On Nov. 8, Virginia’s registered voters will have the opportunity to select their choices for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and house of delegates seats. (For voter registration information, go to the Virginia Catholic Conference Web site, www.vacatholic.org.) To help Catholics preparing to vote connect our Church’s social teaching to contemporary issues and then apply that understanding to specific measures being discussed by Virginia lawmakers and debated by candidates, the Virginia Catholic Conference has devised a five-part educational series. The first part, which addresses abortion, appears below. Subsequent editions of the HERALD will include similar pieces on the death penalty, marriage and education, economic and social justice and stem-cell research.

Catholic social teaching proclaims that human life is sacred from the moment of conception. Because all human beings are created by God, all possess an inherent dignity and therefore have certain basic rights, including the right to life and to those things that make life truly human (e.g., food, shelter, clothing, religious freedom, health care, education and a safe environment). The right-to-life is the foundation of all others. Without it, no other rights are possible.

Abortion, then, is a preeminent threat to human dignity, because it directly attacks the most fundamental human good (life itself) and the condition for all others. Abortion is "always a grave act of violence," and laws permitting it are "profoundly unjust" because they fail to recognize equal rights for every child, born and unborn. ("Living the Gospel of Life," a statement by the U.S. Catholic Bishops (1998).) In addition, just as all children merit legal protection and care as members of our human family, so too do all women facing unexpected and difficult pregnancies. Laws and programs that provide the support they need are an essential element of a just and compassionate society.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and state Catholic conferences support federal constitutional protection for unborn children, federal and state policies that protect life to the greatest extent possible, and initiatives that encourage life-affirming alternatives to abortion. Although federal law currently governs abortion’s legality, state laws can save many lives and help many pregnant women. Key abortion-related measures being considered by Virginia lawmakers and candidates include:

• Legislation requiring that, prior to receiving an abortion, a pregnant woman be given information about an unborn child’s ability to experience pain by 20 weeks gestation.
• Legislation requiring abortion clinics to be licensed by the state and regulated as outpatient surgical hospitals.
• A prohibition on state funding for non-governmental organizations that provide abortions or abortion counseling.