Abuja, Nigeria, May 7, 2007 / 09:25 am
The Pro-Life Action League has announced that they will protest today's Catholic Mercy Home event in Chicago for having invited Hillary Clinton despite concerns expressed by Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago.
"I'm sorry we have to picket this Mercy Home fundraiser," said Joseph M. Scheidler, National Director of the Chicago-based Pro- Life Action League. "But Hillary Clinton's appearance at their Graduates' Luncheon is just wrong! This is a well-known and much loved Catholic institution, while Senator Clinton is unabashedly hostile to the Catholic Church's teaching on the value of life."
"Hillary Clinton has a long and solid record of support for abortion," said Scheidler. In March she received the enthusiastic endorsement of the National Organization for Women, which sued Scheidler under the RICO statute in 1986, launching a twenty-one year federal court battle for him and the Pro-Life Action League. She blasted the U. S. Supreme Court for upholding the ban on partial birth abortion in their April 18 ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood.
"The Catholic bishops have stated clearly that Catholic institutions may not provide a platform for pro-abortion politicians," said Scheidler. "The young people who benefit from Mercy Home's ministry are the very same 'unwanted' children Clinton and NOW would consign to the abortion scrap heap. Presenting Clinton as a role model for the young graduates is a travesty."
The Leader Council of Mercy Home invited Hillary Clinton to address the guests at their annual Graduates' Luncheon today, without consulting Fr. Scott Donahue, director of Mercy Home. The League's Executive Director spoke with Fr. Donahue, who, though he opposes Clinton's appearance, said he could not rescind the invitation.