Fr. Frank Pavone, Director of Priests for Life in Staten Island, makes a good point recently at priestsforlife.org when he points out that he wasn’t even ordained when NOW v. Scheidler started in June, 1986, but that for seventeen years NOW has tried to shut us down for going out to where the killings take place and try to save lives.
Pavone’s Paradox
Pavone presents a candid review of the case but ends with this paradox:
While the Justices wrestled with the notion of “property,” and whether it could be said that pro-life activism deprived the abortion mills of their property, nobody addressed the fact that the abortion mills deprived God of His property! The pro abortion forces complained that Joe Scheidler trespassed into the “clinics.” But the crime of trespassing into the sacred space of the womb, and violating it with bloodshed, was never raised.
Father Pavone is right, it was never raised because the court would not allow us to raise it. If we couldn’t even point out that the admonition, “Choose Life” comes from the Bible, it was unthinkable that the pagan court would allow us to point out the sacredness of the womb.
Fr. Frank adds something at the very heart of this case and the outcome that we ardently pray for and we are so glad Fr. Pavone got it:
The path they have forged must be followed by the rest of us. Presence at the abortion mills, sidewalk counseling, street preaching and good old-fashioned American picketing are honorable activities, are integral to our movement, and deserve to be promoted by pro-life groups and by the Church at every level. Thank god for those who do these things; I am honored to be among them.
One thing we admire so much about Fr. Pavone is that he puts his money where his mouth is: Father is running a ten day, thirty locations face the Truth Tour in New York April 1 through 10. This is no small undertaking Two days, six stops, in each of the boroughs, Staten Island, the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. We will be there for Manhattan and Brooklyn. We hope pro-lifers come from all across the country to save New York babies, and we thank Fr. Pavone for being a priest who takes the Lord at his word his word: “Go and Teach!”
Judiciary Committee Approves Owen
This sounds like good news. Pro-life Texas Supreme Court judge Priscilla Owen has just been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee after a 10 to 9 party line vote and her name will go directly to the full Senate for a vote. She has been rejected by the Democrats for being anti-abortion.
Owen says she judges cases by the law and not by what is politically correct. Most Democrats never heard of such a policy. Knee jerk liberals, the majority of Democrats just vote blindly for anything if it is perverse, immoral and nasty enough.
We Thank All Our Amici
We have had a few complaints about some of the 70 individuals and organizations that came on board as friends during our battle in the courts over NOW v. Scheidler. Some complain that we allowed people like actor and anti-war activist Martin Sheen, mainly because of his portrayal of a liberal President in West Wing.
The fact is that anyone can sign on as an amicus and if they are accepted by the Court, we have nothing to say about it, but we were glad to have them all because they helped win the case. But for your information, we are listing some names and organizations of the amici. It’s an interesting gathering and includes:
- The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- The Seamless Garment Network, committed to non-violent respect for life
- People and organizations that oppose the death penalty
- Fr. Donald Bauer, who worked for farm workers
- Wendell Berry
- Abe Bonowitz, a Marynoll priest
- Fr. Roy Bourgeois
- School of the Americas opposing torture and murder of religious and labor leaders in Central and South America
- Jim and Shelly Douglas, founders of Mary House
- Catholic Workers
- Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
- Bill and Eugenia Durand, founders of the Center on Laws and Conscience
- Mary Anne Flores, Clare Grady and Jessica Stewart, members of the Ithaca Peace Community who protest war
- Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, founder of Pax Christi, USA.
- Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness
- Rachel MacNair against nuclear weapons and abortion
- Martin Sheen, protesting weapons of mass destruction
- Andrew L. Sullivan of the Libertarian Party of Nebraska
- Agape, of Louisiana, against the death penalty
- The Catholic Peace Fellowship
- The Center for Action and Contemplation
- The Center for Peace Studies at Georgetown University
- The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House
- Feminists for Life of New York
- The Franciscan Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation
- The Nevada Desert Experience
- Not Dead Yet, fighting assisted suicide and euthanasia
- The Peter Maurin Center
- Plowshares
- Sojourners
- Voices in the Wilderness
- Witnesses for Reconciliation
This last group said that at the very center of American Constitionalism is the commitment to truths our founders acknowledged as self-evident: such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that from time to time government has violated these foundation truths, and sometimes people must protest moral flaws in the law leading to coerced injustice. At this time the Court should review the decision of the court of appeals to secure one of the noblest features of American protest against governmental violence and against violations of fundamental liberties, including the inalienable right to life itself.
Well said. Whether you like all the amici or not, we’re glad every blasted one of them came to our defense. Protest away.
Victory Celebration June 7
Mark your calendar now for the Saturday, June 7 massive victory rally in the Federal Plaza in Chicago, followed by workshops and a celebration dinner at the Congress Plaza Hotel on Michigan Avenue.
