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{{Short description|Ideology opposing abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and some or all wars}}
The '''Consistent Life Ethic''' is an ethical, religious, and political ] based on the premise that all life is sacred.<ref>Bernardin, Joseph. ''Consistent ethics of life'' 1988, Sheed and Ward</ref> The ethic's adherents are opposed to ], ], ], economic injustice, and ]. Adherents are opposed, at the very least, to ], while some adherents also profess ], or opposition to all war. Some also extend the concept of a "consistent ethic of life" to encompass animal rights and vegetarianism.
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
The '''consistent life ethic''' ('''CLE'''), also known as the '''consistent ethic of life''' or '''whole life ethic''', is an ideology that opposes ], ], ], and ]. Adherents oppose war, or at the very least ]; some adherents go as far as full ] and so oppose all war.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/opinion/sunday/catholics-and-the-power-of-political-communion.html?_r=1 | work=New York Times | title=The Power of Political Communion | date=15 September 2012 | access-date=18 September 2012 | first1=Molly | last1=Worthen}}</ref> Many authors have understood the ethic to be relevant to a broad variety of areas of ] as well as ] issues.<ref name="Overberg2006">{{cite book |last1=Overberg |first1=Kenneth R. |title=Ethics and AIDS: Compassion and Justice in a Global Crisis |date=2006 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-5012-4 |page=28 |language=en}}</ref> The term was popularized in 1983 by the ] prelate ] in the United States to express an ideology based on the premise that all ] and should be protected by law.<ref name="Bernardin, Joseph 1988">Bernardin, Joseph. ''Consistent ethics of life'' 1988, Sheed and Ward</ref> While there are many adherents, CLE is not exclusively but primarily a Catholic doctrine and/or associated with the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fitch |first=Eric J. |date=2006 |title=The seamless garment: is a 'consistent life ethic' without consideration of the environment inconsistent? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ier.2006.053948 |journal=Interdisciplinary Environmental Review |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=80 |doi=10.1504/ier.2006.053948 |issn=1521-0227}}</ref>


==History==
An important early proponent of the Consistent Life Ethic was ] of ], though he did not coin the term.<ref>Bernardin, Joseph. ''Consistent ethics of life'' 1988, Sheed and Ward, p. v</ref>
The phrase "consistent ethic of life" was used as far back as a 1971 speech delivered by then-Archbishop ] of Boston.<ref name="Gregg">{{cite news | last=Gregg | first=Samuel | title=The Consistent—and Not So Seamless—Ethic of Life | website=Catholic World Report | date=13 August 2015 | url=http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/4098/the_consistentand_not_so_seamlessethic_of_life.aspx | access-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620215240/https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2015/08/13/the-consistent-and-not-so-seamless-ethic-of-life/ |archive-date=2017-06-20}}</ref>{{Christian Democracy sidebar}}
Bernardin and other advocates of this ethic sought to form a consistent policy that would link abortion, capital punishment, economic injustice, euthanasia, and unjust war.<ref>Bernardin, Joseph. ''Consistent ethics of life'' 1988, Sheed and Ward</ref> Bernardin sought to unify conservative Catholics (e.g., who opposed abortion) and liberal Catholics (e.g., who opposed capital punishment) in the ]. By relying on fundamental principles, Bernardin also sought to coordinate work on several different spheres of Catholic ]. In addition, Bernardin argued that since the 1950s the church moved against its own historical, ] exceptions to the protection of life. "To summarize the shift succinctly, the presumption against taking human life has been strengthened and the exceptions made ever more restrictive."<ref> Bernardin, Joseph. ''Consistent ethics of life'' 1988, Sheed and Ward</ref>


===Eileen Egan===
In the United States, four organizations have promoted the "consistent ethic of life" approach, including both Catholic groups (e.g., the ]), and broader coalitions, such as Consistent Life, founded in 1987 as the ] Network. The ethic and its organizational expressions are difficult to define in terms of the conventional U.S. political spectrum, since those who subscribe to the ethic are often at odds with both the right wing over capital punishment, war, and economic issues, as well as the left wing over abortion, embryo-destructive research, and euthanasia.
In 1971, the ] pacifist ] coined the phrase "seamless garment" to describe a holistic reverence for life.<ref name="Dear 2005" /><ref name=Leach>{{cite news |url=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/soul-seeing/cardinal-bernardin's-gift-fits-all-sizes |last=Leach |first=Michael |title=Cardinal Bernardin's gift fits all sizes |work=National Catholic Reporter |date=6 November 2012 |access-date=25 July 2017}}</ref> The phrase is a ] reference from John 19:23 to the ], which his executioners left whole rather than dividing it at his execution. The seamless garment philosophy holds that issues such as abortion, capital punishment, militarism, euthanasia, social injustice, and economic injustice all demand a consistent application of moral principles valuing the sanctity of human life. "The protection of life", said Egan, "is a seamless garment. You can't protect some life and not others." Her words were meant to challenge members of society who divided their commitment to protecting and cherishing human life, choosing anti-war stances but not anti-abortion work, or those members of the ] movement who were in favor of capital punishment.


===J. Bryan Hehir===
Notable exponents, according to the Consistent Life organisation, include actor ], novelist ], the current ] ], and Village Voice columnist ].<ref> ( Accessed May 1, 2007)</ref>
], staff writer for the ] on political affairs, is credited by ] with coining the term "consistent ethic of life"<ref>{{cite book | last=Curran | first=C.E. | title=Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian | publisher=Georgetown University Press | series=Moral Traditions series | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-58901-363-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NiRok8QcSnoC&pg=PA103 | access-date=25 July 2017 | page=103}}</ref><ref>Other attribute the term to Bernardin himself, eg. {{cite book | last1=Cosacchi | first1=D. | last2=Martin | first2=E. | title=The Berrigan Letters: Personal Correspondence between Daniel and Philip Berrigan | publisher=Orbis Books | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-60833-631-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5ycCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT13 | access-date=25 July 2017 | page=13}}</ref>


===Cardinal Joseph Bernardin===
In 1971, ] ] ] used ]'s phrase the ], referring to to describe a holistic reverence for life. "The protection of life," said Egan, "is a seamless garment. You can't protect some life and not others." Her words were meant to challenge members of the ] movement, as well as those who are in favor of ], to adopt a consistent life ethic. Egan's view was that there is a unity of Catholic teaching when it comes to human life.
Cardinal ] of ] helped publicize the consistent life ethic idea, initially in a lecture at Fordham University, December 6, 1983. At first Bernardin spoke out against nuclear war and abortion. However, he quickly expanded the scope of his view to include all aspects of human life. In that Fordham University lecture, Bernardin said: "The spectrum of life cuts across the issues of genetics, abortion, capital punishment, modern warfare and the care of the terminally ill."<ref name="ReferenceA">Overberg, Kenneth R. S.J.:"A Consistent Ethic of Life", Catholic Update, St. Anthony's Press, 2009</ref> Bernardin said that although each of the issues was distinct, nevertheless the issues were linked since the valuing and defending of (human) life were, he believed, at the center of both issues. Bernardin told an audience in Portland, Oregon: "When human life is considered 'cheap' or easily expendable in one area, eventually nothing is held as sacred and all lives are in jeopardy."<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Bernardin drew his stance from New Testament principles, specifically of forgiveness and reconciliation, yet he argued that neither the themes nor the content generated from those themes were exclusively Christian.<ref name="Walter, James J 2005">Walter, James J. and Shannon, Thomas A.: ''Contemporary Issues in Bioethics: A Catholic perspective'', Rowan and Littlefeild Publishers, 2005.</ref> By doing this, Bernardin attempted to create a dialogue with others who were not necessarily aligned with Christianity.

Bernardin and other advocates of this ethic sought to form a consistent policy that would link abortion, capital punishment, economic injustice, euthanasia, and unjust war.<ref name="Bernardin, Joseph 1988" /> Bernardin sought to unify conservative Catholics (who opposed abortion) and liberal Catholics (who opposed capital punishment) in the United States. By relying on fundamental principles, Bernardin also sought to coordinate work on several different spheres of Catholic ]. In addition, Bernardin argued that since the 1950s the church had moved against its own historical, ] exceptions to the protection of life. "To summarize the shift succinctly, the presumption against taking human life has been strengthened and the exceptions made ever more restrictive."<ref name="Bernardin, Joseph 1988" />

===Growth and present-day activity===
The non-profit organization Consistent Life Network, founded in 1987 as the Seamless Garment Network, promotes adherence to the ethic through education and non-violent action.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vision & Mission|url=https://www.consistentlifenetwork.org/mission|access-date=2021-02-07|website=consistent-life|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Member Organizations|url=https://www.consistentlifenetwork.org/member-orgs|access-date=2021-02-07|website=consistent-life|language=en}}</ref> Individual endorsers belonging to the organization include Father ], theologian ], ''Village Voice'' columnist ], Father ], actress ], '']'' founder ], death penalty activist Sister ], pastor and activist Patrick Mahoney, author ], ] ] and Nobel Peace Prize laureates ] and ].<ref name="endorsers">{{cite web|title=Consistent Life Individual Endorsers As of January 9, 2017|url=http://www.consistent-life.org/clsigners.pdf|website=Consistent Life Network|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> ], for ten years (1994–2004) President of ], an anti-abortion organization, is the director of the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis, the research arm of Consistent Life Network.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.consistent-life.org/research.html |title=Institute for Integrated Social Analysis |publisher=Consistent Life Network |access-date=9 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Derr | first1=M.K. | last2=MacNair | first2=R. | last3=Naranjo-Huebl | first3=L. | title=Prolife Feminism: Yesterday and Today | publisher=Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Association | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-4134-9577-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z35RPgAACAAJ}}</ref>

The Network also consists of member groups such as Rehumanize International, created under the name Life Matters Journal by Aimee Murphy in 2011.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Camosy |first=Charles |date=18 May 2017 |title='Consistent Life Ethic' needed to change attitudes on abortion |work=Crux |url=https://cruxnow.com/interviews/2017/05/18/consistent-life-ethic-needed-change-attitudes-abortion |access-date=20 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Graham|first=Ruth|date=11 October 2016|title=The New Culture of Life|language=en-US|work=Slate|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/cover_story/2016/10/the_future_of_the_pro_life_movement.html|access-date=10 April 2017|issn=1091-2339}}</ref> Secular Pro-Life, ], the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL), and All Our Lives (a pro-contraception feminist group), ] (led by ]), and the ], a ] political party, are all additional members.<ref name="Hedges2020">{{cite journal |author1=James Hedges |author-link=James Hedges |title=Prohibition Platform incorporates a Consistent Life Ethic |journal=National Prohibitionist |date=June 2020 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=4 |publisher=Mercersburg Printing |language=en |issn=1549-9251}}</ref><ref name="Hughes">{{cite news|last=Hughes|first=Mariann|date=30 October 2016|title=The search for a third way in U.S. politics|work=Our Sunday Visitor|url=https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/Article/TabId/535/ArtMID/13567/ArticleID/20947/The-search-for-a-third-way-in-US-politics.aspx|access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Complete Platform|url=http://www.solidarity-party.org/complete-platform|access-date=2 February 2017|website=American Solidarity Party}}</ref><ref name="Halper 2016">{{cite news|last=Halper|first=Daniel|date=9 June 2016|title=WH Denies Endorsement Will Intimidate FBI Investigators|work=Weekly Standard|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/wh-denies-endorsement-will-intimidate-fbi-investigators/article/2002757|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610140434/http://www.weeklystandard.com/wh-denies-endorsement-will-intimidate-fbi-investigators/article/2002757|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 June 2016|access-date=11 February 2017}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=About|url=https://www.newwavefeminists.com/about|access-date=11 February 2017|website=New Wave Feminists}}</ref> These organizations collaborate with Consistent Life Network for activism and volunteer outreach efforts.

Along with the ], the ], a ] in the United States, endorses a consistent life ethic.<ref name="Hedges2020"/>

The ] promotes the ], which their endorsers also claim to mean the consistent ethic of life, through publications, volunteer efforts, and declarations. Several Catholic dioceses have groups created with the aim of promoting the consistent life ethic in their communities and putting it into practice.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Culture Of Life {{!}} USCCB|url=https://www.usccb.org/committees/pro-life-activities/culture-life|access-date=2021-02-07|website=www.usccb.org}}</ref> The ], established by ] and ], is an organization primarily aimed towards grassroots organization and volunteer work to serve the poor, marginalized, and those facing unexpected pregnancies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Catholic Worker Movement|url=https://www.catholicworker.org/cw-aims-and-means.html|access-date=2021-02-07|website=www.catholicworker.org}}</ref>

Other prominent authors who have written in support of the consistent life ethic include ],<ref>{{cite web |last=Pavone |first=Frank |url=http://www.priestsforlife.org/columns/4378-the-consistent-ethic-of-life-myths-and-realities |title=The Consistent Ethic of Life: Myths and Realities |website=Priests for Life |date=1 January 1999 |access-date=25 July 2017}}</ref> ],<ref name="Dear 2008">{{cite web | last=Dear | first=John | title=The Consistent Ethic of Life | website=FatherJohnDear.org | date=15 July 2008 | url=http://www.fatherjohndear.org/articles/the_consistent_ethic.html | access-date=9 March 2017 }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="Dear 2005">{{cite book | last=Dear | first=J. | title=The God of Peace: Toward A Theology of Nonviolence | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-59752-112-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xE5LAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA158 | access-date=9 March 2017 | page=158ff}}</ref><ref name="endorsers-web">{{cite web | title=Consistent Life Network Endorsers | website=Consistent Life Network | url=http://www.consistentlifenetwork.org/endorsers | access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sider|first1=Ron|title=Completely Pro-Life|date=1987|publisher=Intervarsity Press|isbn=978-0-8308-1706-1}}</ref> ],<ref name="Hedges2020"/> ],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Campolo|first1=Tony|title=Who is Really Pro-Life?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-campolo/who-is-really-prolife_b_31947.html|access-date=13 January 2017|work=Huffington Post|date=18 October 2006}} (revised 25 May 2011)</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Merritt|first1=Jonathan|title=Tony Campolo hits hard on abortion, gay marriage, Israel and more|url=http://religionnews.com/2013/12/17/tony-campolo-hits-hard-hot-button-issues/|access-date=13 January 2017|work=Religion News Service|date=17 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="Pally" /> ],<ref name="Pally">{{cite news|last1=Pally|first1=Marcia|title=The New Evangelicals: How Christians are rethinking Abortion and Gay Marriage|url=http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/12/28/3399068.htm|access-date=13 January 2017|work=Australian Broadcasting Commission|date=28 December 2011}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite letter |last=Berry |first=Wendell |date=22 June 1986 |subject=The consequences of treating a fetus as a human being: Reader survey on abortion |work=Whole Earth Review |url=http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/nvp/consistent/whole-earth.html |access-date=8 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Berry |first=Wendell |title=The failure of war}}</ref><ref name="endorsers-web" /> and ].<ref name="Pally" /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Claiborne|first1=Shane|title=A Dialogue on What it Means to be Pro-Life|url=https://www.redletterchristians.org/a-dialogue-on-what-it-means-to-be-pro-life/|website=Red Letter Christians|access-date=13 January 2017|date=22 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Claiborne|first1=Shane|title=The Irresistible Revolution|year=2006|url=https://archive.org/details/irresistiblerevo00clai|url-access=registration|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=9780310266303}}</ref>

==Views==
===Abortion===
{{Abortion in the Catholic Church}}
Bernardin considered opposition to abortion to be an integral part of the consistent life ethic. In a 1988 interview with ], he stated, "I feel very, very strongly about the right to life of the unborn, the weakest and most vulnerable of human beings. I don’t see how you can subscribe to the consistent ethic and then vote for someone who feels that abortion is a 'basic right' of the individual. The consequence of that position would be an absence of legal protection for the unborn."<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 1988 |title=BERNARDIN: Chicago's Pastor on Consistency and the '88 Vote |work=National Catholic Register |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/bernardin-put-life-first |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

Many consistent life ethic adherents advocate for increased ] for parents in addition to legal protection for the unborn.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chandler |first=Michael Alison |date=19 January 2018 |title='Badass. Prolife. Feminist.' How the 'pro-life feminist' movement is straddling the March for Life and Women's March |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/01/19/this-weekend-many-members-of-the-growing-pro-life-feminist-movement-plan-to-attend-both-the-march-for-life-and-the-womens-march/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

Advocates for the consistent life ethic have reacted positively to the release of the landmark '']'' decision (2022), which overruled both '']'' (1973) and '']'' (1992).<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Loughlin |first=Michael J |date=24 June 2022 |title='We thank God today': Catholics react to the end of Roe v. Wade |work=America Magazine |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/06/24/roe-overturned-catholic-reactions-243239 |access-date=22 August 2022}}</ref> According to Herb Geraghty of Rehumanize International, "Right now is clearly a moment for celebration, and for mourning the lives that have been lost in the last 50 years due to the ''Roe v. Wade'' decision."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schermele |first=Zachary |date=29 June 2022 |title=For anti-abortion LGBTQ groups, Roe's reversal is a 'human rights victory' |work=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/anti-abortion-lgbtq-groups-roes-reversal-human-rights-victory-rcna35716 |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

===Capital punishment===
{{See also|Catholic Church and capital punishment}}
In a 1977 statement following the '']'' decision—which reaffirmed the ] acceptance of the use of the ]—Bernardin wrote, "Many have expressed the view that in this day of increasing violence and disregard for human life, a return to the use of capital punishment can only lead to further erosion of respect for life and to the increased brutalization of our society."<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 February 1977 |title=Archbishop Bernardin Opposes Death Penalty |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/02/04/archbishop-bernardin-opposes-death-penalty/58957866-d294-4250-b2ec-7444d61e8b5a/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

Bernardin's opposition to ] was rooted in the conviction that an atmosphere of respect for life must pervade a society, and resorting to the death penalty would not support this attitude.<ref>Bernardin, Cardinal Joseph A.: ''The Seamless Garment: Writings on the Consistent Ethic of Life'' Orbis Books, 2008.</ref> Modern-day adherents to the consistent life ethic continue to oppose the use of capital punishment; in this advocacy, some echo Bernardin's appeal to the ], while others emphasize the relationships between class, ] to argue that there is not a way for capital punishment to be used justly.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Costello |first=Carol |date=28 May 2014 |title=Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty? |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/14/opinion/costello-pro-life-pro-death-penalty/index.html |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rehumanize {{!}} On Capital Punishment |url=https://www.rehumanizeintl.org/capital-punishment |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=Rehumanize International}}</ref>

One outspoken anti-death penalty activist is Sister ]. Her books '']'' and ''The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account to Wrongful Executions'' are autobiographical accounts of the time she spent ministering to death row inmates.<ref>], and Zunes, Stephen: ''Consistently Opposing Killing: from abortion to assisted suicide, the death penalty and war'', pages 58–60. Praeger Publishers, 2008.</ref>

===Health care===
Bernardin understood the consistent life ethic as implying a societal responsibility to provide adequate health care for all, especially the poor.<ref>{{cite speech |last=Bernardin |first=Joseph Cardinal |date=1985 |title=The Consistent Ethic of Life and Health Care Systems |conference=Foster McGaw Triennial Conference |location=Chicago, IL }}</ref><ref>{{cite speech |last=Bernardin |first=Joseph Cardinal |date=18 May 1986 |title=The Consistent Ethic of Life: The Challenge and the Witness of Catholic Health Care |location=Catholic Medical Center Jamaica, New York |url=http://priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bernardinjamaica.html |access-date=29 July 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite speech |last=Bernardin |first=Joseph Cardinal |date=4 October 1986 |title=Address: Consistent Ethic of Life Conference |location=Portland, Oregon |url=http://priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bernardinportland.html |access-date=29 July 2017 }}</ref>

As such, appeals to the consistent life ethic have been made in support of ].<ref name="LIC-2009">{{cite journal | title=On health care, a consistent ethic of life | journal=The Long Island Catholic | volume=48 | issue=23 | date=30 September 2009 | url=http://www.newspaper.licatholic.org/editorial/health-care-consistent-ethic-life | access-date=2 February 2017 | archive-date=3 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203083326/http://www.newspaper.licatholic.org/editorial/health-care-consistent-ethic-life | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===In vitro fertilization===
] is a process in which multiple viable ]s are created, and a single one implanted, with the extra ones frozen for potential future use. After the parents stop paying the storage fees for these, they are discarded, which has been opposed by anti-abortion advocates.{{ r | MJ_2022-07-01 }}

Herb Geraghty, executive director of the secular group Rehumanize International, which promotes the consistent life ethic, said, "We should not intentionally end the life of a human being, regardless of where they are in their lifecycle, in a womb or in a fertility lab",{{ r | MJ_2022-07-01 }} but also that he does not know what should be done with the "thousands of human beings who are currently frozen against their will."<ref name=MJ_2022-07-01>{{Cite news |last=Butler |first=Kiera |date=1 July 2022 |title=IVF Worked, and 2 Embryos Remain. Soon She May Not Be Allowed To Decide What Happens to Them. |work=] |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/07/ivf-worked-and-2-embryos-remain-soon-she-may-not-be-allowed-to-decide-what-happens-to-them/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

===Abuse of alcohol and other drugs===
{{Further|Temperance movement}}
], in an article titled "Prohibition Platform incorporates a Consistent Life Ethic," stated that "Alcohol in many ways causes 'premature deaths,' and it degrades the quality of life before death."<ref name="Hedges2020"/> However, with the exception of the ], most organizations that embrace a consistent life ethic do not take a stance on the prohibition of alcohol.<ref name=":1" />

===Refugees===
The consistent life ethic has been invoked to include care for immigrants and refugees.<ref name="Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good 2014">{{cite web | last=Scribner | first=Todd | title=The Gospel of Life and the Catholic approach to the refugee crisis | website=Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good | date=31 July 2014 | url=http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/refugeecrisis | access-date=2 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203162217/http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/refugeecrisis | archive-date=3 February 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="LIC-2009" /><ref name="Adkins">{{cite news | last=Adkins | first=Jason | title=Catholic Spirit: Border children and a consistent ethic of life | website=Minnesota Catholic Conference | date=13 August 2014 | url=https://mncatholic.org/catholic-spirit-border-children-consistent-ethic-life/ | access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="Kangas 2015">{{cite web | last=Kangas | first=Billy | title=Keeping "Pro-Life" Consistent | website=The Orant | date=22 January 2015 | url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/billykangas/2015/01/keeping-pro-life-consistent.html | access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref> While not directly appealing to the consistent life ethic, other Catholics have sought to apply the pro-life ethic to the issue of immigration.<ref>{{cite web |last=Snyder |first=L. |display-authors=etal|title=Catholic Leaders to Congress: Immigration Reform is a Pro-Life Issue |date=20 January 2015 |publisher=Faith in Public Life |url=http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/immigrationlife/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329173750/http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/immigrationlife/ |archive-date=29 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Allen 2014">{{cite news | last=Allen | first=John L. Jr. | title=Immigration reform becomes a Catholic 'pro-life' cause | work=Boston Globe | date=5 April 2014 | url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2014/04/05/immigration-reform-becomes-catholic-pro-life-cause/2XHiTpDhrKL8pWqreakpwI/story.html | access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Winters 2015">{{cite news | last=Winters | first=Michael Sean | title=Catholic leaders push immigration as pro-life issue | work=National Catholic Reporter | date=21 January 2015 | url=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/catholic-leaders-push-immigration-pro-life-issue | access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref>

==Criticisms==
One criticism made of the consistent life ethic position is that it inadvertently helped provide "cover" or support for politicians who supported legalized abortion or wanted to minimize this issue, a circumstance that Bernardin himself both recognized and deplored.<ref>{{cite news|first=Ronald N.|last=Neff|url=http://www.sobran.com/columns/2005/050816.shtml |title=The "Seamless Garment" Revisited |work=Sobran's |date=16 August 2005 |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref><ref name=Gregg /> A critic of ], ] rejected the claims that the consistent life ethic had been created to cover up for abortion rights, saying that Bernardin was "a committed pro-lifer". He still criticized the concept as a legacy of what he considers to be Bernardin's "culturally accommodating Catholicism".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Weigel |first=George |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/02/the-end-of-the-bernardin-era |title=The End of the Bernardin Era: The rise, dominance, and decline of a culturally accommodating Catholicism |magazine=First Things |date=February 2011 |access-date=25 July 2017}}</ref>

The concept of a consistent life ethic is often rejected in the United States and abroad by those who prefer to use the concept of a ] as was promoted by ] and ] in their encyclicals. Archbishop ] of Los Angeles dismissed the "seamless garment" approach in 2016 because in his view it results in "a mistaken idea that all issues are morally equivalent".<ref>{{cite news | author=Staff Reporter | title=Archbishop Gomez: The Root Violence in Our Society Is the Violence Against the Most Vulnerable | work=National Catholic Register | date=4 February 2016 | url=http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/archbishop-gomez-the-root-violence-in-our-society-is-the-violence-against-t | access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref> The "seamless garment" approach was also criticized by then-] while he was serving as Prefect of the ]. In a July 2004 letter written to now former-] and to the United States Bishops as a whole, Cardinal Ratzinger makes it clear that the church does not treat capital punishment with the same moral weight that it does abortion and euthanasia: "Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion...There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles {{!}} EWTN|url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/worthiness-to-receive-holy-communion-general-principles-2153|access-date=2020-10-19|website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network|language=en}}</ref>

Jesuit magazine '']'' stated in an article published on 6 December 2023 that the consistent life ethic, generally speaking, has been a failure, writing: "Depressingly, 40 years since Cardinal Bernardin first proposed the consistent ethic of life, the ethic remains mired in the same senseless, polarized partisanship that Bernardin proposed the ethic to overcome."<ref></ref>


==See also== ==See also==
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==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist|32em}}

*Byrnes. "The Politics of the American Catholic Hierarchy" ''Political Science Quarterly'', 1993
==Sources==
*J. T. McHugh. ''Building a Culture of Life: A Catholic Perspective'' Christian Bioethics, 2001 (Taylor & Francis)
* {{cite book |last=Bernardin |first=Joseph |title=Consistent ethics of life |date=1988 |publisher=Sheed and Ward }}
*] '']'', 2004
* Byrnes, Timothy A. "The politics of the American Catholic hierarchy". ''Political Science Quarterly'' 108 (3): 497. 1993.
*McClintock, Jamie S., and Perl, Paul. "The Catholic 'Consistent Life Ethic' and Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment and Welfare Reform." ''Sociology of Religion''. 62(2001): 275–299
*McCormick, Richard A. "The Quality of Life, the Sanctity of Life." The Hastings Center Report 8, No 1 (1978): 30–36.
*McHugh, J. T. "Building a Culture of Life: A Catholic Perspective". ''Christian Bioethics'', 2001 (Taylor & Francis)
*]. '']'', 2004.

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last1=Arner | first1=R. | last2=Sebastian | first2=J.J. | title=Consistently Pro-Life: The Ethics of Bloodshed in Ancient Christianity | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-60608-612-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ABxMAwAAQBAJ}}
* {{citation | last=Bernardin | first=Joseph | title=A Consistent Ethic of Life: An American-Catholic Dialogue | date=6 December 1983 | url=https://www.hnp.org/publications/hnpfocus/BConsistentEthic1983.pdf}}
* {{cite news | last=Bruenig | first=Elizabeth | title=The Roots of Pro-Lifers' Dangerous Rhetoric | magazine=New Republic | date=1 November 2015 | url=https://newrepublic.com/article/124829/roots-pro-lifers-dangerous-rhetoric | access-date=2 February 2017}}
* {{cite web | last=Christian | first=Sarah | title=Posts about Consistent Life Ethic | website=Millennial | date=18 June 2014 | url=https://millennialjournal.com/tag/consistent-life-ethic/ | access-date=2 February 2017}}
* {{cite web | last=Rauch | first=Erik | title=A Consistent Life Ethic (Seamless Garment) | website=MIT CSAIL | url=https://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/nvp/consistent.html | access-date=2 February 2017}}
* {{cite web | last=Rauch | first=Erik | title=Index of Consistent Life Ethic Articles | website=MIT CSAIL | url=http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/nvp/articles.html | access-date=2 February 2017}}
* {{cite magazine | author=Seamless Garment Network |date=March–April 1994 |title=We, the undersigned, are committed to the protection of life |magazine=Mother Jones Magazine | page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UucDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT14}}
* {{cite book | last=Sider | first=R.J. | title=Completely Pro-Life: Building a Consistent Stance on Abortion, The Family, Nuclear Weapons, The Poor | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2010 | orig-year=1987 | isbn=978-1-60899-956-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9FMAwAAQBAJ | access-date=9 March 2017}}


==External links== ==External links==
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Latest revision as of 02:33, 18 December 2024

Ideology opposing abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and some or all wars

The consistent life ethic (CLE), also known as the consistent ethic of life or whole life ethic, is an ideology that opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Adherents oppose war, or at the very least unjust war; some adherents go as far as full pacifism and so oppose all war. Many authors have understood the ethic to be relevant to a broad variety of areas of public policy as well as social justice issues. The term was popularized in 1983 by the Catholic prelate Joseph Bernardin in the United States to express an ideology based on the premise that all human life is sacred and should be protected by law. While there are many adherents, CLE is not exclusively but primarily a Catholic doctrine and/or associated with the Catholic Church.

History

The phrase "consistent ethic of life" was used as far back as a 1971 speech delivered by then-Archbishop Humberto Medeiros of Boston.

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Eileen Egan

In 1971, the Catholic pacifist Eileen Egan coined the phrase "seamless garment" to describe a holistic reverence for life. The phrase is a Bible reference from John 19:23 to the seamless robe of Jesus, which his executioners left whole rather than dividing it at his execution. The seamless garment philosophy holds that issues such as abortion, capital punishment, militarism, euthanasia, social injustice, and economic injustice all demand a consistent application of moral principles valuing the sanctity of human life. "The protection of life", said Egan, "is a seamless garment. You can't protect some life and not others." Her words were meant to challenge members of society who divided their commitment to protecting and cherishing human life, choosing anti-war stances but not anti-abortion work, or those members of the anti-abortion movement who were in favor of capital punishment.

J. Bryan Hehir

J. Bryan Hehir, staff writer for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on political affairs, is credited by Charles Curran with coining the term "consistent ethic of life"

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago helped publicize the consistent life ethic idea, initially in a lecture at Fordham University, December 6, 1983. At first Bernardin spoke out against nuclear war and abortion. However, he quickly expanded the scope of his view to include all aspects of human life. In that Fordham University lecture, Bernardin said: "The spectrum of life cuts across the issues of genetics, abortion, capital punishment, modern warfare and the care of the terminally ill." Bernardin said that although each of the issues was distinct, nevertheless the issues were linked since the valuing and defending of (human) life were, he believed, at the center of both issues. Bernardin told an audience in Portland, Oregon: "When human life is considered 'cheap' or easily expendable in one area, eventually nothing is held as sacred and all lives are in jeopardy."

Bernardin drew his stance from New Testament principles, specifically of forgiveness and reconciliation, yet he argued that neither the themes nor the content generated from those themes were exclusively Christian. By doing this, Bernardin attempted to create a dialogue with others who were not necessarily aligned with Christianity.

Bernardin and other advocates of this ethic sought to form a consistent policy that would link abortion, capital punishment, economic injustice, euthanasia, and unjust war. Bernardin sought to unify conservative Catholics (who opposed abortion) and liberal Catholics (who opposed capital punishment) in the United States. By relying on fundamental principles, Bernardin also sought to coordinate work on several different spheres of Catholic moral theology. In addition, Bernardin argued that since the 1950s the church had moved against its own historical, casuistic exceptions to the protection of life. "To summarize the shift succinctly, the presumption against taking human life has been strengthened and the exceptions made ever more restrictive."

Growth and present-day activity

The non-profit organization Consistent Life Network, founded in 1987 as the Seamless Garment Network, promotes adherence to the ethic through education and non-violent action. Individual endorsers belonging to the organization include Father Daniel Berrigan, theologian Harvey Cox, Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff, Father Theodore Hesburgh, actress Patricia Heaton, L'Arche founder Jean Vanier, death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, pastor and activist Patrick Mahoney, author Ken Kesey, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. Rachel MacNair, for ten years (1994–2004) President of Feminists for Life, an anti-abortion organization, is the director of the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis, the research arm of Consistent Life Network.

The Network also consists of member groups such as Rehumanize International, created under the name Life Matters Journal by Aimee Murphy in 2011. Secular Pro-Life, Democrats for Life of America, the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL), and All Our Lives (a pro-contraception feminist group), New Wave Feminists (led by Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa), and the American Solidarity Party, a Christian Democratic political party, are all additional members. These organizations collaborate with Consistent Life Network for activism and volunteer outreach efforts.

Along with the American Solidarity Party, the Prohibition Party, a minor political party in the United States, endorses a consistent life ethic.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops promotes the culture of life, which their endorsers also claim to mean the consistent ethic of life, through publications, volunteer efforts, and declarations. Several Catholic dioceses have groups created with the aim of promoting the consistent life ethic in their communities and putting it into practice. The Catholic Worker Movement, established by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, is an organization primarily aimed towards grassroots organization and volunteer work to serve the poor, marginalized, and those facing unexpected pregnancies.

Other prominent authors who have written in support of the consistent life ethic include Frank Pavone, John Dear, Ron Sider, James Hedges, Tony Campolo, Joel Hunter, Wendell Berry, and Shane Claiborne.

Views

Abortion

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Bernardin considered opposition to abortion to be an integral part of the consistent life ethic. In a 1988 interview with National Catholic Register, he stated, "I feel very, very strongly about the right to life of the unborn, the weakest and most vulnerable of human beings. I don’t see how you can subscribe to the consistent ethic and then vote for someone who feels that abortion is a 'basic right' of the individual. The consequence of that position would be an absence of legal protection for the unborn."

Many consistent life ethic adherents advocate for increased social support for parents in addition to legal protection for the unborn.

Advocates for the consistent life ethic have reacted positively to the release of the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision (2022), which overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). According to Herb Geraghty of Rehumanize International, "Right now is clearly a moment for celebration, and for mourning the lives that have been lost in the last 50 years due to the Roe v. Wade decision."

Capital punishment

See also: Catholic Church and capital punishment

In a 1977 statement following the Gregg v. Georgia decision—which reaffirmed the United States Supreme Court's acceptance of the use of the death penalty in the United States—Bernardin wrote, "Many have expressed the view that in this day of increasing violence and disregard for human life, a return to the use of capital punishment can only lead to further erosion of respect for life and to the increased brutalization of our society."

Bernardin's opposition to capital punishment was rooted in the conviction that an atmosphere of respect for life must pervade a society, and resorting to the death penalty would not support this attitude. Modern-day adherents to the consistent life ethic continue to oppose the use of capital punishment; in this advocacy, some echo Bernardin's appeal to the sanctity of life, while others emphasize the relationships between class, race and capital punishment to argue that there is not a way for capital punishment to be used justly.

One outspoken anti-death penalty activist is Sister Helen Prejean. Her books Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account to Wrongful Executions are autobiographical accounts of the time she spent ministering to death row inmates.

Health care

Bernardin understood the consistent life ethic as implying a societal responsibility to provide adequate health care for all, especially the poor.

As such, appeals to the consistent life ethic have been made in support of universal health care.

In vitro fertilization

In vitro fertilization is a process in which multiple viable embryos are created, and a single one implanted, with the extra ones frozen for potential future use. After the parents stop paying the storage fees for these, they are discarded, which has been opposed by anti-abortion advocates.

Herb Geraghty, executive director of the secular group Rehumanize International, which promotes the consistent life ethic, said, "We should not intentionally end the life of a human being, regardless of where they are in their lifecycle, in a womb or in a fertility lab", but also that he does not know what should be done with the "thousands of human beings who are currently frozen against their will."

Abuse of alcohol and other drugs

Further information: Temperance movement

James Hedges, in an article titled "Prohibition Platform incorporates a Consistent Life Ethic," stated that "Alcohol in many ways causes 'premature deaths,' and it degrades the quality of life before death." However, with the exception of the Prohibition Party, most organizations that embrace a consistent life ethic do not take a stance on the prohibition of alcohol.

Refugees

The consistent life ethic has been invoked to include care for immigrants and refugees. While not directly appealing to the consistent life ethic, other Catholics have sought to apply the pro-life ethic to the issue of immigration.

Criticisms

One criticism made of the consistent life ethic position is that it inadvertently helped provide "cover" or support for politicians who supported legalized abortion or wanted to minimize this issue, a circumstance that Bernardin himself both recognized and deplored. A critic of Joseph Bernardin, George Weigel rejected the claims that the consistent life ethic had been created to cover up for abortion rights, saying that Bernardin was "a committed pro-lifer". He still criticized the concept as a legacy of what he considers to be Bernardin's "culturally accommodating Catholicism".

The concept of a consistent life ethic is often rejected in the United States and abroad by those who prefer to use the concept of a culture of life as was promoted by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in their encyclicals. Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles dismissed the "seamless garment" approach in 2016 because in his view it results in "a mistaken idea that all issues are morally equivalent". The "seamless garment" approach was also criticized by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger while he was serving as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In a July 2004 letter written to now former-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and to the United States Bishops as a whole, Cardinal Ratzinger makes it clear that the church does not treat capital punishment with the same moral weight that it does abortion and euthanasia: "Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion...There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia."

Jesuit magazine America stated in an article published on 6 December 2023 that the consistent life ethic, generally speaking, has been a failure, writing: "Depressingly, 40 years since Cardinal Bernardin first proposed the consistent ethic of life, the ethic remains mired in the same senseless, polarized partisanship that Bernardin proposed the ethic to overcome."

See also

References

  1. Worthen, Molly (15 September 2012). "The Power of Political Communion". New York Times. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  2. Overberg, Kenneth R. (2006). Ethics and AIDS: Compassion and Justice in a Global Crisis. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7425-5012-4.
  3. ^ Bernardin, Joseph. Consistent ethics of life 1988, Sheed and Ward
  4. Fitch, Eric J. (2006). "The seamless garment: is a 'consistent life ethic' without consideration of the environment inconsistent?". Interdisciplinary Environmental Review. 8 (1): 80. doi:10.1504/ier.2006.053948. ISSN 1521-0227.
  5. ^ Gregg, Samuel (13 August 2015). "The Consistent—and Not So Seamless—Ethic of Life". Catholic World Report. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  6. ^ Dear, J. (2005). The God of Peace: Toward A Theology of Nonviolence. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 158ff. ISBN 978-1-59752-112-3. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  7. Leach, Michael (6 November 2012). "Cardinal Bernardin's gift fits all sizes". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  8. Curran, C.E. (2006). Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian. Moral Traditions series. Georgetown University Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-58901-363-6. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  9. Other attribute the term to Bernardin himself, eg. Cosacchi, D.; Martin, E. (2016). The Berrigan Letters: Personal Correspondence between Daniel and Philip Berrigan. Orbis Books. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-60833-631-9. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  10. ^ Overberg, Kenneth R. S.J.:"A Consistent Ethic of Life", Catholic Update, St. Anthony's Press, 2009
  11. Walter, James J. and Shannon, Thomas A.: Contemporary Issues in Bioethics: A Catholic perspective, Rowan and Littlefeild Publishers, 2005.
  12. "Vision & Mission". consistent-life. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Member Organizations". consistent-life. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  14. "Consistent Life Individual Endorsers As of January 9, 2017" (PDF). Consistent Life Network. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  15. "Institute for Integrated Social Analysis". Consistent Life Network. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  16. Derr, M.K.; MacNair, R.; Naranjo-Huebl, L. (2005). Prolife Feminism: Yesterday and Today. Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Association. ISBN 978-1-4134-9577-5.
  17. Camosy, Charles (18 May 2017). "'Consistent Life Ethic' needed to change attitudes on abortion". Crux. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  18. Graham, Ruth (11 October 2016). "The New Culture of Life". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  19. ^ James Hedges (June 2020). "Prohibition Platform incorporates a Consistent Life Ethic". National Prohibitionist. 10 (2). Mercersburg Printing: 4. ISSN 1549-9251.
  20. Hughes, Mariann (30 October 2016). "The search for a third way in U.S. politics". Our Sunday Visitor. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  21. "Complete Platform". American Solidarity Party. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  22. Halper, Daniel (9 June 2016). "WH Denies Endorsement Will Intimidate FBI Investigators". Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  23. "About". New Wave Feminists. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  24. "Culture Of Life | USCCB". www.usccb.org. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  25. "Catholic Worker Movement". www.catholicworker.org. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  26. Pavone, Frank (1 January 1999). "The Consistent Ethic of Life: Myths and Realities". Priests for Life. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  27. Dear, John (15 July 2008). "The Consistent Ethic of Life". FatherJohnDear.org. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  28. ^ "Consistent Life Network Endorsers". Consistent Life Network. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  29. Sider, Ron (1987). Completely Pro-Life. Intervarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-1706-1.
  30. Campolo, Tony (18 October 2006). "Who is Really Pro-Life?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 January 2017. (revised 25 May 2011)
  31. Merritt, Jonathan (17 December 2013). "Tony Campolo hits hard on abortion, gay marriage, Israel and more". Religion News Service. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  32. ^ Pally, Marcia (28 December 2011). "The New Evangelicals: How Christians are rethinking Abortion and Gay Marriage". Australian Broadcasting Commission. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  33. Berry, Wendell (22 June 1986). "The consequences of treating a fetus as a human being: Reader survey on abortion". Whole Earth Review. Letter to. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  34. Berry, Wendell. The failure of war.
  35. Claiborne, Shane (22 January 2013). "A Dialogue on What it Means to be Pro-Life". Red Letter Christians. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  36. Claiborne, Shane (2006). The Irresistible Revolution. Zondervan. ISBN 9780310266303.
  37. "BERNARDIN: Chicago's Pastor on Consistency and the '88 Vote". National Catholic Register. 12 June 1988. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  38. Chandler, Michael Alison (19 January 2018). "'Badass. Prolife. Feminist.' How the 'pro-life feminist' movement is straddling the March for Life and Women's March". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  39. O'Loughlin, Michael J (24 June 2022). "'We thank God today': Catholics react to the end of Roe v. Wade". America Magazine. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  40. Schermele, Zachary (29 June 2022). "For anti-abortion LGBTQ groups, Roe's reversal is a 'human rights victory'". NBC News. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  41. "Archbishop Bernardin Opposes Death Penalty". Washington Post. 4 February 1977. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  42. Bernardin, Cardinal Joseph A.: The Seamless Garment: Writings on the Consistent Ethic of Life Orbis Books, 2008.
  43. Costello, Carol (28 May 2014). "Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty?". CNN. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  44. "Rehumanize | On Capital Punishment". Rehumanize International. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  45. MacNair, Rachel M., and Zunes, Stephen: Consistently Opposing Killing: from abortion to assisted suicide, the death penalty and war, pages 58–60. Praeger Publishers, 2008.
  46. Bernardin, Joseph Cardinal (1985). The Consistent Ethic of Life and Health Care Systems (Speech). Foster McGaw Triennial Conference. Chicago, IL.
  47. Bernardin, Joseph Cardinal (18 May 1986). The Consistent Ethic of Life: The Challenge and the Witness of Catholic Health Care (Speech). Catholic Medical Center Jamaica, New York. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  48. Bernardin, Joseph Cardinal (4 October 1986). Address: Consistent Ethic of Life Conference (Speech). Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  49. ^ "On health care, a consistent ethic of life". The Long Island Catholic. 48 (23). 30 September 2009. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  50. ^ Butler, Kiera (1 July 2022). "IVF Worked, and 2 Embryos Remain. Soon She May Not Be Allowed To Decide What Happens to Them". Mother Jones. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  51. Scribner, Todd (31 July 2014). "The Gospel of Life and the Catholic approach to the refugee crisis". Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  52. Adkins, Jason (13 August 2014). "Catholic Spirit: Border children and a consistent ethic of life". Minnesota Catholic Conference. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  53. Kangas, Billy (22 January 2015). "Keeping "Pro-Life" Consistent". The Orant. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  54. Snyder, L.; et al. (20 January 2015). "Catholic Leaders to Congress: Immigration Reform is a Pro-Life Issue". Faith in Public Life. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016.
  55. Allen, John L. Jr. (5 April 2014). "Immigration reform becomes a Catholic 'pro-life' cause". Boston Globe. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  56. Winters, Michael Sean (21 January 2015). "Catholic leaders push immigration as pro-life issue". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  57. Neff, Ronald N. (16 August 2005). "The "Seamless Garment" Revisited". Sobran's. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  58. Weigel, George (February 2011). "The End of the Bernardin Era: The rise, dominance, and decline of a culturally accommodating Catholicism". First Things. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  59. Staff Reporter (4 February 2016). "Archbishop Gomez: The Root Violence in Our Society Is the Violence Against the Most Vulnerable". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  60. "Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles | EWTN". EWTN Global Catholic Television Network. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  61. Cardinal Bernardin's 'Consistent ethic of life' still divides Catholics 40 years later, America, 6 December 2023

Sources

  • Bernardin, Joseph (1988). Consistent ethics of life. Sheed and Ward.
  • Byrnes, Timothy A. "The politics of the American Catholic hierarchy". Political Science Quarterly 108 (3): 497. 1993.
  • McClintock, Jamie S., and Perl, Paul. "The Catholic 'Consistent Life Ethic' and Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment and Welfare Reform." Sociology of Religion. 62(2001): 275–299
  • McCormick, Richard A. "The Quality of Life, the Sanctity of Life." The Hastings Center Report 8, No 1 (1978): 30–36.
  • McHugh, J. T. "Building a Culture of Life: A Catholic Perspective". Christian Bioethics, 2001 (Taylor & Francis)
  • Wallis, Jim. God's Politics, 2004.

Further reading

External links

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