I
CATHOLIC
OPINIONS
JANUARY 13, 2001 PAGE 15
! The fo 'ng editodd a O ta'ed in the Dec.
md l- .ofrhe Catholic Northwest _] rogress,
on; .spaper of the Archdiocese of Seattle. It was
sat ay no to Timothy McVeigh.
:er- ' McVeigh, the Oklahoma City
c)ve bomber, has filed a motion in feder-
.Court seeking to waive further court
ifli-of his case and asked that a date be
l to eduled for his execution. The U.S.
l Upreme Court, in March 1999, denied
we tcVeigh's appeal of his conviction and
For- tteath sentence.
ed. i .Now, he wants the process to continue
Lop ltmimpeded to its inexorable end: his exe-
tra- cution. ,,
! Say no to Timoth McVel h
. Y . g" .
i By so doing, something very good
)ar- lc°uld result from his heinous and horrific
but tct: the end to capital punishment in the
ver I United States.
McVeigh, seen in TV clips as the crew-
nts lcut young man in a neatly pressed and
len tarched khaki shirt, is the quintessential
)m OSter boy for capital punishment. He
ver tands convicted of the murder of 168
persons in the 1995 bombing of the fed-
building and injuring 500 more.
)ut L If anyone deserves to be put to death,
Lgs, McVeigh. Except no one "deserves" to
I°e put to death.
The tide against capital punishment is "There should be no question that the
noticeably changing in the country, per- gravity and finality of the penalty demand
haps in the wayit did toward slavery 150 that we be certain that when it is imposed,
years ago. it is imposed fairly," the president said in
What is needed now is a dramatic state- announcing his decision.
merit, such as the Emancipation Procla- That would be fine if the problem was
mation -- either to ensure the end of cap- one of fairness. But that is not the prob-
ital punishment or to continue it, no lem. Capital punishmentiswrong, no mat-
longer deterred by delays and appeals, ter how evenhandedly it is administered.
Equally dmmadc would be for the pres- So are the wellintentioned people call-
ident to commute McVeigh's sentence to ing for a moratorium. A moratorium is
life in prison without possibility of parole, defined as a delay, a waiting period, a sus-
To assuage the concerns of those who pension. Therefore, to impose a moratori-
might think his parole might be a possi- um necessarily impfies a resumption at a
bility, pronounce the sentence for each of time certain.
the 168 victims. That ought to keep him The goal is not just to temporarily stop
locked up. executing people, but to abolish the
While capital punishment will have to penalty from our nation and the entire
be abolished "de jure" by lawmakers, world.
commutation of McVeigh's death sen- Msgr.JeremiahJ. McCarthy, rectorand
tence would be a "de facto" end. For if it president of St.John Seminary, Camarillo,
wasn't applied in the case of the one guilty Calif., offers a good analysis:
of 168 murders, how could it be applied to The death penalty, he said, "commits us
any lesser offender?: to the truly horrific principle that avoid-
Granted, this is a work-around. But it is able, direct killing is morally permissible."
better than a moratorium. It is said this president is conscious of
Earlier this month, President Clinton his place in histor His successor seeks to
delayed for six months the execution of a set a tone for the nation. What better way
federal prisoner while the Justice Depart- than for either of them to take a most dra-
ment analyzes information about racial matic step in ending this barbaric practice?
and geographic disparities in the federal Say "no" to McVeigh and say yes to a
death penalty system, culture of life.
T. he following editorial appeared in the Dec. much longer the school system will toler- simply an exercise in common sense?
New York, newspaper of ate any presence involving the Scouts. All Other moves are afoot to force the
e of New York. of this is being done in the name of inclu- general public to accept homosexual
sion, but the politically correct standards behavior, in ways that are both great and
he New York Board of Education of the "inclusion" policy are as narrow as small. On the "small'' side, for example, in
had a holiday message for the Boy they can be. You're "included" if your more ways than one, the Borough
Scouts of America last week, and it point of view is in harmony with the one Council in Princeton, N.J., turned down a
like this: Get lost. that happens to be in vogue. But if you dis- request from a local Scout troop to permit
the schools chancellor, agree with it, look out. free parking for motorists who wanted to
public schools in New York are The Scouts, and many of the rest of us, stop and buy a Christmas tree at the
from sponsoring any Boy Scout are at odds with the notion that homosex- Scouts' stand -- again on grounds of"dis-
-- because, the school board ual activity is an acceptable form of behav- crimination."
the Scouts had violated board ior -- a point of view that prevails among More significantly, a new "gay rights"
'discriminating against homosex- much of the nation's cultttral elite. The initiative in Maryland could require the
Schools cannot sponsor Scout BOy Scouts of America decided to under- Church and other religious institutions to
nor allow the Scouts to recruitscore its position by banning known abandon their teachings on homosexual
luring school hours, homosexuals from leadership positions conduct if they want to participate in pub-
According to The New York Times, within the organization. Strongly worded lic programs.
ffter hours criticism followed an action described as These developments are part of a larg-
be able to continue to do so. That's "discriminatory," but in fact the Scouts' er pattern, one in which churches and
news, since some 140,000 NewYork decision was a prudent one. leaders of other private organizations are being
7,000 Scout troolm this still-private organization decided that forced not only to tolerate but actually to
or Cub Scout packs, meet in school they did not want to present homosexual live by secular beliefs. This is flat-out
But the handwriting is on the conduct as a behavior model for theyotmg wrong. In all the incidents under discus-
and the message it sends is discour- boys entrusted to their care. Was this "dis- sion here, a moral choice is at stake. It is
One can reasonably wonder how criminafion," as objectors maintain --- or one that must never be lost.
r=DrroR: Malea Hargett
rahargett@dolr.org
PUBLISHER: Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, Bishop of Little Rock
ClRCUI.ATION MANAGER: Laura Head PRODUCTION MANAGER: Emily Burgin Roberts
Ihead@dolr.org eroberts@dolr.org
THEOLOGICAL CONSULTANT-" Rev. Msgr. Francis I. Malone, JCL
SECTION EDITOR: Kathy Neal
kneal@dolr.org
Arkansas Catho#c (USPS 0006-793 ISSN
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Arkansas Catholic welcomes submissions
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Wednesday, 10 days before publication.
The 83rd Arkansas General Assem-
bly just started and pro-life legisla-
tion is already before its members.
While over the years the Senate Public
Health, Welfare and Labor Committee
proved to be an obstacle to getting any
new pro-life laws on the books, this year
the committee membership has changed.
For the first time in years, pro-life lobbyists
are excited about the possibility of laws
they have been supporting signed into law.
Some supporters are so hopeful this
year that they are already imagining Gov.
Mike Huckabee signing one of the bills
into law during the 23rd March for Life
on Sunday, Jan. 21.
One law that needs our support is the
Woman's Right to Know Law bill, known
as House Bill 1074. This bill should not
be interpreted by pro-choice supporters
as an infringement on what they interpret
as the law upheld by Roe vs. Wade.
Any woman can still get an abortion
through all 40 weeks of her pregnancy,
but if this bill were passed, the law would
require the doctor to give the pregnant
woman some basic information.
In person or by telephone, 24 hours
before the abortion, the woman would
have to be told the following information:
the name of the physidan who will per-
form the abortion and the medical risks
associated with abortion. They include
hemorrhages, breast cancer, danger to sub-
sequent pregnancies and infertility. The
woman would also be told the gestational
age of the fetus. Women will be given infor-
mation on alternatives to abortion, such as
raising the child themselves or adoption. If
a doctor to comply with the law, he can
be charged with a felony.
It should be a woman's basic right to
know the dangers of having an abortion.
With this information in hand, a woman
should not be tricked into thinking that
things will get better once the fetus is
destroyed.
Those who work at crisis pregnancy
centers have said that the women they see
are surprised to learn about their babies'
age and size. At 10 weeks old you can see
ears and lips, at 12 weeks you can hear the
heart beat and at 15 weeks you can see
the fetus sucking its thumb. Armed with
medical facts, yes, it's true, some women
choose to keep their babies.
The crisis pregnancy centers refer the
women to free medical care and ways
they can raise the child on their own or
give the baby up for adoption. If a woman
chooses to go ahead with the abortion,
then at least by going to the crisis preg-
nancy centers the woman is not dueless
about her future after the abortion.
A wonderful way to start the third mil-
lennium in Arkansas would be the passage
the Woman's Right to Know Act of 2001. If
you agree, let your senator and represen-
tative know.
