October 6, 2005 Priests for Life Press Release (issued Oct. 3, 2005):
Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life and president of the
National Pro-life Religious Council, thanked President Bush this morning
for nominating a replacement for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in a timely
manner, and called upon the Senate to do its work in an expeditious way
as well.
“Our prayers are with Harriet Miers this morning as she begins this important
process. We trust the President’s judgment and his determination to fulfill his
promises about the kind of Justices he wants to see on the Court.
“The place for arguments about ideology and mainstream positions is in political
races. For the purposes of confirming nominees to the Court, the focus should
be on qualifications to be a Justice, not on personal views on controversial issues.”
F-1: We face a crucial election this year, since those who are elected
to the US Senate may have the opportunity to confirm the next justices
for the US Supreme Court, as well as many positions on other Federal
courts.
For the passage of laws that favor the right to life, and for the appointment
of Justices who will protect that right, the President cannot act alone. The
Senate must vote in a pro-life direction. That will happen only if we vote in
a pro-life direction when we elect our Senators. A commitment to the right
to life is not identical to a commitment to any particular political party. No
party perfectly embodies the Gospel, nor is our loyalty to party supposed
to be stronger to our loyalty to our moral convictions
.
Sept. 12, 2005
by Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
This week in Washington, DC, we see unfolding before our eyes the main reason
so many of us voted in last year’s elections: a change in the Supreme Court. With
a second vacancy adding to the drama, and the current confirmation hearings focused
on not simply a new Supreme Court Justice but a Chief Justice, the activities in
Washington DC merit our attention, our prayers, and our voice.
I am very confident of several things. First, we elected a President who campaigned
on his commitment to nominate judges who would not re-write the law but rather respect
the limited role of the judiciary to apply the law as written by the legislatures. I am confident
that in his nominations, he has and will continue to fulfill that promise.
Second, we can be confident that the pro-abortion factions in the US Senate will make a
nuisance of themselves this week, behaving as though the confirmation hearings are a forum
for some Senators to decide Supreme Court cases by making sure that only Justices who
agree with their positions get confirmed. . . .
Third, we can be confident that Judge John Roberts will be confirmed. . . .
Confident of these things, we should also take advantage of this moment in history to let our
voices be heard. Our American system is about self-governance. We elect the people who
nominate and confirm the Supreme Court Justices. As that process unfolds, therefore, they
should hear from us. Our United States Senators should hear us say, one more time, that we
expect a swift, fair, unbiased and dignified confirmation process in the next couple of weeks,
based on the nominee’s qualifications and not on ideology or politics. . . .
Moreover, the Supreme Court is not supreme over the moral law. God alone has our ultimate
allegiance, and what we pray for above all this week is that every judge understand the limits of
his or her authority, and the profound obligation to respect the rights – starting with life itself –
that are bestowed not by any Court, but by the Creator.
Date: September 6, 2005
Washington, DC —
Fr. Frank Pavone commented today on recent Gallup poll regarding questions to be asked
during the judicial confirmation hearings. The poll asked an open ended question inquiring
about the one specific issue that Americans want to see proposed to nominee John Roberts.
The response came back overwhelmingly in favor of making known his views on abortion,
with a rate of 28%. Other issues came in with only a six-percent margin or below.
“This is not surprising, in view of the fact that the number of voters for whom abortion is a
deciding factor has been increasing in recent elections,” said Fr. Pavone. “Many of these
voters elected President Bush precisely because they knew he would have an opportunity
to nominate the kind of Supreme Court Justices they want to have. Now they want to know
how the man the President selected feels about an issue important to them.”
Fr. Pavone also reminded Americans that “the so-called ‘right to abortion’ is nowhere in the
Constitution, and unless a judge wants to rewrite that document, he will not invent such a
right.”
in anticipation of confirmation hearings
Sample Letter to the Editor
President Bush’s nomination of Judge Roberts is troubling to many people, but who are
these people? They are people who want to keep abortion legal for any reason through
all nine months of pregnancy. They are people who think that “Heather Has Two Mommies”
is permissible in public schools while the Ten Commandments are not. They are people who
think that government funding should be provided for anti-Christian “art” but that churches
should be taxed if they speak out about the importance of voting based on the teachings of
that church.
The people who fall into these categories had better learn one important fact real soon: you lost!
Last November, Americans rejected what has become an increasingly overt anti-religious agenda
by the American left and instead put people in office who recognize that our government is not
supposed to be values-free. I expect that their anti-Christianity will soon manifest itself in derogatory
criticism of Judge Roberts. Before they choose to go down this path, though, all Senators should
know that Christians are watching them closely. If they choose to attack Judge Roberts for his
Catholic faith, there will be hell to pay at the ballot box.
At the moment, one of the most important concerns of the pro-life movement is the
appointment of Federal Judges, and eventually Supreme Court Justices, who will respect
life and will respect the Constitution rather than invent “rights” that have nothing to do with it.