When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, our efforts to protect the unborn were not finished.
Attention to the sanctity of life in the womb quickly shifted to the state level. As has been the case in other states, there is a strong push in Virginia to enshrine abortion as a state constitutional right.
The idea that the right to abortion would be part of our state constitution should awaken us from any complacency about the plight of the unborn. It should frighten us to the point of inspiring us to wholeheartedly renew our advocacy for the unborn at the State Capitol.
With the legislative session underway, and as bills are being written and filed, the Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC), along with the Virginia Society for Human Life, is sponsoring the ecumenical fourth annual Virginia Pro-Life Day at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
The VCC advocates on behalf of our diocese and the Diocese of Arlington for public policy that aligns with Church teaching – policy that advances respect for life and human dignity from conception to natural death.
During Virginia Pro-Life Day, the primary focus will be on abortion. Participants will have the opportunity to meet with their legislators and express their opposition to legislation that expands abortion and to taxpayer-funded abortions.
Abortion is the preeminent life issue, but there are others within the consistent ethic of life that are firmly placed within Church teaching. For example, the VCC will continue to oppose any attempts to pass assisted suicide legislation.
Assisted suicide legislation is not a pro-life vs. pro-choice or faith vs. science issue. It is a practical issue for people with needs due to debilitating conditions and those suffering from mental illness. Rather than legislating an avenue that allows others to help them take their lives, we must do more to prevent suicide by addressing the factors that cause people to consider it.
Ideally, our Pro-Life Advocacy Day would address more of the issues within the consistent ethic of life, e.g., sanctity of one man-one woman marriage, voting rights and immigration, to name a few. It would be transformational to present legislators our concerns in each of these areas.
While I encourage you to join me, Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, Catholics from both dioceses, and people of other faiths at the Capitol on Jan. 29 (https://vaprolifeday.org/registration/), I know that it is not possible for everyone to attend.
Even if you cannot participate, I strongly urge you to be aware of what is happening in the General Assembly by following the work of the VCC at https://vacatholic.org and by taking time to contact your elected representatives when encouraged to do so. Your voice on these matters is critical to promoting and upholding the sanctity of life.
While much attention on protecting the lives of the unborn and their mothers has shifted from the national level to the state level, a national witness is still needed. I will be participating in the Vigil for Life and the National March for Life in Washington this Thursday and Friday, Jan. 23 and 24, respectively.
I invite you to join members of both Catholic dioceses and other religious denominations at the Virginia March for Life (https://marchforlife.org/virginia/), Wednesday, April 2, at the Capitol. This is an excellent opportunity to be a voice to our legislators on behalf of the unborn.
As Catholics, we are called to reach out to the vulnerable, e.g., those who are homeless, trafficked and unemployed or under-employed. These are life issues that also affect the human person. Yet, as Pope Francis wrote in 2015, “How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo [emphasis added], even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?” (“Laudato Si’”)
Continue to pray for the vulnerable, especially the unborn and their mothers, and pray, too, for our legislators at all levels of government, that they recognize the value of human life in its most innocent stage.