Group wants church to back anti-abortion initiative
The Daily Inter Lake
A group based in Bigfork is asking the Catholic bishops of Montana to reconsider their February decision not to support Constitutional Initiative 100, a proposed Montana ballot measure intended to create a constitutional right to life.
The group, called Catholic Christians Supporting CI-100, said in an open letter to the bishops Thursday that it considers CI-100 "a new and creative way of opposing and ending abortion."
Bill Myers of Bigfork, an active member of St. Matthew's Catholic Parish in Kalispell, is one of the leaders of the new group and said he would characterize it as "a positive campaign to define four words ? 'life begins at conception.'"
Essentially, the ballot initiative ? if passed ? would amend the state Constitution to say that "Every person has a paramount and fundamental right to life," that people are endowed with "certain inalienable rights from the moment of conception," and that the term "person" includes "a human being at all stages of development or life, including the state of fertilization."
In a statement issued at the end of February, the Catholic bishops said they were "disallowing support for CI-100 in our parishes and church-sponsored organizations, be it through endorsement, financial support, signature gathering, or distribution of promotional materials," although individuals were free to give their support to the initiative.
Moe Wosepka, executive director of the Montana Catholic Conference, said the bishops "agonized over the decision for several months," but decided not to support CI-100 because it "would be immediately overturned."
The initiative was proposed by state Rep. Rick Jore, a Constitution Party member from Ronan and staunch opponent of abortion. Supporters of the Montana Personhood Amendment have been gathering signatures to place it on the November ballot.
Myers signed the open letter on behalf of Catholic Christians Supporting CI-100. Although the letter said the group's members agree with the bishops "100 percent on the key statements supporting life and opposing abortion," they were nonetheless "surprised and disappointed" to find that the bishops will not support CI-100.
The group argues in the letter that "the language of CI-100 attempts to follow the directive of John Paul II in the 'Gospel of Life' to oppose abortion in creative ways."
Nonetheless, the letter goes on to say that the bishops' decision to disallow church support for CI-100 has made the effort to get the anti-abortion measure passed "dramatically more difficult."
"We have encountered Catholics who previously committed to supporting and circulating CI-100 petitions who now feel they cannot support CI-100 … Entire local councils of the Knights of Columbus, despite previously committing to support CI-100, have now been forced to withdraw their support."
Myers and the other members of Catholic Christians Supporting CI-100 write that the church is "now looked at with disbelief and perhaps contempt by many in the anti-abortion movement. Are we to become the laughingstock of both sides of the Life/Abortion debate?"
In conclusion, the open letter asks the bishops to reconsider their decision and to meet with Jore to discuss CI-100 "to find areas of agreement, and once again work toward a united effort" to put an end to abortion.
Myers told the Inter Lake: "Science knows more today than at the time of Roe vs. Wade, regarding the true nature of the fertilized egg at … All the DNA genome and characteristics of the preborn human being are present at conception."
He said hundreds of Catholics have signed the petition, even after the bishops' decision. Organizers were circulating petitions at last week's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Kalispell. They also are gathering signatures outside local churches.
Myers said he was concerned that the Catholic bishops appeared to be basing their position on CI-100 more on its chances for passing legal muster than its moral content. In conclusion he referred to a passage from the open letter, which asked where Catholics should place their faith:
"Do we wish to place our trust and faith in lawyers, memos from law firms, judges or justices? Or do we wish to place our trust and faith in the Lord our God?"
On the Web:
Information on CI-100 can be found at www.life2008.org