ABSTRACT
The early post-war period dawned under the sign of restoration and reconstruction. The area of confrontation between the Catholic Church and liberal democracy was the question of the right-to-life and human dignity. From the beginning the Church had been a staunch opponent of abortion, the setting out of infants, suicide and euthanasia. The Church held to the natural order in its view of sexuality, marriage and family, and was opposed to deviation from that order. The confrontation with sexual liberalism pertained both to the sociocultural and the biological spheres. The rights perspective was argued for on the basis of the notion of universal human rights. These were stated in terms of emancipation. In this way they secured the woman's right of freedom, precisely as a woman, to destroy unborn human life. Liberalization according to the pattern gave impetus to demands for the right to unrestricted research on human embryos. Research would bring freedom from "natural misfortune".
