CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic bishops of Ohio have issued a letter urging state lawmakers to support recently introduced legislation that would end the taxpayer funding of abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment.
“Human dignity should not be defended selectively; our laws must reflect an unbroken and relentless commitment to life and dignity,” the bishops wrote March 25, according to the Diocese of Cleveland’s website.
Ohio House Bill 72 (HB 72) and its mirrored bill in the state Senate, SB 134, would prohibit taxpayer dollars from funding lethal injection drugs in assisted suicide and in elective abortions. The legislation would also abolish the death penalty and “modify the number of jurors that may be challenged in cases where a defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment,” according to the bills’ text.
The bishops petitioned for a consistent legal defense of the sanctity of life, stressing the need for a government to defend the common good of its people.
“A government that sanctions the destruction of human life through taxpayer funding of abortion, euthanasia, or the use of capital punishment undermines the dignity of those it exists to serve and protect,” the bishops wrote. “If taxpayer dollars are used to end life in the womb and hasten the death of the elderly, infirm and suffering, what message does this send?”
Capital punishment, the bishops wrote, exceeds what is necessary to defend citizens, and instead perpetuates the attack on human dignity and life that it seeks to address.
“State-sanctioned execution represents a judgment that an individual no longer deserves to live, no longer deserves an opportunity to encounter the living God on earth,” they wrote.
The bishops asserted that every person has an innate dignity regardless of their state in life.
“Fostering a culture of life throughout Ohio,” they said, “demands a commitment to recognizing the dignity of the human person in all stages and circumstances, including the child in the womb, the infirm, those suffering from addiction and those with whom we have the fiercest disagreements.”
As of March 31, each bill is under review of each chamber’s Judiciary Committee.
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