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SERVING ••• SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSmS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 24, NO. 28
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, JULY 10, 1980
20c, $6 Per Year
March of Dim,es • IS questioned By Fatru~r John Dietzen "Question Comer" columnist Q. Recently I heard fron:L some people in our parish that the March of Dimes supports abortion. I have always given to lUtis organization and helped in their recent drive. Could you pleal;e tell me if what they say is true? (Pennsylvania) A. Your question is a dlfficult one to answer. My response must begin with a brief personal note. For a long time the MaJ'I:ili of Dimes (MOD) has been one of my favorite organizations. Particularly since it began focusing on the care for unborn and vel')' young children with its theme, "Be Good to Your Baby Before It Is Born," one of the most promising medical-scientific fields today, MOD's potential for good has been and will be enormous. For about the last half dozen years, however, a major MOD project has drawn severe criticism. While this project has occasioned the death of numerous unborn children in our country, I continued to believe and to state often that the basic MOD thrust favored the unborn, and that it would implement that care by its policies as the necessity became clear. I must admit that through recent years these hopes have proven fruitless. It seems to me MOD cannot have it both ways; it must come down either in :favor of the unborn child as a human being with a right to live, or accept responsibility for the opposite position. ' For several years MOD hilS been a leading proponent and funding source for programs of amniocentesis - a procedure to examine the health of an unborn child by diagnosis of the amniotic fluid which surrounds the baby in the womb. MOD representatives insist officially that this program is simply to help parents anticipate birth defects in their children. In :fact, however, it has proven to be a program which inevitably leali~ to the death of many unborn child-
ren. First of aU, MOD encourages amniocentesis in the middle three months of pregnancy, during which time the genetic diseases usually sought are not medl~111y treatable. Babies identified as "defective" are almost always a:borted. In one series of cases a total of 62 handicapped babies were discovered; 60 were killed and the other two lost in miscarriage. In another study published last year, 118 handicapped babies were found. Of these, 105 were killed before birth, including two nor:mal babies who had been incorrectly diagnosed as "defective." Parents of seven of the children allowed them to live. At least five years ago MOD was asked to cooperate in the preparation and distribution of a book for parents expecting a handicapped child. The book would have explained the development of the baby in the wOllllb, discussed the abilities and nature of handicapped children and how to work with them, and described the schools, services, medical procedures and other resources available to help parents who bE!ar such children. The national MOD did not cooperate in this projed. Years later, it still has no program to provide such information to parents whose children will be handicapped. Consequently, the MOD ~lDUliocentesis program has been sometimes described as a "search and destroy" mission: Identify babies who would be born with binh defects and eliminate the child before birth. In defense, MOD says it does not urge parents either to abort or accept a handicapped chil.d. But if a parent intends to accept the child, handicapped or not, second-trimester amniocentesis is unnecessary. Whatever protests MOD presents, the failure to incorporate a program to help parents who decide to keep their handicapped child and let it live, seems to belie even a "neutral" position on the killing of unborn handlca,pped children. MOD has never directly funded abortions. Its growing number of opponents point, however, to its promotion in the medical profession of amniocentesis during those months of pregnancy when, at least in practice, the only purpose of such procedures would seem to be the identification of abnormal babies for possible abortion. Many around the country feel that until the MOD gives some evidence of changing that po.sition it does not deserve the support of those who respect an unborn baby's right to live.
POPE JOHN PAUL II is cheered by thousands as he enters the worlds largest soccer stadium in Brazil.
• Brazil Papal Sllcc·ess In RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (NC) -John Paul II sounded a clear and urgent call for social reform throughout Latin America, and by implication the world, in his historic 12-day visit to Brazil. The pope's insistent call, to which he returned frequently in his public proouncements, hit a high point when he bluntly told a group of business and political leaders in Salvador July 6 that the road toward social justice presents a clear dilemma. Four days earlier in Rio de Janeiro the pope stood in a slum and issued a challenge to "those who have an excess, who live in abundance, who live in luxury." The pope's Salvador speech came on the seventh day of his June 30-July 11 visit to Brazil, which with 90 percent of its 120 million residents professing Catholicism is the world's largest Catholic country. Pope John Paul was showing signs of strain and weariness. He spoke softly and hoarsely. His personal physician said the pope lost almost five pounds since th.e beginning of the trip. He had clearly won the hearts of Brazilian crowds. Millions of Brazilians watched his efforts with their own en-
thusiasm. They ignited fireworks. for him. They sang for him. They danced for him. And his Masses were often accompanied by the triumphal chord's of Handel's "Messiah." Brazilians, who love to nickname people, gave the pope a new title. Throughout the 13 cities on his schedule signs proclaimed him "John of God." At papal Masses and meetings people waved white handkerchiefs and developed' several special chants. They included "John! John! You ar our brother" and "The pope is our king." Pope John Paul asked that God help Brazil "build an exemplary form of social coexistence by overcoming imbalances and inequalities in justice and concord." Although Brazil's annual per capita income is around $1,200, the wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few and the vast majority survive on a per capita income of around $200. On July 1 the pope traveled to Belo Horizonte, where about 500;000 people gathered at an open-air Mass for youths which turned into a spontaneous cheering festival. At one point, the pope's homily was interrupted
by applause and chants for about 20 minutes. On July 2 the pope dramatized his personal commitment to the poor by giving his papal ring to a slum parish in Rio de Janeiro during a visit there. Standing in front of a hilltop chapel in Vidigal, one of the many slums around Rio de Janeiro, Pope John Paul delivered an address calling for s(i)cial reform and then turned to Father !talo Coelho, who is in charge of church work in the slums. Taking off the simple gold ring with a cross that he has worn since becoming pope, he handed it to the priest and said, "I give you my ring for this parish." From Vidigal Pope John Paul went to the modernistic, conicalshaped Soa Sebastiao Cathedral to address a joint meeting of members of the Latin American Bishops' Council and representatives of the archdiocese laity, priests and Religious. The address to the bishops council was in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the council's founding. The pope encouraged the bishops to continue speaking against injustices and working for social Turn to Page Six