U.S. Government Funding of Violence

 * War – The initial ideas presented by the Deficit Commission last week included some steep cuts in the military, including several weapons systems and a third of overseas bases. Reporters in the news media commonly call this “defense” spending, but these have little to do with actual defense. By relying on violence as a problem-solver, they actually threaten our true security. The inordinate amounts of money spent on the military have long been a drain of money away from much-needed jobs, with so much spent on material rather than labor.

* Abortion – This perspective on abortion in the recent health-care reform comes from the latest fund-raising letter of NARAL-Prochoice America: “If you thought this fundamental right was safe, then consider this: taking their lead from Rep. Bart Stupak (D. Mich.) both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted to restrict abortion coverage for women in the new health-care system - one of the worst attacks on choice we have seen in a generation. . . . The new health-reform law requires women in the new system to write two separate checks if the health plan they choose includes abortion coverage.  This unacceptable bureaucratic stigmatization could cause insurance carriers to stop covering abortion care altogether.”

∞     ∞     ∞

More on Abortion Dialog Conference

        Keeping up with the theme of what abortion defenders are saying, we have this tidbit from Frances Kissling, past president of “Catholics for Choice” and one of the organizers for the recent Open Hearts Open Minds conference at Princeton:

         “Some cross conflict but civil conversations at the conference made my head spin. One of the most electric happened at the speakers' dinner where place cards ensured that those who never rub elbows would break bread together. Just before dessert, there was an opportunity for a group discussion. The first to speak was Rachel MacNair, a "consistent ethic of life" advocate, who opposes war, capital punishment and abortion. MacNair described her prior work with combat veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of acts of violence and recent work with abortion doctors whom she believes suffer the same syndrome. Almost immediately, Rebecca Gomperts, a former Greenpeace staff doctor, stood up and calmly noted that she found the remarks offensive; she was an abortion doctor and did not consider what she did an act of violence. Forks dropped. Had MacNair committed a social faux pas? Should Gomperts have let it pass?”

        Rachel comments: I see it as no faux pas – it’s basic, and if you don’t understand that people oppose abortion because it’s violence, then you haven’t understood opponents at all. And of course Gomperts should have spoken her mind as well (I remember it as vehement rather than calm, but that’s just differing perceptions.) I think this speaks to how powerful the consistent life ethic can be.

         Note: you can see how several of the consistent-life attendees felt about the conference (we’ve added more since the last mention) at www.consistent-life.org/princeton.html.

 ∞     ∞     ∞

 CL at Society of Catholic Social Scientists

         CL Board member Richard Stith reports: “Mike Garcher and I set up a prominent (and free!) table, complete with books, banner, & buttons (to mention only the alliterative elements), at the annual meet of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, occurring this year at Holy Cross College, next to Notre Dame, in Indiana. CL was also mentioned and described by my introducer, before my talk. My talk was entitled ‘Autonomy vs. Solidarity,’ an expansion of my earlier ‘Her Choice, Her Problem.’ It did show relations among a number of issues, like prostitution, right-to-work, abortion, post-abortion syndrome, rationing, and poverty.”

 ∞     ∞     ∞

Quotation of the Week
Jane Addams (1860-1935)

First woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

       "I believe that peace is not merely an absence of war but the nurture of human life, and that in time this nurture would do away with war as a natural process."