The question of abortion may be decided politically, but the real test is if morality is taught.

The Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson changes our politics. For nearly 50 years, Roe v. Wade allowed abortion across the land.

Now it doesn't.

For nearly 150 years before that, U.S. states made their own determinations about abortion.

Now they do again.

Because the court has ordered that "the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives," a pastiche of state laws will kick in, some more restrictive than others.

Ever since the May leak by Politico of the draft decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, pro-abortion groups pressed their positions, for example, suggesting overturning Roe would put in vitro fertilization at risk, even arguing that pregnancy is bad for your health.

Both are key to pro-abortion strategy.

Since September 2021, a bill called the "Women's Health Protection Act of 2022" has been sitting in the Senate.

The proposed legislation allows all abortions before fetal viability and those "after fetal viability where it is necessary, in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care professional, for the preservation of the life or health of the person who is pregnant."

Strongly supported by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the law passed the House of Representatives by a narrow (218-211) margin.

Three Representatives did not vote.

When it went to the Senate, the vote to proceed failed 49-51. Senator Manchin of West Virginia crossed the aisle to vote with the Republicans.

The Catholic Church has always allowed the "life of the mother" exception under the concept of double effect, for example, termination of an ectopic pregnancy or removal of the uterus to treat cancer of the womb.

But the "life or health of the person who is pregnant" presents possibilities for wide interpretation.

On the one hand, the sentence protects the practitioner who determines whether the baby is dead or dying in the womb. On the other hand, it seems to allow for abortions up until the moment of birth where the mother claims a traumatic psychological condition. Or maybe she's not ill, just worried about her health.

So, what now?

The Catholic Communion rail controversy can only increase.

A few bishops have banned Speaker Pelosi from the sacrament in their dioceses. A few others steadfastly remain silent, about her and, perhaps more importantly, about President Biden.

US President, Joe Biden has said he is not sure when human life begins.

Before you send him a biology book, consider that he is perhaps thinking about the Catholic concept of ensoulment — not conception, implantation, quickening or viability.

The Church prefers to recognize the sanctity of all human life, and there is no argument that every stage is human.

The controversy will not end soon, but if the bishops address "invincible ignorance," there may be fewer Catholic politicians supporting laws allowing abortion.

Maybe the bishops can redouble their efforts to teach Gospel values.

Maybe they can teach that "respect life" includes Catholic social teaching, which in turn requires just wages and proper working conditions.

Maybe they can expand Church efforts to assist the poor.

Politics is not the point. The point is to make abortion unnecessary.

• Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Her most recent book is "Women: Icons of Christ."

Catholic social teaching is being quoted as the death toll in the Bangladesh tragedy of a collapsed garment factory rises above 1100. Bangladesh is the second or third largest exporter of garments in the world, behind only China and possibly Vietnam.

In the United States, government officials, investors and religious groups are warning major retailers like Walmart, Benetton and Gap that they could face a financial backlash from consumers, damage to their share value or sustained public protests if they do not adopt stricter standards.

The New York Times reports growing impatience with American and European retailers and apparel brands because only two companies — PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Tchibo, a German retailer — have signed a binding agreement on safety standards for factories.

Edward J. O'Boyle, senior research associate with Mayo Research Institute in the US, cited Pope John Paul II's 1981 encyclical Laborem Exercens, which said labour's effect on the worker is more important than both its effect on the product and on profits.

"We cannot purchase imported goods at the price of the lives of people in other countries simply because they live in other countries where working conditions are deplorable; we have an obligation to intervene," O'Brien said.

Christopher Westley, an economics professor at Jacksonville State University, said economic and social systems "have to be based upon the primacy of the human person", as Catholic social teaching says.

Father Seamus P. Finn, representing shareholders from the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, has been circulating a letter among religious organisations to express displeasure with the American retailers.

He says the retailers have not done nearly enough to improve workplace safety for the more than three million garment workers in Bangladesh.

"What happened in Bangladesh is a game-changer because of the gravity of the situation and the tremendous loss of life," Father Finn said. "People are really coming to life about this and saying, ‘We need to do something'. "

Sources:

New York Times

Catholic News Agency

Image: New York Times