I'm Betting On The Bishop...

Bishop Blair, in response to the sophistry of Professor Gaillardetz:

...Lest Professor Gaillardetz’s teaching position and self-identification as a Catholic create any misunderstandings, it should be pointed out that his opinions regarding the issue of abortion, and Roe v. Wade in particular, do not reflect the clear and consistent moral position of the United States Bishops.

Professor Gaillardetz suggests that attempts to overturn Roe v. Wade are problematic and perhaps futile. It should be pointed out that at one time in our nation’s history, the abolition of slavery was also considered by many to be problematic and futile, and extremely divisive. Yet our nation was not content with simply reducing the number of slaves or easing their condition. It was the very institution of slavery that was morally abhorrent and incompatible with the principles on which our nation was founded.

Roe v. Wade has been responsible for the killing of tens of millions of unborn children. It has effectively rendered the definition of human personhood flexible and negotiable. It has also implicitly excluded unborn children from human status. This morally flawed thinking is now deployed on behalf of physician-assisted suicide, fetal experimentation and human cloning. Each reduces the human person to a problem or an object.

In 2002 the Bishops reaffirmed what has been a consistent moral position. They wrote: “Roe v. Wade cannot stand as the law of this great nation, a nation founded on the self-evident truth that all people are created with an inalienable right to life. We are committed, no matter how long it may take, no matter the sacrifices required, to bringing about a reversal of this tragic Supreme Court decision. We will speak out on behalf of the sanctity of each and every human life wherever it is threatened, from conception to natural death, and we urge all people of good will to do likewise… Roe v. Wade must be reversed.” (A Matter of the Heart)

Furthermore, “Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing, and health care. Therefore, Catholics should eagerly involve themselves as advocates for the weak and marginalized in all these areas... But being right about such matters can never excuse a wrong choice regarding direct attacks on innocent human life.” (cf. Living the Gospel of Life, 1998)

I certainly agree with Professor Gaillardetz that we must also strive to reduce abortions even while Roe v. Wade remains in effect. This is already happening. Annual abortions in our country declined from more than 1.5 million to just more than 1 million in recent years. Factors in this decline include a growing public revulsion at abortion (prompted in part by greater awareness of the grisly "partial-birth" abortion method) and the passage of hundreds of modest but effective pro-life laws such as public funding bans, informed consent laws, laws requiring parental involvement when minors seek abortions, and so on.

Tragically, some lawmakers would reverse these gains and boost the abortion rate by invalidating all such laws, through extreme measures such as the proposed "Freedom of Choice Act" in Congress. Despite its deceptive title, it would deprive the American people in all 50 states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry, and would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. No one supporting such legislation can claim in good faith to be working to reduce abortions...

(h/t ProEcclesia)
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Seems pretty clear to me. Clear enough that it could only be misunderstood or misrepresented DELIBERATELY.