Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
FOOTPRINTS Contraception and Conscience
Issue 2, 11 Oct 2011
The RTL officers respond to views on the new healthcare mandate’s religious exemption clause
In this issue:
We, officers of Notre Dame’s Right to Life club, students of the university under Our Lady’s patronage, and Catholics committed to the teachings of the Catholic Church, would like to offer a response to Gary Caruso’s viewpoint, “The government’s not-so-insensible ‘conscience clause’” (The Observer, Sept 30). In his article, Mr. Caruso condemns Fr. Jenkins’ letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, asking that the definition of “religious employer” in the religious exemption clause of the new healthcare mandate be broadened to “ensure conscience protections” that will allow Notre Dame to continue its work as a Catholic university. Namely, the mandate “would compel Notre Dame to either pay for contraception and sterilization in violation of the Church’s moral teaching, or to discontinue our employee and student health care plans.” In its current form, the HHS definition defines religious employer as an organization that primarily serves and employs “persons who share its religious tenets.” Mr. Caruso argues that this definition is “sensible,” and that the government is proceeding correctly in its approach. Both Fr. Jenkins and Mr. Caruso agree that Notre Dame would not qualify as a religious institution under such a definition, given that we employ and Continued on page 7
Members of Notre Dame Right to Life attend the 20th Life is Precious Dinner, sponsored by St. Joseph County Right to Life.
2 Bryan Williams, Notre Dame Junior, reflects on the opening Mass for Respect Life Week.
3 Students attend Crisis Pregnancy Counseling Training, sponsored by the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life.
3 Read more about Respect Life Week 2011! Rebecca Kiessling Lecture, Cemetery of the Innocents, and more on pages 8 and 9.
8-9
Cupake sale raises more than $1100 for Hannah’s House. Featured on page 10.
10 “Don’t ever underestimate the beauty and power of the witness you give in your pro-life work.” Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia
Text of open letter from Fr. Jenkins to Secretary Sibelius regarding new healthcare mandate The Notre Dame Office of the President recently released an open letter from Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, regarding the new healthcare mandate. The following is the text of that letter:
Dear Madam Secretary, In May of 2009, President Obama accepted an honorary degree and served as the principal speaker at the University of Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony. As the University’s president, I had the Continued on page 5
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
Students attend 20th annual Life is Precious Dinner By Christopher Damian Eight members of Notre Dame Right to Life attended the twentieth Life is Precious Dinner, sponsored by St. Joseph County Right to Life. The table was sponsored by the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Huma Life. Speakers provided statistics and information regarding abortion and the prolife movement in the area. According to recent estimations, 58 million abortions have been performed since 1973 Roe v. Wade, enough to fill Notre Dame stadium more than 750 times. In the last year, 613 abortions were performed in South “We are about people, and God is Bend alone. about people.” –Joseph Scheidler, Joseph Scheidler, Notre Dame class of 1950 and National Director of the Pro-life national director of the Pro-Life Action League, Action League was the keynote speaker. Drawing upon Hamlet, historic speeches, and his first memories of Notre Dame and quoting Hebrew, Latin, and German, disclosed under state law, and the St. Joseph he stressed the importance of the prolife County Right to Life named the children movement. He reminded attendees that “one accordingly. Notre Dame Right to Life received human life is worth more than the entire the following names: Damarius, Dante, Devin, universe” and that “it’s not just big numbers, it’s Daniel, Darian, and Deandre, aborted March 19, people that are being destroyed.” 2010; DeAngelo, aborted March 23, 2010; and At the closing of the dinner, each attendee Jackson, aborted April 20, 2010. Notre Dame received a card with the name of a child aborted Right to Life requests prayers for these children in South Bend in the last year. The sex of each and for their families. child aborted in St. Joseph County must be
At the 20th annual Life is Precious Dinner, ND Right to Life representatives received the names of eight children aborted in South Bend in the last year. We invite you to pray with us for these children and their families: Damarius, Dante, Devin, Daniel, Darian, and Deandre, aborted March 19, 2010; DeAngelo, aborted March 23, 2010; and Jackson, aborted April 20, 2010. 2
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
Faculty and Students attend Crisis Pregnancy Counseling Training by Christopher Damian More than thirty students and faculty met Saturday, October 1, for Crisis Pregnancy Counseling Training, sponsored by The Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life. Ellen Sommer and Judy McLaughlin, representatives of the Women’s Care Center, trained attendees on how to respond when encountering someone with a crisis pregnancy. They stressed the importance of caring, which is at the core of counselor-client relations at the Women’s Care Center. As Sommer noted, “Many women tell me, ‘I’ve never really had somebody to listen to me before.’ We’re not here to tell her what to do; we’re here to listen.” Advising attendees to “meet them (the men and women in crisis pregnancy situations) where they are,” the Center’s representatives stressed the importance of helping men and women during and after their pregnancies. The Center does so for free. The representatives also addressed common misconceptions among well-intended people, particularly in arguments regarding contraception and pregnancies as a result of rape. Drawing upon an article by Dr. Janet Smith, McLaughlin pointed out that “when you separate sexual activity… from procreation, it sets the stage in the
community for people to be predisposed to abortion,” as people allow themselves and others to be treated as objects. She noted one client who once told her, “I use it (abortion) as birth control.” They also discounted the claim that women who conceive in rape only receive pain from their pregnancies. Sommer stated that, “abortion can be an additional trauma to a rape victim.” She described one client who discovered that carrying her baby greatly aided in forgiveness. Ultimately, the Center’s representatives recommended that attendees listen and be open, reminding that “it’s their decision” and “we’re here to help them, no matter what.”
Respect Life Week Opens with Mass
by Bryan Williams The Notre Dame Right to Life Club began Respect Life Week with Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to pray for a greater respect for life from conception to natural death and for the success of this week. Fr. Drew Gawrych, CSC, gave a homily on the Gospel of the day, the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37). The character of the Good Samaritan teaches us about our work in the Right to Life Club. We should not turn away from those who are left unable to fend for themselves on the other side of the road. Instead, we should be moved to help them. The priest and the Levite saw the man lying beaten in the street, but only the Samaritan “was moved with compassion.” These are the same words used to describe Jesus before He feeds the 5000. They speak of Him being moved from the heart. Fr. Gawrych then recounted seeing a doctor being interviewed on TV about a pregnant woman who had died in a car accident. Six times the doctor started to say “mother and her child” but corrected himself to say “mother and her fetus.” Fr. Drew said, “I wanted to grab him by the shoulders, shake him, and tell him, ‘Listen to your heart!’ ” Our hearts tell us that it is a child, not a fetus. It is in our hearts where God speaks most clearly to us, if we would only listen. May we continue after this week listening to how God is calling us from our hearts. 3
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
A Notre Dame Prayer for Life Eternal God, Source of all life, you have created us in your own divine image. By the power of the Holy Spirit, your Son became flesh and revealed to us the sanctity of all human life. Grant, we implore you: Protect all unborn children; Guide and support all expectant parents; Comfort the aged, the sick, and the dying;
Join us for the Mass for Life, held in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the first Monday of every month.
vol. 5, issue 2
Notre Dame right to life Mission Statement The purpose of our organization is to promote and uphold the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death through prayer, service, and education, and to help women in crisis pregnancies find alternatives to abortion through service and support, in the spirit of the Catholic Church
Strengthen prisoners, especially those awaiting execution, and their victims; And bring peace to your world, torn apart by war, terrorism, and countless other acts of violence against life. May our Notre Dame community bear witness to a seamless culture of life and so value the dignity and worth of every human being, from conception until natural death. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen 4
Contact Us Notre Dame Right to Life University of Notre Dame 305 LaFortune Notre Dame, IN 46556
prolife@nd.edu nd.edu/~prolife
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life Letter to Secretary Sebelius (Continued)
honor of introducing him and presenting him with a doctor of laws degree in recognition of his service to our nation and place in our history. Our graduates received the President warmly, but there were many people of good faith who opposed my decision to recognize him. I stand by that decision, however, because it was important for us to hear his views, and for us to express ours – all in a spirit of civility that is increasingly lacking in our society. In my introduction, I made it clear how much we respect him, but that we also disagree on matters related to the sanctity of life. He, in turn, expressed his own views and promised to work together on matters with which we agree. One of those areas of agreement is, as the president put it in his commencement address, “a sensible conscience clause,” and that is the subject of this letter. As Notre Dame’s president, I am writing to urge you to broaden the proposed definition of “religious employer” to ensure conscience protections that will allow this university to continue to work as “a Catholic academic community of higher learning” – words taken directly from our mission statement. Of course, Madam Secretary, as the daughter of a distinguished Notre Dame alumnus and faculty member, you are no stranger to our mission. Surely you know that we welcome the Administration’s decision to require health plans to cover women’s preventive services, such as critical screenings that will make preventive care more widely available and affordable. However, I am sure you also understand that the inclusion in that mandate of contraceptive services that the Catholic Church finds morally objectionable makes it imperative that that the Final Rule include broader conscience protections. In their current form, these regulations would require us to offer our students sterilization procedures and proscription contraceptives, including pills that act after fertilization to induce abortions, and to offer such services in our employee health plans. This would compel Notre Dame to either pay for contraception and sterilization in violation of the Church’s moral teaching, or to discontinue our student and employee
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health care plans in violation of the Church social teaching. It is an impossible position. While the Interim Final Rule acknowledges the need for conscience protections, the proposed religious exception falls far short of fulfilling this need. It allows that a “religious employer” is exempt from providing this coverage of contraceptive services that are against its religious teaching, but it proposes a definition of a religious employer that is narrower than any conscience clause ever enacted in federal law. Indeed, the definition is not drawn from “This would compel Notre Dame to either pay for contraception and sterilization in violation of the Church’s moral teaching, or to discontinue our student and employee health care plans in violation of the Church social teaching. It is an impossible position.” current federal law but instead is taken from the narrowest state definition of a religious employer – found only in three states in the nation. Consequently, Notre Dame and nearly all Catholic colleges and universities would not be considered religious employers. May I suggest that this is not the kind of “sensible” approach the president had in mind when he spoke here. It runs contrary to a 40-year history of federal conscience statutes that have been in effect to protect individuals and organizations like ours from being required to participate in, pay for, or provide coverage for certain serves that are contrary to our religious beliefs or moral convictions. According to the proposed definition, only those organizations that “primarily serve persons who share in its religious tenets” count as religious employers. Although our Catholic convictions inspire and motivate the educational mission of Notre Dame – and inform us about what we cannot ethically do – we nevertheless serve many others who do not share the Catholic faith. As Cardinal Keeler said of the Catholic schools in his diocese, many of which serve the poorest neighborhoods: “We do not educate our students because they are Catholic; we educate them because we are Catholic.” We believe that an institution inspired by faith to serve beyond the limits of its religious denomination should not be judged less religious, and hence less worthy of an Continued on page 6 5
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
Registration is now open for the 2012 March for Life. Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s, and Holy Cross College students, faculty, and staff can register online at nd.edu/~prolife Letter to Secretary Sebelius (Continued)
exemption. Therefore, Madam Secretary, on behalf of Notre Dame and other Catholic colleges and universities that share our mission and our moral convictions, I request that the definition be rewritten using the principles behind the “church plan” exemption found in section 414(e) of the Internal Revenue Code, which was developed specifically to avoid churchstate entanglements in religious governance relative to pension, health and welfare plans offered by religious entities. This is the statute that should be used as a guide for determining the definition of a religious employer. Section 414(e) considers whether an organization or institution “shares common religious bonds and convictions with a church” when determining if the organization qualifies as a “religious employer.” This definition more adequately defines religious employers to include all organizations that work in ministries of the church. In his commencement address, President Obama recognized that a conscience clause must accommodate a number of considerations and the sometimes conflicting dictates of consciences of various individuals and groups in our society. That
Interested in RTL apparel? Email prolife@nd.edu for the new t-shirt or visit www.nd.edu/~prolife to order the official hoodie! 6
balance is certainly not always easy to achieve, but I believe the definition I’m proposing will protect the consciences of many individuals and organizations that, inspired by faith, serve in ministries outside the narrow confines the proposed definition establishes. So I respectfully ask you to amend the regulations to broaden the exemption for religious institutions along the lines of exemption in the Internal Revenue Code – an exemption that would have precedent in federal law and would apply to Catholic institutions of higher learning. At its founding and throughout its history, our nation has exhibited a profound respect for the rights of conscience and for the work of religious organizations. I ask you to uphold and extend that proud, indispensible tradition by broadening the definition of religious employers and the scope of the exemption in these regulations. Sincerely, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. President University of Notre Dame The original letter can be found at: http://president.nd.edu/assets/50056/
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
(Contraception and Conscience continued)
educate many who disagree with the teachings of the Church. Regarding Mr. Caruso’s various claims, we would like to offer a response: In his letter, Fr. Jenkins correctly denounces the claim that a Catholic university should offer contraceptive or sterilization services. As the Catechism states, the Catholic Church holds one position regarding such services, namely, “‘Every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible’ is intrinsically evil” (2370). Considering such “preventative services” as healthcare equates pregnancy with disease or sickness. One can understand how such reasoning will devalue the lives of the unborn. They become the result of failed medication. In sharp contrast, unborn children are the natural fruits of the sexual act. As such, any separation of the sexual act from procreation is contrary to human nature. As a Catholic university, the University of Notre Dame has institutional ‘social mores’ that are informed by the teachings of the Catholic Church. We do not impose Catholicism on our students, but rather we ask that they respect the religious teachings of the Church that inform the mission of the University that they have freely chosen to enter into. Forcing Notre Dame to offer contraceptive services to students and staff is a violation of the religious and institutional freedom of the university and of the religious conscience that informs it. This mandate would force Notre Dame to either abandon its conscience, to cease providing health insurance, or to refuse entrance and employment to those who disagree with the Church’s teachings. We would like to praise Fr. Jenkins’ many continued efforts to promote the dignity of the human person, and we especially commend his letter to Secretary Sebelius. We are young. We are Catholic. We are ND. We live in the continuity of a timeless Church and will seek what is true and just. As violations of human nature, contraceptive services are contrary to what is just, and forcing Notre Dame to offer such services is unjust. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law,” and “an unjust law is no law at all.” In Notre Dame, Samantha Stempky, President Andrew Lynch, Vice President Jason Taulman, Vice President
Want to know more about Notre Dame Right to Life? For news, calendars, contacts, and more information, visit www.nd.edu/~prolife
Maria Hernandez, Treasurer Jennifer Gallic, Treasurer Peter Flores, Secretary Marcy Kreimier, Development Matt Povlock, Development Christopher Damian, Information Commissioner
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Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
Respect Life Week 2011 (Oct. 2-7) Schedule of Events Sunday
Monday
• Life Chain with St. Joseph County Right to Life
• RTL T-Shirt Sales • Mass for Life • Rebecca Kiessling Lecture From Worthless to Priceless
Tuesday • Rosary for Life with Fr. Jenkins
Wednesday • Screening of "Thine Eyes" • Cemetery of the Innocents Set-Up
Thursday • RTL T-Shirt Day • RTL Volleyball Tournament • RTL Adoration Hour
Friday • Cupcakes for Life • Weekly rosary at abortion clinic • Cemetery of the Innocents Take-Down
Rebecca Kiessling: From Worthless to Priceless by Mackenzie Woods Respect Life Week got off to a great start as students gathered Monday evening in the Coleman Morse Center to hear a powerful witness by abortion survivor and national prolife speaker, Rebecca Kiessling. Kiessling shared her experiences of being raised in a secular Jewish household with her adoptive family and her struggles with issues of value, identity, and purpose. At age 18, she sought out her birth mother, at which point she learned the horrific details of her conception. “When I was 18,” she said, “I discovered I was conceived by rape at knifepoint. When I was 19, I met my mother and she filled me in on the horrible details. A few weeks after our reunion I got the courage to ask about abortion. I wanted to feel safe; I wanted to know I wasn’t targeted. That is when she told me if abortion had been legal in Michigan at the time, she would have aborted me.” Kiessling, whose birth only slightly 8
preceded the court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, says she owes her life to the pro-life advocates in Michigan who spoke up and chose life for her when her own mother did not. Her story was, for many, an intimate encounter with the hot-button issue of abortion, as it put a “face” to a topic discussed mainly in the philosophical realm and introduced several new perspectives by which to understand the pro-life v. pro-choice debate. Read Kiessling’s full story on her website: http://www.rebeccakiessling.com
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
Fr. Jenkins Leads Rosary for Life
Cemetery Pays Tribute to Lost
by Mackenzie Woods University President, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., led students, faculty, and staff in a scriptural rosary for life Tuesday night as part of Respect Life Week. The event was sponsored by Notre Dame University Life Initiatives. Students, faculty, and staff read scripture passages and meditations before each of the five decades, reflecting on the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. Following the rosary, Fr. Jenkins briefly expressed his gratitude for all promoting the dignity of the human person, from conception to natural death. One student described the rosary as a “powerful experience of prayer… for a greater respect for life and for those who seek to protect its dignity.”
by Christopher Damian Wednesday night students gathered to erect the annual Cemetery of the Innocents. Eighthundred crosses were placed on South Quad, represented the number of aborted children during each Notre Dame football game. 3600 pink and blue flags represented the number of abortions in America daily. At the front of the cemetery, a cross whose base was covered with roses stood as a reminder of the women who tragically had chosen abortion.
Thine Eyes: “It’s about being”
by Karl Romkema On October 5th the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life sponsored a screening of “Thine Eyes”. This 2009 documentary is a “witness to the March for Life.” The March for Life has taken place in Washington DC on January 22nd for the last 38 years, and it is sad that the media avoids coverage of this monumental event every year. Reports of alarmingly underestimated attendance and dismissal of the issue at hand might lead the outsider to believe that the annual protest is of little consequence. One can only speculate the motivation for this when the actual attendance has exceeded estimated numbers of three hundred thousand in recent years and an estimated 50 million marchers since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Collectively, this is the largest peaceful protest in history. It is precisely because of the unjust coverage of the March that “Thine Eyes” was made – to reveal the truth about the March and the message of the Pro Life movement. As the film relates, the March is not intended for the purpose of protest or commotion, rather it is meant to be a witness to life; “it’s about being.” The film often takes us back through
American History and recalls other times of injustice: Andrew Jackson and the “Trail of Tears,” Martin Luther King and civil rights. Throughout this nation’s history, Christians and people of good will have taken courage to stand fast for justice on behalf of the oppressed and the innocent. So is the case in the fight for life. Each year hundreds of thousands of people descend on Washington to stand against the greatest injustice of all, namely, the killing of innocent, unborn lives. The film reveals moving images of crowds that extend as far as the eye can see. It is said that the Civil Rights movement was accomplished over 100 years after the Civil War. The young people today, however, disagree. Civil Rights is far from finished because there are still rights that go undefended. “Thine Eyes” is summarized well by words from Abraham Lincoln, “Don’t deter from a cause you believe to be just because of the probability you will fail.” For more information on “Thine Eyes” or to purchase a DVD visit www.thineeyes.org. Or for more information on the March for Life visit www.marchforlife.org. 9
Footprints: The Official Newsletter of Notre Dame Right to Life
vol. 5, issue 2
Students Raise more than $1100 for Charity by Christopher Damian As part of Respect Life Week, members of Notre Dame Right to Life hosted a cupcake sale. The sale raised money for Hannah’s House, a home for unwed teen mothers facing crisis pregnancies. Eleven dorms (Lewis Hall, Howard Hall, Ryan Hall, Lyons Hall, Pasquerilla East Hall, Pasquerilla West Hall, Duncan Hall, Fisher Hall, Welsh Family Hall, Farley Hall, and Breen Phillips Hall) baked about 1300 cupcakes, and about twenty-five volunteers sold them on Friday of Respect Life Week. The sale raised more than $1100 for Hannah’s House.
Reflecting the sale, the event coordinator, Amanda Bambury, sophomore Campus Ministry Commissioner for Pasquerilla East Hall, said: “This event is truly a manifestation of the caring hearts of the entire Notre Dame family and their passion for protecting the right to life… I wish I could name every single person who helped with this event by donating their time, talents, and money, but there are too many to count... The support we received for this event was overwhelming and very touching.”
ND Right to Life sold about 1300 cupcakes for Hannah’s House as a part of Respect Life Week
“As our nation continues to struggle with the morality and legality of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and related issues, we must seek steps to witness to the sanctity of life.” Rev. John I. Jenkins, September 2009
Footprints Notre Dame Right to Life University of Notre Dame 305 LaFortune Notre Dame, IN 46556 www.nd.edu/~prolife editor: christopher damian