Respect Life

“Donum Vitae” is a document that, nearly 40 years ago, made explicit the church’s teaching about in vitro fertilization and related practices, including gestational surrogacy — a teaching that in January 2024 made headlines after Pope Francis called for a worldwide ban on surrogacy while speaking with members of the diplomatic corps assigned to the Holy See.

Jesus Christ’s words in the Gospel reading for Jan. 18, “I am with you always until the end of the age,” are critical as “an instruction for how to live in this broken world” and “bring goodness to it,” the U.S. bishops’ pro-life chairman said in his homily at the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life.

Even with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the landmark Roe ruling, “human life remains gravely threatened by legalized abortion in most states and it continues to be aggressively promoted at the federal level,” the U.S. bishops’ pro-life chairman said Jan. 16.

This year, the national March for Life in Washington Jan. 19 promises to empower women facing unexpected pregnancies with the message that they are not alone — and that the pro-life movement is ready and waiting to help them choose life for their baby.

Almost three out of four people who responded to a public consultation have rejected a proposal by the British government that would require schools in Northern Ireland, including Catholic schools, to teach students how to access an abortion.

The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities is inviting Catholics nationwide to pray “9 Days for Life” Jan. 16-24.