BRIEFING ON HUMAN LIFE AND HUMAN DIGINITY

Sister Suzanne Gross, FSE
Program Coordinator Pro-Life Ministry, Archdiocese of Hartford

Catholic Concerns Day, April 9, 2002, St. Joseph Cathedral, Hartford

Honorable Elected Officials, Concerned Citizens, Concerned Catholics, Students and Friends All,

Today we join together both in faith and in faithful citizenship. Our Church and our country have long been defenders of, and advocates for, the human person. For those of us compelled by faith, we see the human person as a medium to experience God's life and God's love. St. Francis of Assisi prayed that the human person would be an instrument of "God's peace." My part this morning is to speak to issues of human dignity and human life. We hold that human life, God's gift, is profoundly precious.

We are just six and a half months away from the devastation of human life at the World Trade Center, in the Marine hub of the Pentagon, and in the skies. It seems that since 9-11, we have discovered anew how much our country values human life; how PRECIOUS life is. Life suddenly took on new meaning . . .or renewed meaning. "Instruments of God's peace. . ." We witnessed firemen running into the World Trade Center, while those who worked there, were encouraged by those same firemen to go the opposite direction.

Every day since then we are trying to establish a common heartbeat, a common response of a people united. What our country is experiencing is also what our Church believes and upholds. LIFE IS PRECIOUS.

Our Church sees the dignity of the human person as the driving force behind all public policy; everything we advocate and support somehow touches upon the dignity of the human person. That is what being pro-life is. . . we are called to advocate for the God-given value of every human life at every stage and recognize that every life is unique and unrepeatable, and worthy of protection. The dignity of the human person drives every issue that we will present this morning and every issue of public policy that we support, or those issues we cannot support.

In a document familiar to us all, the Declaration of Independence, we are reminded that the Creator endowed every human person with inalienable rights "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. . ." These three inalienable rights are the stepping stones of our society; they are the heartbeat for a culture of life.

If there is no life, one need not worry about liberty or the pursuit of happiness. And if there is life and there is no liberty, then happiness will be hard come by. And there are three inalienable rights, not one or two.

It is known that in our society the right to liberty overrides the right to life. . . and what some determine to be "happiness" overrides the right to life. The right to life. The right to liberty. The right to pursue happiness. In that order. . .

The legislative initiatives that I will identify this morning focus directly on the right to life of the human person. The Church advocates that every person has the right to life and the right to have that life protected.

Our Church supports infant protection at every stage of development. On March18th, we testified in behalf of the unborn child who is injured or killed as a result of acts of violence to his or her mother. This is an issue that has gained prominence in our State. On New Year's Eve, a 23- year old woman, who was eight and a half months pregnant, was shot and killed, along with her unborn child. A bill was introduced in Connecticut to recognize the life of an unborn child when he or she is a victim of violence. That bill was supported in Committee and is going to the House for vote.

We are aggressively seeking to expand programs of abstinence education in our schools. Our young people need to be encouraged to believe that they are special; that their life is sacred; that sexuality is a special gift and one that is integrally related to their personhood and their human dignity. We are seeking additional funding for abstinence education and also looking to local Boards of Education to include abstinence education in their health curriculum.

We also are seeking legislation that would create a moratorium on the death penalty in Connecticut. It is important to state that from the outset we are deeply concerned for all parties affected by this issue: the victims, their families, those who have been accused of grave crimes, and those who have been convicted of them. It is unfortunate that our society too often turns to death as the solution for our social problems. However, our Church does not reject the value of any life, even if a person has performed a grave evil. We recognize that the State has the serious duty to protect public safety and defend public order. But we repeat that the State does not need to, nor should it, go to the extreme of imposing execution or the killing of an offender. In today's society, that need is non-existent.

We have also been involved in a state-wide, interdenominational coalition that supports the meaning of marriage and the family. This Coalition, known as the Connecticut Pro-Family Coalition, upholds the meaning of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. We grant that the Constitution gives citizens the right to choose, but every choice is not, therefore, worthy of elevation to protected legal status. This past February the people of Connecticut came in large numbers to a public hearing to express their belief in this basic concept. Thirty-five states have enacted laws defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. That has been the tradition of our country, the directive in Sacred Scripture, and the Teaching of our Church.

And lastly, a word about human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. Both of these issues are issues of human life and human dignity. In embryonic stem cell research and human cloning, human life is created or manufactured and then destroyed for the purpose of research, experimentation, or other utilitarian purposes. We hold that human life is precious whether it is many years old, a few days old, or just a couple of hours old. This life needs to be protected. Now that life can be made or manufactured for utilitarian purposes, and disposed of and discarded, we are all in jeopardy. Human life is precious. . . The theme of the Church is "Every human life has its origin in the heart of God." God holds the common heartbeat.

We have probably heard and sung "America the Beautiful" and "God bless America" more in that past six months than in our lifetime. In the song,"America the Beautiful," we describe our country as "beautiful" for "pilgrim's feet," "for heroes proved," for "patriot dreams"; these phrases represent the soil in which the freedom of our country was planted, nourished and defended. As citizens of this Country and residents of this State, it is our hard won freedom that impels us to advocate for and defend the dignity of the human person. So let us work together; let us be united; let us be proud people of faith and undaunted citizens; let us strengthen our belief that all life is precious.