Panelists advocate in wake of Dobbs decision

By LIAM KELLY news writer

p articipants in the panel s nead began the panel by emphasizing the importance of the recent d obbs v. Jackson s upreme c ourt decision for their movement.

“a c ulture of l ife in p ostd obbs a merica” advocated against abortion and for a pro-life movement that places equal emphasis on the life of the mother and child w ednesday afternoon.

The panel, which was hosted by the n otre d ame o ffice of l ife and h uman d ignity and the n otre d ame r ight to l ife club, consisted of: d anielle b rown, associate director of the a d h oc c ommittee a gainst r acism in the u s c onference of c atholic b ishops; c harles c amos, professor of medical humanities at the c reighton u niversity s chool of m edicine; a ngela Franks, professor of theology at s t. John’s s eminary in b oston; o c arter s nead, a professor of law at n otre d ame; and b ishop k evin r hoades of the diocese of Fort w ayne — s outh b end.

“ b efore we could even have any substantive conversations about how to shape the law, r oe v. w ade had to be overturned,” m r. s nead said, arguing that the r oe v. w ade decision was “pursuant to an illegitimate power grab by the court that didn’t have any sources in the text, history or tradition of the c onstitution.” n ow that the c ourt has tossed the power to regulate abortion to the states, s nead said “it’s our responsibility to take that authority and to care for mothers, babies and families and build a culture of life and a civilization of love.” s nead advocated for policies that outlaw abortion while also supporting mothers, pointing to the state of Texas as an example.

“Texas has not just extended the protections of the law to the to the unborn child but at the same time, authorized $100 million … for alternatives to abortion programs to try to support pregnancy resource centers … to help support women in terms of poverty, health care [and] addiction,” he said. b rown then spoke, drawing connections between abortion and racism. w hile a fricana mericans make up roughly 12% of the a merican population, b rown said, “some figures report that without abortion, the population and the communities would be double that percentage.” b ut b rown said it is not enough to simply point out the issue of race with abortion — she said action see dobbs PAGE 3

“There are … two thirds as many abortions in the b lack community than amongst our sisters in the white community,” she said.

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Policies regards itself as a professional publication and strives the highest standards of journalism at all times. We do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at editor@ndsmcobserver.com so we can correct our error. life, liberty and happiness as guaranteed in our constitution is eroding fast and is eroding because of tribalism — using the current political climate to destroy social norms and expectations.”

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And instead of preaching, Johnson started to tell a story. he told the audience about a man named A. Philip randolph and his work as one of the first leaders of the civil rights movement, organizing one of the first labor unions and campaigning to integrate armed services. Johnson also brought up medgar evers and an important woman whose true narrative got lost in American history.

“she always looked much younger than her age. she was a fierce fighter. she was a secretary for the nAAcP in Alabama,” he noted. “When there was an incident, she would be the person to go in and investigate those incidents. does anyone know who I’m talking about? rosa Parks.”

Pulling it all together, Johnson detailed the events after Parks’ arrest.

“[e d nixon] called three people.” The first two were pastors, who wholeheartedly agreed to participate in whatever nixon was organizing. The second was mLK Jr., who hesitated due to a fear of being driven out of a town he just moved to.

“And the reason why I’m going through this part of the journey [is] because in movements, everyone has something to contribute and that as we think of the civil rights movement or journey, it was never about one person,” he declared.

And when the audience was listening in silence, Johnson emphasized: “It was never about a ‘dream’! It was always about the demand that the social contract we call the constitution will be applied to all.” expanding on that idea while

Dobbs

con TI nued From PAGe 1 must be taken.

“The problem that I see most within the pro-life movement is that we are all stats when it comes to the b lack American and no heart. [We are] not caring about health care disparities, food deserts, safe and affordable housing, educational choice, and the c atholic c hurch is rapidly withdrawing from city centers. Why don’t we care?” she said.

While b rown argued that laws must be enacted to stop abortion, she also argued that a shift in the culture is necessary.

“ m en and women today, really, we just want to be God. We lack a proper anthropology of the human person and a definition of the listeners hung on his every word, Johnson proclaimed again.

“race is a social construct. It is a political title that we carry around to create ‘others,’” he said. “It is a tool that is still being used today so effectively that it is tearing this democracy apart.” moving on, Johnson addressed the audience and called on them to take part in a dialogue. both faculty members and student leaders stood up to make additions and asked questions regarding steps moving forward at the closing of the event.

The last question was posted by balfour-hesburgh scholar and senior Kirsten Williams.

“When I look at black communities in my local area, it’s disheartening to see that they’re plagued with a lot of violence,” she asked. “What are some strategies or methods that we can employ to uplift and empower black communities?”

Johnson’s answer was that everything boiled down to hope.

“What you are witnessing is the legacy of systemic barriers resulting in hopelessness,” he explained.

To close, he told one last story about his time in a class that was a requirement for his college graduation. his teacher, Johnson said, was upset one day because of a batch of bad test scores.

“This particular day, dr. simmons was late to class,” he began. “We all get there, we’re sitting quiet. he comes in and was visibly upset… he said to us ‘some of you are resting on your laurels; I assure you, they are not strong enough.’”

Johnson looked around the room and then repeated: “some of you are sitting on your laurels… don’t rest on your laurels.”

“All of us in this room have an obligation because we are in a top-tier percentage of those who have the skill and the ability to protect it, grow it and ensure that the social contract we call the constitution applies to all,” he added. “but the question is, are true freedom,” she said.

Franks then talked about the role that abortion has played in feminist movements over the past 100 years.

While the first wave of feminism, Franks argued, was mostly about “moral exhortation” and changing social structures to benefit women, second and third wave feminism evolved to the point where “the problem was female fertility.”

The solution for these feminists, Franks argued, was abortion.

This view of feminism, Franks said, was out of touch with basic biology and “just doesn’t work.”

“Women cannot simply follow a male timetable when it comes to pursuing education or pursuing a career if they also want a family,” Franks said.

Franks argued that a you up to that challenge?”

The dinner had many different sponsors, including the multicultural student Programs and services (msPs), the president’s office and the department of diversity and Inclusion, but the event was mainly organized by notre dame student government. Leading the charge was eliza smith, director of diversity and inclusion – race and ethnicity, and her department. Additionally, biology graduate student camille mosley served as the event’s emcee and first-year bernice Antoine led the group in an opening prayer.

“We pray for the black community here and around the world for justice where there is in justice, peace on every street corner and hope for your grace to pour out on this nation,” she invoked with a loud “Amen” and agreement heard around the room.

At the end of the evening, after dinner and Johnson’s talk, mosley announced the recipients of the black excellence staff, faculty and student awards. she explained that the nomination committee decided on the two winners in each category based on a very rigid rubric that took into account many factors including personal accomplishments and their commitment to the legacy of mLK’s dream

The staff award had 19 total nominations and winners were barbara Wadley, the coordinator for the balfour-hesburgh scholars program, and harold swanagan, director of basketball operations. out of eight possible candidates, the faculty award was given to associate professor of management and organization Angela Logan and associate professor of architecture John onyango. Finally, students daymine snow and Temitayo Ade-oshifogun were chosen out of the 15 other student nominees.

Contact Isabella Laufenberg ilaufenb@nd.edu

worldview that pushes motherhood to the side in favor of monetary gain should be rejected by the movement.

c amosy turned the focus of the conversation to the future of the anti-abortion cause.

“Just as a quarterback needs to lead his receiver and throw the ball, not where he is now, but where he will be in a few seconds,” c amosy said, “so we as a pro-life movement need to think about not where the culture is now, if we want to be persuasive in the public sphere, build alliances, appeal to people with different sources of ultimate concern, but think about where we’re going.”

Like other speakers, c amosy stated that in a post- r oe world, “the goal of radical equality for both mother and child” should