Washington D.C., Nov 4, 2009 / 23:11 pm
EMILY's List, a pro-abortion political action committee, recently announced the list of the candidates it is supporting for the 2010 elections. Eight of 18 politicians are women who identify themselves as Catholic, a fact that caused one leading pro-life feminist to remark, “Clearly these candidates are out of sync with the teaching of their church.”
Since 2008, the number of candidates receiving financial backing from EMILY's List and who call themselves Catholic has jumped from four to eight.
Seven out of those eight candidates are currently in office and have already received campaign endorsements. Incumbent Catholic politicians such as Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sen Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Sen Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have had over $700,000 distributed to them throughout the years by EMILY's List and have all received public affirmations from pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL.
“This is a fundamental, but familiar problem,” said Marjorie Dannensfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “Women who are living in the heart of the church can speak especially profoundly about the sanctity of life, so it is truly a lost opportunity.”
Dannensfelser, who is a convert to Catholicism, noted that “Pope John Paul II spoke extensively about the role of women in bringing about a culture of life,” and that “so many women in the church find inspiration from this, it's a shame Catholic women in politics don't extend that inspiration.”
According to the website for EMILY's List, the group has raised over 240 million dollars to support “pro-choice Democratic women” since its inception in 1985. The group states that it believes that “abortion rights” are fundamental to the societal progress of women.
But Dannensfelser took issue with the idea that advancing abortion helps women, saying, “Early feminists recognized that abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women. Susan B. Anthony referred to abortion as 'child murder' and condemned the men who treated women as property by forcing them to abort their unborn children.”
The SBA List president insisted, “being pro-abortion rights does not go hand in hand with being pro-woman.”