Respect Life Month

by Fr. Don Kline, V.F.  |  10/05/2025  |  Letter from the Pastor

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we celebrate Respect Life throughout the month of October, Our Lord reminds us of the sacredness of every life. Catholics have always held and will always preach the value of human life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that:

"Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being” (CCC 2258).

And “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life” (CCC 2270)

An abortion wounds two people: the unborn child, who is killed, and the child's mother, who often experiences emotional and psychological harm. There is more and more evidence that women face increased risk of depression and hospitalization for mental health after having an abortion. In July of 2025, the Journal of Psychiatric Research published a study titled “Induced abortion and implications for long-term mental health: a cohort study of 1.2 million pregnancies.” In this study, researchers oversaw a survey of 28,721 induced abortions and approximately 1.22 million births at hospitals in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2022.

David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, a pro-life organization, said that the study was the most recent confirmation of a link between abortion and severe mental health problems. He stated, “We now know that the majority of abortion patients say that their abortions did negatively impact their mental health. To insist that abortion never impacts mental health is, essentially … an absurd, ideologically driven fantasy.”

The study also found that “Rates of mental health-related hospitalization were higher following induced abortions than other pregnancies,” noted the report, adding that women who had abortions experienced higher rates of “substance use disorders” and “suicide attempts” when “compared with other pregnancies.”

As we read in Psalm 139:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you… My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

Because Our Loving God has created every human being we are sacred and precious – made in God’s image and likeness. We are a reflection of God. We have been entrusted from the moment of conception until our natural death with a unique mission and vocation in life that reveals the goodness and grandeur of God. You and I are invited to bring others to this life-giving realization of the love of God for each and every person from the moment of conception until natural death.

(See bulletin for a more in-depth chart)

God Bless,

Fr. Don Kline