American Catholic Bishops prioritise opposing abortion in election guide!

Media Release 4 December 2025

Right to Life commends the United States Catholic Bishops’ Conference for continuing to uphold “that fighting abortion remains our pre-eminent priority”. This outstanding declaration was made in November 2025 at their meeting in Baltimore when the Bishops were discussing the election guide for 2026, “Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship”.

The Bishops recognised that there were many other justice issues that should be considered when voting, however with an estimated 1.14 million unborn children poisoned, scraped out of their mother’s womb or dismembered in the United States in 2024, the murder of the unborn and the wounding of their precious mothers continued to be the pre-eminent human rights issue in the United States.

God’s fifth Commandment is an absolute prohibition of the killing of the unborn. It is precise and emphatic, written in the hearts of men, “Thou shalt not kill”.

The American Bishops reaffirmed that voters have a duty to elect senators and congressmen who were committed to legislating for the protection of the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death. Voters are morally justified in refusing to vote for a candidate who is not committed to protecting the right to life of unborn children, who are God’s precious infants.

Right to Life believes that with abortion on demand in 77 countries worldwide, including New Zealand, opposing abortion should be the priority issue in the majority of countries.

In 2022 there were 14,164 defenceless unborn babies murdered in New Zealand. Right to Life is grateful for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference election guide in 2023. However we were disappointed that the election guide while stressing the sanctity of life, did not choose to prioritise the opposition to abortion or to make mention of it.

Right to Life is hopeful that the NZ Bishops will follow the example of the American Bishops in prioritising opposition to the killing of God’s precious infants and wounding of their mothers, in their drafting of the 2026 election guide. The community should vote only for candidates for parliament in 2026, who are committed to opposing abortion and euthanasia, and defendngi the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death.

A nation that kills its own children is a nation without a future.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life New Zealand Inc.