An implication of the first principle is that every person, from the moment of conception to natural death has an inherent dignity and a right to life consistent with the dignity that is ours as human beings. A just and good society is an impossibility if the sacredness of human life is not seen as an integral part of any moral vision. As a result the church has always stood against the crime of abortion. “So great is the value of human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right to one’s own body can justify  a decision to terminate that life, which is an end in itself and which can never be considered the “property” of another human being.”[1]

 “Yet this defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right,” says Pope Francis states. He continues, “It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems.” When this conviction disappears, the solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, will be subject to the passing whims of those in power. Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, “every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offence against the creator of the individual”[2]

 
[1] Amoris Laetitia, 83
[2] Evangelii Gaudium, 213