758 - Peace & Life: In The Atlantic / Moms.gov - May 15, 2026
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Mainstream Media Attention to the Consistent Life Ethic
We recently mentioned the idea that Donald Trump’s rant against Pope Leo might help those stuck in an opposing-camps mindset to see in the pope a better role model for being pro-life. Now we see this dynamic happening in an article in The Atlantic, whose sub-title says it well: “Pope Leo’s Pro-Life Challenge to Conservative Catholics: The Church’s resistance to war and its support for migrants stem from the same principles as its opposition to abortion.”
The consistent life ethic is explicitly mentioned and explained well. It’s from the perspective of people who support the anti-war and pro-migrant positions and therefore want to encourage conservatives to consider having those positions, but catching on that those are the same principles as abortion opposition has to help in them coming to understand the value of abortion opposition.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new federal resource designed to support women, children, and families through pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting.
The new website provides expecting and new parents with access to practical information and life-affirming support services, including pregnancy centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, nutritional guidance, breastfeeding resources, mental health support, adoption information, and other assistance programs.
Check it out:
More good news for Californians: the Golden State Start program starts this summer. It has a more modest goal, but it’s a good start: 400 diapers provided upon hospital discharge to all newborns in participating California hospitals. The initial rollout will cover over 60 hospitals, prioritizing those with high Medi-Cal populations. Given how pro-abortion the California state government is, this is especially the kind of program that should be encouraged there.
These are some established governmental efforts. For legislation, the Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act has been introduced with bipartisan support in both the U.S. House and Senate.
Stopping Executions
Death Penalty Action (DPA) has an annual Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty event in Washington DC June 29-July 2. Several of us attend and encourage others to also.
A new campaign from DPA is called For Whom the Bells Toll. It’s designed to provide people of faith and their communities with suggestions of relatively easy public expressions of opposition to executions within regular programming. Those actions may include tolling bells at places of worship, putting out signs during execution weeks in this country, and organizing prayer.
The Trump administration is trying to rush more executions by easing the execution process for states. For public comments to the government against this, see this from the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Deadline May 15 (today)
Since this is submitting a comment to the government, that deadline is rigid.
Latest on the Blog
John Whitehead comments on artistic photography in:
Rachel MacNair has been doing research into legal documents and shares:
Quote of the Week
Luis Parrales
The Atlantic, May 8, 2026
These critiques, however, miss something crucial about Pope Leo’s reasoning. His statements indicate that he’s not disregarding Church teaching to weigh in on political issues of the day. Instead, he’s making a moral case, rooted deeply in Catholic thought, for how the faithful should treat the vulnerable—a case that results in resisting war and protecting migrants, and also opposing abortion.
