Bishops' new pro-life chair: Project Rachel ministries 'key to our pro-life efforts'

BALTIMORE (OSV News) -- During the U.S. bishops' annual fall meeting in Baltimore, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chair of the bishops' pro-life committee, spoke with OSV News about its priorities and the importance of offering "healing and the tender mercy of God" to those hurt by abortion. He also discussed concerns over the FDA's recent approval of another generic form of mifepristone -- a pill commonly, but not exclusively, used for early abortion.

Bishop Thomas said he sees the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities' role as speaking "as best we can to issues that arise that require a moral voice and issues that arise that require really an effort for ourselves of offering church teaching in a clear and concise and digestible way."

The bishops were scheduled to meet Nov. 12 in a private session focused on the subject of ministries to help people heal from the trauma of past abortions.

Bishop Thomas said the Project Rachel ministries in each diocese are "key to our pro-life efforts."

"We want to be profoundly supportive of our diocesan ministries for women and men who have experienced any abortions," he added.

"Sadly, the church is often judged as only being in a stance of condemnation of those who have had abortion," he said. "We, of course, recognize that abortion is a grave sin. But at the same time, as a church, it's our responsibility -- and as shepherds in particular -- to be able to offer the healing and tender mercy of God, which is extended to anyone, no matter what the sin and no matter what the offense."

He said the Project Rachel ministry is "intended to show the merciful face of Jesus, to accompany those who are in such a profound struggle of shame and perhaps anger, of feelings of unworthiness, and of course, this misunderstanding that abortion is the unforgivable sin, which is completely false."

Bishop Thomas said, "Jesus forgives every sin. And no matter the sin, he offers his healing and mercy."

He praised how the longstanding ministry, originally founded in 1984, works with diocesan teams that include laypeople, priests, deacons and some consecrated religious, as well as people with a background in psychological or psychiatric care, with the aim of caring "for the whole person physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally."

"The reality is, as shepherds, we want to make sure they know of our pastoral care, that we know that the church loves them, Jesus loves them and we desire them to be one with us," he said.

He emphasized the bishops want them to understand that the tragedy of abortion "does not negate the fact that the Lord extends his mercy to their hearts, minds, and souls and to their lives."

Bishop Thomas also weighed in on the Trump administration's approval of a second generic form of mifepristone, from Evita Solutions, despite the drug allegedly being under review by the FDA for safety concerns -- a review that some Republican senators are pressing for confirmation of as it's unclear that the FDA is conducting it. The first generic pill for abortion -- from GenBioPro -- was approved in 2019 under the first Trump presidency.

Approved by the FDA for early abortion in 2000, mifepristone -- the first of two drugs used in a medication-based abortion -- gained the moniker "the abortion pill."

However, the same drug combination -- mifepristone and misoprostol -- has become used sometimes in recent years to improve outcomes for miscarriage care, where an unborn child has already passed and the remains need to be removed from the womb, a situation that Catholic teaching would hold as morally licit use.

But in the case of early first trimester abortion, mifepristone is being used in combination with misoprostol to end the life of an unborn child. The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion.

Bishop Thomas said he found it "surprisingly contradictory that the FDA is conducting a much-needed review of the safety impacts of the abortion pill for women and at the same time they approve a new generic for this deadly drug."

"I think we can admit at least as far as research tells us the FDA in fact took shortcuts in approving and loosening protocols for mifepristone," he added, "which enabled the killing of more children and placed the health of more women in danger."

"If these things are happening, it doesn't matter which political party is doing them: We're going to speak out to the value of life, to the protection of life," he emphasized.

OSV News asked Bishop Thomas about the recent concerns raised by pro-life groups that abolishing the filibuster, as President Trump is advocating, would clear the way for Congress in the future to enact legislation allowing abortion without limits.

Bishop Thomas said that the filibuster is "fundamentally a procedural issue" and the bishops "don't enter into a political discussion for or against a particular political party that is in a majority." But he acknowledged that if the filibuster is removed, "It could swing between potentially good or potentially evil realities."

"In the immediate aftermath, for example, of Dobbs in 2022," he said, "some pro-choice politicians wanted to get rid of the filibuster in order to steamroll through legislation that would create sweeping new nationwide rights to abortion. So, I think we have to be very, very conscious and I think we have to ask ourselves, 'Is it a matter of procedural checks and balances?'"