From The New York Times:
Each of the pope’s statements are part of a consistent ethic of life. I love the Catholic writer Mark Shea’s description of what this ethic means — that “all human beings, without any exception whatsoever, are made in the image and likeness of God and that Jesus Christ died for all human beings, without any exception whatsoever. Therefore each human person — without any exception whatsoever — is sacred and is the only creature that God wills for its own sake.”
In this formulation, the fundamental moral basis of the pro-life movement is the idea that every single human being is created in the image of God and thus should be treated with dignity and respect at every stage of life, a concept that includes abortion but extends far beyond it as well. In this context, it is a mistake to view abortion as somehow distinct from the dehumanization and abuse of migrants. The holistic pro-life view doesn’t just ask, “Is a baby being harmed?” It asks, “Are people being harmed?”