The, so called, private act of abortion can’t take place, unless, someone rents their property to the abortionist; unless someone makes the instruments used in abortion; unless someone, like the Yellow Pages or a Newspaper like, El Diario, indicates in their advertisement section, where to come to kill the unborn child; unless some Lawmaker passes the Law allowing abortion; unless some judge finds the law constitutional; unless someone works in the mill, or people bring others there or someone enforces the law; unless taxpayers pay for Medicaid abortions, etc. Recently another landlord who owns the building, where the infamous Parkmed/ Eastern Women abortion mill was located, refused to renew the lease. The mill had to move, with a loss to their immoral business. By the way, both of these mills were featured in the recent New York Magazine article about the abortion mills in New York City, entitled ‘the Abortion Capital of America’ There are many links, in this chain of death, and if any link is broken the so called private act of abortion can’t take place. At the March for Life in D.C., it saddened me, to see a number of young women, already exploited by the abortion culture, wearing signs, saying, Silent No More. Personally, for various reasons, I would not ask a young woman to give such a public witness, nor indeed would it be necessary, if every priest, minister or rabbi, who believes in the Culture of Life, would adopt as his own, the clarion call, Silent No More. If the Lion of Munster was roaring in every pulpit, the culture of death would crumble. Before God, we will all be asked, what we did, or did not do, to stop this abomination. Don’t underestimate the power of your prayerful presence outside the abortion mills as something to do, to break the links on the chain of death.

     Today being April 2, may I be permitted a brief excursus on the tragic beginnings of the Culture of Death here in New York State and the special significance of this date for me. After repeated unsuccessful attempts in the 60’s, to get the New York State Legislature to vote on various abortion reform measures, suddenly in April of 1970, a vote was to be taken for allowing the legalization of abortion in New York State, for any reason up to the 24^th week or through six months of pregnancy. With others, I had tried for years to stop any such votes. In 1969 when the first American astronaut, Neil Armstrong, stepped onto the Moon, he said that his was one small step for man, and a giant step forward for mankind. With these events in mind, may I share with you a letter dated April 2, 1970, which I wrote to the Speaker, of the New York State Assembly, the Honorable Perry B. Duryea. I wrote the following:

     "We are on the wrong road, if the Abortion Law is allowed. It may seem like it is only one small proposed abortion law but it will prove to be a giant step backward for life. Insensitivity to life and an incapacity to love seems to be the crime of our times. This law will only intensify these twin diseases.

     The foundation of our society, of the world society must be equality and justice for all. We talk about equality, we praise justice, yet when face to face with these cornerstones of true government, we stand there dumb and blind.

     To say simply that a decision by the mother makes abortion right, is to identify right, with freedom; is to identify right with might. Your right to motion ends, where my nose begins. The first duty to our fellow man is respect to his right to life. Nothing removes this duty, neither age, profession, immoral sexual behavior, burden of rearing an illegitimate child or social stigma. Right is limited by duty and duty is made clear and imposed by positive law. The State must uphold the duty each man has to respect the right to life of every person.

     The Abortion Reform Law being proposed is a perversion of justice and a degradation of equality and will prove ultimately destructive not only to the child but to the self pitying mother and to the permissive society and politicians that pass such a law."

      The abortion law was appealed by Robert Byrn to the New York Appellate Division where the judges threw it out saying: "The extent to which fetal life should be protected is a value judgment not committed to the discretion of judges but reposing instead in the representative branch of the government." The judges decision resulted in the unborn babies being unjustly killed. In a totally opposite decision, seven men on the US Supreme Court on January 22^nd 1973 invalidated the Laws in every State where the representative branch of the government made the judgment that fetal life has value and must be protected by Law. Again the judges decision resulted in the unborn babies being unjustly killed. Again a travesty of Law!

     For the next two years, we worked hard with thousands of other New Yorkers to repeal the abortion Law under the courageous leadership of the late Terence Cardinal Cooke. An important letter of support dated May 5^th 1972,  from President Nixon to Cardinal Cooke, was printed in the Daily News on May 6^th, in which President Nixon praised the Cardinal for his noble endeavor with which he said he totally agreed. Thus he repudiated the recommendations of his own National Commission on Population Control headed at that time by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, the brother of Governor Rockefeller. Betty Friedan said: "A Fatal Political Mistake." I personally believe President Nixon’s public stand against abortion in May of 1972 , more than the Watergate cover-up, was the ultimate reason that drove a number of power brokers to bring down his Presidency. On May 9^th 1972, the Law was repealed by a 30 to 27 vote in the Senate and a 79 to 68 vote in the Assembly. The majority had spoken, and awaited the Governor’s signature. He  had signed the Abortion Law in 1970, saying the majority had spoken. On May 13^th, the day before Mothers Day, with a stroke of his pen, the Governor vetoed the repeal,  killed the bill, and killed millions of unborn children with it.

     For thirty-six years we have tragically maintained in New York City an average of 100,000 abortions a year. Of the 3.6 million unborn children killed, at least 1.5 million would have been residents in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Surely today, we would not be closing parishes or school in this City, except for that deadly Veto. Words cannot adequately describe such an unspeakable evil. The inconsistent and devious Governor said that he had to veto the Repeal Bill because: "The extremes of personal vilification and personal coercion brought to bear on the members of the Legislature raise serious doubts that the votes to repeal the reforms represented the will of a majority." What a mockery of democracy! New York City became the abortion capitol of the country and was painted as the pathfinder of progress whose example other states ought to follow.

     Before the United Sates infamous January 22, 1973 Supreme Court Decision, legalizing abortion on demand, there was not a Country in Western Europe, except England, that allowed abortions. On January 23, 1974, almost a year to the day, the Austrian Court allowed it. Quickly the other Countries in Europe followed suit, in this deadly game, in which no one wins, neither the unborn, the mother nor society.

     As you know each year the numbers of abortions now in the USA, keeps going down, as State after State is now restricting or rejecting the deadly example that came from New York. For many, New York City is no longer viewed as a beacon of light but probably will be the final bastion of darkness and unspeakable evil, because even if  Roe v. Wade were overturned tomorrow, the unborn child could still be killed through the first six months of pregnancy here in New York, because of the veto of Governor Rockefeller thirty-four years ago, stopping the repeal of the most liberal abortion law in the world, at that time. After the Abortion Repeal Law was unjustly vetoed by the Governor, the late Servant of God, Terence Cardinal Cooke, expressed accurately the mind set of true pro-lifers then and now, thirty-four years later, when the Cardinal pledged: "We shall stand tomorrow and always in defense of innocent human life. The struggle to protect the lives of unborn children is not over. It can never be."

     For me the sacrifice involved in flying economy, for forty hours, from New York to London, England; to Cape Town, South Africa and back, was more than worth it for many reasons. Firstly, whatever beauty geographically I have experienced in different areas of the world, during my not infrequent missionary trips for life, was equaled, if not surpassed, in the scenic views encountered while touring, with the other HLI Conference speakers, the peninsular of Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town, the oldest City in South Africa, was founded by Dutch settlers in 1652 and is set beneath the grandeur of Table Mountain and extends to the beautiful harbor, with the imaginative redeveloped Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. A short car ride away is the beautiful Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens and the Constantia Winelands. Having visited these places, I understand why Cape Town is such a tourist magnet.

     Many of the white people I met would simply say, with a smile, it is hard to understand how apartheid lasted so long, since it is difficult to find a white person today, who says they agreed with it. In March 1992, to their credit, the white South Africans voted to replace the Constitution with a non-racial one. The new Constitution was done by 1993. In 1994 the first multiracial parliament was elected, with Nelson Mandela being elected President. For accomplishing the peaceful transition, Nelson Mandela, together with the former President Frederic de Clerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. I believe when the scourge of abortion is outlawed in the United States, which has endured almost the same length of time here, as apartheid in South Africa, a similar scenario will take place. Namely, you will find few, who will confess to having agreed with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision that has already resulted so far, in forty-five million unborn babies being unjustly killed and disbelief by many, that the Court ‘s evil decision dominated our Country’s political policy, for so long.

     The truly unacceptable living conditions, for close to a million Blacks in Cape Town, that sprung from Apartheid, has not yet been corrected by the new Government. The condition of poverty is further exasperated by hundreds of thousands of Blacks, migrating from the rural areas, to the Capitol City of Cape Town, in search of employment, only to be disappointed since the jobs are not there. However, there is reason for hope, since a great percentage of Cape Town University students are Black, assuring that competent well educated leadership will not be lacking in the future.

     The ancient Latin Bard, Horace, in his work De Arte Poetica, wisely observed that "In vitium ducit culpae fuga, si caret arte", namely, that if a person lacks wisdom or skill in fleeing one fault, he is easily led into another vice. Tragically, this has happen in South Africa. While the new Constitution removed the culpa of apartheid, its overstress on freedom has resulted in the separation of freedom from truth, especially in the area of sexuality. The highest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases in the world is found in South Africa. Their solution is supposedly the ABC approach. Abstaining before marriage is A. Be faithful in Marriage is B. Universal accessibility to condoms is C. Hundreds of Millions of dollars have been sent from America to implement this ABC approach. It obviously is not working, because the universal accessibility of condoms is undermining and destroying the young person’s desire, to abstain before Marriage and the Married person’s desire to be faithful in marriage. The A and the B part of the approach is generally being ignored. Bishop Hugh Slattery, an Irish Missionary of the Sacred Heart who has been working in South Africa since 1958, stressed in his fine talk that the Countries in Africa with the highest rate of success against HIV/AID cases are the ones that teach Chastity apart from condoms.

   Even though a woman is only able to conceive for a very short period of time during her cycle the reliability of the condom is 80% at best. On the other hand, every time sexual contact is made with an HIV/AIDS person, the disease can be transmitted, so that the reliability of the condom in the AIDS case is at best 50%. Imagine trying to market a medicine to sick people, telling them, this medicine on the one hand has a 50 % chance of curing you and on the other hand, it has a 50% chance of killing you. It seems to me, condoms are more about population control than stopping HIV/AIDS.

     Father Fidelis CFR who drove down from St. Pio Friary in Bradford, northern England and Geraldine Saava, graciously met me at the Heathrow Airport in London, and brought me to my regular Franciscan Hotel in London, the Friary at Killip Close where Fathers Raphael and Angelus, and Brothers Shawn, Martin and John Paul greeted me. After offering Mass and getting some needed sleep, we had at the Friary, that evening, a special session with the Helpers sidewalk counselors. On another night, we gave a more general talk, to a larger group, that was video taped by an old friend, Gregg Clovis, of Human Life International. Rose and Mike O Doherty, who remain a force in running the Helpers in England, together with Geraldine, Father Fidelis and myself, drove in the O’Dohety’s Life Camper, to the City of Birmingham. That evening, at the Birmingham Oratory, established by the now Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman ,who was a member of the Oratorian Fathers, founded by St. Philip Neri, I gave hopefully, an encouraging talk to the Salihull and Birmingham Helpers. That night, Father Fidelis and myself stayed at the Oratory, being welcomed there by the historian and Oratorian Father, Dermot Fenlon. The next morning, we had the privilege of offering Mass, in the well kept private Chapel of the late Cardinal Newman, using at Mass, his vestments and chalice. When years ago, reading his famous literary work ,The Idea of a University or praying more recently, each day during Lent at Morning Prayer, the hymn starting "Praise to the holiest in the height, and to the depth be praise," a selection taking from Newman’s longer poem, entitled the Dream of Gerontius, I never imagined, I would have the honor of offering Mass at the same altar so frequently used by this priest whose cause for canonization is moving rapidly. After Mass, Father Fidelis and I joined Stephanie Pyne and the other Birmingham Helpers praying on Arthur Road, outside of Calthrope abortion clinic, where 18,000 abortions take place each year. Within the first hour, five women came back out of the mill, indicating they were keeping their babies, and thanking the prayers.

     
     On January 15, 2006. the Helpers here in Brooklyn lost Marta Catalano, not only one of our Officers and Board Member, but a deeply spiritual soul, who not only composed prayers for the Helpers Prayer Book, such as the opening prayer and the Litany to Jesus in the Womb of Mary, but also offered up her years of suffering for the Helpers Apostolate. And finally, as many of you know, a great loss to the Helpers Apostolate and indeed a deep personal loss to myself, occurred on January 7^th 2006, when my dear, sister, Frances Moore, completed her pilgrimage of Faith. When I think of words descriptive of Frances and of her life as Mother of seven children, Widow in her thirties, as worker at IBM or St. Mary’s, as one of the cofounder of the Naim, widow and widower society, and the Helpers, words such as authentic, intelligent, wise, humble, easily come to mind. Who will forget Frances, beautiful, grace filled smile even to the end of her sickness. Frances who never sought credit or pity, clearly understood ultimately only God’s Judgment counted. Well, I believe, the Judgment of God the Father on Frances and her life’s work was simply "this is my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased."