The following comes from an August 5 Catholic News Agency article:
Too many social trends treat the human person as nothing sacred, but Catholic pro-life efforts are part of an effort to change that, Los Angeles’ Archbishop Jose Gomez said last Wednesday.
“The beautiful truth [is] that every human life matters — because every human life is sacred and created by the loving plan of God,” the archbishop said in his keynote speech at the National Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Kansas City, Kansas.
He noted such grave crimes against human life as widespread abortion, experimentation with human embryos, and the euthanasia of the elderly and the sick.
“In a society without God, the human person becomes ‘nothing special,’ nothing sacred. The value of a human life is judged according to whether it is ‘productive’ or ‘efficient’,” he said. “Without God we don’t know who we are, or where we come from, or what we are here for.”
He credited God’s grace for a pro-life victory in California, when the state legislature withdrew a bill to legalize assisted suicide. He also credited the victory to a coalition of doctors and health care professionals, advocates for the disabled, advocates for the poor, and African-American and immigrant community leaders.
He explained that assisted suicide had “dangerous implications” for the poor and those without adequate health care access.
Archbishop Gomez also denounced the injustice of racial discrimination, unemployment, homelessness, environmental pollution, bad prison conditions, and the death penalty.
He particularly noted injustices related to immigration, such as family detention, deportation, and deaths in the desert of people trying to enter the U.S.
However, he said that these issues are not all equal.
“The fundamental injustice in our society is the killing of innocent unborn life through abortion and the killing of the sick and defenseless through euthanasia and assisted suicide,” he said.
“If the child in the womb has no right to be born, if the sick and the old have no right to be taken care of — then there is no solid foundation to defend anyone’s human rights.”
Did Arch. Gomez vote for Jerry Brown? Brown and his henchwoman , Attorney General Kamala Harris, are pro-abortion. Harris has begun an investigation into the anti-abortion medical group that videotaped Planned Parenthood executives discussing the best way to get the highest prices for body parts of aborted babies. Did Arch. Gomez vote for Barack Hussein Obama, the pro-abortion president? Does Gomez approve of the part of Obamacare that has special panels who will discuss with the elderly how long they want to live if they are ill?
Sarah, You must be getting Arch. Gomes mixed up with Card. Mahony!!!
Sarah, you have to ask?
Sarah, your question about “death panels” implies that they exist. They don’t! The Affordable Care Act simply pays doctors to discuss the issue of how they want to be treated when their time is up. I assume that you, too, have had that discussion with your doctor and that you have a “directive” on file with him/her, your hospital if you have been to one in the last few years, in your will, and with your lawyer. These “directives” tell the medical profession and your family the lengths to which you want them to go to keep you alive. Did you know that nearly 60% of Medicare expenses are for the last three months of life? Your other questions are fair enough, but don’t buy into the death panel junk.
Gee Bob One, hope you aren’t poor and sick because if so, you will surely run up against those faceless bureaucrats who will decide your fate. And if your “quality of life” or “cost of care” isn’t to their standard, expect a shot in the arm. Once the Act of Caring for you is not Affordable, it’s adios.
Obama’s love of the Culture of Death embraces euthanasia, they are just “evolving” in their ability to admit it. Take off the rose colored glasses, Bob One!
Kristin, don’t you have a “medical power of attorney?” Don’t you have an end of life directive? If not, why not? This is not an Obama thing. It is just the way medical insurance companies and medical practitioners know they are following your wishes. Most people I know have a “do not resuscitate” directive because they don’t want to be hooked up to tubes and hoses when they are going to die anyway. Kristin, look at the facts, do what is right and don’t get sucked into the conspiracy theories.
The fact is Bob One, 1) you are liberal 2) Obama care does and have death panels…
….don’t discount the facts before your eyes, Bob One, because you’re afraid to be considered a conspiracy theorist. Abortion was pushed through via the falsehood of it being rare and to protect poor rape victims from being further victimized. Look at where that has led us as a people. Certainly not toward the respect for life that God gave us.
Canisius: Please cite the specific section of the Affordable Care Act or the ACA regulations that address “Death Panels”. I’ve looked and cannot find any part of the ACA that even remotely addresses “Death Panels”. In God We Trust – All others must have the facts or data. Thank You.