t eanco VOL. 41, NO. II
•
Friday, March 14, 1997
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
•
$14 Per Year
On March 7 the Cardinals of the United States and the President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to President Clinton clearly expressing their unalterable opposition to partial-birth abortion. On March 10 the Bishops of the four dioceses of Massachusetts sent copies of that letter to every Member of Congress representing the Commonwealth, together with a letter emphasizing their own support of the position of the Cardinals. Both letters follow.
HAVE A HAPPY
March 7, 1997 The Honorable William J. Clinton The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President:
St. Patrick's Day
.....
Clergymen see hope for Northern Ireland peace
We write to you again about one of the most urgent moral issues of this day -- partial-birth abortion. We do so in the wake of recent revelations corroborating the arguments of those who seek a ban on this practice and contradicting the arguments of its proponents. Fortunately, the public has learned a great deal through these disclosures.
"
WASHINGTON (CNS) out, religion is only one of many factors involved in the conflict. Peace in Northern Ireland is possible, said a Catholic priest and a "We need an end now to the Protestant minister from the region violence, and for all our people to during a recent 12-day ecumenical come together in dialogue. Diaspeaking tour of the United States. logue is not simply just talking, it's about listening and understand"I feel peace is achievable at the present time .... The opportunity ing. Through this we come to acknowledge our 'otherness' and exists now for a just and lasting create conditions necessary for our peace," said Father John Mcpeople to move forWard together," Manus, dean of t.he seminary in said Father McManus. the Diocese of Down and Connor, The clergymen spoke in Orlando, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. "We are not politidans, and the 'Sarasota and Venice, Fla.; Clevesolution to this must be found pol- land and Akron, Ohio; and Washitically. We pray for peace and ington, D.C. encourage those who are working Rev. Ross said he was "basically tirelessly for peace," said the Very encouraged by the fact that a lot of Rev. John Ross, former modera- people seemed willing to listen and tor of the Presbyterian Church in to learn, and perhaps they found Northern Ireland. that easier because Father McManThe clergymen spoke with Cath- us and I were speaking together, olic News Service following a lun- sharing our perspectives and not cheon hosted by the Northern Ire- engaging in propaganda. We're land Bureau of the British Embassy not hiding anything." in Washington. The clergymen agreed that They were this year's representhrough their travels together they tatives during the 14th annual had come to understand each othspeaking tour of U.S. cities spon- er's perspectives. sored by the Inter-Church Com"Our churches need to continue mittee on Northern Ireland. The to work together to establish deeper organization's members include rerelationships," said Father McManpresentatives from the Presbyter- us. ian Church in the United States He said there is "a very clear and Ireland, and Catholic bishops difference" between keeping the from both countries. table of dialogue open to everyone The speaking tour has been held and people refusing to come to the since 1987 to educate Americans table. Yet, he stressed, "All people about the conflict in Northern Iremust be assured a place at the land and in particular its religious table. dimension. "There is a great! need to keep For more than two decades the channels open and to reassure nationalists, mainly Catholic, have people that their representatives been fighting to end British rule of will be heard," he said. Northern Ireland and reunite it Rev. Ross said: "If God could with the Republic of Ireland. change Saul of Tarsus he could Loyalists. mainly Protestant, want Northern Ireland to remain part of change anyone of us. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't stay in the Great Britain. Christian ministry another day." However, the clergymen pointed
The public has learned that partial-birth abortions are performed not a few hundred times a year, but thousands of times each year. It has learned that partial-birth abortion is used primarily in the fifth and sixth months of pregnancy, and that restrictions confined to the third trimester would therefore be inadequate. The public has also learned that the vast majority of these procedures are performed on the healthy babies of healthy women. Disclosur~ have also made clear, as those who seek to ban this practice have testified, that there are no published data to support a claim that partial-birth abortions may ever be necessary to preserve a woman's life, health or future fertility. To the contrary, hundreds of doctors, most specialists in maternal and fetal medicine, have explained why partial-birth abortion itself poses, not avoids, significant risks to women's health and future fertility. Clearly, any claim that partial-birth abortion must be available to protect a woman's health has no basis in fact.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recently reversed itself in this regard. ACOG had said that partial-birth abortion "may be" the safest procedure in a particular circumstance, but one of its spokespersons now says "it may not be." The College is clear in saying that partial-birth abortion is never the only procedure that will preserve a woman's health or fertility in any situation. Mr. President, you are in a unique position to ensure respect for all human rights, including the right to life which is denied to infants who are brutally killed in partial-birth abortion. We urge you to seize the opportunity before you to explain that you were misled. as were most Americans. We urge you to ask Congress to pass a bill banning partial-birth abortions, and let it be known that you will sign it into law. For our part, we will continue to urge that such a bill is passed in both Houses of Congress with sufficient votes to ensure that it will become the law of the land. . Hoping we will be together on this issue, we are,
If . ~~~ II
'
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua Archbishop of Philadelphia
d;;
_
(J~.L I
Cardinal James Hickey Archbishop of Washington
Sincerely yours,
Adam Cardinal Maida Archbishop of Detroit
'~g~l±
Archbishop of Los Angeles
!te~~~
Cardinal William Keeler Archbishop of Baltimore
John Cardinal O'Connor Archbishop of New York
U~4/
7' tz,~ /1-f.
Cardinal Bernard Law Archbishop of Boston
Most Reverend Anthony M. Pilla Bishop of Cleveland President, NCCBIUSCC
Continued on Page Thirteen
~