Of the basic human rights, the right to life from conception to its natural end is most fundamental because it is the condition for the exercise of all other rights. It is for this reason that the Church, since apostolic times, has insisted that every kind of procured abortion is a most grievous offense against human life.
This ruling is encouraging and a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done. While the ruling upholds a ban against the particularly barbaric partial-birth abortion procedure, it is our hope that it signals a wider reappraisal and ultimately a reversal of this nation’s inhumane, permissive abortion policies that violate the God-given dignity and right to life of the human person.