 "Photo: KEVIN SORAVILLA")
The Respect for Life Club has taken up the fight against Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. On the heels of the Cardinal Newman Society's attacks on Fordham for giving abortion-rights supporter Breyer an ethics award, members of the club penned a letter to Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, and have started a petition.
The petition, which has been posted for signatures on the Cardinal Newman Society's Web site, calls for the University to rescind the award.
"We write to respectfully request that this award not be granted to Justice Breyer," the petition states. "We make this request for the fundamental reason that Justice Breyer's role in public life, in terms of his repeated and influential work in favor of legalized abortion, has placed him in a position of complacency with grave moral evil, and leaves him in a position of irreconcilable conflict with the fundamental teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and by extension, those of the University, in its role as one of this nation's leading Catholic Universities."
The petition goes on to cite several reasons, including the Supreme Court case Stenberg v. Carhart. Breyer wrote the majority opinion on the 5-4 decision, which overturned a Nebraska state law banning partial-birth abortion. In the 2000 decision, Breyer, in part, ruled the Nebraska statute unconstitutional because it did not take into consideration the health of the mother.
"The law lacks any exception for the 'preservation of the … health of the mother,'" Breyer wrote, citing Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
In 2007, Breyer voted against a Congressional ban on partial-birth abortion in Gonzalez v. Carhart, though the Supreme Court upheld that law, again by a 5-4 decision. The majority said a medical exception was not required because they deemed partial-birth abortions as never medically necessary, though the justices did leave open the possibility for the act to be challenged on a per-case basis.
The Respect for Life Club's petition, after enumerating Breyer's decisions in the partial-birth abortion cases, cites the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pope John Paul II's Ex Corde Ecclesiae and a statement by Archbishop Edward Cardinal Egan of New York.
The different sources can collectively claim that abortion is wrong and that Catholic universities should abide by the Church's teachings on abortion. According to the U.S. Bishops, this means that those who support abortion rights "should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions," by universities.
Sheldon Momaney, FCRH '10 and president of the Respect for Life Club, explained the position.
"We would never deny that Justice Breyer is a man of great intellect, a good lawyer and that he contributed a lot to jurisprudence," he said. "We're interested in the teaching of the Church, which says that the right to life is a fundamental right, from which all other human rights extend. Justice Breyer had multiple times in his career when he actively opposed the right to life. His behavior is not in line with the teaching of the Church - he's not Catholic, so it's nothing about him personally. But the onus is on the University in this case, not on Justice Breyer. They are just plain denying their mission statement and the unchanging teaching of the Church."
That mission statement emphasizes Fordham's role as a Catholic and Jesuit institution.
"Guided by its Catholic and Jesuit traditions, Fordham fosters the intellectual, moral and religious development of its students and prepares them for leadership in a global society," the mission statement reads. "Fordham gives special attention to the study of the living tradition of Catholicism, and it provides a place where religious traditions may interact with each other and with contemporary cultures."
McShane has not responded to the letter.
The Respect for Life Club's open letter was signed by eight students, including Momaney, former President Brian Stong, FCRH '09, Vice President Jaqueline DeFina, FCRH '10, former Treasurer Daniel Blessing, FCRH '09, Secretary Elizabeth Dausch, FCRH '10, Treasurer Jennifer Portillo, FCRH '11, President of College Republicans Chadwick Ciocci, FCRH '10, and Vice President of College Republicans Katherine Poedtke, FCRH '10.
Portillo said she signed the letter because she believes Fordham was not upholding its Catholic values in giving the award to Breyer.
"Quite honestly, I am outraged at the Law School's lack of respect for Fordham's Catholic and Jesuit tradition," she said. "Fordham University prides itself in being an institution that upholds Catholic moral values; however, the desire to give the award to Justice Breyer goes against those same values the University claims to honor. Justice Breyer has consistently supported decisions that allow for late-term abortions. Condoning the ending of any life goes directly against the value of justice that Catholicism pursues. Fordham must commit to being 'the hottest Catholic school in America,' by being a true Catholic institution. It is the responsibility of the student body to object to an award that blatantly disregards Fordham's stated values, and it is for this reason that I support Respect for Life's cause."
So far, 933 people have signed the petition on the Cardinal Newman Web site, in addition to the 82 Fordham students who have signed. Momaney expects to gather more signatures once they are allowed to set up on campus.
Deirdre Saunders, FCRH '10 and an abortion-rights supporter, does not have a problem with Fordham giving the award to Breyer.
"I agree with Justice Breyer that partial-abortions should be allowed in medical emergencies, and I appreciate his defense of a woman's right to choose," she said.
The University refused to comment about the petition, and McShane's office has yet to respond to requests for an interview.
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