Is Caring for the Environment Actually a Pro-Life Issue? with Clare Ath

Has environmentalism become so politicized that Catholics have forgotten what the Church actually teaches?

And here’s the bigger question: Is caring for the environment actually a pro-life issue?

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Clare Ath, co-founder and president of Vita et Terra, to unpack a side of Catholic teaching that is often misunderstood, dismissed, or surrendered to politics.

We explore why Catholics are called to care for creation, what Scripture really means when it gives humanity “dominion” over the earth, and why that does not mean domination. We also examine Laudato Si’, integral ecology, human ecology, and the contributions of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to the Church’s environmental teaching.

But this conversation goes far beyond theology and into practical effects.

What happens when chemicals, plastics, pesticides, and other environmental toxins make their way into our food and water? What could environmental degradation mean for fertility, pregnancy, children, and future generations? And can we protect the natural world without embracing an environmental ideology that treats human beings as the problem?

Clare makes the case that Catholics should reject the false choice between protecting human life and caring for creation. Authentic environmental stewardship begins with human dignity and recognizes that clean water, clean air, healthy communities, and responsible stewardship ultimately serve the human person.

We also tackle consumerism, the technocratic mindset, environmental policy, subsidiarity, and practical ways families can care for creation without falling into partisan politics or nature worship.

Can you be authentically pro-life while ignoring the world future generations will inherit? And have Catholics ceded the environmental conversation for too long?

This is a conversation about reclaiming care for creation from politics and putting the human person back at its center.

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