[2] The term was popularized in 1983 by the Catholic prelate Joseph Bernardin in the United States to express an ideology based on the premise that all human life is sacred and should be protected by law.
J. Bryan Hehir, staff writer for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on political affairs, is credited by Charles Curran with coining the term "consistent ethic of life"[8][9] Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago helped publicize the consistent life ethic idea, initially in a lecture at Fordham University, December 6, 1983.
Bernardin told an audience in Portland, Oregon: "When human life is considered 'cheap' or easily expendable in one area, eventually nothing is held as sacred and all lives are in jeopardy.
Bernardin and other advocates of this ethic sought to form a consistent policy that would link abortion, capital punishment, economic injustice, euthanasia, and unjust war.
[12][13] Individual endorsers belonging to the organization include Father Daniel Berrigan, theologian Harvey Cox, Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff, Father Theodore Hesburgh, actress Patricia Heaton, L'Arche founder Jean Vanier, death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, pastor and activist Patrick Mahoney, author Ken Kesey, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.
[25] Other prominent authors who have written in support of the consistent life ethic include Frank Pavone,[26] John Dear,[27][6][28] Ron Sider,[29] James Hedges,[19] Tony Campolo,[30][31][32] Joel Hunter,[32] Wendell Berry,[33][34][28] and Shane Claiborne.
In a 1988 interview with National Catholic Register, he stated, "I feel very, very strongly about the right to life of the unborn, the weakest and most vulnerable of human beings.
"[37] Many consistent life ethic adherents advocate for increased social support for parents in addition to legal protection for the unborn.
[38] Advocates for the consistent life ethic have reacted positively to the release of the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision (2022), which overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992).
[39] According to Herb Geraghty of Rehumanize International, "Right now is clearly a moment for celebration, and for mourning the lives that have been lost in the last 50 years due to the Roe v. Wade decision.
"[41] Bernardin's opposition to capital punishment was rooted in the conviction that an atmosphere of respect for life must pervade a society, and resorting to the death penalty would not support this attitude.
[45] Bernardin understood the consistent life ethic as implying a societal responsibility to provide adequate health care for all, especially the poor.
Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles dismissed the "seamless garment" approach in 2016 because in his view it results in "a mistaken idea that all issues are morally equivalent".