Editing Consistent life ethic (section)

{{Short description|Ideology opposing abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and some or all wars}}
{{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 [[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.<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 [[public policy]] as well as [[social justice]] 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 [[Catholic]] prelate [[Joseph Bernardin]] in the United States to express an ideology based on the premise that all [[Sanctity of life|human life is sacred]] 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|url-access=subscription }}</ref>