During an appearance on The Axe Files with David Axelrod podcast Thursday, April 16th Governor Gretchen Whitmer was asked by the host about her to decision to allow abortion facilities to remain open during the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order. In response, Governor Whitmer stated that abortion is “life-sustaining.” Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) responded to the governor’s comments by stating that her understanding of life issues has become “bifurcated and confusing,” and is asking for the governor to pause and reflect on “the wounds her comments have created for countless people in this state and elsewhere.”
Bishop Walkowiak’s statement:
“Two persons enter an abortion clinic. Only one comes out. Abortion is not life-sustaining.
We reiterate our complete and continuing commitment to support the health and well-being of all human life from conception to natural death. The Catholic Church’s efforts and resources remain available to all families. Well over 150,000 low-income mothers deliver their babies at Catholic hospitals each year, and tens of thousands of pregnant and parenting moms are helped each year through Catholic Charities programs and other agencies. We will continue to walk with moms in need.
For those of us in Michigan who value life, the way forward remains the same. We must let our elected representatives know our opinions on this matter and do all that we can to explain to them why the Church teaches about the sanctity of life as she does. Let us never back down from our vigorous defense of human life at all stages of its existence.”
The MCC’s full statement is as follows:
“Governor Whitmer’s comment that abortion is ‘life-sustaining’ comes as no surprise; for most if not all of her political career the governor has carried the banner for abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy. Her comments indicate how easily candidates for higher office are pushed into a dark corner by the abortion industry. Joe Biden’s abdication of his forty-year support for the Hyde Amendment no doubt paved the way.
“Michigan Catholic Conference has expressed its appreciation to the governor for her efforts to keep residents of the state safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her comments on the podcast, however, clarify how bifurcated and confusing her understanding of human life has become.
“Residents across the state have been forced to delay their non-emergency medical procedures due to the pandemic. Yet the governor insists that elective abortions continue, as she believes the procedure ‘sustains life.’ The logic is removed from reality: night is not day; war is not peace. How can Governor Whitmer on the one hand prohibit medical surgeries and the growth of food through gardening yet refer to a procedure that intentionally destroys a developing human person as “life sustaining?”
“We call on Governor Whitmer to pause and reflect on the wounds her comments have created for countless people in this state and elsewhere. We all need the governor’s sole focus right now to be on the needs of the people of Michigan, not the demands of the abortion industry.”
Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.
