partial birth abortion

Bishop, Pro-Life Leaders Applaud Court Ruling

HERALD Staff Report
(From the Issue of 4/26/07)

ARLINGTON — Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde and other local pro-life leaders applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that upheld the ban on partial-birth abortion.
“The Supreme Court decision to uphold the partial birth abortion ban brings needed hope amidst the dark reality of abortion in our country,” said Bishop Loverde. “I applaud this encouraging step in the effort to reclaim the rights of the unborn and build a culture of life. Obviously, much more needs to be done to defend the right to life of the unborn child. Nonetheless, this decision energizes us to be relentless in our commitment to life at every stage, from conception to natural death.”
“We are thankful that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to ban the cruel and deadly practice of partial-birth abortion,” said Dr. John T. Bruchalski, founder of the Tepeyac Family Center, a non-profit pro-life OB-GYN medical practice in Fairfax.
“Today’s decision is a ‘no-brainer’ because the life of a child is always to be protected – whether the child is in the womb or out of the womb,” Bruchalski said. “Thank God that today we can now stop the killing of those precious children in their last months of preparation before changing their address from unborn to born. Our legal system is finally starting to right the moral compass of this nation.”
Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, also welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. “After a decade of struggle in legislatures and courts, the U.S. Supreme Court finally upheld a federal law prohibiting the brutal and inhumane partial-birth abortion procedure. This is the first time in 34 years that the Court has upheld a ban of any type of abortion.
“The court’s decision does not affect the legal status of the great majority of abortions, and does not reverse past decisions claiming to find a right to abortion in the Constitution,” the cardinal said. “However, it provides reasons for renewed hope and renewed effort on the part of pro-life Americans. The Court is taking a clearer and more unobstructed look at the tragic reality of abortion, and speaking about that reality more candidly, than it has in many years.”
Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson called the decision a major milestone in the battle to end the destruction of innocent human life in America.
"Until today, the abortion license in the United States has been virtually unlimited,” Anderson said. “Finally, after nearly a decade of court battles, the way has been cleared to implement the bipartisan judgment of Congress that partial birth abortion is brutal and inhumane, and must be prohibited.”
Anderson believes the court “has laid the groundwork for a more searching reexamination of the crumbling foundation on which Roe v. Wade was built."