When the speaker at the podium, Stephen Peroutka, predicted
that Roe v. Wade would be overturned within three years, the
crowd at the Ball for Life roared with approval. I've been to
quite a few pro-life fund-raisers, but this was the first time
that any speaker dared to set a timetable for an end to the 1973
Supreme Court decision.
A last-minute surprise speaker, Senator Brownback of Kansas, drew
laughs when he said, "Here I am in the bluest of the blue
states. Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore." Because
overturning Roe would simply return abortion legislation to the
states, the senator said he recognized the difficulty of changing
the abortion laws in New York. "But if it happens here in
New York," he said, "it will affect the whole world.
Whenever anything happens here in New York, millions
follow."
He reminded the crowd that Russia is paying dearly for its
liberal abortion policy: It is now having to pay couples to have
babies. Japan also is struggling to replenish its population.
Still, the idea that the majority of New Yorkers will ever be
persuaded to support the pro-life position would make many
incredulous. Yet more and 1185 2174 1287 2185
more of them from all walks of life are becoming increasingly
vocal in the defense of life. Why? "For the times, they are
a-changing."
A rookie Giants wide receiver, David Tyree, was a guest speaker
at the Ball for Life last Friday. He admitted that he was not
always a pro-lifer. "In fact, I made a lot of mistakes in my
life, one in particular that I sincerely regret and I promised I
would never do that again," he said.
He then pledged his lifelong support for such organizations as
the Good Counsel Homes, for which the fund-raiser was held.
Christopher Bell and Father Benedict Groeschal co-founded the
group, which provides shelter for pregnant women and their
children. One of the residents of Good Counsel, Antoinese,
related the moving story of her rescue last November, when she
was seven months pregnant, caring for her 4-year-old child, and
had no one to turn to.
Another guest at the bash was Michael Schindler, Terry Schiavo's
brother, who received a standing ovation for his tireless fight
for his sister's life. Another warrior in that battle will be
appearing at the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University, on
the 12th floor of the Lowenstein Building, at 5 p.m. today. Nat
Hentoff, a self-proclaimed Jewish atheist, libertarian, and
unabashed pro-lifer - and the only real reason to continue
reading the Village Voice - will be introducing the author of
"Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics,"
Melinda Tankard Reist. She compiled the inspiring stories of
women who defied the calls to terminate their pregnancies for a
variety of health reasons.
Just glancing around the ballroom, I noticed some members of the
clergy and a few men wearing yarmulkes, but most noticeable was
the number of beautiful young people.There are more and more of
them coming to these events, and Mr. Peroutka, the chairman of
the National Pro-Life Action Center, used their growing numbers
to explain why he believes Roe v. Wade "is going down."
"Anyone born after 1973 is a survivor, for they were born
into a world where one out of four are aborted," he said.
"That's a higher casualty rate than any war. That's why you
see thousands of them marching for life in Washington, D.C.,
every year. They're survivors."
Another reason he sees for the imminent downfall of Roe is that,
unlike the established clergy, the priests and ministers coming
out of the seminaries today are geared for this pro-life battle.
After Father Pavone, founder of the Priests for Life, gave the
benediction, I overheard a man at the next table say to his
dinner companion, "The priests in my parish care more about
other issues than being pro-life." This started a
fascinating discussion that raised questions about the New York
archdiocese's commitment to the pro-life movement.
"It's great that the priests are concerned with education,
immigration, gun control, and other issues, but we're not
compelled in our faith to act on them. But we are compelled to
respect life," one man said. "It seems as if the
archdiocese doesn't want to offend the liberal New Yorkers who
want to distance themselves from what they view as the religious
right. But this is just wrong."
I'm sure that Edward Cardinal Egan is as committed to the
pro-life movement as Father Pavone. He needs to make sure that
others in the archdiocese also respect the movement that Pope
John Paul II called "the greatest work in the history of the
world."
For heaven's sake, we do not need another politically correct
church.