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DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 56 No. 4
Thursday, January 23,1975
Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
Bishop’s Pastoral Letter on Abortion
Two years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court
issued its abortion decisions permitting destruction of
unborn human life virtually on request. The Court’s action
has eroded respect for human life and established a climate
of social permissiveness that has dramatically increased the
number of abortions in the United States. It is estimated
that there were perhaps 1.8 million abortions throughout
the U.S. in 1974, and that the figure will increase to 2.4
million by 1980. This means that there will be one abortion
for every two live births, a figure that has already been
surpassed in the District of Columbia where officials
estimate that the number of abortions is equal to that of
live births.
A regrettable fact is that the vast majority of abortions
have nothing to do with preserving the life of the mother,
but are performed for reasons of convenience. Perhaps the
most tragic result of the Supreme Court’s abortion
decisions is the denial of protection for unborn human life
during the earliest stage of its development on the grounds
that such human life is somehow less meaningful than other
human life. Recent history has already demonstrated the
alarming effectiveness of a “meaningful life” ethic in
bringing about the destruction of human life.
As Catholics, we affirm once again that human life is
precious and beyond simple material valuation. It is a gift
from God which must be protected and sustained at every
point of its existence. Particularly during the nine months
of pregnancy the life of the child should be given special
care and legal protection. Science provides ample evidence
that the life initiated at conception is the life of a human
individual who will pass through the stages of infancy,
childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age unless
destroyed prematurely by violence or disease. Scientific
data abound to show the link between life and human
development in the womb and the process of growth and
maturity during the succeeding stages of human life.
These are some of the realities of human life that the
Supreme Court chose to ignore in its death-dealing abortion
decisions. Its closed-mindedness led the Court to withdraw
constitutional protection for the right to life of the unborn
at the very time in history when mankind is otherwise
particularly sensitive to violations of fundamental human
rights.
These reasons among others have prompted the Catholic
Bishops to call for an amendment to the Constitution of
the United States that will assign legal personhood to the
unborn child and assure the protection of the Constitution
to each and every unborn human being from conception
on. In testimony presented to the United States Senate
Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, the United
States Catholic Conference explained the reasons and
motivations for amending the Constitution:
As Americans, and as religious leaders, we nave oeen
committed to a society governed by a system of law that
protects the rights of individuals and maintains the
common good. As our founding fathers believed, we
hold that all law is ultimately based on Divine Law, and
that a just system of civil law cannot be in conflict with
the Law of God. The American system of constitutional
law has proven to be a workable system of law, and one
that has generally responded to the delicate balancing
between defending the common good and human rights
on the one hand, and according a due enjoyment of
personal freedom on the other . . .
After much consideration and study, we have come to
the conclusion that the only feasible way to reverse the
decision of the Court and to provide some constitutional
base for the legal protection of the unborn child is by
amending the Constitution. Moreover, this is a legal
option consistent with the democratic process. It reflects
the commitment to human rights that must be at the
heart of all human law, international as well as national,
and because human life is such an eminent value, the
effort to pass an amendment is a moral imperative of the
highest order.
Since the Supreme Court -decisions, the need for a
Constitutional Amendment has become only more pressing.
Attempts have been made to deny the Constitutional
protection normally accorded to doctors, nurses and
hospitals for conscientious refusal to participate in abortion
procedures. There is increasing pressure from some
members of the scientific community to permit the use of
aborted fetuses in laboratory research, free of any
restrictions whatsoever. The Courts continue to strike down
laws, even those protective and regulatory measures
considered by State legislatures to be within the parameters
of the Supreme Court opinions. In the face of all this, the
easy availability of abortion on request frustrates
educational efforts that emphasize the value of unborn
human life, and it further erodes respect for human dignity
in our society. The violation of the right to life becomes
acceptable, and in some cases, socially respectable.
It is increasingly evident that only a Constitutional
Amendment offers any real hope to correct this situation.
The passage of such an Amendment remains the first order
of business as a new Congress assembles for its legislative
work. But political activity on the part of those who favor
such an amendment must accelerate so as to keep the issue
prominently before the Congress and other legislative
bodies.
On this second annual observance of the fateful Supreme
Court decisions, we must renew our determination to
reverse the Supreme Court’s abortion on demand decisions,
to advocate the rights of the unborn in all our social and
political processes, and to increase educational and
humanitarian efforts to sustain and protect human life at
every stage of its existence.
With prayerful good wishes, I remain
WITH GA. RIGHT TO LIFE GROUP
Senators Meet on Amendment
PREPARING FOR LENT - Before Washington’s Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Sister Margarita
recent snowstorm, sacristans bum palms in preparation Santos (left) and Sister Mary Lourdes try to keep
for Ash Wednesday, Feb. 12, outside the National warm in a chilly breeze outside the church. (NC Photo)
DR. KING’S BIRTHDAY
Thousands Demonstrate for Jobs
WASHINGTON (NC) - “I want a
J-O-B so I can E-A-T, I want a J-O-B so I
can E-A-T,” was one chant among many
as some 3,000 people celebrated the
46th birthday of the late Dr. Martin
Luther King by marching around the
White House to attract support for a full
employment bill which would guarantee
a job to every American who wanted
one.
The Jan. 15 march, and similar
marches around Labor Department
offices in 50 cities across the country,
was sponsored by Operation PUSH
(People United to Save Humanity), led
INSIDE STORY
Drought Victims Aided Pg. 2
Terror Balance Pg. 3
Entertainment Pg. 6
Dispensed Priests Pg. 7
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by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, 33, a former
associate of Dr. King.
The Washington marchers were
peaceful, and there were no
disturbances, but Mr. Jackson halted the
march after three hours because the
route had become “impractical.”
The marchers had completed three
laps around the White House and
surrounding areas, short of its goal of
seven trips. Mr. Jackson said the number
seven was chosen because of its religious
significance - the number of times
Joshua marched around the walls of
Jericho before they came tumbling
down. The goal was to make President
Gerald Ford’s economic policies tumble,
Mr. Jackson said.
The full employment bill supported
by the march is sponsored by Rep.
Augustus Hawkins (D-Calif.) and Sen.
Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.). The bill
now has some 10 Senate co-sponsors
and 60 in the House.
An anti-abortion amendment to the
U.S. Constitution was the main topic of
discussion when Georgia Senators
Herman Talmadge and Sam Nunn met
in Washington with Jay Bowman,
Chairman of the Georgia Right to Life
Committee (GRLC) Wednesday
morning, Jan. 22.
Wednesday was the second
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s
decisions in Georgia and Texas cases
which resulted in striking down
abortion restrictions throughout the
nation, Bowman told THE SOUTHERN
CROSS.
His meetings with the Georgia solons
highlighted a three-day stay in the
nation’s capital. On Wednesday, he
joined thousands of marchers in a
“National March for Life” to the West
Front of the Capitol building to urge
Congressional action on an anti-abortion
amendment.
In a telephone interview, Ray L.
White, Executive Director of the
Washington-based National Right to
Life Committee (NRLC), told THE
SOUTHERN CROSS that anti-abortion
amendment will soon be introduced in
the U.S. Senate by Senator James
Buckley (Rep. N.Y.). The measure will
be co-sponsored by Senators Jake Gam
(Rep. Utah), Mark Hatfield (Rep.
Oregon), Dewey Bartlett (Rep. Okla.)
and James Eastland (Dem. Miss.), White
said.
Two other influential senators, White
declared, Wm. Proxmire (Dem. Wise.)
and Thomas Eagleton (Dem. Mo.) have
indicated that they would support an
anti-abortion amendment.
Bowman met on Tuesday and
Thursday mornings with Georgia
Congressmen, urging their support for a
constitutional proposal, known as the
Human Life Amendment (HLA).
Hearings on that proposal have already
been held by a Senate subcommittee
chaired by Indiana Democratic Senator
Birch Bayh. A vote on it, said the
Georgia Right to Life Committee
Chairman, could occur during the
present session of Congress.
If ratified, the HLA would ban all
abortions except those necessary to save
the mother’s life. In the two years since
the Supreme Court decisions, Bowman
said, over three million unborn children
have been the victims of abortion in the
United States.
In the four years since its founding,
according to Bowman, the Georgia
Right to Life Committee has grown to
more than 2,000 members with chapters
in Albany, Americus, Augusta, Lilbum
and Savannah. There are other
committees in the process of formation,
he said.
Asked why no local activities were
held on Jan. 22, Bowman explained that
the main thrust of the pro-life forces is
now aimed at Congress.
“Last year,” he noted, “the Georgia
General Assembly became the
nineteenth state legislature to adopt a
resolution urging Congress to begin
work on a Human Life Amendment.
The General Assembly has always been
pro-life and we are confident that they
will ratify the amendment when given
the opportunity to do so.”
“However,” he continued, “our work
is now in Washington. The fact that
nineteen states, more than half the
number required to ratify a
constitutional amendment, have passed
resolutions urging protection for the
unborn should be a clear sign to the
Congress that the American people
demand action.
“I am confident that when the vote
does come, Congress will approve the
amendment. I am equally sure that a
majority of the Georgia delegation in
Washington will vote for it. Only one
Georgia lawmaker, Congressman Young,
has stated his opposition to such a
measure. And both of our Senators have
shown great concern, although neither
has fully committed himself to its
support.”
“In the United States,” Bowman
added, “once every 26 seconds, a
mother pays a doctor to kill her baby.
Here in Georgia, more than 10,000
abortions took place last year. We
cannot allow this slaughter to continue.
And we shall not rest until a Human
Life Amendment becomes a part of the
United States Constitution.”
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
m
Want Seton Rites’Simple’
CONVENT STATION, N.J. (NC) - The spiritual followers of Blessed Elizabeth
Seton want the ceremonies of her canonization this September to be kept simple “in
the true spirit of Mother Seton.” At a meeting here Jan. 7-9, members of the
Federation of the Daughters of Blessed Elizabeth Seton, representing the 7,500 Sisters
of Charity in North America, discussed plans for the canonization of their order’s
foundress. Mother Seton will be officially proclaimed a saint in Rome, Sept. 14. She
will then become the first native-born saint of what is now the United States.
Chilean Leader Expelled
SANTIAGO, Chile (NC) - Christian Democrats have accused the ruling military
junta of Soviet-like methods in expelling their long-time leader, Renan Fuentealba,
without due process of law. “The junta did with Fuentealba what the Kremlin did
with Solzhenitsyn,” charged a document addressed to the Supreme Court here by
former Christian Democrat Sen. Patricio Aylwin. The court had turned down an
appeal to reverse the Nov. 36 expulsion.
Holy Year Services
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Holy Year ecumenical services for English-speaking
worshippers have been scheduled for every Wednesday evening at the Church of the
Holy Spirit, near St. Peter’s Basilica. An announcement from the Holy Year
Ecumenical commission stated that these weekly services would begin Jan. 22 and
would be coordinated by Father Walter M. Abbott, a Jesuit ecumenist from Boston,
who is an official of the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.
Vatican Guidelines Welcomed
NEW YORK (NC) -- The president of the World Jewish Congress has welcomed the
Vatican’s guidelines for Catholic-Jewish relations “as a very positive document.”
Nahum Goldmann, in New York for a visit from headquarters of the congress in
Geneva, Switzerland, said the Vatican’s document “provides a good basis for future
cooperation between Jews and Catholics.” But Goldmann noted that the guidelines
contain “some omissions, which I personally regret, and some doctrinal affirmations
resulting from the unavoidable divergencies between Christianity and Judaism.”