Father Neuhaus says Roe decision has disrupted 'American moral life'

Published: 2006-11-01

HAMDEN, Conn. (CNS) -- Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor in chief of the journal First Things and a prominent commentator on religion in the contemporary world, predicted that at some point in the coming years the Supreme Court will "step away" from its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion by overturning the decision or by passing responsibility back to the states. "No decision has done more to disrupt American moral life" in the last 50 years than Roe v. Wade, he told an audience at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. He gave a lecture Oct. 17 on "Religion and Democracy: The First Amendment Upside Down." The real question Roe raises, he said, is "who belongs to the community" that the political process in the great "American experiment" was designed to represent? Father Neuhaus, who has written several books, was promoting his most recent work, "Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy and the Splendor of Truth," published by Basic Books in March. He urged the free exchange of ideas and exercise of religion in the public arena.

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