{"id":35127,"date":"2025-10-14T16:56:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=35127"},"modified":"2025-10-14T16:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:56:30","slug":"why-abortion-is-the-pre-eminent-moral-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/why-abortion-is-the-pre-eminent-moral-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Abortion Is the Pre-eminent Moral Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, originally published October 13, 2025, Human Life Internationa<\/a><\/em><\/strong>l<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship<\/em>, the U.S. bishops provide ethical guidance on the political responsibilities of Catholics. It assists Catholics, in light of the Church\u2019s teaching, to form their consciences and to learn about Catholic social doctrine on fundamental moral issues, which give shape to political, cultural, and social issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a pro-life leader, I am delighted with the strong language in the guide on the topic of abortion. \u201cThe threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority<\/em>,\u201d the introduction to the most recent version<\/a> of the guide states, \u201cbecause it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people are uncomfortable with this language. They argue that there are many threats to the sanctity of life in the U.S., and not just abortion. This includes such things as the rise of euthanasia, degrading treatment of immigrants, the use of the death penalty, the exploitation of workers, and more. Shouldn\u2019t these also be treated as among the \u201cpre-eminent\u201d issues for Catholic voters and politicians?<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

There is no question that these issues are of great importance, and that the Catholic Church has much wisdom to offer on them. Indeed, the Church\u2019s teachings are remarkably comprehensive and nuanced, offering the single most coherent understanding of ethics to be found anywhere: all built upon the fundamental principle of the dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God (cf., Gen 1:27; Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em><\/a>, 1700).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, however, we still find a great deal of confusion among the faithful (and indeed, even many clerics!) about why some issues are weighted more heavily than others. One of the greatest ongoing sources of confusion, is the U.S. Bishops\u2019 designation of abortion as the \u201cpre-eminent\u201d issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d ask many people, \u201cshould this be so?\u201d Can\u2019t a Catholic legislator devote his or her life to something as important as serving the poor, and thereby be considered a \u201cfaithful Catholic,\u201d even if he or she should happen to have \u201cpro-choice\u201d views on the topic of abortion? After all, time and time again Christ exhorted His followers to care for the poor, suggesting that this loving concern for the downtrodden is at the very core <\/em>of His ethical teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the argument one hears all the time in the media. One also hears it from comfortable Catholics and clerics who wish to curry favor with the world by hobnobbing with and raising up for adulation the wealthy and the powerful, who are more than happy to discuss \u201cthe poor,\u201d while pouring their billions into supporting some of the most virulent pro-abortion organizations on the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A False Dichotomy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first thing to note, is that this distinction between taking care of the poor, and being pro-life, is a false one. Who, after all, is more poor than the preborn child?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The preborn child not only possesses nothing of his or her own in terms of material possessions, but the child is also completely powerless. The preborn child depends completely upon the loving care of his mother and other caregivers for life itself. The preborn child cannot advocate for himself. He cannot respond to the sinister lies of powerful people who accuse him of being no more than a \u201cblob of tissue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is for this reason that St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) famously spoke with great passion about the plight of the preborn in her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech<\/a>, in which she spoke of how the world can do better in caring for the \u201cpoorest of the poor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n