“Every human life, unique and unrepeatable, has value in and of itself; it is of inestimable value. This must always be proclaimed anew with the courage of the Word and the courage of actions. It calls us to solidarity and fraternal love for the great human family and for each of its members.” — Pope Francis on the 25th Anniversary of Evangelium Vitae
Bishop Donald Hying joins the bishops of Wisconsin in decrying Planned Parenthood’s plan to resume abortions, after a Dane County judge’s decision to allow a suit, challenging Wisconsin’s abortion laws, to continue in early July.
At issue is the strained and specious legal attempt to differentiate elective abortion from feticide. Legally, feticide is described as “the act or instance of killing a fetus, usually by assaulting and battering the mother; especially, the act of unlawfully causing the death of a fetus; or an intentionally induced miscarriage,” and abortion is described as “an artificially induced termination of a pregnancy for the purpose of destroying an embryo or fetus . . .” Logically and morally, elective abortion is always feticide.
On September 15, Bishop Hying commented on the matter, saying:
“We all heard the news yesterday that Planned Parenthood, in both Milwaukee and Madison, will resume abortions next Monday, based on some interpretation from a judge here in Dane County. Regardless of the ongoing legalities, we know that abortion is not healthcare. It is the antithesis of what women need. Healthcare should provide life, health, and support to women and their children. Abortion is not that. So we stand, as we have always stood, with women and men dealing with a crisis pregnancy, ready to give them the resources they need, both before and after the birth of their children.
“We decry what Planned Parenthood does, and the fact that just shortly a year after the Dobbs decision, they are resuming the destruction of unborn life in our state is a travesty and a moral crime on so many levels. We pray for the women who find themselves in crisis pregnancy, that they will choose life for the innocent life that is within them, and that they will find among us compassionate hands and hearts, that will support them and love them in this profound decision to choose for life.
“We pray that we may continue to build the culture of life. Here in the Diocese of Madison, as in dioceses throughout the country, we have been working on Walking with Moms in Need. The goal is that every parish will have trained, supportive volunteers that can help people in crisis pregnancy to find the resources they need in that moment when they are reaching out.
“We ask the Lord to continue to transform minds and hearts so that we may welcome, nurture, and cultivate our culture of life and truly receive the gift of every new human life that is conceived and created in the image and likeness of God.”