Teresa Heinz Kerry says she “reluctantly” supports abortion. She says she doesn’t view abortion “as just a nothing,” but admits that it is “stopping the process of life.” She says, “In my compendium of values, a woman facing abortion must be up the creek and feels there is no other option.” She adds that government cannot legislate morality, but rather should promote policies that encourage people to make moral choices.
Once again, that is a morally incomprehensible position. What she is saying is that abortion does “stop the process of life” of another person, but that one person’s desires can trump another’s right to life. Because, after all, what is “stopping the process of life” but a euphemism for killing? If I shoot some guy on the street, I am “stopping the process of life.” And then she says that government cannot legislate morality, but government does it all the time. The government says that slavery is illegal, it does not suggest that it might be better not to enslave others. Murder is illegal: to kill someone else is a moral choice. In fact, most laws regarding felonies are based on legislating morality. To say that anything is “wrong” is to impose a moral definition on it: It is wrong to steal, therefore it is illegal.
Her comments would probably represent the views of many church going Catholic women.
If you look at Bush’s position of abortion is OK under certain circumstances, it would probably be close to what Ms. Heinz-Kerry is alluding to.
On the other hand Bishop Burke is on a mission to reduce the parking problems on Sunday morning.
One can criticize Bush’s three exceptions, but I don’t think one can fairly say that his position is close to THK’s. I’ve never heard Bush engage in doubletalk such as that abortion “is stopping the process of life.” Are we to understand that the “process of life” is something different than “life” itself?
And I defy anyone to decode this sentence: “In my compendium of values, a woman facing abortion must be up the creek and feels there is no other option.” I wonder if THK carries that “compendium of values” around with her, or if she just keeps it on her hard drive?
Shoud a woman who procures an abortion be prosecuted for murder? If not, what legislative remedy would you propose? cfeicht
Yes, yes. Full parking lots are way more important than stopping the murder of children. So why doesn’t Burke just get with the times?
True, her comment represent the majority of Catholics who support not only support abortion but also same-gender marriage, contraception and cloning.
Again, Burke should just shut up…he’s driving down attendance!!
Call the seminaries…get the would-be priests to stop studying theology and moral ethics and start studying modern polling techniques.<sarcasm off>
The truth is that part of Gen X and especially Generation Y know that 1/3 of their peers have been murdered in the womb. Watch EWTN’s Life on the Rock and other youth oriented programming ….. these kids know who’s been trying to wipe them out.
Those trying to make the Church “popular” by forcing her to conform to the lunacy of the world have only to look at all of those mainline Protestant confessions that have followed that plan – plenty of empty parting lots over there!
The ketchup lady may have lots of money…but even though the lights are on…nobody’s home………………I relunctantly support slavery….till we have a more efficient way of delivering our cotton…
The woman is as “catholic” as her husband.
I wonder, if Abp. Burke, or any other bishop, said that you MUST fast one hour before receiving communion, what would be the response? 1. He’s just restating the church’s rules on receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. OR 2. How dare he tell me when to eat? He can’t do that. What’s he trying to do, drive people away??? And, what’s he mean by eating? Can I have a piece of toast? What about a cough drop? I’m so confused I don’t know what to do.
The current bishops aren’t making this stuff up as they go along. Someone in today’s St. Louis paper suggested that the Archbishop must think he’s smarter than God. Huh?? Last time I checked, the Bible was the inspired word of God. In it he said, “Thou shalt not kill.” He also said that anyone who eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of Christ. Did Jesus not say to Peter that whatever he held bound on earth would be bound in heaven?
There’s really nothing new here.
Peace
What has happened to women? Where is love? Where is the warmth of mother? When and how did abortion become the “thing” to fight for? How bizarre.
“Shoud a woman who procures an abortion be prosecuted for murder?”
Yes. She has murdered her child.
Hi, C. Feicht:
As an RN, I’d rather see the MDs and other “health care” professionals involved be charged than the woman herself, who is arguably also a victim, in so far as abortion exploits women for profit. And anyone who tries to procure an abortion for a minor, esp a non-relative or non-guardian, should have to answer for that.
However, I think our emphasis should be on changing hearts as well as changing laws – it may be more important to work toward a society in which women understand that abortion allows the exploitation of women first by the men who impregnate them and subsequently try to persuade them to get rid of the “evidence,” then by the abortion industry, which allows this to take place. Think about it for a minute – how can anything that harms a woman’s child ultimately be healthy for that woman?
Our task is to create a society in which women don’t feel compelled to undergo abortions, ie, one in which women are given the material and emotional assistance they need to keep their children (ideally through *privately* funded philanthropic and religious organizations, such as Friends of the Unborn in Quincy, MA, K of C councils, etc, and not through more government programs), and one in which women feel that adoption is a better option than abortion. Ironically, the work of providing women with the material and emotional support they need is done overwhelmingly by people who describe themselves as “prolife;” to my knowledge, those who describe themselves as “prochoice” do not typically work in any organized way to help secure for women the best and most natural “choice” – life.
If anyone has information that I don’t vis-a-vis some organized effort on behalf of “prochoicers” to help women keep their babies, I’d be truly interested in hearing it.
Take care! Joanne
Speaking of which, did anyone do the walk for life in Salem this past Saturday? I wanted to do it, but forgot about it til the day of, at which time it was unfortunately too late to find out the time it was beginning. I called three branches of A Woman’s Concern (the beneficiaries of the walk), but all were closed and had no information about the walk on their voice mails or website. Also called MCFL, which was closed with no info on voice mail or website. Also looked on the Pilot website, which mentioned the event, but did not give a time. Looked on the websites for the Catholic parishes of Salem, to no avail.
So…anyone do it?
The only reason she is reluctant is because Heinz makes lots of money selling baby food.
Well, you are all correct, of course. But I wonder if we are forgetting something here. Politicians are subject to pressures which Catholic priests and Catholic nuns do not have. Also, Catholic clergy and religious are supposed to have training in Catholic theolgy and teaching. Yet what do we hear from some of the Catholic clergy such as Father Drinan? I think that Father Drinan fought very much in favor of the legalisation of partial birth abortion, although he was personally opposed to it. there are more examples such as this, not to mention the pro abortion speakers at Catholic colleges. For example, at Emmanuel College in Massachusetts, the commencement speaker was Mary Beth Cahill, the former director of the pro abortion PAC Emily’s list. Shouldn’t Catholic nuns and priests know a little better than that? I don’t regard Mrs. Kerry as an expert in Catholic theology. But what about the priests and nuns teaching at Catholic colleges. Why are they inviting a director of a pro abortion political group to give a commencement address at their Catholic college? And this is not an isolated case as the Cardinal Newman society has found about 200 such cases at American Catholic colleges over the past five years. Why let these Catholic priests and nuns off the hook, but not Mrs. Kerry?
Joanne, Well stated. cfeicht