When teaching the Bible, I enjoy pointing out that science is forever catching up with revelation. One example is the discovery of the remains of Lucy, a prehistoric “hominid” considered to be the “mother” of all humans. Sometime later, geneticists using mitochondrial DNA traced every human being to a single female they renamed “Eve”! Science caught up with religion. I chuckled when I read a report of how a team of scientists had discovered that there were real and significant differences between men and women! Since there is no intrinsic conflict between faith and science, honest science is bound to catch up.

An article that recently appeared in The Times of London is another case in point. The Times reported on a European study published in Current Biology (vol. 19 issue 20, 3 November 2009) which indicates that babies cry in patterns that reflect their mother tongues. Researchers studied French and German newborns and determined that their cries conformed to their mothers’ languages. The research led the scientists to propose that the basics of language are begun to be learned in the womb. So the child is beginning her or his orientation to verbal communication before birth!

The Psalmist sings movingly of the miracle of the creation and development of one’s life and personality before birth (Ps. 139) –

“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

And Jeremiah says that he was personally known by God before he was born (Jer. 1:5); “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Being a prophet presupposes speech, so God already began forming Jeremiah as his spokesman while he was in the womb! St. Paul too was called before birth (Gal. 1:15).

A dramatic example of communications in utero is the Visitation of Mary with Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-44). Elizabeth exults in the encounter between the preborn John in her womb and the preborn Jesus in Mary’s (Luke 1:44) – “For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.” Is it possible that the unborn Baptist heard the greeting of the Mother of God and responded? According to the French and German researchers it is indeed.

Fetal language development demonstrates the intelligence of the preborn child. Speech distinguishes humans from even the closest primates. Anthropologists point to the uniquely human capacity for speech as one of the most important features of human personality.

In 1973 Justice Harry Blackmun wrote in Roe V Wade that the life of the unborn could not be determined “at this point in the development of man’s knowledge.” The new research takes us beyond that point. In this respect, the French and German study once again helps science catch up.

The Catholic Bishops have been consistent proponents for universal access to health care for decades. Sine 1993 they have had formal proposals out there. The bishops see health care as an essential element of the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person. They teach that it is incumbent upon a just and moral society to see to it that all persons receive basic life saving and sustaining care.

Which put the Church between a rock and a hard place when President Obama proposed universal access but Congressional leadership wanted to include abortion. There were three problems for the Bishops: abortion is not health care, abortion preys on the most vulnerable, mostly poor and minorities, and bean counters would favor abortion over childbirth which is 10x as expensive.

So the Catholic Bishops had to weigh in because they wanted to support and promote the Democrat proposal but couldn’t support an abortion laced bill.

Now as much as I would like our Bishops to get all the credit, that’s hardly the case. The fact is the country, especially the emerging youth generation don’t favor abortion. They may tolerate it, but if you’re providing care for all, it should mean all - including the preborn.

So, the media is widely crediting the Bishops, but I suspect others made this a reality too, and one I’m very suspicious of is right out front on this measure. I want to know, just what did President Obama tell Dems today that led 65 of them to believe they could vote pro-life on the amendment? And why?

Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word “love” is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite.

Pope Benedict XVI Caritas in Veritate

In the increasing heat of the debate over health care “reform”, it is more and more important to try to clear away the smoke, silence some of the fireworks and get clarity about the moral issues involved. There are legitimate differences of opinion when it comes to how to structure or pay for health care. There are not however, legitimate differences about what constitutes true and moral health care and what doesn’t. The Catholic Bishops have consistently taught, stated and publicly advocated for a system that respects, protects and cares for all human life from conception to natural death. That means there is no place for abortion, euthanasia, suicide or lethal scientific research in health care reform.  The Bishops are emphatic on this point and have called for health care reform that reflects that moral precept.

Still, some are being understood to say that the very concept of universal health care is unacceptable to Christians. This is false. The Catholic Bishops have consistently affirmed access to basic health care as a fundamental human right. In their “Framework for Comprehensive Health Care Reform” the Bishops state, “Every person has a right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all human persons, who are made in the image of God.” Allowing even one innocent person to die because they cannot obtain basic health care, either through a hospital, clinic or other service is morally unacceptable. That they should die because they do not have a means to pay or lack proof of ability to pay is as wrong as paying to have someone killed.

Access to basic health care is a pro-life concern. It is important that pro-life advocates be able to explain the distinctive between mere access to medical services and providing health care on the basis of the sanctity of innocent human life and the dignity of the person. Human beings are entitled by right to health care that morally and ethically respects, protects and promotes human life and dignity. Pro-life people will be careful to support health care reform that reflects the Bishops’ teaching in this regard. Rejection of abortion, euthanasia, suicide and lethal research is not a rejection of the right to health care. To the contrary, health services that respect life guarantee that all will receive the care and respect they deserve.

Below are links to basic documents that pertain to this topic.  You may wish to take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the main themes of the Bishops’ perspectives.

Current sources from the USCCB on Health Care Reform legislation

A Framework for Comprehensive Health Care Reform: A resolution of the Catholic Bishops of the United States

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church: IV. HUMAN RIGHTS

-Dr. Paul CB Schenck, MEV