NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      CHICAGO, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire "The partial birth abortion procedure is the most barbaric way they have come up with to kill an unborn child," said Joseph Scheidler, Executive Director of the Pro-Life Action League. "It is disguisting and abhorrent that our two Illinois senators, who claim to be Catholics, have again voted against an override of President Clinton's veto, ignoring the advice and counsel of all the Bishops of Illinois."

      "We are asking Cardinal George, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Illinois, to issue a statement censuring Carol Moseley-Braun and Richard Durbin," said Scheidler. "Canon Law and Papal Encyclicals are very clear on the consequences of involvement in abortion. Moseley-Braun and Durbin may well have excommunicated themselves with their vote to allow a procedure the Catholic Bishops have called 'infanticide,'" he said.

      "Catholic voters are entitled to a clear statement of the senators' excommunications," said Scheidler. "If Moseley-Braun and Durbin persist in their unrelenting support for the killing of unborn children, they should, at least, be confronted with the reality that they can no longer call themselves 'Catholic.'"

      On Sept. 9, the five Bishops of Illinois sent a joint letter to Senator Moseley-Braun and Senator Durbin, asking them to switch their votes on the partial birth abortion ban. But claiming that they had to represent people of all religions, both refused and cast their votes to uphold Clinton's veto. In point of fact the majority of Illinois voters, no matter what their religion, oppose the brutal procedure.

      "It is particularly offensive when a politician supports killing children and then pretends to belong to the Catholic Church, which holds all life to be sacred," said Scheidler. "Our unborn brothers and sisters deserve protection from public officials, not extermination. I hope that Cardinal George, Bishop Gregory, Bishop Meyer, Bishop Doran and Bishop Ryan are poised to issue a statement on excommunication."