouple and
every council must be prepared to support
new judges who will vote to overturn
Roe v. Wade. To help focus new
energies and attention on the pro-life
cause at this critical time, we have
launched a new and extensive training
program for Knights of Columbus prolife
chaircouples. The program is
called “Building a New Culture of
Life.” It includes a video that instructs
grassroots leaders on how to effectively
communicate the pro-life message
and how to mobilize pro-life action.
Additionally, from the Supreme
Council office we will be communicating
regularly with our pro-life leaders
via “Legislative Alerts.” When
these alerts are received we expect the
word to spread throughout the Order
that a critical life issue is at hand. We
expect to bring the full force of our
members to bear on the decisions of
our legislators on these issues.

We are entering a new, higher level
of involvement in the pro-life movement
in the United States and
throughout the world. The need is
urgent and our timing is on target.
We will be playing a key role in
pro-life action in the coming weeks
and months. We need pro-life leaders
who can get the word out and inspire
others to take action for life.
Shortly after the March for Life, I
represented you at a Feb. 5 Capitol Hill
press briefing calling for a comprehensive
ban on human cloning. Along
with other prominent public policy,
religious and political leaders, I signed
my name to a manifesto that seeks to
protect the sanctity of life in this new
biotech area. This protection must
begin with a ban on human cloning for
any reason. Cloning cannot enhance
human dignity; it can only negate it.
We applaud congressional action on
this issue, and we expect decisive,
definitive action from our elected officials
in the near future.

The congressional elections here in
the United States this past fall resulted
in decisive pro-life victories, and the
Knights of Columbus played a large
part in this. As always, our approach
was decidedly nonpartisan. Just prior
to the election the Knights ran fullpage
ads in several key states and
nationwide in USA Today urging voters
to “Vote Pro-life this election.”
Among the states where the ad ran
were New Hampshire, Texas,
Colorado, Florida, Missouri and South
Dakota.

In almost all the states where we
placed these ads, voters elected pro-life
candidates and defeated pro-abortion
incumbents and challengers. In contrast,
the National Abortion and
Reproductive Rights Action League,
one of this country’s leading pro-abortion
advocacy groups, lost 18 of the 19
federal races it listed as priorities.
In addition, we lent support to the
Susan B. Anthony List, an organization
that supports pro-life women in politics.
The pro-life movement is winning
huge and important victories. The
momentum is ours and we must not
be afraid to let it take us where it
leads. The protection of human life is
one of the key values of the civilization
of love we all seek.

Among our other pro-life activities
this past year were the following:

Participation in a televised town
hall forum on life issues on EWTN last
January.

Assistance to the bishops’ conferences
of Canada, Mexico, the
Philippines and the United States for
education and information campaigns.
Distribution of the U.S. bishops’
“Respect Life” month informational
packet to all U.S. councils.
And financial assistance to various
pro-life groups, including Life
Athletes, Birthright, the Nurturing
Network, the National Life Center,
Americans United for Life, the Human
Life Foundation, the National Office of
Post-Abortion Reconciliation and
Healing, and the National Right to Life
Committee and Education Trust Fund,
and Seminarians for Life.

This past March 25 we celebrated
the second international Knights of
Columbus Day of the Unborn Child.
At St. Mary’s, the event was marked by
a live telecast on EWTN of a rosary
prayer service for life, followed by
Benediction. We received reports from
numerous councils about their own
programs to celebrate unborn life on
the feast of the Annunciation. In just
two years this program has taken hold
throughout the Order. We plan to have
the 2004 celebration of the Knights of
Columbus Day of the Unborn Child at
the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception.

Another program that shows our
unity on life issues is our “One Life,
One Rose” running of the pro-life silver
rose from Canada to Mexico. As
the sculpted silver rose makes it way
from council to council it is the focus
of Masses and prayer services.
On Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady
of Guadalupe, I joined brother
Knights from Texas, Oklahoma
and throughout Mexico when the
rose was enthroned in the
Basilica of Our Lady of Gudadalupe
in Monterrey, Mexico. The silver
rose has again started its journey.
I encourage as many councils as
possible along its route to lend
their support to this effort.

This year marked the 15th anniversary
of our sponsorship of the North
American session of the Pontifical John
Paul II Institute for Studies on
Marriage and Family here in Washington.
During that time 199 students
have graduated from the institute with
advanced degrees in the theology of
marriage and family and these Catholic
scholars continue to make an uncompromised
commitment to family and
pro-life efforts.

As I conclude this section of my
report I refer again to the homily delivered
on the National Mall by Pope John
Paul II during his first pastoral visit to
the United States in 1979. The Holy
Father spoke as forcefully about life as
Dr. Martin Luther King did about civil
rights approximately 25 years earlier.
The pope urged everyone to stand up
for life.

He said: “We will stand up every
time that human life is threatened.
When the sacredness of life before
birth is attacked, we will stand up and
proclaim that no one ever has the
authority to destroy unborn life. When
a child is described as a burden or is
looked upon only as a means to satisfy
an emotional need, we will stand up
and insist that every child is a unique
unrepeatable gift of God, with the
right to a loving and united family.”

I ask you, I ask all Knights and families,
to stand up as one in solidarity
with the pope in building a culture of
life!


10/23/2002

Knights of Columbus Chief Executive
Urges Catholics and All Pro-lifers to
Vote Their Convictions

New Haven — Make a difference by making pro-life the number one priority at the polls.

Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson is urging Catholics, and all those who are pro-life, to be guided by their pro-life convictions in the upcoming elections.

"Respect for and protection of all human life, including the most vulnerable among us, is not just one value among others," Anderson said. "It is the standard by which we measure all other values. For this reason, while many other issues must be considered in any election, the pro-life issue must take first place. This election, I urge all those who are pro-life to help get out the vote, go to the polls and vote your pro-life convictions."

With over 1.6 million members, the Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization.

Anderson continued: "There are many facets to the pro-life movement, many ways to help build the Culture of Life. Certainly one of the most important is working to elect leaders who will uphold the inherent dignity of all human life, especially the most vulnerable among us - from the innocent unborn child to the elderly and ill facing death. As Catholics and as pro-lifers, it is our responsibility to elect to office such individuals, regardless of party affiliation. With new threats to human dignity on the horizon, including human cloning and destructive embryo research, the need to be guided by our pro-life principles at the polls is all the more urgent. Catholics and the larger pro-life community can make a difference this Election Day by making pro-life our number one priority at the polls."

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic service organization, with more than 1.6 million members in nearly 12,000 local councils. It provides members and their families with volunteer opportunities in service to the Catholic Church, the community, families and young people. In 2001, Knights of Columbus at all levels of the organization raised and distributed a record $125 million to charitable causes and volunteered 58.9 million hours of service.

http://priestsforlife.org/elections/kofcelection.htm

March 2004

At the Service of Life
by Bishop Donald Wuerl

The pope underscores the age-old truth that good ends
do not justify evil means

In this article:
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third and final part of an article on Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) and an installment in our ongoing series on the pope's major writings. The complete text of Evangelium Vitae, which was released March 25, 1995, the feast of the Annunciation, can be found at the Knights' official Web site: www.kofc.org, and at the Vatican Web site: www.vatican.va.

In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II offers us spiritual, moral and pastoral guidance regarding an extended range of technological developments. His voice challenges us to respond by doing what we ought to do rather than just what we can do.

When we address the question today of medical research in its many developing forms and face the extent of options provided by scientific technology, we need to ask the question if the end justifies any means. We cannot be content to know what we can do but rather we must ask the more significant question: What is the morally correct thing to do?

Early on in the encyclical the pope praises efforts in medical science yet urges researchers and practitioners to be faithful to the Gospel of Life (26.4). Concluding the encyclical, he cites the "unique responsibility" of those in healthcare services (89.2).

Pope John Paul II reaches out to a
young child during a visit to the
Pontifical Academy for Life in
February 2003.

In weighing the morality and ethical consequences of creating and then destroying a human embryo for medical purposes, John Paul points out that "the number of embryos produced is often greater than that needed for implantation in the woman's womb, and these so-called 'spare embryos' are then destroyed or used for research which, under the pretext of scientific or medical progress, in fact reduces human life to the level of simple 'biological material' to be freely disposed of" (14.1).

Stem-cell research has all of the potential for good as any legitimate scientific advance. Yet it has an equally huge capability for immense moral, spiritual, medical and human devastation. Embryonic stem-cell research that involves the deliberate destruction of a human embryo, which is life at its early stage, is a grave moral evil and incompatible with the Gospel of Life.

 Stem-Cell Research

In the ongoing debate on embryonic stem-cell research the issue has often been presented in highly emotional terms. Advocates use language selectively to highlight the good end of healing and hide the bad means of killing. The image of a child struggling with diabetes is placed in the balance against what is described as clumps of microscopic cells. One national news magazine appeared to dismiss the entire moral aspect of stem-cell research by labeling one side "embryonic research" and the other "pro-life politics."

To make an informed moral judgment about one of the most important issues we face today, we need to know why there is a moral prohibition against using evil means to achieve an otherwise good end.
 What Are Stem Cells?

A stem cell is an unspecified cell that can renew itself and give rise to one or more specialized cell types that have specific functions in the body. It is the potential of stem cells to develop into a range of tissues that makes them so attractive to researchers.

While stem-cell research may not head the list of our daily concerns, it is an issue that will determine how our society views human life — whether or not we will see life as a good in itself. To state that the end — even if it is potential relief of long standing illnesses — justifies destroying embryos for their stem cells is to launch us headlong down a slippery slope on a moral toboggan with neither a steering bar nor brakes.
 Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells

At the very beginning of human life after the male sperm cell and female egg come together to form an embryo, there come into being human cells that scientists tell us are undifferentiated. Stem cells at this stage are called embryonic stem cells because they are located in a human embryo.

Yet embryos are not the only source of stem cells. There are a number of alternative sources that hold out realistic hope for cures and treatments of diseases and illnesses and are also morally licit, since they do not involve the destruction of innocent human life.

Stem cells from adult tissues that are committed to turning into a limited number of cell types — such as liver, brain or blood — are called adult stem cells. Some scientists assert that not only are adult stem cells more readily available, but they also are more effective in treating disease. Stem cells derived from placenta or umbilical cord blood also have proven to be effective.

Originally it was theorized that stem cells from these various sources would be ineffective because they are limited in their ability to become various types of cells. However, these non-embryonic stem cells have been successfully differentiated into needed tissue and are already healing human illnesses. Research on embryos, on the other hand, is still literally in the conceptual stage.
 The Church's Moral Teaching

The Catholic Church is not opposed to medical and scientific advances, and always has been a supporter of legitimate healing therapies that relieve human suffering. Yet it also supports the Hippocratic Oath of the medical profession that states, "Do no harm."

When we speak of human embryos, we are not talking about a mere cluster of cells. Human embryos grow into full-term babies and full-size adults. To kill at an early stage is to kill all possibility of the later stage.

What the Church, as the conscience of society, calls for is moral reflection on the use of human embryos for stem-cell research. No scientific, technological, and medical development and advance should take place divorced from human conscience and moral consideration.

Once we admit the demonstrable scientific fact that we are dealing with the continuum of human life, we are not free to treat embryos the same way we would treat cancer tissue or even a laboratory rat.

We are not the creators and must not be the destroyers of life, which is sacred. God alone has the right to determine who lives and who dies. We are stewards not masters of human life. Even when we put on sterilized gloves and work with technologically advanced equipment we do not become the arbiters of human life.
 Living With the Consequences

If our society announces that it will determine at what point a human life can be used for the benefit of another then a maelstrom of moral evils may be released.

Already there are those who argue that since "surplus" embryos are going to be destroyed anyway, we should be free to do with them what we will. Would that principle apply to anyone who is terminally ill? This is the same principle that was used to justify human experimentation on prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.

There are those who maintain that scientific advances should not be restrained by moral considerations. In a way, this is a new wrinkle in the over-extension of the idea of separation of Church and state. It is the separation of moral reflection from scientific studies.

We hear often the claim that much good will come from this research. Yet to abandon the tenet that the end does not justify any means puts us on a fast track toward moral anarchy.

As the pope concludes Chapter 4, "For a New Culture of Human Life," he reminds us: "To be truly a people at the service of life we must propose these truths constantly and courageously from the very first proclamation of the Gospel, and thereafter in catechesis, in the various forms of preaching, in personal dialogue and in all educational activities. Teachers, catechists and theologians have the task of emphasizing the anthropological reasons upon which respect for human life is based. … We shall find important points of contact and dialogue also with non-believers, in our common commitment to the establishment of a new culture of life" (82.1).
 The Church Speaks Out

We cannot proceed along the road of scientific development without moral reflection or ethical judgment. The Church is the voice of Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit. It is the task of the Church, as it is of all the members of society, to be alert to the wisdom of God when it offers ethical and moral reflection on what we are capable technologically of doing.

We cannot allow our technology to outstrip our morals. The two need to go forward together. Our capability to develop and use technology and science must always be done within the context of God's plan, the natural moral order. To be truly human means to make decisions reflective of the moral order and not based on the emotional appeal of what works for me right now.

As we have seen previously in our study of John Paul's Veritatis Splendor (December 2003), to be truly free is to do freely what is good and right.

Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh is a member of Duquesne Council 264.


Copyright © Knights of Columbus. All rights reserved.





From the February 5, 2004 Issue of Knightline:

Roe Anniversary Marked by Optimism

Pro-Life Commitment Growing,
Especially Among Youth, says Anderson

In a statement marking the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson issued the following statement. In it, he said there is reason for hope in ongoing efforts at building a culture of life, noting in particular the passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in the US last fall.

The complete text of Supreme Knight Anderson's statement follows:

“Each year on Jan. 22, we pause to remember the millions of unborn children whose lives were lost, and the millions of women whose lives were damaged, because of Roe v. Wade. “

That Supreme Court decision 31 years ago has rightly been called one of the worst in our nation's history. It is a decision that ignores the truth: the truth about unborn children, about women, and most of all, about human life and human nature itself. Even Norma McCorvey - the `Roe' of Roe v. Wade - now rejects the decision and the culture of abortion on demand that it established.

“This past year saw the enactment of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban. Although it is being challenged in the courts, enactment of the ban marked the first time an abortion procedure has been banned since Roe v. Wade. Pro-life commitment continues to grow among the American people, particularly with those who have grown up with Roe v. Wade but now reject its extreme violence and cynical view of women.

“Abortion is a sign of a failure to respect the lives and the dignity of women and children. The pro-life movement will always insist that a nation that proclaims as self-evident the inalienable right to life can and must do better than abortion.”