Kudos to Archbishop Robert Carlson of Saint Louis, Missouri, for publicly opposing a proposed city ordinance which would grant civil rights protection to abortion, continue to undermine a rightful respect for life and threaten the religious freedom of Catholic institutions.
In a story reported in The Saint Louis Review, Archbishop Carlson stated: “City ordinances should respect all people, including women facing unplanned pregnancies, unborn children, and people who desire to live their lives in accordance with their religious convictions. Protection and care for human life at all stages of development from conception until natural death is a fundamental moral value shared by Catholics as well as many other people of faith.”
The proposed bill would add “reproductive health decisions” to the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance concerning housing and employment. If the proposal becomes law, the city Civil Rights Enforcement Commission would be empowered to consider complaints.
Archbishop Carlson insisted, “This proposed ordinance seeks to make St. Louis a sanctuary city for abortion, an act that kills innocent unborn children. This is not what our city should stand for; rather, Saint Louis should be a sanctuary for life and compassion, especially compassion for mothers and their developing children.”
Archbishop Carlson charged that the bill would “force the people of Saint Louis to be complicit in the profound evil of abortion.” The Archbishop Carlson, however, made it clear that the Archdiocese “cannot and will not comply with any ordinance like Board Bill 203 that attempts to force the Church and others to become unwilling participants in the abortion business.”
The Archbishop is to be commended for his efforts to preempt the passage of this proposed legislation and calling upon Catholics and all of good will to join together in opposing it.
We applaud Archbishop Carlson for being in the forefront of opposition to this and similar legislation which seeks to curtail the free exercise of religion while claiming to protect the civil rights of abortion protagonists.
It is heartening to see an Archbishop using the power of his spiritual leadership in speaking up against abortion proponents and standing up for the welfare of all those entrusted to his pastoral care, especially the innocent unborn.
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