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Abortion Clinic Hearing
BY MICHAEL MOTES
A public hearing held July 26 on
proposed rules and regulations for
ambulatory surgical treatment
centers (primarily abortion clinics)
drew comment from almost 40
representatives of various pro-life
groups, local abortion clinics,
medical personnel and private
citizens.
The hearing, held before the
Georgia Department of Human
Resources (DHR), author of the
indepth and complex guidelines,
was conducted by Robert O. Van
Norte, Director of the DHR Office of
Administrative Appeals, who several
times reminded those scheduled to
speak that the hearing was not an
open forum on the abortion issue.
In offering recommended changes
in the DHR proposal, Cheatham E.
Hodges, Jr., of Augusta, Executive
Director of the Georgia Catholic
Conference and member of the
Governor’s Special Council on
Family Planning, prefaced his
statement by saying, “My presence
and presentation does not in any way
imply or give cause for belief that I
personally or through my position
condone or support any acts
permitted in the proposed Rules and
Regulations which allow the
commission of any act of abortion.”
Hodges’ comments primarily
concerned wording of the lengthy
document. He requested that the
DHR delete the phrase “termination
of pregnancy” from throughout the
rules and substitute “induced
abortion.” He also called for a
waiting period of no less than 48
hours from the time a patient
contracts for an abortion until the
time the abortion is performed, a
suggestion that was made by several
of those appearing before Van Norte.
Pointing out opposition to the
existence of abortion clinics,
Kathryn Buckley Smith, Director of
the Atlanta Archdiocesan Pro-Life
Action Committee said,
“Recognizing as fact that (abortion
clinics) exist and, under the present
state of law, will continue to exist,
we support the effort to regulate
their activities.”
Mrs. Smith stated that the DHR
regulations “are seriously deficient in
a number of critical areas, such as
terminology, appropriate supervision
of counselors, adequate provision for
aftercare of patients and those
children who survive abortions,
adequate treatment of the disposal of
fetal remains, and the like, and
makes no reference to compliance
with the requirements of fetal death
registration established in the
Georgia Code.”
She sharply criticized the wording
of the regulations, stating,
“Terminology used throughout the
proposed rules and regulations
pertaining to the action of abortion,
for example, ‘pregnancy termination’
and ‘product of pregnancy
termination,’ is euphemistic and
masks the reality of what happens in
this procedure. Use of such terms can
be seen only as an official
endorsement of an attempt to hide
the brutal reality of destroying
human life on an organized scale and
in a sanitary fashion.”
Recommendations from the
Pro-Life Action Committee included
incorporating into the rules
“stringent provisions against the
payment of referral fees and to
provide strict penalties for the
violation of such provisions” and
“that there be established in these
rules and regulations a mandatory
waiting period between the time the
required counselling takes place and
the time the ‘informed consent form’
is signed by the patient, a period of
not less than 48 hours.”
Mrs. Smith also said that the
Pro-Life Action Committee would
submit to the DHR a detailed
critique of the regulations.
Testifying on behalf of the
Georgia Right to Life Committee,
Inc., Mrs. Cherie Bowman, chairman,
submitted several additions to the
regulations in areas not included by
the DHR. These included inspection
of all ambulatory surgical treatment
centers at least every six weeks and
frequent “spot checks” by a medical
team, proper record keeping and
accountability, agreement with a
nearby licensed hospital to provide
for emergency admission, and the
registration of a fetal death
certificate for every abortion
performed.
Mrs. Bowman also requested that
physicians performing abortions
inform the woman “in a manner not
to be misleading and to be easily
understood ... the biological fact
that her unborn child is human life
from the moment of conception and
the probable anatomical and
physiological characteristics of the
unborn child at the time the abortion
is to be performed.”
She also pointed out, as did
several other speakers, that
physicians are not allowed to
advertize their services and requested
that abortion clinics not be allowed
to advertize.
The strongest comment from
Georgia Right to Life concerned the
statement in the rules and regulation,
“If the product of a pregnancy
termination procedure is capable of
meaningful or sustained life, medical
aid then available must be rendered.”
“This is particularly repugnant,”
Mrs. Bowman said. “Who shall decide
what is ‘meaningful’ life? Should it
be someone who makes their living
from killing unborn babies? We think
not. We think that no one has the
right to determine if another person’s
life is meaningful. Any baby that
survives an abortion must be given
resuscitation and all means of life
support.”
Michael Brunning, a parishioner of
Prince of Peace in Buford and
Chairman of the 9th U.S.
Congressional District Action
Committee (CDAC), called for
addition to the rules to show proper
care for an aborted child “to show
respect for human life.”
IHM parishioner Bill Nursey, 4th
CDAC, suggested that provisions for
a follow-up report on a woman who
has had an abortion be part of the
DHR regulations.
William Stanford of the 5th
CDAC, a parishioner of Immaculate
Conception, stated that he hoped the
DHR would expedite procedures to
adopt rules and regulations and not
“scandalize the country into a state
of paralysis before rules are
enforced.”
Several speakers stressed the need
of counselling of pregnant women
and suggested that abortion clinics be
required to explain abortion
alternatives, including adoption, to
their patients.
Lynn Thogersen, Director of the
Feminist Women’s Health Center,
stated that her organization was
prepared to “challenge the
constitutionality of jihese
regulations” if they were adopted.
She said that the DHR does not have
the right to regulate clinics
(Continued on page 8)
A CONCERN VOICED by several speakers at the Department of
Human Resources hearing was that abortion clinic patients do not
receive sufficient counselling prior to having an abortion.
Knock
In 1879, the Famine was still a
living memory. The nation had been
decimated - every native family
across the Irish countryside had been
touched.' The stench of death
hovered like a breezeless cloud over
the land.
Other sufferings pressed the
peasants down. The angry voice of
the heartless landlord was heard and
viciously heeded. One missed
payment and the hooves of soldiery
would be heard
along with the
dreaded rattle
of sabers. Weak
resistance meant
death. No
resistance meant
loss of the dusty
earth, cherished
beyond measure
and beyond
memory.
Within the
context of this
miserable darkness, the light of the
vision was seen.
Patrick Hill had brothers in
America. One day he, too, hoped to
make the great escape. For now, he
helped his parents on their
sharecropper farm outside the town
of Claremorris in the parish of
Knock.
After finishing the evening meal
of tea and home-made griddle bread,
Patrick set out that August 21 for
the village. It was raining. It always
vigorously rained in that beautiful
area laying within roaring distance of
the Atlantic. His journey would take
him along the familiar path behind
the parish church. It was the journey
of a lifetime.
The old church wall was alive with
light. Patrick Hill had never seen such
brilliance. Even the landlord’s
mansion, regaling the Christmas
season could not match the feast of
light before him.
He rushed to the old wall
beckoned by the warm light. Other
villagers joined him. Men and
women, children of all ages came to
bathe in the glow. They all told the
same story.
She, to whom they told their
beads, night after night, with clinging
confidence, stood there bedecked
with brilliance. Attending her on one
side was the faithful Joseph and on
the other the loving John. They were
joined by a lamb resting in luminous
glory on an altar. The vision lasted
for over an hour. In the rain the little
band of Irish peasants, forgetting
their daily misery, gazed in complete
rapture.
It has been one hundred years
since that rainy memorable evening.
Proclaimed miracles have been few.
There was no miraculous spring, no
secret message, no request for prayer,
no demand for a beautiful basilica.
Just a vision for drab lives to enjoy,
just a heavenly concurrence that the
downtrodden persistence of that
daily lifestyle, was acceptable.
The century of devotion will now
be marked by a papal visit. The
silence of that little shrine will now
be no more. To the Irish alone it
once belonged. The visit of John Paul
II now gives it to the world.
Iorgia
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 17 No. 27
Thursday, August 2,1979
$6.00 Per Year
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KENTUCKIANS AT AUDIENCE - Pope John Paul II waves to a
crowd of well-wishers at his Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s
Square including John Brown Jr., Democratic gubernatorial
candidate, and his wife, former TV personality Phyllis George.
Irish Get $10 Million
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (NC) - A $10 million grant, the
largest single grant in the history of the University of Notre
Dame, has been received from the John L. and Helen
Kellogg Foundation of Chicago to endow the university's
Institute for International Studies.
Half the grant will endow five professorships while other
portions will be designated for research, visiting scholars,
library, institute operating expenses and other related costs.
The institute originally was established in 1968.
Notre Dame President Father Theodore Hesburgh said
the grant will focus the university’s international affairs
program on the “current phenomenon” of world
interdependency and said the institute will recognize the
growing influence of non-governmental persons, such as
bankers, churchmen and educators, on international
relations.
John Paul For Washington....
WASHINGTON (NC) - Both
President Carter and the Vatican
press office have confirmed that
Pope John Paul II will meet with
Carter during the papal visit to the
United States the first week in
October.
The pope will probably visit
Carter at the White House, but
details have not yet been worked
out. If the pope does go to the White
House, it would be a first.
Carter told a group of out-of-town
editors on July 27 he expects to
meet with the pope “in the White
House in a private fashion.”
(Commenting on a press report on
the president’s remarks, the Vatican
press spokesman, Father Romeo
Panciroli, confirmed that the pope
would meet Carter. Asked if the
meeting would take place in
Washington, he said, “It has not been
settled yet”).
Russell Shaw, secretary of public
affairs for the U.S. Catholic
Conference, said he expects the pope
to come to Washington and expects
him to visit the White House if he
does.
If the pope does not come to
Washington, Shaw said, he will
probably meet Carter at the United
Nations. The pope will address the
United Nations on Oct. 2.
Carter said he expects the pope to
get “an overwhelmingly friendly
welcome and an enthusiastic
welcome” from “American people of
all religious faiths.”
The sight of the pope in the White
House would have once sparked
sharp criticism from those who
opposed Catholic presidential
candidates because they feared
American policy would be dictated
from the Vatican.
But a Gallup poll on the 10 men
most admired by Americans at the
end of 1978 found Pope John Paul
ranked second, behind Carter and
ahead of evangelist Billy Graham.
The poll found the pope rated sixth
among Protestants only.
Carter said he believes the pope
“desires to come to our country not
on a political mission, but on one
involving religion, morals and
ethics.”
Carter said it was too early to
know what subjects they would
discuss. But, he said, “We do share a
common desire for peace, for the
broadening of the beneficial effects
of religion throughout the world and
also on such major matters as human
rights.”
“I have exchanged several letters
with him (Pope John Paul) since he
has been in his present office and he
and I have a good and friendly
relationship,” Carter said, adding
that he had sent the pope a letter
that morning (July 27).
“He said several members of his
family - “both political family and
immediate family” - have already
met the pope.
Carter’s wife Rosalynn and
daughter Amy, Vice President Walter
Mondale, Secretary of State Cyrus
Vance, White House National
Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski
and Carter’s Vatican envoy, Robert
W'agner, have all met Pope John Paul
II.
The pope spoke with Carter
briefly on a telephone from his plane
on his way to a Latin American
church conference in Puebla, Mexico,
last February.
.... And Other U.S. Cities Too?
While the itinerary is still up in
the air for the upcoming visit of Pope
John Paul II to the United States in
October, representatives of several
cities have extended bids for the
pontiff to see them during his tour.
Chicago, Detroit, Miami,
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia
and Boston are among the cities
where church and civic officials and
private individuals have invited the
pope to visit.
A cabled invitation sent by
Cardinal John Cody and his auxiliary
bishops invites the pope to come to
Chicago after he delivers a major
address to the United Nations
General Assembly on Oct. 2.
Cardinal Cody appointed Msgr.
Richard A. Rosemeyer, vicar general
and chancellor, as coordinator of
arrangements for the hoped-for papal
visit.
Chicago has the largest Polish
community outside of Warsaw.
The Boston City Council passed a
resolution which states that such a
visit by the pope “would be among
the most notable events in all of
Boston’s long history.”
A letter sent to the pope signed
by all the members of the council
noted that Boston had twice
welcomed Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of
Poland and remembers his visits to
churches in Hyde Park and South
Boston.
Churchmen in the Boston area
feel that the pontiff would want to
visit ailing Cardinal John Wright who
is at present a patient in the
Tufts-New England Medical Center in
Boston.
The Twin Cities, Minneapolis-St
Paul, are continuing their efforts to
have the pope come there. The
American Polish Society of
Minneapolis has been urging
Polish-Americans to send telegrams
to the Vatican requesting that the
pope include the Twin Cities on his
itinerary.
As others have, the Twin Cities
have promised in their messages to
the pope that Poles from throughout
the nation will come there to see
him.
Poletown, an area that includes
six parishes on the inner-city east
side of Detroit sent a letter to
Cardinal John Dearden asking him to
extend an invitation to Pope John
Paul II. In their letter they suggested
that a 50-acre area in Poletown could
be cleared permitting thousands to
gather to see the pontiff. But the
group has not received word from
the cardinal that such an invitation
will be sent. The lay organization of
Poletown has decided to send their
own invitation, according to Father
Francis Skalski, pastor of the Polish
parish of St. Hyacinth’s, and
spokesperson for Hamtramck, the
Polish community of Poletown.
The Orchid Lake area of Detroit,
which includes the only U.S. Polish
seminary, also sent their own
invitation to Rome. It was suggested
by this group that if the pope were
to visit in Detroit and make a single
public appearance, it would be best
to hold the event in the Pontiac
Silver Dome where the Detroit Lions
football team plays. The stadium
seats about 50,000.
On behalf of the Miami
archdiocese, Archbishop Edward
McCarthy urged the pope to visit
that area of the South. The
archbishop made the suggestion
when in Rome to receive the pallium,
symbol of office.
In Rome for a visit, Monsignor
John P. Foley, editor of The Catholic
Standard and Times, got close to the
pope during an audience in St.
Peter’s Square. Msgr. Foley asked the
pope, “Holy Father, please come to
Philadelphia.” Pope John Paul, who
knew Msgr. Foley because the priest
accompanied Cardinal John Krol on
the pope’s trip to Poland, responded
enigmatically, “Ah, Philadelphia.”