What do you do when, after a long climb up a mountain path, you’ve reached the peak – and realize that it was only the first mountain that must be climbed? Do you dig your flag in the ground and declare victory? Do you turn back defeated? Or do you press on with renewed hope?
The Right to Life movement reached that long-sought mountaintop last June, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. It was a long climb, begun in 1973, yet it has become clear that this was not the end of the journey. Lawsuits, court decisions, popular referenda, elections and legal confusion have marked the last three months and promise to fill the months ahead. Catholics facing this reality have choices, but which do we choose? Press on, of course. But toward which of the mountains still ahead?
The answer depends on the goal of the pro-life journey. In the July 8 issue of Catholic News Herald, Bishop Jugis and other Catholic leaders described this goal:
“Our goal has been – and always will be – to enable and equip every woman with the support and resources she needs to welcome and care for her unborn child.” In the 49-year slog up the mountain, overturning Roe could seem like the goal. It was not. Welcoming, nurturing, educating and equipping children and families for a life of human dignity and solidarity has been – and always will be – the goal. Reaching it requires three connected strategies: legal protection of life; private, Church-supported assistance for mothers-to-be and their children; and family-supportive government policies.
Existing Catholic programs, such as pregnancy care centers, Catholic Charities, and shelters such as Catherine’s House and MiraVia in Belmont Abbey that support women and families are a major contribution to the second strategy. It is relatively easy for Catholics to see and support these first two strategies. The third is vital as well, but often controversial. It includes public social and economic policies that support mothers, children and families. This strategy significantly reduces the incentive for pregnant women to seek abortions, as it guarantees the support needed to raise their children in dignity.
As the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life said in its statement on Dobbs, public policies require guaranteeing accessible healthcare to all and preparing legislative measures to protect the family and motherhood. The academy stated, “We need solid assistance to mothers, couples and the unborn child that involves the whole community, encouraging the possibility for mothers in difficulty to carry on with the pregnancy and to entrust the child to those who can guarantee the child’s growth.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops echoed this affirmation: “It is a time for reasoned reflection and civil dialogue, and for coming together to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families, and where every woman has the support and resources she needs to bring her child into this world in love.”
In the Catholic tradition, support for children and family is not the sole responsibility of self-sufficient individuals – it is also the obligation of civil authorities. What might such a society and economy look like? What policies toward this end have Catholic Social Teaching and the USCCB promoted? The seven most impactful public responsibilities (briefly described) are:
1. Universal health insurance, which of course includes pregnant women and their unborn children, as well as other members of her family. Ever since Pope St. John XXIII’s encyclical, “Pacem in Terris” (1963), the Church has recognized healthcare as a human right. For the United States, this means guaranteeing public and private health insurance for all persons. For North Carolina, it means finally expanding Medicaid to all eligible persons under the Affordable Care Act.
2. A living wage, one sufficient to support a family in dignity, a right Catholics have recognized as far back as 1891 in Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum.”
3. Public support for families in the form of Child Tax Credits, SNAP (food stamp) benefits and the Earned Income Tax Credit supplements low wages. These programs should be designed and funded sufficiently to bring every family out of poverty.
4. Support for healthy and stable marriages entails ensuring fair tax burdens for working families, availability of marriage and family counseling, and mental health and addiction services for those in crisis.
5. Pope Francis’ mantra, “Tierra, Techo, Trabajo” (“Land, Lodging, Labor”) are also essential human rights. While policies 2, 3 and 4 above create the equivalent of “land and labor” by supporting work and stability, affordable housing policies at the federal, state and local levels ensure safe and healthy “Lodging.” Federal housing vouchers and state and local funding for building and maintaining low-income housing are part of what it means to be pro-life.
6. Although education of children is the primary responsibility of parents, Catholic teaching recognizes the government’s vital role. The current crisis of public education has many causes (poverty, racial discrimination, social media disruption, among others). Nevertheless, the requirement remains for social policies that help parents to educate their children, including higher salaries and suitable facilities in public schools and suitably designed public support for religious schools.
7. Finally, a particular challenge to raising children in the United States is a criminal justice system that incarcerates far too many persons, especially minorities.
The consequence is weakened family structures, increased poverty, child abuse and abortion. Criminal justice reform must be part of a comprehensive approach to family support.
It’s a long list, a journey with difficult climbs, but the goal remains the same: “To enable and equip every woman with the support and resources she needs to welcome and care for her unborn child.” From this new mountaintop, can we find a renewed hope to fuel commitment of energy, prayers, talents and resources to achieve the goal?
Deacon Clarke E. Cochran serves at St. Peter Church in Charlotte.