On election day, Californians will vote on Proposition 4, a measure that requires minors to obtain parental notification before an abortion is performed; there is a provision for judicial override in unusual circumstances. Some of those opposed have engaged in Catholic bashing.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue addresses this issue today:
“Some of the Catholic bashing that has accompanied the crusade against Proposition 4 is subtle, and some of it is overt. The subtle variety is on display in news releases that continue to cite the Knights of Columbus as a donor in favor of the resolution: The Knights’ contribution is actually quite small, but by flagging the Catholic lay group, opponents are throwing a red flag to anti-Catholic bigots. This is exactly what we would expect of such groups as the ACLU, NOW, the Feminist Majority, Planned Parenthood and NARAL; their record of bigotry is quite long.
“Besides some anti-Catholic bloggers, opponents of parental rights conducted a demonstration on October 26 outside a Catholic church in Coronado; those coming and going to Mass were specifically singled out.
“A video on the subject, dubbed ‘Therapy’ by the Vote No on Proposition 4 activists, has two young men sitting on a couch discussing the issue. The pro-parental consent fellow, of course, is depicted as making his case based on emotion, not evidence. Worse, he confesses that he is trying to ‘impose [his] moral view on others’; he cites his reliance on the Bible.
“In actual fact, when Planned Parenthood recently appeared in court it couldn’t produce one factual case of a young girl who committed suicide because of a lack of parental consent. And it is not the pro-parental consent crowd which is imposing its moral views—it is those against the resolution.
“Now the Sierra Club is getting involved in stripping parents of their rights; it will hold a press conference today. So is this its message—less kids, less pollution? It admits that it is pro-abortion. What we didn’t know is that it is comfortable consorting with anti-Catholics.”
