In an essay for First Things, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone provides a point-by-point rebuttal of the arguments set forth by Democratic members of the House of Representatives against the US bishops’ plan to issue a teaching document on the Eucharist.

Responding to the lawmakers’ claim to “advance respect for life,” the archbishop remarks: “Except, that is, those human beings who are still in the womb, or even partially born.”

Concluding the essay, Archbishop Cordileone says: “Rejecting abortion is a tall order for a Catholic Democrat in the current environment, I know.” But he urges the legislators to follow the example of St. Thomas More and ask themselves: “Will I be God’s servant first?”