“Reversing it is not a mere political tactic, but a moral imperative for Catholics and others who respect human life,” Cardinal Rigali and Bishop Murphy stated.
Another reason that the bishops gave was that many challenges to the decision have led "to significant modifications of Roe. Most recently," they noted, in the ban on partial-birth abortion.
A third reason, they continued, is the enormous increase in the “annual number of abortions in our society” since the Roe decision. “By the same token, even the limited pro-life laws allowed by the Court since Roe have been shown to reduce abortions substantially, leading to a steady decline in the abortion rate since 1980.”
This progress could be lost through the Freedom of Choice Act, "which supporters say would knock down hundreds of current pro-life laws and forbid any public program to ‘discriminate’ against abortion in providing services to women," the bishops explained.
Senator Barack Obama has promised that he would sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law as his first act as president.
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The bishops concluded their letter noting that "providing support for pregnant women so they choose to have their babies is a necessary but not sufficient response to abortion."
"By protecting the child’s life to the maximum degree possible, improving life-affirming support for pregnant women, and changing the attitudes and prejudices imposed on many women to make them see abortion as an acceptable or necessary solution, we will truly help build a culture of life," they stated.