Pedro asked:If we are so pro-life why don't we take a stronger stand against the death penalty and war?Dr. George Delgado replied:"... anyone who supports the sanctity of life at all ages, from the moment of conception to the time of natural death there should be no distinction, you should value every single life. But the other thing to keep in mind is the sheer numbers. About 1.1 to 1.2 million people are aborted in the United States every year. The number of people who are executed on death row are less than 100 probably. So you see that it's a much much bigger problem. Likewise the number of people killed in wars as tragic as wars is much less than 1.1 million people in the United States ... That's why most pro-life people emphasize the fight on abortion more.Secondly you have to look at the actual act and intention. Abortion is the killing of an innocent human being. So it's what we'd call an intrinsic evil ... this is never justified at all ... On the other hand war and the death penalty are not what we call intrinsic evils. By that I mean they are not in and of themselves evil. What the Church has taught most recently is with the death penalty, the state does have the right to execute prisoners but only if there is no other way to protect the general public ... Same thing with war. You can have what's so called just war. For example if you're being invaded by another army, you can defend youself and justly and morally kill the invaders. That would be taking a human life which is tragic, but it would be morally justified ..." Copyrights:Catholic Answers, "Pro-Life Open Forum" (San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2014)Editor's note: This is an excerpt of the answer provided. For the complete response download the podcast. |  Click icon for archived podcast answering this question in its entirety. Show air date: February 7, 2014 Name of show: Pro-Life Open Forum Guest comments by: Dr. George Delgado Question appeared in show: 19:45 |
