file: /pub/resources/text/ProLife.News/1993: PLN-0306.TXT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 3, No. 6 March, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Pro-Life Newsletter is intended to provide articles and news information to those interested in Pro-Life Issues. All submissions should be sent to the editor, Steve (frezza@ee.pitt.edu). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) MURDER HAS NO JUSTIFICATION March 11, 1993: The paper this morning contains the shocking news that an Operation Rescue demonstrator, Michael F. Griffin, murdered an abortionist, Dr. David Gunn, outside the clinic he operated, the Pensacola, Florida, Women's Medical Services Clinic. Gunn was shot several times in the chest as he was about to enter the clinic. Griffin surrendered peacefully to police moments later. This murder must be swiftly condemned by all Right-to-Lifers. The whole purpose of the Right-to-Life movement is to deny both social acceptance and legal protection to those who commit unjustifiable homicide, regardless of the motivation. Murder has no justification. This is an absolutely vital premise of the entire Right-to-Life movement, since it precisely opposes the idea that there are extenuating circumstances (compassion, convenience, disability of the victim, "right-to-die," etc.) which justify murder. Thus, Griffin, far from helping the movement by offing one killer, has betrayed its principles. We can expect to see every 'pro-lifer' who makes any statement that does not forthrightly condemn this murder to be quoted in the media. We are certain to be inundated by a gleeful flood of claims that this murder besmirches the Right-to-Life Movement in general, and the Rescue movement in particular. These claims are false, and will be shown false by the fact that the Movement condemns it, as it condemns all murders. To those who would make this claim, I ask: did John Brown's raid show the abolitionist movement to be evil? Should the bombing of the World Trade Center be used to claim that Islam is evil? Does the murder of a white person by a black person motivated by rage at discrimination justify claiming that the Civil Rights movement is evil? I think it really important, for the integrity of the entire Right-to-Life movement, for Right-to-Lifers everywhere to, as quickly as possible, condemn the murder of Dr. Gunn: Q: Did Dr. Gunn deserve to die? A: This is irrelevant. Griffin had no authority to make that determination. Q: Do we condemn Mr. Griffin? A: Charitable people condemn no one. We show charity toward all, including those who've committed the most heinous acts. But we condemn actions, and Mr. Griffin's action we condemn without reservations. Q: Will this damage the Right-to-life movement? A: Yes. But, the damage can be minimized by making it absolutely clear that the murder was and is not part of RL strategy, and is condemned by the movement. We as pro-lifers should make every effort to see that those in leadership positions do not equivocate about the wrongness of Mr. Griffin's action. - Larry Larmore ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Editorial: ABORTION: VICTIMIZATION OR RESPONSIBILITY Frederica Mathewes-Green, editor of Sisterlife, the Journal of the Feminists for Life, attempted to redefine the abortion issue with her well-publicized statement: "No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg." While this statement succeeded in attracting media attention, even from the Planned Parenthood Action Letter, I disagree that the situation of every woman seeking an abortion is accurately characterized by this analogy. We know that 43% of the women who have abortions have had at least one prior abortion, and that 50% were not using birth control when they became pregnant. If abortion were really that terrible these figures would be much lower. Consider two examples. According to a recent biography, Madonna has had several abortions. And, according to news reports, the woman who was the victim in the William Kennedy Smith rape trial has had 3 abortions. Yet both of these women continued their promiscuous life styles after not just one, but multiple abortions. Of course there are women for whom a pregnancy and a child to support is a burden, sometimes a very difficult burden; But there also exists a class of (typically) young women with promiscous life styles for whom abortion is just an inconvenient consequence of their sexual escapades. In the case of Madonna and some other women in Hollywood, it just goes with a career based on selling sex. Mathewes-Green may have been responding to the typical news media portrayal of abortion in which they find a pregnant woman in difficult circumstances. As in the fictitious rape incident in Roe_vs_Wade, some use the woman's predicament as an example of why access to abortion should be expanded. Of course they never mention the more typical case of the woman with the promiscous life-style who is going in for her third abortion. This aspect of abortion needs to be brought to people's attention to counter the media's propaganda. Women do not bear the responsibility for this situation alone. Male promiscuity probably causes more abortions than female promiscuity. Men are primarily responsible for the Hollywood culture of wanton sex without responsibility, a culture in which abortion is essential in order to avoid responsibility for ones own actions. Each time a woman gets pregnant (except for rape) there are two people who are responsible for the life of the baby that results. Abortion is a way of evading that responsibility. It lets the man off the hook entirely, and it removes part of the woman's responsibility, though it is the women who are left to suffer the emotional and physical consequences. If men would accept their responsibility there would be few pregnant women who could be seen as trapped animals desperately trying to escape. The aspect that seems to be missing from the public ( abortion) debate is personal responsibility for our own actions. This will not be a popular idea in today's society, but the refusal of many people to behave with a sense of personal responsibility is a root cause of many of today's problems. I believe that efforts to re-focus the abortion debate should include the idea that we are each responsible for our actions, rather than relying on a more effusive claim to victimization. - Dean Schulze ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3a) ACROSS THE POND: POLAND Bad News; It seems that the Polish Legislature, despite the support of the Polish Medical Association and the Catholic Primate of Poland, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, rejected a law that would have banned abortions in Poland. Legislation prohibiting the killing of the unborn, with sanctions for those who performed or procured abortions, was voted down on January 7th. 3b) ACROSS THE POND: ENGLAND Good News: LIFE, the national pro-life organization in the United Kingdom, is seeking to establish a new private hospital. This hospital will be dedicated to providing 1) Quality services to pregnant mothers who find themselves in difficult circumstances; 2) Ethical clinical solutions for couples with infertility problems; 3) Natural family planning services to couples who need family planning advice. The eventual goal is to provide complete maternity services, as well as a training center for obstetricians/gynecologists and midwives. 3c) ACROSS THE POND: IRELAND The [Irish] Medical Council issued a statement on abortion, stating that "the necessity for abortion to preserve the life or health of the sick mother remains to be proved". It went on to say that it is unethical to withhold necessary treatment from a pregnant woman even if this results in the death of the foetus. Various anti-abortion groups and a spokesman for the Catholic Press Office welcomed the statement but there were also dissenting voices. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) THE COLLEGE PRO-LIFE INFORMATION NETWORK (InfoNet) The College Pro-Life Information Network is a project of the Intercollegiate Federation for Life. Abbreviated as "InfoNet", this project strives to overcome the communications problems inherent in the college pro-life movement. InfoNet maintains an extensive database of college pro-life activists, groups speakers, and other persons interested in, or of interest to the college pro-life movement. All interested pro-lifers and groups can be listed in the database by sending their name and address to InfoNet. By calling or writing InfoNet, a pro-lifer may obtain contact information for a variety of purposes (e.g. when looking for speakers in your area, when trying to contact other college pro-lifers, or when trying to contact pro-life alums, etc.). The database is not available on-line, but can only be accessed by the old-fashioned methods of writing a letter or making a phone call. InfoNet also sends out a combined listing of activities (conventions, contests, scholarships, etc.) of interest to college pro-lifers. This InfoNet listing will automatically be sent to all persons on the InfoNet mailing list. All activities of which InfoNet receives word are listed without pre-judging the sponsoring organization, and without endorsing the sponsoring organization. InfoNet tries to help all college pro-life groups' efforts. At present, the database has about 3,200 listings, and the InfoNet mailing list is about 1,200 entries long. To join InfoNet, send your name, snail-mail address, and phone number (email addresses and University affiliations are also helpful) to: ANDREW SICREE sicree@geosc.psu.edu or write to: Andrew Sicree College Pro-Life InfoNet P.O. Box 10664 State College, PA 16805 (814) 466-7460 The phone number (814) 466-7460 is very useful if you want prompt and personal help with college pro-life activities or contacts. In short, InfoNet is a college pro-life information clearinghouse. --Andy Sicree ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) STUDENTS IN ACTION - putting Spring Break to some use... The St. Thomas Students for Life is going on an Agape over Spring Break 19 - 26 of March. We will be praying and also picketing at a local abortion clinic in the area. It will be in South Bend Indiana. For more information contact me at KRANFANG@stthomas.edu. - Kathy Anfang ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual Reader's Survey: 6) TO SERVE YOU BETTER or READER SURVEY To better serve the needs of the folks (like you) who read this newsletter, this is the annual reader's survey. This information, particularly question four is useful, as occasionally people inquire to correspond with people on specific topics, or are looking for some expertise in a particular area. [My answers are in brackets] NAME: [ Steve Frezza ] EMAIL ADDR: [ frezza@ee.pitt.edu ] SNAILMAIL ADDR: [ 38 S. Euclid Ave. Bellevue, PA 15202 ] Are you active in any pro-life organizations? [Pitt Students for Life, Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Federation for Life ] What do you do? (meaning - what sort of account is this:) [I'm a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh in Electrical Engineering, and this is one of my research accounts.] Do you have any particular special interests in prolife issues? [I have a particular interest in Post-Abortion Syndrome and the Christian aspects of abortion, euthanasia, etc..] If something related to your interests comes up, do you want to be contacted? (ie. asked for advice, made aware of events/prolife people in your area, etc..) [ Yes, Definitely Yes!! - Please warn me first, or CC me. ] Are these newsletters too long or too frequent (please be honest). [ Sometimes, and yes. Anyone want to be an assistant? ] Are you interested in having this information forwarded to the InfoNet described in article 4 ? [ Yes ] Is there any other way that I or this newsletter could be of more service? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Month: "I deplore the horrible crime of child murder...We want prevention, not merely punishment. We must reach the root of the evil...It is practiced by those whose inmost souls revolt from the dreadful deed...No mater what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed...but oh! thrice guilty is he who drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime." - Susan B. Anthony, The Revolution July 8, 1869 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | | 2 - Frederica Mathewes-Green's quote came from Sisterlife, v13 n1, Spring, | | '93- $15/yr. Feminists for Life, 811 E. 47th St. Kansas City, MO 64110 | | 3a- From a short news brief on Poland in the March 1993 edition of | | 3b- Catholic World Report, pp. 10 & 19. To subscribe call 1-800-825-0061. | | 3c- From the 8 March, '93 issue of THE IRISH EMIGRANT (No.318). Requests | | for subscription should be sent to: "irish-net-REQUEST@cs.cornell.edu" | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, tapes, or help with problems is encouraged to contact the editor.