October 27, 2025
Former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, a self-proclaimed Catholic, is publishing a
new memoir, “Life, Law & Liberty,” in which he discusses a woman’s “right” to abortion.
Kennedy sided with Planned Parenthood in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania
v. Casey in the name of women’s “rights.” In this book, he defends his decision while
simultaneously claiming the Catholic faith and arguing that devout Catholics should allow
abortion. As Kennedy said in an unconvincing passage of his book, “It just seemed to me that
this was the woman’s right, and that what people of my belief should do is to convince her not to
have the abortion, to convince her … but that she should have the right.”
This statement, a rollercoaster, tells us a lot about Kennedy’s true perspective. First of all, his thought
that abortion should be a woman’s “right” separates him from the faith he claims. Being Pro-life
is not an optional stance for Catholics; choosing life is not a suggestion. It is a necessity because
we see the value of human life. Kennedy refers to Catholics as “people of my belief” and speaks
of what they should do – because he won’t take the true pro-woman stand. Clearly, we do not
share beliefs, Justice Kennedy. We, as pro-life Catholics, believe we have a good God who truly
cares about all of His people – including the smallest of them. If you can’t see the dignity that
God bestowed upon the smallest members of society, if you think God made that life to be
disposable, clearly, we do not worship the same God.
Kennedy continues to worry about “ethics and civility,” stating, “Democracy presumes an open,
rational, thoughtful, decent discussion where you respect the dignity of the person with whom
you disagree. And if it doesn’t have that, then democracy as we know it is in danger.” This, of
course, is only half true; we have to be respectful of the people we disagree with, but what about
the dignity of the people who are directly affected by the tragedy of abortion that Kennedy has
completely disregarded? Democracy must apply to the preborn. Where is their choice?
The Catholic Church has always been strongly anti-abortion. As written by St. John Paul II in
“The Gospel of Life,” Evangelium Vitae, “To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and
euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse
and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death
of true freedom.”
St. John Paul II very vocally stood against abortion, as the Scriptures have always taught against
murder, and the Church holds a strong position against the willful ending of human life. St. John
Paul II also spoke about creating a Culture of Life amidst a growing Culture of Death, and his
work empowers Catholics to be missionaries of life, forming society in human dignity and
empowering women to choose Life for their babies while advocating for the eradication of
abortion.
In calling himself a Catholic and supporting the greatest slaughter of the most innocent, Justice
Kennedy disregards thousands of years of Church teachings and abandons every teaching about
the dignity of the human person. Catholics are taught in elementary school that everyone is made
in the image and likeness of God; maybe Justice Kennedy needs to go back and learn this again.
Like oil and water, abortion is completely incompatible with the Catholic faith, and we, as
Catholics, are called to stand up for the most vulnerable, not making excuses to turn a blind eye
to it.