Bishops Warn Obama on Abortion

November 12, 2008
BISHOPS WARN OBAMA ON ABORTION; CATHOLIC LEFT REBUKED

In a statement released today, Francis Cardinal George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, made it clear that the bishops will fight any expansion of abortion rights that may occur under the next administration. Specifically, the bishops are objecting to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a bill so sweeping and draconian that it would not only repeal every single state restriction on abortion, it would seriously jeopardize the right of Catholic hospitals and doctors to opt out of performing abortions.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue released the following remarks:

“Cardinal George is right to label FOCA ‘an evil law that would further divide the country.’ At stake are two issues: a) the rights of the unborn and, B ) religious liberty.

“First, those who admit that abortion should be rare unwittingly acknowledge that there is a reason to limit its frequency: as Cardinal George said, ‘abortion kills.’ By contrast, no one maintains that root canals should be rare, and that is because this medical procedure—unlike abortion—does not result in the total denial of someone else’s rights.

“Second, religious liberty is enshrined in the First Amendment and cannot be trespassed upon lightly, and certainly not by abortion zealots. Those who support FOCA must realize that if Catholic hospitals are ever required to perform abortions, the bishops will close every one of them; no one would be hurt more than the poor.

“Cardinal George explicitly rejected the ‘common good’ mantra of the Catholic Left that justifies legal abortion while pursuing ameliorative social policies that may reduce abortions. At stake, he said, is the ‘legal protection of the unborn,’ something which is rejected by Catholics United, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholic Democrats. We hope they amend their ways and fall in line with Catholic thought on this grave matter. If they do not, they will become indistinguishable from Catholics for Choice, a fully discredited organization.”

Susan A. Fani
Director of Communications
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
450 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10123
212-371-3191
212-371-3394 (fax)

Boycott Miller

NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF MILLER BEGINS; OVER 200 RELIGIOUS GROUPS CONTACTED
September 27, 2007

Catholic League president Bill Donohue announced a national boycott of Miller Beer on this morning’s “Fox and Friends.” He explains why today:

“Never have we experienced greater corporate arrogance than in this dispute with the Miller Brewing Company. Miller is sponsoring an incredibly outrageous and palpably anti-Christian event in San Francisco: the Folsom Street Fair (see its website at folsomstreetfair.com and be prepared to see the shocking photos of what goes on). Be sure to access our website at catholicleague.org to see the pictures not only of the fair, but of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic group that is holding a mock Last Supper dinner tonight in San Francisco. The Sisters is one of the organizations that is receiving funding from this Miller-sponsored event.

“This all started when we learned that Miller was sponsoring an event that featured an obscene ad thrashing the Last Supper. After being pressured, Miller offered a lame statement of regret and said it was pulling its logo from the ad. Not only has it not done so—it is still posted on the website of the street fair—Miller refuses to withdraw its sponsorship. To top it off, when we informed them that some of the money being raised at this festival was being funneled to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, they were unimpressed.

“Accordingly, Miller leaves us with no options: we are calling on more than 200 Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu organizations to join with us in a nationwide boycott of Miller beer. We feel confident that once our religious allies kick in, and once the public sees the photos of an event Miller is proudly supporting, the Milwaukee brewery will come to its senses and pull its sponsorship altogether. If it doesn’t, the only winners will be Anheuser Busch and Coors.”

Contact: Miller spokesman Julian Green at green.julian@mbco.com
Phone: 1-800-MILLER 6 or 414-931-2000


Catholic League

Jay Leno's Obsession

July 24, 2007
JAY LENO’S OBSESSION

In the past five weeks, the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” has ridiculed priests six times and the pope once; all of the priest jokes were sexual in nature and painted priests as molesters.


· June 18: Robin Williams gets into an extended diatribe about priests as pedophiles

· June 20: Leno cracks a joke about priests as pedophiles

· June 21: Leno makes a joke about a drunken pedophile priest

· July 12: Leno ridicules the pope for restating Catholic doctrine on salvation

· July 18: Leno portrays all priests as pedophiles

· July 23: Leno jokes about priests using the Harry Potter books as “bait” to lure kids

· July 23: Leno tells a story about a priest who pays to see a male stripper at a gay nightclub and jokes that the priest was cheating on his altar boy

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

“Hypocritical priests make for good script, but in the world Jay Leno apparently lives in, priests have a monopoly on hypocrisy. This would seem to suggest that either he is clueless about other expressions of hypocrisy, or there is a strong animus against Catholicism at work. If it’s the former, the Catholic League can be of assistance—we track lots of hypocrites, many of whom live in Leno’s Hollywood backyard. If it’s the latter, we suggest he knock it off.”

Catholic League