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PAGE 3 - October 19,1972
U.S. Supreme Court Resumes
Hearings on Abortion Cases
CARDINAL MEETS ANGLICAN - Cardinal Jan Willebrands,
president of the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian
Unity, embraces Dr. Michael Ramsey, archbishop of
Canterbury, at Lambeth Palace in London, England. Cardinal
DESPITE STATISTICS
Willebrands became the first Roman Catholic priest since the
Reformation to celebrate Mass in the Palace, the archbishop’s
official residence. (NC Photo)
Vocations Directors Optimistic
By Robert W. Raimonto
(NC News Service)
WASHINGTON (NC) -- For two hours
lawyers for the states and opponents of
the Georgia and Texas abortion statutes
argued before the Supreme Court over
the rights of the states to enact abortion
laws and whether an unborn child has
constitutional rights.
WASHINGTON (NC) -- The U.S.
bishops’ Campaign for Human
Development (CHD) has issued a survey
of poverty in which it disputes
government statistics on the number of
poor and criticizes government methods
of aiding the poor.
The 40-page “Poverty Profile,” which
is being distributed to all U.S. dioceses in
connection with the CHD collection Nov.
19, says that there are about 36 million
poor in the United States. The
government puts the number at 25.6
million.
In addition, the CHD charges that the
government views poverty “as somehow
temporary” and that it ignores poverty’s
root causes and offers solutions which are
“inadequate and superficial.”
The study, in a section entitled, “The
Government’s Poverty Index is
Inadequate,” noted that the number of
poor people in the country depends on
the level at which a minimum standard of
living is set.
The survey said the minimum standard
of living designated by the government
for 1972 was $4,137 for an urban family
of 4 persons. Based on that standard,
there are 25.6 million persons living in
poverty in this country.
CHD charged, however, that the
government’s minimum standard of living
was unrealistic. The standard, said the
organization, allocated only $1 per day
for food for each family member, adding:
“The only diet possible for that cost” is a
diet using food from the Department of
Agriculture’s food commodity program.
By contrast, said the CHD, the
President’s own Commission on Income
Maintenance said in 1969 that the
minimum standard of living for an urban
family of four should be $5,145 annually
- about half of the average family income
for the United States for 1972.
Also, said the CHD, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics chooses $6,960 a year as
the low-income level, rejecting the $4,137
a year level used by the Office of
Economic Opportunity, the Social
Security Administration, and the
Agriculture Department.
The Supreme Court had heard
testimony in the two cases last year, but
postponed a decision so a full
nine-member bench could decide the
cases. Justices Lewis F. Powell Jr. and
William H. Rehnquist did not begin their
full terms until January, missing the first
hearings conducted two months before.
A Supreme Court decision could affect
abortion laws in most states.
If the Bureau of Labor Statistics level
is used, there are 70-80 million poor
people in the country, and the CHD said,
“a conservative estimate of the number of
poor persons is about 36 million.”
Speaking of government aid programs,
the CHD asserted that the Agriculture
Department’s programs - commodity
distribution, food stamp, and school
lunch - reached only an estimated 14.5
million food people last year even though
there was congressional and citizen
lobbies’ pressure to expand the programs.
In particular, the CHD said the
commodity program - based on the
agriculture department’s minimum living
standard and stocked by large agricultural
corporations seeking price supports --
affords the poor an unbalanced diet. This
diet, said CHD, consists largely of beans,
flour, potatoes and cereal and includes
inadequate amounts of meat, eggs, fruit
and green vegetables. It is not good for
permanent use - a fact acknowledged by
the government, the CHD said.
“The government does not yet accept
poverty as a permanent or endemic sore
in the society . . .all poverty is seen as
somehow temporary,” the CHD said. “Its
root causes are ignored and solutions
inadequate and superficial.”
Besides criticizing the government’s
criteria for poverty and its programs, the
CHD study used other government figures
to offer a statistical portrait of the poor,
saying 60 percent of them are white,
non-Spanish speaking; 30 percent are
black; 8.5 percent are Spanish-speaking;
and 1.5 percent are Indians or “native
Americans.”
However, the study noted blacks and
Indians particularly are hit by poverty -
40-50 percent of all Indians and 33.9
percent of all blacks are poor, while only
10 percent of all whites are poor.
The study also said 75 percent of all
poor people are not really capable of
working, while another 23.6 percent do
work full or part time.
Thus, CHD, only 1.4 percent of all
poor people capable of working don’t
work.
The Texas law being challenged -
which forbids abortions except in cases in
which the mother’s life is endangered - is
similar to statutes in more than 30 states.
At least twelve other states have
abortion regulations similar to those of
Georgia, where abortions are illegal
except when the mother’s life is in
jeopardy, when the child is likely to be
born with a physical and mental defect,
and when pregnancy resulted from rape
or incest.
However, both cases also involve
technical legal points and the final
court decision could come on these
points. This would leave the broad
question of the constitutionality of
abortion laws in doubt.
Opponents of the Georgia law were a
married woman who had been refused an
abortion in a public hospital, and a group
of doctors, nurses, ministers and social
workers. Opponents of the Georgia law,
like the foes of the Texas regulation,
want the Supreme Court to affirm the
decisions of the lower courts on the
unconstitutionality of the laws and to
grant injunctions against implementation
of the regulations.
Mrs. Sarah Weddington, an Austin,
Tex., lawyer, argued for the opponents of
the Texas law that it is both vague and a
violation of women’s rights under the 9th
amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The 9th Amendment states: “The
enumeration in the Constitution, of
certain rights, shall not be construed to
deny or disparage others retained by the
people.”
Asked by Justice Potter Stewart if the
fetus is a “person” with constitutional
rights, Mrs. Weddington argued it is not,
asserting the courts have not recognized
the constitutional rights of the unborn.
On the other hand, she stated, a woman
does have individual recognized rights.
In other questioning, Justice Harry
Blackmun asked Mrs. Weddington if she
felt there was an inconsistency in the
High Court ruling against capital
punishment, as it did last June, and
affording different treatment to the
unborn.
She said the treatment would indeed
be inconsistent “if you established the
fetus is a person.”
Assistant Att. Gen. Robert C. Flowers
of Texas, presenting the state’s case for
reversal of the lower court opinion,
contended that “the fetus is a person.
This is the only question, really, that the
court has to answer.”
In other remarks he conceded “it is
impossible for me to trace the
development of the fetus from
conception. But it is the position of the
state that upon conception we have a
human being.”
Asked by Justice Stewart if abortion is
a medical, religious, philosophical, social
or constitutional question, Flowers said:
“Perhaps this is better left to the state
legislature, where they have facilities to
have medical evidence brought before
them.”
Margie Pitts Hames, an Atlanta lawyer
for opponents of the state’s abortion law,
assailed the portion of the Georgia
regulation upheld by the lower courts
detailing the procedures through which a
woman must go to obtain a legal
abortion.
Specifically, she asserted the
committee system invaded the private
lives of the patients, and did not permit
an appeal by the woman of an adverse
decision. In addition, she said, “limitation
to accredited hopsitals is shown to be
unwarranted in view of the New York
experience,” where approved clinics also
may perform abortions.
Asked by Justice Blacknum if a
stipulation that only licensed physicians
might perform the operations would be
unconstitutional, Mrs. Hames responded:
“No, but it might some day be
outdated.” She indicated that she meant
that abortion is a simple operation which
in time might be performed satisfactorily
by persons not necessarily recognized by
the state.
Mrs. Dorothy Beasley, an Atlanta
attorney who is an assistant attorney
general of Georgia, argued for reversal of
the lower court ruling striking down a
section of the Georgia abortion law. In
her testimony, she did not mention the
contention by Assistant Att. Gen.
Flowers of Texas that the fetus is a
person with constitutional rights, but
concurred with his belief that enactment
of abortion laws is a proper function of
the state legislature.
“There is a gray area where we don’t
know when life begins,” she said. “But it
is in an area where we say the state has
the right to protect the fetus.”
After the hearing, the justices gave no
indication when they will rule on the
cases. There is conflicting speculation
when the high court will rule, some
observers saying they will not issue
opinions for several months.
SAN DIEGO, Cal. (NC) - Despite
disappointing statistics, an aura of
optimism surrounded the Diocesan
Vocations Directors convention here.
The reason for the paradoxical state of
affairs is related to the rapid changes in
seminaries and seminarians, according to
Father Edward J. Baldwin of Detroit,
executive director of the National Center
for Church Vocations.
Father Baldwin said a report to be
made to the U.S. bishops at their
November meeting is based on vocation
statistics which do not truly reflect the
picture.
“The bishops will get a survey in
which the categories are now invalid,” he
said. “They ask for categories of how
many in seminaries, training for the
priesthood, the brotherhood or the
sisterhood. But these figures will not
reflect those who may be in training, but
not officially attached to a notiviate or
seminary.
“It will show great reductions in some
seminaries where things have virtually
closed down. It will reflect those few
where consolidation has taken place and
figures are up.”
He pointed out that in Detroit, for
instance, they had about 220 seminarians
five or six years ago, and only 100 today.
“By category we are down. But this
doesn’t reflect those college students
living at home, not in formal training, but
known to the diocesan vocations director
as seriously considering the priesthood or
other ministry.”
The Rev. Jack Lindquist, a Lutheran
scholar, forecast that the
“counter-culture” which came from
youth movements during the sixties is
waning and will be gone within five to 10
years. “We can’t look ahead and plan our
vocational training accordingly, but we
can at least be sure we are with it ‘now’
and not behind,” he said. “We will see a
return to more conventional values, to
tradition.”
He said society today needs a
pilgrimage type of experience. “The only
pilgrimage people make today is to Las
Vegas. Why not a gigantic Catholic youth
pilgrimage in the United States? If
Woodstock could do it, why not the
Church?”
The thoughts of the 150 priests and
Sisters and the five bishops attending the
convention were summerized by
Auxiliary Bishop Cyril J. Vonesh of
Joliet, Ill., when he said, “Reports from
various priests point up the optimistic
attitude of numbers of young people
interested. It is most encouraging.
The bishop, who heads the U.S.
bishops Committee on Vocations, said he
was personally gratified to see the
generosity of the bishops and priests who
came out of deep interest and concern to
discuss the future of vocations.
The need for the right personal
attitude in those chosen to be vocations
directors was repeated throughout the
convention.
“You must be willing to make a
commitment to the priesthood and to
vocations,” said Father Frank J.
Mu sco lino, Birmingham, Ala. “The
frustrations in vocations work are
immense. But if you set aside time for
prayer you won’t allow activity to
overwhelm you.”
Father William Ryan, Albany, N.Y.,
said “Priests don’t fall out of heaven.
They’re raised up by the community.
Constantly communicate with that
community -- but don’t press the ‘panic
button’ all the time.”
The president of the Vocation
Directors Conference, Father Jerry
Hardy, Atlanta, said there is a significant
reduction in the turnover of vocations
directors, which had been problem
recently.
“I think the position has been greatly
helped by the close attention of the
bishops to our deliberations,” he said in
an interview. “Bishop Vonesh came last
year and reported to the other bishops.
Now we have five bishops attending, the
greatest presence ever of bishops. It can
only make for better understanding. It is
most encouraging and heartening.”
Bishops attending apart from Bishop
Vonesh, were Bishop Michael F.
McAuliffe of Jefferson City, Mo.;
Sylvester W. Treinan of Boise, Idaho;
Kenneth J. Povish of Crookston, Minn.,
and Francis Shea of Evansville, Ind.
“Based on the spirit and the attitude
of the men at this convention, the
position is very encouraging,” said Father
Hardy. “There is a great spirit of
optimism.”
THINGS ARE LOOKING UP for Sisters Mary Emanuel and Mary Elizabeth who meet
Mr. Tall Top, the stilt man, as they spread a religious message at the Topsfield (Mass.)
Fair. The sisters are members of the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul,
Jamaica Plains. (NC Photo)
Violence in Name
Of Justice Rapped
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Christians may not use violence to achieve justice for
the workingman, Pope Paul VI told delegates to the third meeting of the
European Apostolate to the Worker.
“There are indeed changes needed, sometimes radical changes,” the Pope told
the delegates, including some Protestants, in an audience Oct. 12, “but there are
also means which the Christian cannot use.”
Some of these means, the Pope said, are themselves inhuman and can “only
delay the coming of a just society, which ought to be built .. .In any case, these
means are contrary to the apostolate and to the Catholic ministry.”
The Pope urged the laity, priests and bishops involved in the Apostolate to
the workingman in 11 European countries to inject “into the working world
your friendship and fidelity to your brothers without losing your Christian
identity.”
The “difficult and demanding” work among laborers is vital, the Pope said,
because although many laborers are close to the Church, the “world of work is
far away.”
The Pope warned that apostles to the laboring man must guard against
allowing legitimate demands for justice and equality to grow from a cry for
liberation to that of “revolution and violence.”
During their meeting in Rome, delegates were told that the primary need of
the worker in Europe is the fulfillment of his basic needs: security, social
integration and personal development.
Belgian Christian Union leader Ignaas Lindemans urged delegates to use
Christian teaching on labor to combat the pragmatism, materialism and atheism
to which workers are subjected.
Campaign for Human
Development Chides
Gov’t Poverty Program