Fr. Frank Pavone is a long-standing pro-life champion who has been both leader and conciliator within the movement. While he was in Crystal City for the National Right to Life Convention, I had the opportunity to ask a few questions regarding the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, Justice Kennedy’s transformation on the bench, and the future of the pro-life movement. Enjoy!
(1) First things first — Obamacare and the Supreme Court. What’s next?
What’s next is to take a deep breath and head to the voting booths! There are a lot of candidates for federal office who want to repeal Obamacare, without, of course, abandoning the notion of improving access to health care for all Americans.
(2) The surprise of Chief Justice Roberts voting with the majority eclipsed another big surprise for pro-lifers — Justice Kennedy’s forceful vote not just as with the dissenting voices — but as the voice in a very forceful and strong dissenting opinion. Pro-lifers have always been cool to the idea that Kennedy would swing towards pro-life concerns. Does the Obamacare decision change the landscape for a path to ending abortion through the Supreme Court? Does this strengthen the argument for the strategy of personhood?
I often tell people that Justices nominated by pro-abortion Presidents are far more predictably going to vote in ways that displease us than Justices nominated by pro-life Presidents going to vote in ways that please us. It’s a matter of probabilities. So the first thought here is that we have to take these disappointments as part of the landscape.
As for Justice Kennedy, I have had the pleasure of speaking with him personally and do believe that he has made a significant journey during his time on the bench toward being a more reliable vote for our issues.
As for the Personhood strategy, I believe that the time is always right for justice and truth, and that what a Supreme Court might do in the future is not a sufficient reason for holding back on bold action now.
(3) Many are concerned about the HHS mandate and the abortion clauses in Obamacare, using “not one penny towards abortion!” as a rallying cry online in recent days. How do you recommend we make that rallying cry a reality?
Conscientious objection, of course, is the only response to an immediate coercion in cooperating in injustice. That’s why we at Priests for Life launched the fourth of the now 23 lawsuits against the HHS mandate, and are committed to disobey the mandate once it comes into effect. This disobedience should be marked by rallying opportunities, whether physical or virtual rallies, and petitions that enable numerous citizens to be publicly represented. Beyond that, it again comes down to the voting booth in November.
(4) Recently there was an e-mail going out on a decision from the Vatican regarding your status with Priests for Life. Is that the final word on a matter that has obviously given concern to many pro-lifers who support Priests for Life’s mission?
It is the next-to-the-last word. We will have more good news in the Fall regarding further steps being taken in cooperation with the Church to strengthen the status of Priests for Life and to enable more priests like me to devote their lives and ministries to the most important cause of our day, defending the unborn.
(5) Lastly, what’s the path forward for the pro-life movement over the next 12 months? Five years?
The next twelve months have to be marked by a lot of political savvy, and also by a lot of cooperative efforts regarding the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. We will have a unique opportunity to make our case, as a movement, to the public, because this milestone anniversary will bring a lot of media and government attention to the issue.
The movement also has to be smart about linking our cause to the cause of religious freedom. Life itself is a more fundamental right than religious freedom, because one has to be alive to be religious and one has to be alive to be free. Moreover, religious freedom exists precisely so that we can proclaim and serve the truth, starting with the truth about life. The pro-life movement has to articulate strongly, in the coming year, that we do not say abortion is wrong just for us who believe that way; we say it’s wrong for everyone. It is precisely in order to say that, and to bring society to a total repudiation of abortion, that we insist on our religious freedom.
Much thanks to Fr. Pavone and the Priests for Life crew!
