Pro-Life News

Right to Life’s first Freedom March on September 9 has been heralded as a great success. An estimated 3,000 prolifers gathered at 10am on a Saturday morning in Carlton Gardens and walked peacefully to the top of Bourke Street, within view of Victoria’s State Parliament, where they listened to a range of inspirational speakers before looking up at the hundreds of white balloons released into the blue skies. The most poignant moment of the Freedom March came when young prolifer and March organiser Meredith Gawler, carrying a small white coffin, lead the crowd in one minutes silence outside the Royal Women’s Hospital in memory of the 32 week baby recently killed there by abortion because it was expected to be of short stature. Later, the crowd was thrilled to be addressed by Australia’s most outstanding prolife parliamentarian, Senator Brian Harradine; whose address is reprinted here for your inspiration. After his stirring words opera singer Imelda Pagliaro lead the crowd in a rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic - set to prolife words: "We’re marching for the unborn, We’re marching for the Lord, We are marching in the army that will put away the sword, We are crying out for Justice and the rights of the unborn, His faith is marching on."

Every abortion takes an innocent life. But now we are witnessing the practice of abortion without limits.

The killing of the 32 week old baby at Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital earlier this year because of suspected dwarfism; the abortions of other pre-born babies because of a missing finger or cleft palate; the death of Baby J, who shed 80 minutes of tears after being aborted in the Northern Territory; the forced deportation from Australia of a pregnant Chinese woman who begged for the life of her 8 month old unborn child who was aborted on arrival in China. There are about 5000 late term abortions done every year in this country. The king of partial birth abortion, Dr David Grundmann, the man who specialises in partially delivering babies - some even older than premature babies in hospitals - and then plunging a pair of scissors into the base of the struggling baby’s skull and suctioning the babies brains - has now set up shop here in Melbourne, touting for business with his ads offering abortion to 19.5 weeks - and much later at his Brisbane clinic. American nurse Brenda Schafer witnessed the death of a child killed by partial birth abortion: "The mother was six months pregnant. The baby’s heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultrasound screen. The doctor went in with forceps and grabbed the baby’s legs and pulled them down into the birth canal. Then he delivered the baby’s body and arms - everything but the head. The doctor kept the baby’s head just inside the uterus. The baby’s little fingers were clasping and unclasping and his feet were kicking. Then the doctor sank the scissors through the back of his head, and the baby’s arms jerked out in a flinch, a startled reaction, like a baby does when he thinks he might fall. The doctor opened the scissors, stuck a high powered suction tube into the opening and sucked the brains out."

Freedom March (Melbourne)- Saturday, September 9, 2000

Freedom March , Melbourne

Dr David Grundmann has said that sex selection is a valid reason for late term abortion.

What else has to happen before Governments and regulatory bodies say "Enough is enough: we can no longer allow such practices; we can no longer fund this killing, we will no longer permit these brazen acts of child destruction?"

What sort of society are we creating when we will allow no imperfections, where those considered less than perfect are weeded out - mere weeks before birth? We are disturbed by the practice of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in other countries- what about ‘disabled infant cleansing’ in our own?

I would like to read part of a letter which appeared in The Melbourne Age newspaper July 7 this year, titled:

I am not as short as people suffering from dwarfism but I am shorter than my school friends. I am 17 but about the height of a 13-year-old. I can’t believe that someone who can lead a normal, happy, healthy life could be aborted because of how they look.

When l was diagnosed with Turner’s syndrome a few years ago I was given a book about it to read. I was absolutely shocked to read that a great number of pregnancies were aborted if found to have Turner’s syndrome.

As I was 14 when I found out, l know that l am completely normal – apart form the fact that I am very short.

The baby that was aborted could have led a normal, happy life, and if the parents didn’t want it there would have been plenty of people willing to adopt it and bring it up as theirs.

Foetuses should not be aborted due to their appearance. This baby did not have a life-threatening disease or problem - its only problem was short stature. Once born it could have led a happy, healthy life ..."

We gather today to grieve for the loss of the lives of innocent unborn children. We grieve also for the suffering mothers who had no idea of the devastation abortion would cause them.

Women are not informed of the potential consequences of abortion. They rarely know about the potential physical risks. They are denied information on the link between abortion and breast cancer. They are not told of the connection between abortion and suicide. Many women undergoing late-term abortion for suspected foetal abnormality say they felt pressured to terminate; that it would be wrong for them to bring a ‘disabled’ child into the world. Many feel cornered - powerless.

Over the last two weeks I have asked questions in the Senate about why there appears to be no accountability for the way Medicare is being used to fund the late-term abortion of the disabled. According to the Government, Medicare is only supposed to be used to fund late-term abortion where there is "gross foetal abnormality" or "life-threatening maternal disease". I asked if the Government considers dwarfism a "gross foetal abnormality" and whether such a termination qualified as "appropriate" and a "clinically relevant service".

I am still waiting for detailed answers. I don’t want to pay for the selective termination of the disabled. I don’t want to pay for the search and destroy methods used to weed them out. I prefer to work for a society which welcomes all children and which provides the support necessary to raise them.

I ask you to join with me to help eliminate the circumstances which pressure women to have abortions, to continue to offer them the support they need; and to bring about a society which values diversity and welcomes all into the human family.

When I think of the struggle in which we’re engaged as prolife people, when I think of the terrible damage abortion is doing to the sanctity of human life and the dignity of women in our country, and when I think of the violent opposition all of us meet in pursuing this great cause for justice, I think of what Sophocles wrote more than two thousand years ago:

Let us stand united in our defence of the defenceless, as a shield for the vulnerable, and as the voice of the voiceless victims of this barbarity.

By far the most encouraging and inspiring news I have heard this year is of the organisation MaterCare International. The Mission Statement for MaterCare International (MCI) describes MaterCare International as "an international organisation of health professionals dedicated to the care of mothers and babies, both unborn and born, through new initiatives of service, training and research, which are designed to reduce the unacceptably high rates of maternal mortality, morbidity and abortion in accordance with the teaching contained in the Encyclical, Evangelium Vitae", The Gospel of Life.

MCI health professionals, (obstetricians, neonatologists, general practitioners, midwives and other health care workers) are concerned about the poor state of maternal health throughout the world and the unacceptable solutions being offered to improve the situation. They have been inspired by the message of The Gospel of Life and the challenge of the forthcoming millennium. They are conscious of the fact that the Catholic Church in particular, must maintain its faith centred mission of serving those most in need, particularly mothers and children, through its health care ministry. One of MCI’s prime tasks is to provide training programs - eg: an international residency training program in obstetrics and gynaecology, a consultation service in project development, specialist courses and workshops. To achieve its end, MCI will have a 21st century structure with a small central coordinating agency linked to flexible reference centres, distributed throughout the world, connected through modern communication technology and using modern concepts of distance learning.

Dr Robert Wally, a Canadian obstetrician and gynaecologist, who is the founder and medical director of MCI says, "It is an international disgrace that in our time so many mothers should give their lives having their babies, or sustain terrible birth injuries, obstetric fistula, simply because they did not receive adequate care. It is unconscionable that millions of mothers should be subjected to the indignity of having their unborn children destroyed in their wombs, supported even by the most powerful leaders in our world and paid for with our taxes ... Sadly, the professions of obstetrics and gynaecology have colluded in the criminalization of the unborn child and now serves mothers, in most parts of the world, more frequently with death than life, having seemingly nothing better to offer...

Since MCI was formed, mothers all over the world, in countries as diverse as Nigeria, Kosovo and East Timor are being afforded dignity, respect and proper obstetric care for themselves and their babies. MCI has developed a West African Maternal Health & Obstetric Fistula Project, the first phase of which is now underway in Ghana and consists of prevention, research and advocacy programs. The second phase which has recently been approved in principle by the Minister responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency consists of a 60 bed Birth Trauma Centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of mothers with obstetric fistula, to be located near Accra in Ghana.

All prolifers will be inspired by the aims and practices of MCI. Many may yearn to be part of their exciting projects. Well, the good news is, we can! At no financial cost to ourselves! MCI has a unique fund raising mechanism. To be a Lifesaver, all we have to do is, "lift a finger ... then ‘press down’

on our mouse buttons!!! With a click a day ... every day, at no cost to us, (paid for by sponsor advertisers) we can help significantly to restore these suffering mothers to health and dignity. For those of us lucky enough to work computers or have our own PC, all we have to do ... each day

You make the decision whether these mothers are worth helping, but sponsors pay the donation on your behalf. One cent per click. Visit the Lifesaver page today. Make your free donation. Then, Bookmark this page and make a daily donation. And please, encourage all your family and friends to do the same!

Attempts to advance abortion and homosexual "rights" at United Nations level failed at a women’s summit held at UN headquarters in New York in July.

But the result owed nothing to Australia, which, as part of a regional group, JUSCANZ, led by Canada, the United States, Korea and New Zealand, which supported contentious language in the final document of the forum, known as Beijing +5.

The document was an update of the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 and including some radical language relating to "gender" and human rights.

Paragraphs drafted by a preparatory committee for the recent summit called for medical personnel to be trained and equipped to ensure that abortion was "safe and accessible" in countries there it is legal — as it is in virtually every country under some circumstances — and for recognition of "sexual orientation" and diverse family forms under the heading of "human rights".

Among those upset by the results of the Beijing+5 was the head of the UN Population Fund. According to the pro-life group C-FAM, Nafis Sadik spoke angrily near the end of the assembly, saying it was unfortunate the forum was "still unable to agree on language concerning some of the most basic human rights as they affect women".

Mrs Sadik said she supported the paragraph relating to "access" to abortion and accused its opponents of wanting "death, disease and suffering" for women.

A speech given by a Nigerian mother may have tipped the balance in favor of life and the family at the general assembly called to decide what the world needs to do for women.

Addressing the gathering on behalf of the Holy See delegation, Kathryn Hauwa Hoomkwap affirmed UN efforts to increase educational opportunities and access to basic social services for all women.

But she criticised a document before the assembly for emphasising "seemingly endlessly, one issue — sexual and reproductive health — to the detriment of an holistic view of the health of women and their families".

This intervention, together with other efforts, seems to have achieved a turnaround in a summit that began with little promise for the pro-life and pro-family side.

Early June saw more than 10,000 people converge on UN headquarters and other venues in New York to conclude a review of progress on the status of women as defined at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.

The throng included delegates and experts from 181 countries with voting rights in the UN, 26 delegations of observers and 1250 non-government organisations (NGOs): the majority of them women’s groups.

Under the banner, "Women 2000: Equality of Sex, Development and Peace for the 21st_tCentury", they were to debate a document updating the Beijing Platform for Action. The prolonged, multi-million-dollar process culminating in the June assembly is known as Beijing+5.

UN statistics show that women still make up the vast majority of the world’s poor, hungry and illiterate people, suffering disproportionately from discrimination based on sex, and from violence.

However, the opening session of Women 2000 heard that some progress had been made on women’s rights. There was now more schooling for women, a greater awareness of the decisive role of women in eradication of poverty, and denunciation of sexual violence during conflicts as war crimes.

At Beijing, efforts to address the basic needs of women and their families were bedevilled by a radical agenda concerning "reproductive and sexual rights". This effort was only partly successful, so the document proposed for acceptance at New York contained unfinished business from Beijing, expressed in typically vague but loaded language. This included:

The preparatory period also saw an attempt by pro-abortion groups — apparently with connivance from officials within the UN — to destroy the influence of the Holy See. The campaign, spear-headed by the United States pro-abortion group Catholics for a Free Choice, called for the Vatican’s status at the UN to be downgraded from (non-voting) permanent observer to simply that of another NGO.

In May, after running for more than a year and using front-page advertisements in the New York Times, the "Sea Change" campaign had gathered support from 498 mostly pro-abortion, population-control and lesbian groups.

Meanwhile, a counter-campaign launched by the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (CFAM) early this year had gathered support for the Holy See from more than 2000 groups in 50 countries. These included the largest Evangelical groups in the world - including Focus on the Family - and some of the most important Islamic groups, including the al-Khoei Foundation.

At the same time, there were bipartisan resolutions passed in both Houses of the US Congress to condemn the "Sea Change" campaign and affirm the Holy See’s contribution to international peace and human rights.

And, in May, the US Catholic Bishops reissued a 1993 statement declaring that CFFC was not a Catholic group but, in fact, a well-funded arm of the abortion lobby.

Even so, prospects were not good for the conservative side as last month’s assembly opened. A group of Latin American states, including two that had previously voted along pro-life lines, were promoting the "sexual rights" language of the final document.

At the outset, Amnesty International accused the Vatican of a "hybrid alliance" with Iran, Algeria, Nicaragua, Syria, Libya, Morocco and Pakistan, to create obstacles in the preparation of the summit.

Percentage of women in developing countries who have access to safe water and to contraception

The World's Priorities

Source: UN State of the World Population, 1997

Similar accusations were made during and after the assembly by UN officials, including High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and UN assistant secretary general Angela King.

There were, however, some positive signs. A letter signed by 23 pro-life members of Congress and addressed to all 188 UN member states, expressed "great alarm" that the US delegation was calling for increased access to abortion and mandatory training to perform them.

Late on the fourth night, the radicals lost the debate on sexual orientation, according to Austin Ruse of C-FAM. "Nation after nation stood up to the US and the EU and insisted that ‘sexual orientation’ could never enter the new document. Throughout the day on Friday, excitement continued to build as conservative diplomats emerged from private meetings and said the West was capitulating on the most radical language."

During a plenary session on the final day, the Holy See made its intervention. Kathryn Hoomkwap reminded the gathering that illiteracy, poverty, illness and premature death were the real targets for those concerned with the rights of women. Her criticism of the emphasis on "sexual and reproductive health" (with all that it implies about western attitudes to women and the poor) brought many nations onto the Vatican’s side.

Senegal had already moved in opposition to Western delegations. After the Vatican intervention, most African and developing countries joined the cause, described in some newspapers as the "rebellion for the dignity of the poor".

The attempt to force medical personnel to be trained in abortion was lost, and the language of Cairo stands: in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning".

In holding the line on abortion and rejecting other "sexual rights" initiatives, the outcome of Beijing+5 is a victory for the pro-life, pro-family side. Part of the credit, according to UN insiders, rests with the "bureau", a small number of UN member states that decide the rules of the conference.

This year, they insisted on the classic definition of consensus, which means that any three states can strike something from the document under debate. This rule had been ignored in recent years, allowing the smaller states to be bullied by the larger.

Relatives of a disabled boy are serving jail sentences after they saved his life. They stopped doctors giving him a diamorphine drip which was administered so that he would "slip away".

Raymond Davies, Julie Hodgson and Dianne Wild, uncle and aunts of David Glass, now 14, were imprisoned earlier this year for their part in altercations with medical staff in October 1998.

When David, who had a chest infection, fell into a coma and began to turn blue, relatives helped sustain his breathing and Carol Glass, his mother, removed the diamorphine line. Doctors have admitted that the withdrawal of the drip saved the boy’s life. The family had been told that it was in David’s "best interests to allow him to die without distress or pain".

The family’s GP has praised the quality of home based care given to David by his mother and other relatives. The family regards David’s quality of life as good and, while he can only communicate in a limited way, he never lacks love and attention.

David’s relatives were charged with causing actual bodily harm and violent disorder. In June Ms Wild was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and Mr Davies and Ms Hodgson were sentenced to six moths. The sentences reflected Department of Health policy - actually intended to deter drunken violence in casualty departments - of demanding maximum penalties for assaults on staff.

In July the appeal court reduced the sentences so that the relatives could resume their care for David when his sisters return to school later this month.

Carol Glass is now deeply resentful of medical and legal institutions which, instead of helping the weak, tried to end her son’s life and then severely punished members of his family.

ProLife Victoria has now placed a set of these foetal models in 351 Secondary Schools.

Dimboola Memorial Secondary College is one such school. The models there are used in years 9-12 in Science, Human Development and Health subjects.

The Health Coordinator’s comments included "Clear, life size, easy to handle" and "The models are wonderful, I congratulate you on making these available, especially at no cost".

And the students? They were "astounded at the size of the foetus at abortion time".

There is a plausible line of argument that since the Federal Parliament overturned the Northern Territory’s euthanasia law, it should be consistent and act on the Territory’s mandatory sentencing law: on repeated property crimes, the qualifier of which most people don’t seem to be aware. Not quite the same thing, however. The Territory’s euthanasia law would have made Darwin the euthanasia capital of Australia. People could, and would, travel from all places to Darwin to take advantage of that law. This is not likely to happen with the Territory’s property crime mandatory sentencing law; travelling away from Darwin maybe, but not towards it.

On a more mundane level, having been to the Territory to look at its hospital and medical services as part of a public-hospital funding inquiry, I have come to realise a reason why it was a good thing the euthanasia law was overturned. It would have made some people a lot of money. The Territory has practically no private medical service. It seems few doctors in private practice are willing to stay in the Top End, because they can’t make enough money to compensate for the isolation. Well, it seems the medical gentleman who valiantly "championed" the euthanasia cause hasn’t stayed in the Territory either. Now that he can only charge normal fees to keep people alive, it is no longer worth his while.

The trouble with standing up on a point of principle, as I explained to a colleague in the Party Room a few weeks ago, is that one has to be aware of with whom one is standing as well as where one is standing. Had I been in the Senate at the time, I might have voted against Federal intervention on euthanasia. If I had, I think I would have regretted it, knowing what I do now.

Seattle - Bill Gates, founder of the Microsoft computer software empire, is coming under increasing pressure from American prolifers over his charitable donations to UN population programs and abortion providers such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation. US prolife campaigners have placed adverts in Seattle newspapers suggesting that the downturn in his company’s fortunes is the result of a prayer campaign over the past year. The advert read: "In the name of God, Bill, haven’t you had enough?"

CANADA: Abortions Increase. The law that legalised abortion in Canada was passed in 1969. It required that most abortions be done in a hospital and that such abortions would have the approval of a medical committee. This was the situation for more than two decades. During this time, abortions stayed at a level of about one for every six live births. Then, about a decade ago, their High Court threw out the law. Their parliament has been unable to pass a new one, with the result that they have no law.

Under this new situation, the notorious abortionist, Henry Morganthaler, has proceeded to enlarge his single abortuary into other provinces, now operating six large ones. Other free-standing abortion mills have also sprung up. As a result, the number of abortions in Canada continues to climb In 1996, the official total was 111,659; in 1997, 114,848. Today there is one abortion for every four births.

At the same time, the birth rate has progressively dropped, so that Canada is now well below replacement level. Sadly, the Federal Government has actively aided the abortion culture, even to funding security guards outside these abortuarys. Laws continue to be passed in various provinces undermining marriage, undermining parental authority over children and, in various ways, cancelling the tax-exempt status of their national pro-life organisation, Alliance for Life, which then disbanded and in other ways, funding and supporting a broad-based radical anti-life, anti-family feminist agenda.

IRELAND - To Save Her Life. Interesting information from Ireland. Dr P.J. Conway has reported that only two maternal deaths have been recorded among 223,000 births delivered in three Dublin hospitals between 1980 and 1989. The figure has improved since then. This makes Ireland the safest place in the world for a mother to have her baby.

In addition, Dr Eamon O’Dwyer, Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Galway, and an obstetrician for 40 years, states that he has looked after more than 9000 women and none have died. "I never had reason to think that I could have done better if I had abortion available."

USA - Methodists Oppose Abortion. The United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant body in the US, has voted to oppose partial-birth abortion. The vote was 622 to 275, which came at the end of their General Conference in Cleveland. A proposed "health" exception was earlier defeated. This General Conference meets every four years to set policy for the church. This is heartening news as the policy of this church body, until now, has been consistently proabortion.

CANADA pays for its own demise. Except for some Eastern European countries, and Russia during Communist times, probably no nation in the world subsidises abortion as completely as Canada. For example, the province of British Columbia pays for abortions, pays for clinic security, and subsidises pro-abortion lobby groups up to $US25,000 a year. Quebec pays for doctors’ fees and part of the facility fee. Nova Scotia pays for hospital abortions and the doctors’ fee at private clinics. In Ontario, both the doctors’ fee and facility fee are paid. Further, Ontario pays travel expenses for northern Ontario women to come into the cities to get abortions. And it goes on and on. Canada’s birth rate is below replacement level and seems to be doing everything it can to facilitate its own suicide.

USA: Parkinsonism: No Benefit. The only controlled study of Parkinson’s brain transplants of fetal tissue was detailed by two doctors from New York’s Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre. Only patients younger than 60 reported any benefits and they needed "a magnifying glass" to discern any functional benefit. We note that the overwhelming majority of patients needing help are older than 60.

At last summer’s XIII International Congress on Parkinson’s, the doctors reported that some patients were demonstrating a disturbing unexpected symptom, i.e. involuntary muscle twitchings of the face. This has been reported before. Further, a 52-year-old man receiving fetal transplants in China died two years after the surgery. The autopsy revealed that the tissue had survived, but, rather than growing into brain tissue, had grown wildly into hair follicles, skin, cartilage and other "debris". He died from this wild growth. This information from Citizen Magazine, January 2000.

USA: Sixteen Years in Coma and Awake. Sixteen years ago, during a caesarean section, as a result of a blood clot, Patricia White Bull, an American Indian mother of four, fell into a coma which persisted until recently. When a nurse was adjusting blankets on her bed, she clearly stated: "Don’t do that." Since then she has proceeded slowly to gain more function. We wish her well.

AFRICA - Facts from Kenya. At the recent World Congress of Families in Geneva, Dr Margaret Ogola, director of the Family Life Counselling Association of Kenya, said the distribution of millions of condoms which had an "about 30% failure rate" had not only caused disease but also broken down delicate tribal taboos against promiscuous sexual behaviour. She stated that Western propaganda from the UN and the American State Department had convinced millions of young Africans that sex with condoms was "safe sex". She went on to state that "the disbelief and shock in the reaction of young people when I tell them they have AIDS is heartbreaking. ‘But,’ they say, ‘we had safe sex.’"

USA: "Crack Babies": More Optimism. A recent study by the Albert Einstein Medical Center has thrown new light on crack babies and their predicted disabilities. A few years ago, it was widely held that crack babies — i.e. babies born of mothers using this drug — would be permanently injured and disabled. Such is not turning out to be the case. The findings show that such babies, exposed to crack, do exhibit more behavioral and attention problems around age seven but, happily, not the catastrophic impairment that had been predicted. The study showed that poverty may have as much, or a greater, effect on children’s mental development as such drug exposure in the womb. The drug babies averaged an IQ of 79, while the inner-city poverty babies averaged 82.

USA: Abortion - Link to Drug Abuse. Women who have had abortions are five times more likely to report later substance abuse than women who carry to term. This is reported in a study in the American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse by Dr David Reardon and Dr Philip Ney. They analysed data from a national reproductive history survey of 700 women, aged 24 to 44. They said: "Even if we assume the lowest statistical range for relative risk, our results would indicate that each year, in the US alone, there are at least 150,000 new cases of abortion-related substance abuse. Given the range of relative risks identified, the actual number could be as high as 500,000 cases a year."

The researchers pointed to a recent study in Finland that showed that the risk of death from suicide was six times higher among women who had had an abortion, while the risk of death from homicide was twelve times higher in the year following an abortion. They noted that such deaths among post-abortive women are most likely due to risk-taking behaviour that is an expression of self-destructive tendencies.

USA - Cardinal O’Connor Dies: Dramatic Response in Cathedral. At the Cardinal’s funeral, St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York was packed with 3500 prominent people. Right in front were President and Mrs Clinton, Vice-President and Mrs Gore, Mayor Giuliani, former President George Bush and Presidential Candidate George W. Bush. Boston’s Cardinal Law, in giving the eulogy, stated: "He preached most powerfully, by his example, the necessity of seeing in every human being from the first moment of conception to the last moment of natural death, and every moment in between, particularly in the poor, in the sick, in the forgotten, the image of a God to be loved and to be served. What a great legacy he has left us in this constant reminder that the Church must always be unambiguously pro-life." There was a moment of silence, and then, as columnist Ray Kerrison said: "The import of his words exploded around the cathedral ... The response rolled from the back of St Patrick’s Cathedral to the altar, as the congregation, including both Bushes, first began to applaud and then rose to their feet, continuing their ovation for three and a half minutes. The discomfort felt by the attending pro-abortion politicians, Catholic and non-Catholic, was obvious. Giuliani stood up slowly and clapped feebly. President Clinton and his wife Hillary squirmed visibly. Vice-President Gore and wife Tipper, once pro-life but now vociferously pro-abortion, stared blankly.

The Clintons and the Gores could not, would not join in the prolonged applause, which seemed to go on forever. Finally, after several minutes, the foursome stood but did not applaud." Cardinal Law appeared stunned, even delighted, commenting: "I see he hasn’t left the pulpit."

If it was ever totally apparent that pro-abortion politicians are out of the mainstream of society, it was evident during this funeral.