Dignity of Life Day covers myriad of pro-life issues

Friday, Jan. 22, 2016

SANDY — From capital punishment to abortion recovery, the Catholic Church offers a consistent message about the value and dignity of human life, an idea that was reinforced by the three speakers at the diocesan Dignity of Life Day Jan. 16, held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

In this Year of Mercy, designated by Pope Francis, Catholics need to bring the idea of mercy into the wider community, said Father John Evans, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish. “The idea of mercy needs to be cultivated within us so we can let it overflow … in ways that others might be able to see it and realize it as a possibility.”

Fr. Evans spoke on two topics: Project Rachel, a Catholic ministry that offers confidential counseling to those who have had an abortion, and marriage annulments.

Although the Catholic Church condemns abortion, many priests don’t preach on the topic for a variety of reasons, including the fact that their congregation likely includes children who would be frightened by the issue, and people who have been affected by abortion, Fr. Evans said.

Nevertheless, mercy needs to be extended to those who have had abortions, particularly because other people often don’t know all of the circumstances surrounding the abortion and yet are quick to judge, Fr. Evans said. “Where is God’s mercy working through us into the community?” he asked. “God’s love and mercy is more powerful than any sin, any failing, any mistake, and therefore [people] can be forgiven and may be extended mercy.”

Project Rachel, a national endeavor, “doesn’t take away the pain and suffering, but they are allowed to at least see the possibility of hope through that mercy,” Fr. Evan said; there is no Project Rachel ministry in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, but he would like to see one get started, he said. 

While seemingly an unrelated topic, the recent changes to the Church’s annulment process also requires a merciful approach, Fr. Evans said.

The Church does not offer divorces. “If you get a civil divorce, as far as the Church is concerned, you are still married to that other spouse,” he said. “That’s why you can’t get married again in the sacrament.” Those who wish to have a marriage dissolved must seek an annulment, and the key to that “is looking to see if the marriage did not properly exist principally at the time you got married,” he said.

For example, if the marriage didn’t occur in the Church, then an annulment is automatic due to what is termed a “lack of form” because the sacrament never happened, he said.

More complicated are “formal cases,” which can take years for the diocesan tribunal to process. 

“The pope came along, he said, ‘We need to do something out of mercy,’” Fr. Evans said; the changes initiated last year by the Holy Father don’t alter canon law but does eliminate the requirement for an automatic appeal of the tribunal’s decision, which allows more expedient handling of the cases.

Also speaking at the event was Jean Hill, the diocesan government liaison.

“We are going to have quite the pro-life [Utah legislative] session this year,” Hill said, because bills concerning abortion, assisted suicide and the repeal of the death penalty are all scheduled, although as of press time language on the bills had not been posted. 

Although she doubts the assisted suicide bill and the repeal of the death penalty will pass, Hill urged those at the Respect for the Dignity of Life Day to contact their legislators on these issues because those bringing forward the bills have said they will continue to bring them back in coming years.

The Diocese of Salt Lake City opposes the assisted suicide bill because “we want better for people as a matter of public policy,” Hill said, adding that the common public perception of Catholics is “as people who just say no. We say no abortion, we say no assisted suicide, we say no death penalty, and the rest of our message gets lost, and that’s the powerful part of our message. … We say no because women deserve better than abortion. We say no to assisted suicide because we don’t want terminally ill people to just be thrown away, we want to accompany them on those final journeys. We don’t say no to the death penalty because we don’t care about the victims of those horrible, horrible crimes. We do want the people who have committed those horrible, horrible crimes to have the opportunity to seek reconciliation with their god and to make up for those crimes in the manner that they can.”

While the legislation is titled “Death with Dignity,” in actuality it is assisted suicide, Hill said. 

The proposed legislation likely will permit doctors to prescribe lethal medication to people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness that is likely to produce death within six months, or who have an intractable and unbearable disease that can’t be cured.

The bill poses numerous moral issues, Hill said. “We don’t want people choosing suicide because they feel like they’re a financial burden; we don’t want people choosing suicide because they feel like they can’t get the care they need and their families are burned out from getting them care. What we want to see is public policy that helps provide that care rather than public policy that says ‘if you’re a burden on your family then you should commit suicide.’”

Many people object to the legislation because it doesn’t require notification of family if a person opts for the lethal prescription; there also is no requirement that a witness be present when the medication is taken; and there is only a suggestion that not be taken in a public place, Hill said.

In a state with high rates of suicide and depression, the proposed legislation sends an inconsistent message that a suicidal person isn’t permitted to choose his or her time, place and manner of death, but that is allowed for someone who has an incurable disease, she said. 

Legislators need to be told that “you are really picking winners and losers in a life or death battle with this legislation, and it doesn’t matter which side of this legislation you’re on. If you’re pro-assisted suicide, you’re picking winners and losers as to who gets to choose this. For us, it’s we’re picking winners and losers as to who gets to live,” she said.   

Regarding the death penalty, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is very clear, she said; because Utah can incarcerate people for life, there is no justification for the death penalty.

Little information on the abortion bill is available, she said, adding that she will keep people informed as the bill progresses through the Legislature.

The day’s third speaker was James Kerr, director of Pregnancy Resource Center of Salt Lake City. The diocese has a collaborative effort with the center, said Veola Burchett, director of the diocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life.

Describing the center as “an evangelical and faith-based and pro-life ministry,” Kerr said they offer confidential, free services that include pregnancy testing and ultrasound readings. This year they plan to begin offering testing for the sexually transmitted diseases gonorrhea and chlamydia.

In the center’s 30 years of existence, they have impacted 34,000 lives, Kerr said; this year alone they had 840 unique clients and saw a 56 percent increase in ultrasounds. Their typical clients are women between the ages of 16 and 25, although they are seeing more men in recent years, he said.

“Just over 90 percent of our clients that have an ultrasound reading choose to parent or adopt,” said Kerr, who emphasized that many of these young women may already have been thinking about having their child rather than an abortion.

The center is supported by individuals, churches and businesses as well as grants. They are raising funds for a mobile ultrasound that can serve areas outside of Salt Lake City, such as Tooele and Utah County, he said.