AN ANCHOR OF THE SOUL, SURE AND FIRM -HEB. 6: 19
t eanc 0 VOL. 21, NO. 32
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1977
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Draws Parallel between Supreme (ourl Decisions on. Slavery and Abortion They were both wrong. That was the thrust of comments made by Professor John T. Noonan Jr., noted pro-life advocate, on Supreme Court decisions 120 years ago permitting slavery and four years ago permitting abortion. In Massachusetts tQ testify at hearings on the Doyle- Flynn bill prohibiting use of state medicaid funds for non-therapeutic abortions, Noonan discused parallels between the two high court rulings. He spoke at a reception in his honor sponsored by the directors ()f Massachusetts Citizens for Life and held in a Waltham house owned by a descendant of Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Among those present were Pamela Smith of Swansea, a director of the Massachusetts organization, and Wilson W. Curtis and Atty. Harold K. Hudner, also of Swansea. Noonan, a professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley and a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Palo Alto, Calif., previously testified extensively at U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the constitutional protection of
Parish Histories Seri'es To Start
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Lady of the Assumption
Patroness of the Fall River Diocese "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?"
-Cant. 6:9
As a contribution to the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Diocese of Fall River, the Anchor will, in the near future, begin to publish each week a history of a diocesan parish. Since there are 114 parishes in the diocese, this project will take more than two years to complete. Forms and directions will be sent to each pastor in order to update information already in The Anchor files. Because of its important historic implications, accuracy and authenticity will be essential if this project is to have validity and substance. Co-operation and understanding on the part of all are thus imperative from the outset of this diocesan work. It is felt that a set of updated parish histories will he an invaluable tool for any future definitive history of the diocese and will also assist the people of the diocese to increase their knowledge of each other's heritage. In this way, another step in building .community will be Turn to Page Seven
human life. In Boston he joined many other witnesses testifying for and against the proposed anti-abortion bill. Noting that slavery involved "a great human interest - the interest of human liberty," Noonan declared, "We have an even larger human interest -the interest of human life." The Supreme Court decisions in both matters, he said, "focusedon the issue of being a person." Slaves, he explained, were declared to be a man's property. Today there are those who call the unborn child a woman's
property, part of he'r body to be disposed of as she sees fit. Continuing his analogy of the cases, Noonan pointed out that slaves were eventually determined to be not property but human persons; in like manner, the unborn child is not simply part qf its mother's body but a distinct human person. The lawyer noted there were many sincere believers in the institution of slavery, including George Washington, who focused only on the property aspects of the matter. Similarly, legislators such as MassachuTurn to Page Seven
Labor Law Reform Backed By US Bishops' Spokesman WASHINGTON (INC) - The civil arm of th,e U.S. bishops' conference has go~e on record as backing the Carter Administration's labor law reform package. In testimony before the House Education and Labor subcommittee, Msgr. George Higgins, secretary for research for the U. S. Catholic Conference (US CC), and a longtime Anchor columnist, quoted President Carter's message to Congress on the bill, saying "the time has come to amend the (labor) act in such a way as to make it work more efficiently, quickly and equitably."
"Having worked in the field of labor-management relations for more than' 30 years, I can testify, on the basis of personTurn to Page Seven
Landmark Ruling On Schools By NC News There are no unusual reactions to a federal appeals court decision barring the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from Catholic schools: the winners are happy and the losers are not. Turn to Page Five
LITTLENECKS on the half-shell will be among gourmet delights at the country fair to be held all day Saturday at St. Mary's Church, South Dartmouth, and these are the gentlemen who're putting them on the menu: from left, Rosaire Suprenant, Richard Parsons, John Giovannini.