“Human
life
is
sacred
and
inviolable
at
every
moment
of
existence,
including
the
initial
phase
which
precedes
birth.
All
human
beings,
from
their
mother’s
womb,
belong
to
God
who
searches
them
and
knows
them,
who
forms
them
and
knits
them
together
with
his
own
hands,
who
gazes
on
them
when
they
are
tiny
shapeless
embryos
and
already
sees
in
them
the
adults
of
tomorrow
whose
days
are
numbered
and
whose
vocation
is
even
now
written
in
the
‘book
of
life.’
There
too,
when
they
are
still
in
their
mothers’
womb—as
many
passage
Finish
s
of
the
Bible
bear
witness—they
are
the
personal
objects
of
God’s
loving
and
fatherly
providence.”
(Evangelium
Vitae, 61).
In
his
1995
Encyclical,
Evangelium
Vitae,
St.
John
Paul
II
called
on
all
Catholic
faithful
to
bear
witness
to
the
Gospel
of
Life
and
to
build
the
“civilization
of
life
and
love”
(100).
In
keeping
with
this
mission
and
our
Order’s
Catholic
principles
of
charity,
unity,
and
fraternity,
the
Knights
of
Columbus
stands
strong
in
its
conviction
that
every
human
life
is
a
gift
of
God,
endowed
with
certain
inalienable
rights
—
the
first
among
these
being
the
right
to
life.
Even
in
the
midst
of
difficulties
and
uncertainties,
we
believe
that
human
life
is
sacred
and
inviolable,
and
ought
to
be
defended
with
maximum
determination.
To
this
end,
the
Knights
of
Columbus
supports
policies
that
promote
a
Culture
of
Life
and
opposes
legislative
efforts
that
promote
abortion,
contraception,
sterilization,
cloning,
the
destruction
of
embryos,
assisted
suicide,
euthanasia, unjust war, and the death penalty when there is an acceptable alternative.
One
of
the
most
effective
ways
in
which
the
Knights
of
Columbus
has
promoted
a
Culture
of
Life
and
helped
thousands
of
women
save
their
children
is
through
the
Ultrasound
Initiative.
As
of
September
2018,
the
initiative
has
funded
and
placed
979
ultrasound
machines
—
valued
at
more
than
$48
million
—
in
all
50
states, as well as in Canada, Jamaica, Guatemala and Peru.
Our
Order’s
steadfast
defense
and
promotion
of
a
Culture
of
Life
is
grounded
on
our
ultimate
assurance
that
in
the
natural
law
written
in
the
heart
of
every
person
is
the
recognition
that
human
life
is
sacred
from
its
very
beginning
to
its
end.
In
the
depths
of
our
consciousness,
human
intellect
knows
that
the
very
source
of
its
existence—i.e.
human
life—ought
to
be
protected
and
celebrated.
In
that
regard,
the
message
of
the
Knights
of
Columbus
extends
far
beyond
our
Order
and
our
religious creed; it is a universal message that every person of good will can come to affirm.
The
right
to
life
is
unlike
any
other
right.
It
is
the
most
basic
right
and
the
condition
of
all
other
personal
rights,
constituting
the
foundation
of
every
human
community
and
the
political
community
itself.
St.
John
Paul
II
famously
noted
that
if
human
life
itself
is
not
respected,
then
respect
for
all
other
rights—for
example,
the
right
to
health,
to
marriage,
to
culture,
to
religion—is
“false
and
illusory.”
Human
rights
of
every
kind
are
“incomprehensible”
without
the
right
to
life.
Our
Order,
therefore,
joins
the
universal
Church
in
acknowledging
the
dignity
of
human
life
and
in
its
efforts
to
achieve
legal
and
constitutional
protection
for
every human person at the international, national, state, and local levels.
Culture Of Life | Knights of Columbus