The passing in recent weeks of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II has helped popularize a new slogan for conservative activists and Republican strategists: "culture of life."
Folks who long have fixated on the first instants of life now seem to have turned their scrutiny to its final moments. That's fine, but usually there's a lot of time between conception and death — scores of years for most of us. So a consistent "culture of life" would include concern for what happens to people during that span, a respect for life and human dignity that's a "seamless garment," in the words of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.
In a 1984 address at St. Louis University, the cardinal made clear that such an all-encompassing ethic "does not equate the problem of taking life (through abortion or war) with the problem of promoting human dignity (through humane programs of nutrition, health care and housing)."
But, he added, "a consistent ethic identifies the protection of life and its promotion as moral questions. It argues for a continuum of life that must be sustained in the face of diverse and distinct threats."
Moreover, a consistent ethic of life is rooted in Roman Catholic moral and social tradition, the cardinal noted, a tradition that "joins the humanity of the unborn infant and the humanity of the hungry ... [and] calls for positive legal action to prevent the killing of the unborn or the aged and positive societal action to provide shelter for the homeless and education for the illiterate."
Clearly, the most prominent life issue in the public eye has been abortion, over which battle lines have been drawn for more than 30 years between seemingly intractable camps. If one accepts the cardinal's imagery of a "seamless garment" ethic of life, though, perhaps there are issues around which the anti-abortion and the abortion rights forces might find common cause.
Consider, for example, the condition of the state's children, among its most vulnerable citizens. In its 2005 Illinois Kids Count report, Voices for Illinois Children, a statewide, nonprofit advocacy group, measured the well-being of the state's youngsters in a variety of areas. Released just a few days before the deaths of Ms. Schiavo and the pope, the report focused on a dozen indicators that the coalition believes would improve learning — and, thus, the future quality of life — for Illinois children. Not all the factors are related directly to classroom quality; home environment, family economic status, health and early childhood experiences have almost equal influence on student achievement, the report noted.
Clearly, the most prominent life issue in the public eye has been abortion, over which battle lines have been drawn for more than 30 years between seemingly intractable camps.
The snapshot the report offers is encouraging, but troubling as well. Gains are documented in many areas, including the availability of early childhood education — double-digit increases in Head Start, prekindergarten and child care enrollments in recent years — and of health insurance — more than 1.1 million children covered by Medicaid or KidCare, a 42 percent increase since 1998. Yet thousands of youngsters still have no access to quality preschool programs, and an estimated 11 percent of Illinois kids are still without health insurance.
In other areas, such as reading proficiency and access to after-school programs, little progress has been made, according to the report, while in two key areas — school funding and family economic status — conditions are getting worse.
Illinois rates 49th among the states in terms of the gap in per-pupil spending between wealthy school districts — generally with high property tax bases — and poorer districts with less pricey real estate, the report notes. Moreover, recent increases in state funding guarantees haven't kept pace with inflation, and the current foundation level is almost $1,000 short per student of the amount needed for a quality education, according to the report.
While school districts struggle financially, so do thousands of Illinois families, the report found, with almost half a million children living in poverty, based on the federal level of $18,810 for a family of four. The highest child poverty rates — in excess of one out of five kids — are found in a handful of counties near the state's southern tip, counties in which most school districts spend less than the statewide average.
While neither finding should come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention, the report underscores the dual threat poverty and underfunded schools pose to the future quality of life for too many Illinois kids.
"Children who grow up poor are more likely to experience a range of troubling outcomes, including developmental delays and learning disabilities," the report notes. "As these children grow older, they are more likely to drop out of school, have babies in their teens and be unemployed." At the same time, "many schools across Illinois — in city, suburban and rural districts — are being forced to make tough decisions that compromise the quality of education, including increasing class sizes, laying off teachers, cutting programs such as teacher training, and relying on outdated textbooks and equipment," according to the report.
More than a statistical compendium, the report also proposes "action steps" to improve children's lot in each category measured. For example, Voices calls for comprehensive school funding reform, including relying on higher income and sales taxes to reduce reliance on property taxes and to provide additional funds for poorer districts.
"To do what is best for children, public policies must focus on moving their families not just into jobs, but out of poverty," the report declares. "That means supporting parents as they get the necessary skills to improve their earnings and boosting the incomes of poor families." Specific recommendations include continued expansion of the FamilyCare program of health insurance coverage for the working poor, and a more generous earned income tax credit.
The report, available online at
www.voices4kids.org/illinoiskidscount.htm,
should interest anyone who believes — as Cardinal Bernardin did — that the culture of life is a seamless garment.
Charles N. Wheeler III is director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Illinois Issues, May 2005
