Priest mobilizes faith leaders, voters on abortion as election issue

Published: 2004-09-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Led by Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, a coalition of religious and pro-life organizations announced a campaign Sept. 23 to defeat any political candidate who supports keeping abortion legal. "Because abortion is an act of violence that destroys an entire segment of the public, no one who ignores the victims of abortion is worthy to hold public office," the New York archdiocesan priest said at a Washington press conference. Father Pavone said his organization would dedicate $1 million to "an all-out campaign" in the 30 days before the Nov. 2 election that would be aimed at convincing churchgoing Christians that "abortion is not simply one issue in this election; it is the most fundamental human rights issue of our time." Father Pavone said the monthlong $1 million pre-election educational campaign would focus primarily on churchgoers because they have been shown in polls to be most likely to vote for pro-life candidates. The main message of the campaign, he said, will be that "any candidate who supports abortion has no right to hold any kind of public office, just as anyone who supports terrorism should not be allowed to hold public office."

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