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THE ANCHOR - Diocese of Fall River -
Fri., Oct. 31, 1986
the moorins.-, Let's Eliminate
Big~try
The very fact that Question 2 appears on next week's ballot is indicative ofthe prejudice and bias still permeating the mind of Massachusetts. The forces that have marshalled a rather deceptive power play to defeat the amendment have in their use of the media not only reinforced awareness of this bigotry but have risen to new heights of purposeful deception. For example, campaign literature distributed by organizations such as the Massachusetts Teachers Association claims that if help is given to parochial and private schools, it would force a reduction in such local services as police and fire protc:ction. This claim is nothing more than a scare tactic. The MT A has even told its members that monies granted to parochial/ private schools have the effect of curtailing assistance to the elderly and local health services. Such claims are unproved, inaccurate and dishonest, serving only to extend and support the deep-seated antipathy towards parochial schools that has been so disgracefully reinforced by our state constitution. . The widespread attempt to continue the longstanding denial of legitimate aid to parochial and private school students has been supported by union activists. This is exemplified by some local public educators' associations which have taxed their members to fight such aid. For some groups the effort to discredit parochial schools under the guise of separation of church and state has become a veritable crusade. Such tactics should make citizens of the commonwealth aware of the self-serving and self-righteous nature of the attitude that would deny educational aid to those who have legitimately chosen parochial school education for their children, thus effectively making such parents and pupils second-class citizens under Massachusetts law. Indeed, one wonders how religious freedom of choice exists at all in Massachusetts. As it is now, it is certainly selective. Another point that should be mentioned, which has been terribly misrepresented by many, is that among the services which the proposed amendment to the state constitution would permit are services to individual children, who are . presently being denied them. It is absurd that for 130 years our so-called bastion of freedom and liberalism has inflicted grave injustice upon citizens who wish a Catholic or other private education for their children, denying them benefits conferred by the federal Constitution and commonplace throughout the other states. To support a positive response to Question 2 is to remove the inequality that has been such a blot on the state that calls itself the Cradle of Freedom. This question, if approved, is not a tuition tax credit proposal nor a school voucher proposal. It is affirmation that children are the most important element in the education process. In so many ways Massachusetts has been a trend setter in education. It is more than unfortunate that it is the last state to retain a legal bias with regard to students in Catholic and other nonpublic schools. If you are considering a yes vote on Question 2, you are also voting to eliminate from our present state constitution all remnants of religious prejudice. It is time for Massachusetts to remove all strictures and to conform with the federal Constitution, thereby eliminating the discrimination reflected by the' current penalizing of students in Catholic and private schools. The Editor
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ALL SOUL'S DAY
"Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touchetl me." Job 19:21
A call for insurrection CHICAGO (NC) - It will take an "insurrection of consciences," and not just an end to abortion, for pro-life views to triumph in society, a theologian told abortion opponents in Chicago earlier this month. Addressing the Americans United for Life national forum, Holy Cross Father James Burtchaell said abortion is not primarily a legal or medical problem and won't go away even if the Supreme Court's 1973 decision legalizing it is overturned. The forum in Chicago celebrated the 15th birthday of Americans United for Life, a pro-life group specializing in legal expertise. Abortion issues "must be settled not just in the law but in terms of justice," said the priest, who teach~s theology at the University of Notre Dame. "The law really cannot reach the roots of civil disorders, whether it's larceny, child abuse...or abortion. Moral conversion is required. "We need an insurrection of conciences, an inspired alliance of men and women who love their children, and a total change of heart in law, injustice and in love," he said. Reversing the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade abortion ruling may save a million unborn lives a year, he said. Yet, he added, changes in law alone will not change backers of legal abortion, who he said are characterized by renunciation of kinship bonds, the inability of spouses to develop as a family, bad relationships with spouses or par-
ents, and the belief that "children exist to destroy hopes." "We must go beyond the reversal of Roe vs. Wade and transform the level of debate," he said. "All of us must preach welcome for the helpless... Nat Hentoff, a columnist for the Village Voice newspaper in New York City, praised the U.S. bishops' position seeking protection of life from conception until natural death. The bishops"'consistent ethic of life" links abortion to other threats to life, including nuclear war. Hentoff contrasted the bishops' ethic with what he termed the "inconsistent perspective" of Protestant fundamentalist Christian leaders who oppose abortion but favor a continuing nuclear weapons build-up and fail "to recognize the poor or work to help them." Other speakers at the conference included Dr. C. Everett Koop, the U.S. surgeon general, and Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a former abortion physician who is now a pro-life advocate. Koop warned that euthanasia is now "on the upswing." "The elderly may be the next class of Americans to be disenfranchised of life," he said. At the same time, Koop suggested the tide is turning against abortion. "The only people who talk about it are those who are changing to a pro-life stance," he said, citing Nathanson as an example of "heroism."
Nathanson strongly criticized the June Supreme Court ruling striking down provisions of a Pennsylvania abortion control law. He said the decision was full of "inconsistencies, paradoxes and hypocrisy" for rejecting a provision intended to ensure women are adequately informed .about abortion. He also repudiated the court's idea that abortion is a matter between a woman and her physician. "In an abortion situation the only thing discussed by the woman and her doctor is money," he said. Dennis Horan, a Chicago attorney who is chairman of Americans United for Life, predicted the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling would be reversed. He described difficulties abortion opponents face in federal courts, which, he said, are currently operating under the "umbrella of Roe vs. Wade" and are "antagonistic and fearful." In other forum activities, Koop presented Hentoff with the Surgeon General's Medallion, for the columnist's support for the civil rights of Baby Jane Doe, a severely handicapped infant born in New York. Horan presented the Americans United for Life Guardian of Life Award to Dr. Eugene Diamond, professor of pediatrics at Loyola University, founder of Birthright in Chicago, and long-time member of the Americans United for Life board.