This is the letter issued by Archbishop John F. Donoghue of Atlanta following the presidential veto of the partial-birth abortion ban.

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

All of us, at some time or another, have read the stories of the Church's martyrs, and we have all wondered could we undergo the pain, the prolonged torture, and suffer the tormented deaths that many of these great men and women and children of Faith chose to endure. But in our self-questioning, we enjoy the ability to say to ourselves, as they surely said to themselves, "I could do it, because I love my faith -- I love what I believe -- I love my God, and like my Savior, Jesus Christ, I would pray for the strength to endure, and God would surely come to my aid."

But in our time, another kind of martyrdom, a martyrdom incapable of finding strength through reason, is sweeping across this land -- the martyrdom of millions of innocent children. And in some circumstances, those involving late-term abortions, these children die by methods too hideous to contemplate -- methods that involve partial birth, brain evacuation and severe mangling of frail, tender, innocent limbs that have only just reached the stage to greet the light, to cry out in hunger and thirst, to look for the reassuring embrace of a mother and of a father, and to know the sweetness of love. This past week, President Clinton, with his veto of pending legislation, chose to protect this form of murder, and to make it an elective procedure, a procedure that pushes abortion as close as possible to the crime of infanticide.

Today, this week, and in the months ahead, we must let our witness be known on this issue in some way -- the conscience born in our baptism demands that all Catholics accept and make visible in their lives, condemnation of this heinous act which thrives within our culture. And this is an issue about our culture. This is not an argument about politics.

Though the Church teaches that God has given us free will, and that He also respects the sincerity of decisions made in good conscience, we must also assert that abortions are always motivated by utilitarian considerations; even under the most dire and ultimate circumstances, when an expectant mother might face the ruin of her health or death itself -- even then, if abortion is chosen, then the choice, no matter how pitiable, no matter how understandable, still stands as a forsaken opportunity to witness to the cross of Christ. Some will misjudge these sentiments as being hypocritical, some will cry out against me for making them, but it is with the authority of a bishop of Christ's Church, committed to teaching Christ's truth, that I express them, and that I remind all Catholics of the necessity to believe them.

And I do so because the witness I urge you to give is necessary at this critical time. All around us leaders of our society capitulate to the so-called "right to choose," and espouse it as a noble goal, in keeping with the best traditions of constitutional freedom. They ignore the fact that conception, not birth, makes a human being, who from that moment should enjoy the protections of constitutional authority. And more tragically, they mislead countless young men and women who hear what they say, and who accept it, as the young are wont to accept easily those who tell them what they want to hear, and what constitutes the easiest way out of a difficult situation. It is up to us, preservers of Christ's Gospel intact, to provide the countering example, to courageously preach and recommend the way of God, the way which begins with His absolute respect for human life. It is up to us to save the moral worth of this country, of these United States, and to make the Constitution work, not apart from God, but under His guiding eye.

Last week, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston condemned President Clinton's decision to veto legislation banning partial-birth abortion saying, "I denounce it. I do so not only from the resources of faith, but also as a citizen, who like millions of others, fears that this veto further imperils the human rights principles that have guided our nation for over 200 years." These words accurately recalled what the Holy Father preached when he visited this country last fall: "When the unborn child -- the stranger in the womb -- is declared to be beyond the protection of society, not only are America's deepest traditions radically undermined and endangered, but a moral blight is brought upon society."

The beautiful garment of our country's civilization is being torn asunder by the rampant practice of aborting, of murdering one and a half million unwanted children every year. The time for stronger action has come, and perhaps the voice, the actions, and the votes of informed, loyal Catholics is just that forceful action which is needed.

Therefore, sons and daughters of the Faith, and brothers and sisters of the Lord, I urge you to recall God's word at the beginning of human history: ". . . and from man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life," and again, when He renewed the covenant of salvation from Mount Sinai, "Thou shalt not kill," and finally, in the words of our beloved Savior, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," and I charge you, according to the form appropriate to your place in the life of our society, to work tirelessly, and with charity, for the eradication of abortion from the present and the future of American life.

Sincerely in Christ,

Archbishop John F. Donoghue, D.D.

Archbishop of Atlanta