Editing Consistent life ethic (section)

==Views==
===Abortion===
{{Abortion in the Catholic Church}}
Bernardin considered opposition to abortion to be an integral part of the consistent life ethic. In a 1988 interview with [[National Catholic Register]], he stated, "I feel very, very strongly about the right to life of the unborn, the weakest and most vulnerable of human beings. I don’t see how you can subscribe to the consistent ethic and then vote for someone who feels that abortion is a 'basic right' of the individual. The consequence of that position would be an absence of legal protection for the unborn."<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 1988 |title=BERNARDIN: Chicago's Pastor on Consistency and the '88 Vote |work=National Catholic Register |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/bernardin-put-life-first |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

Many consistent life ethic adherents advocate for increased [[social support]] for parents in addition to legal protection for the unborn.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chandler |first=Michael Alison |date=19 January 2018 |title='Badass. Prolife. Feminist.' How the 'pro-life feminist' movement is straddling the March for Life and Women's March |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/01/19/this-weekend-many-members-of-the-growing-pro-life-feminist-movement-plan-to-attend-both-the-march-for-life-and-the-womens-march/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

Advocates for the consistent life ethic have reacted positively to the release of the landmark ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'' decision (2022), which overruled both ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' (1973) and ''[[Planned Parenthood v. Casey]]'' (1992).<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Loughlin |first=Michael J |date=24 June 2022 |title='We thank God today': Catholics react to the end of Roe v. Wade |work=America Magazine |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/06/24/roe-overturned-catholic-reactions-243239 |access-date=22 August 2022}}</ref> According to Herb Geraghty of Rehumanize International, "Right now is clearly a moment for celebration, and for mourning the lives that have been lost in the last 50 years due to the ''Roe v. Wade'' decision."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schermele |first=Zachary |date=29 June 2022 |title=For anti-abortion LGBTQ groups, Roe's reversal is a 'human rights victory' |work=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/anti-abortion-lgbtq-groups-roes-reversal-human-rights-victory-rcna35716 |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

===Capital punishment===
{{See also|Catholic Church and capital punishment}}
In a 1977 statement following the ''[[Gregg v. Georgia]]'' decision—which reaffirmed the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court's]] acceptance of the use of the [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty in the United States]]—Bernardin wrote, "Many have expressed the view [...] that in this day of increasing violence and disregard for human life, a return to the use of capital punishment can only lead to further erosion of respect for life and to the increased brutalization of our society."<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 February 1977 |title=Archbishop Bernardin Opposes Death Penalty |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/02/04/archbishop-bernardin-opposes-death-penalty/58957866-d294-4250-b2ec-7444d61e8b5a/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

Bernardin's opposition to [[capital punishment]] was rooted in the conviction that an atmosphere of respect for life must pervade a society, and resorting to the death penalty would not support this attitude.<ref>Bernardin, Cardinal Joseph A.: ''The Seamless Garment: Writings on the Consistent Ethic of Life'' Orbis Books, 2008.</ref> Modern-day adherents to the consistent life ethic continue to oppose the use of capital punishment; in this advocacy, some echo Bernardin's appeal to the [[sanctity of life]], while others emphasize the relationships between class, [[Race and capital punishment in the United States|race and capital punishment]] to argue that there is not a way for capital punishment to be used justly.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Costello |first=Carol |date=28 May 2014 |title=Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty? |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/14/opinion/costello-pro-life-pro-death-penalty/index.html |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rehumanize {{!}} On Capital Punishment |url=https://www.rehumanizeintl.org/capital-punishment |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=Rehumanize International}}</ref>

One outspoken anti-death penalty activist is Sister [[Helen Prejean]]. Her books ''[[Dead Man Walking (book)|Dead Man Walking]]'' and ''The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account to Wrongful Executions'' are autobiographical accounts of the time she spent ministering to death row inmates.<ref>[[Rachel MacNair|MacNair, Rachel M.]], and Zunes, Stephen: ''Consistently Opposing Killing: from abortion to assisted suicide, the death penalty and war'', pages 58–60. Praeger Publishers, 2008.</ref>

===Health care===
Bernardin understood the consistent life ethic as implying a societal responsibility to provide adequate health care for all, especially the poor.<ref>{{cite speech |last=Bernardin |first=Joseph Cardinal |date=1985 |title=The Consistent Ethic of Life and Health Care Systems |conference=Foster McGaw Triennial Conference |location=Chicago, IL }}</ref><ref>{{cite speech |last=Bernardin |first=Joseph Cardinal |date=18 May 1986 |title=The Consistent Ethic of Life: The Challenge and the Witness of Catholic Health Care |location=Catholic Medical Center Jamaica, New York |url=http://priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bernardinjamaica.html |access-date=29 July 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite speech |last=Bernardin |first=Joseph Cardinal |date=4 October 1986 |title=Address: Consistent Ethic of Life Conference |location=Portland, Oregon |url=http://priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bernardinportland.html |access-date=29 July 2017 }}</ref>

As such, appeals to the consistent life ethic have been made in support of [[universal health care]].<ref name="LIC-2009">{{cite journal | title=On health care, a consistent ethic of life | journal=The Long Island Catholic | volume=48 | issue=23 | date=30 September 2009 | url=http://www.newspaper.licatholic.org/editorial/health-care-consistent-ethic-life | access-date=2 February 2017 | archive-date=3 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203083326/http://www.newspaper.licatholic.org/editorial/health-care-consistent-ethic-life | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===In vitro fertilization===
[[In vitro fertilization]] is a process in which multiple viable [[embryo]]s are created, and a single one implanted, with the extra ones frozen for potential future use.  After the parents stop paying the storage fees for these, they are discarded, which has been opposed by anti-abortion advocates.{{ r | MJ_2022-07-01 }}

Herb Geraghty, executive director of the secular group Rehumanize International, which promotes the consistent life ethic, said, "We should not intentionally end the life of a human being, regardless of where they are in their lifecycle, in a womb or in a fertility lab",{{ r | MJ_2022-07-01 }} but also that he does not know what should be done with the "thousands of human beings who are currently frozen against their will."<ref name=MJ_2022-07-01>{{Cite news |last=Butler |first=Kiera |date=1 July 2022 |title=IVF Worked, and 2 Embryos Remain. Soon She May Not Be Allowed To Decide What Happens to Them. |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/07/ivf-worked-and-2-embryos-remain-soon-she-may-not-be-allowed-to-decide-what-happens-to-them/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

===Abuse of alcohol and other drugs===
{{Further|Temperance movement}} 
[[James Hedges]], in an article titled "Prohibition Platform incorporates a Consistent Life Ethic," stated that "Alcohol in many ways causes 'premature deaths,' and it degrades the quality of life before death."<ref name="Hedges2020"/> However, with the exception of the [[Prohibition Party]], most organizations that embrace a consistent life ethic do not take a stance on the prohibition of alcohol.<ref name=":1" />

===Refugees===
The consistent life ethic has been invoked to include care for immigrants and refugees.<ref name="Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good 2014">{{cite web | last=Scribner | first=Todd | title=The Gospel of Life and the Catholic approach to the refugee crisis | website=Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good | date=31 July 2014 | url=http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/refugeecrisis | access-date=2 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203162217/http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/refugeecrisis | archive-date=3 February 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="LIC-2009" /><ref name="Adkins">{{cite news | last=Adkins | first=Jason | title=Catholic Spirit: Border children and a consistent ethic of life | website=Minnesota Catholic Conference | date=13 August 2014 | url=https://mncatholic.org/catholic-spirit-border-children-consistent-ethic-life/ | access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="Kangas 2015">{{cite web | last=Kangas | first=Billy | title=Keeping "Pro-Life" Consistent | website=The Orant | date=22 January 2015 | url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/billykangas/2015/01/keeping-pro-life-consistent.html | access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref> While not directly appealing to the consistent life ethic, other Catholics have sought to apply the pro-life ethic to the issue of immigration.<ref>{{cite web |last=Snyder |first=L. |display-authors=etal|title=Catholic Leaders to Congress: Immigration Reform is a Pro-Life Issue |date=20 January 2015 |publisher=Faith in Public Life |url=http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/immigrationlife/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329173750/http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/immigrationlife/ |archive-date=29 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Allen 2014">{{cite news | last=Allen | first=John L. Jr. | title=Immigration reform becomes a Catholic 'pro-life' cause | work=Boston Globe | date=5 April 2014 | url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2014/04/05/immigration-reform-becomes-catholic-pro-life-cause/2XHiTpDhrKL8pWqreakpwI/story.html | access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Winters 2015">{{cite news | last=Winters | first=Michael Sean | title=Catholic leaders push immigration as pro-life issue | work=National Catholic Reporter | date=21 January 2015 | url=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/catholic-leaders-push-immigration-pro-life-issue | access-date=9 March 2017}}</ref>