"What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person and what kind of a society will we have 20 years hence if life can be taken so casually? It is that question, the question of our attitude, our value system, and our mind-set with regard to the nature and worth of life itself that is the central question confronting mankind. Failure to answer that question affirmatively may leave us with a hell right here on earth."

The prophet Isaiah says, "Now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb." [Is. 49:3, 5-6]. The Cardinal continues:

"God formed me, me personally, and he formed every one of you personally, every black person, every white person, every person of every race, of every background, of every language. Each one of us was formed personally in the womb by Almighty God himself.

Each of us is called from his mother's womb. Isaiah said, "You spoke to me, the one who formed me as his servant from the womb." Each of us is called from his or her mother's womb into life, precisely to come to know and to love and to serve God here and to be happy with him forever hereafter.

[In 1 Cor. 1:1-3,] St. Paul reminds the new Christian community of Corinth of precisely the same reality. He writes, "To you who have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy people." He is speaking of us. We are called to be consecrated in Christ Jesus. We are made in his image and likeness. The overwhelming majority of us here have been consecrated by baptism. We have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy people. A holy people does not kill. A holy people does not destroy the innocent. A holy people does not attack the vulnerable. How in God's name could we define holiness without respect for human life?

In [the] Gospel [Jn. 1:29-34] St. John the Baptist confesses with profound humility that he had not recognized Jesus as the Son of God. He says, "I confess, I did not recognize him." After many years of struggle against this culture of life, this culture of death--and I have seen it at work throughout the world--I have become absolutely convinced that enormous numbers of people--millions of good people--in so many ways, simply do not recognize that the unborn child is sent from God, is made in the image and likeness of the Lord. This is understandable in our culture. So much in our culture militates against our recognizing the sacredness of the unborn. John the Baptist confesses he did not even recognize Christ, the Son of God. Yet the Church teaches us that every child in its mother's womb, every mother, every father is sacred, every human person is sacred for one reason only--we are fashioned after the Lord; we are made in the image and likeness of Christ.

Time after time I read letters which begin, "I am a Catholic, but I can not agree with the teaching of the Church about abortion. I can not agree with the teaching that human life is sacred and that we have no right to destroy an innocent human being." That is the teaching of the natural moral law ratified by the Church, ratified by Christ himself who said, "Whatever you do to the least of my brethren you do to me; whatever you do to the very least of my children you do to me."

This is why, on the 15th day of October in 1984, I announced for the first time what I have repeated over and over since that time precisely because we believe in the sacredness of every human life, the life of the mother, the life of the father, the life of the unborn, the life of the "partially-born." I announced then what I repeat now: Any woman, of any color, of any religion, of any ethnic background, of any place, who is pregnant and in need, under pressure to have an abortion, can come to us in the Archdiocese of New York, can come personally to me. If she is in need, we will see that she is given free medical care and free hospitalization. If she wants to have her baby adopted we will provide free legal assistance. If she wants to keep her baby we will provide free assistance.

Since the 15th day of October in 1984, many thousands of women have come to us and many thousands of babies have been saved. Equally important, the lives of their mothers have been made whole. The infants in their wombs have leaped for joy at the news that they would be brought safely into this world, as the infant in the womb of Elizabeth leaped for joy when Mary came bearing within her womb the Lord of Life himself. Every human being in this Church, every human being that any one of us will meet this day or on any day of our lives is a sacred human being. This is what we have repeated in your leaflet today as we commemorate with sadness the 26th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision granting abortion on demand in our society. We have seen its results in infanticide, in physician-assisted suicide and now, potentially, in experimentation on those who have not even asked for it and are incapable of preventing it.

We pray that our society comes to recognize the sacredness and dignity of all human life--your life, my life--from its natural beginning until its natural conclusion. We pray in a special way that the horrors of abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide will no longer afflict our land."

Thus the words of Cardinal O'Connor. We are fortunate to have, have had, in our midst a priest, a Archbishop and Cardinal, who had the guts to say it as it is. I hasten to say, however, that there are many more dedicated priests who lay it on the line.

In Florida, all the Bishops are outspoken on abortion.  The Florida Catholic Conference representing all Florida Bishops is the place to find such statements.

During the remaining two weeks of Lent 2007, let us reflect daily on the massive amount of the unborn who have lost their life at the hand of butchers at the behest of misguided fathers and mothers.  It is said that 46,023,191 is the number of abortions in the United States, from 1973 until the present. I pray that Our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on the souls of all who had a hand in this wanton destruction of human life. Our Lord died for us on the Cross for our sins.... please let His death not be in vain. His death will not be in vain when we ask forgiveness, repent, atone for our sins, and begin to sin no more.

God bless you!