ATLANTA--Over 91,000 postcard sets from the Archdiocese of Atlanta urging an override of President Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act flooded Congress in July and organizers of the postcard campaign expect that to continue.

"To date 91,504 postcards sets, which represent over 273,000 individual messages, have been sent to Congress," said Peggy Sinanian, director of the archdiocesan pro-life office. "This represents a 30 percent increase from previous years' postcard campaigns. A recent report from the national pro-life office shows that over nine million postcards have been ordered from dioceses nationwide."

The postcards--sent by individual Catholics to their two senators and one representative--urge an override of President Clinton's April veto of a bill banning partial-birth abortions. More than 50,000 additional card sets were made available to other denominations and crisis pregnancy centers in North Georgia.

The legislation vetoed by Clinton would have banned a procedure used in late-term abortions in which the unborn child is partially delivered before surgical scissors are stabbed into the base of the infant's head. The child's brain is then removed by suction, allowing for easier delivery of the rest of the body.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta is part of a national effort originated by the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities and the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment to reverse the veto. The legislation would prevent abortions that are only "seconds away from infanticide," in the words of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) who reversed his pro-choice voting pattern in this instance.

Abortionists who use this procedure for late-term pregnancies have indicated that there are at least 600 and perhaps as many as 2,000 partial-birth abortions a year. In voluntary testimony before the Senate a partial-birth abortion practitioner's own survey revealed that the largest number were elective abortions not cases involving the health of the mother.

Sinanian is urging Catholics to voice their concerns about the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act before an attempt to override the veto occurs in September.

"It is not too late to let your voice be heard," she said. "Catholics in this country represent 30 percent of the population, and in a democratic representative form of government such as ours, unfortunately, it is often the loudest voice rather than the voice of truth or most representative voice that is heard and acted upon."

Federal legislators can be reached by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.