ARTICLES
March 2003 ARTICLES
Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
The Wrong Thing to Celebrate
Latino Catholics Legislators Back Resolution Praising Roe v. Wade
By Maria Kennedy
Within a week of the Vatican's releasing of "Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life," assembly member Hannah Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 2. The resolution, which celebrates 30 years of abortion in the United States, was hastily passed out of the judiciary committee and onto the assembly floor in time for the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.
The text of the resolution states that the legislation is meant to "encourage all Americans to participate in the national celebration, 'Celebrating 30 years of Roe vs. Wade.'" The resolution also directs the president and the congress to "stand firm in their resolve to uphold the intent and substance of the Supreme Court in Roe vs. Wade."
A review of the vote tabulation shows that, in spite of the Vatican's January 16, 2003 pronouncement that Catholics in public life cannot support abortion rights, many Catholic legislators in Sacramento refuse to renounce their support of abortion. Ironically, all of the Latino Democrats, who identify themselves as "Catholics," signed on to this legislation, which does not enact any new laws, but, instead, celebrates thirty years of baby killing. "I call it the dancing on the graves of 43 million babies," said Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia). "I feel this is the wrong thing to celebrate. We should be repentant about this instead of rejoicing."
The January 16 Vatican pronouncement was seemingly ignored by all of the Latino Democrats in Sacramento who at times have used Catholic churches, most notably Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, for photo ops.
The vote tabulation from the Assembly floor shows that freshman assembly member Cindy Montanez (D-San Fernando) not only voted to pass the assembly resolution when it came before her on January 21, but also a co-authored it. Montanez, a member of the judiciary committee, is Catholic, according to her office. When this reporter called Montanez's office asking if the assembly member would change her position on abortion in light of the Vatican's directive, her legislative director Janelle Beland said she would refer the question to Montenez. Neither Montanez nor Beland responded to the inquiry.
Fellow freshman assembly member Rudy Bermudez (D-Los Angeles) also co-authored the joint resolution and voted to support it. Bermundez is a member of the Norwalk council of the Knights of Columbus at St. Linus' Catholic Church. A call to Beth Dacusmos, chief of staff for Bermudez, for comment about the Vatican document and Bermudez's support of abortion rights, was not returned. Because of Bermudez's membership in the Knights of Columbus, I called the Knights' headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut. Supreme Advocate Paul Devin told me that the position of the Knights was unquestionably pro-life. "The position of the Knights is opposed to abortion. or anything that constitutes an artificial abortion." When asked about Bermudez's support of abortion, Devin replied that it was up to the local council to take any action. "We don't go searching for Knights around the country. it's up to the local council to conclude if he's a practicing Catholic," Devin noted. "The local council is responsible for policing their own. You got to give the guy [Bermudez] the benefit of the doubt."
Assembly member Lou Correa (D-Orange County) also voted for the joint resolution. Correa, who in 1998 faced challenges by pro-lifers at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim because of his support of abortion rights while serving as a lector at the parish, has consistently voted in favor of abortion rights in the assembly. A call to David Pacheco, Correa's spokesman, was not returned. The receptionist at St. Boniface said that Correa was no longer on the parish rolls.
Assembly majority leader Marco Firebaugh (D-Southgate) also co-authored the assembly joint resolution and voted for it. Firebaugh was cited as having publicly identified himself as Catholic. Firebaugh did not return calls for comment.
Assembly member Sarah Reyes spoke on the floor in support of the resolution. Other Latino legislators who co-authored the resolution include: Manny Diaz (D-San Jose), Dario Frommer (D-Glendale), Gloria Negrete-Mcleod (D-Montclair), Nicole Parra (D-southern Fresno County), Sal Salinas (D-Salinas) and Juan Vargas (D-San Diego).
Although the joint resolution garnered strong support from Catholic politicians in the Democratic ranks, across the aisle, on the Republican side, the votes -- or especially the lack of votes against the resolution -- caused some pro-life eyebrows to be raised. Freshman Bonnie Garcia (R-Imperial County) abstained from voting on the resolution. Garcia, who ran on a pro-life plank against pro-abortion candidate Joey Acuna, won by a narrow margin. In an interview, her chief of staff, Justin Matheson, told me that Garcia did not vote on the resolution "because she is pro-choice." Later in the interview, he corrected himself and said she was pro-life.
In a separate interview, Garcia said that her chief of staff had made a mistake when he identified her as being pro-choice. "It's easy to have a slip up," she said. Garcia said that she did not vote on the resolution because she had been advised to refrain from voting on the resolution by the Republican caucus because of her narrow victory. Although some Latinos in her district say that her lack of passion for pro-life has them doubting her commitment to pro-life issues, Garcia nevertheless maintains that she is pro-life and she was being prudent for not voting against the resolution. "If you want to win on this issue [pro-life], you don't become a martyr on this issue."
Nonsense, says Danny Ramirez, a former congressional candidate in the 51st district. Ramirez maintains that Garcia won because of support from the pro-life community in the district. "During the primary she talked about the exceptions with regards to abortion, like rape and incest. That's BS," he fumed. "I told her that she could not win in the district with those views; she had to be either hot or cold. To me, she's just playing around with this." Ramirez said that he was disappointed with Garcia's abstention from the vote. "This is wishy-washy talk," he said.
Another pro-life activist, Leonard Borobia, said that he was disappointed with Garcia's abstention. "I didn't support her because I have never considered her to be pro-life," he said in Spanish. "She never spoke clearly and she was always evasive. I don't think she'll be a strong pro-life voice. But by her deeds we shall know her," he concluded.
Similarly, assembly member Bob Pacheco (R-Walnut), who has a solid pro-life voting record, also abstained from voting on the assembly joint resolution. When asked why he had abstained, Pacheco told me that he felt that the resolution was merely a set up by the Democrats. "They just want to raise the issue.but there is nothing we can do about the issue [with the resolution]." Pacheco noted his strong pro-life voting record. "This is an issue on which my record is very clear," he said. "They are just trying to get the Republicans to look back," he said about the resolution. Pacheco said that Latino Republican lawmakers are subjected to added pressures on their votes.
Sarah Sprouse, chief of staff for assembly member Guy Houston (R-Livermore), said that Houston had abstained from voting because of his limited support for pro-life issues. "He does not favor funding for abortions and he favors parental rights," said Sprouse -- and added that the member "respects other people's views." When asked if Houston had been advised by the caucus on how to vote, Sprouse replied "it was a personal choice."
Joining 21 of her colleagues in the Republican caucus, freshman assembly member Sharon Runner (R-Lancaster) voted against the resolution. Runner spoke against the resolution on the assembly floor. "I have trouble with this resolution today," she told her fellow lawmakers. "What is missing are the children. Even those who support abortion believe that there are too many of them [abortions]. There are choices and one choice should be adoption," Runner said in her January 23 address on the assembly floor. "I believe that for many of the unwanted children who lose their lives there exists loving families who will gladly adopt these children," Runner noted in a January 23 interview with Channel 10 in Sacramento.
Some Republican members who abstained from voting on the resolution said that the Republican caucus had advised them to abstain from voting because they were in marginal districts. One legislative aide, who is close to the story, confirmed this. "They discussed it in caucus beforehand," he told me. "They told Bonnie Garcia to abstain [from voting]." This source, who requested anonymity, said that this is typical when dealing with controversial votes by members in marginal districts. When told that some of Garcia's supporters were upset with her lack of vote, the reply was, "it doesn't make sense. Some one like Garcia who lives in a socially conservative district -- I don't see any political fallout."
Kevin Bassett, chief of staff for Republican caucus leader Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks), denied that any member had been advised to abstain from voting on the resolution. "That's not the case," he said in a telephone interview. "There has never been any direction by the caucus [on how members should vote]. I would emphasize that by not voting they did not help to advance that measure. It takes affirmative votes to advance pass legislation."
Assembly member Abel Maldonado (R-San Luis Obispo), who also abstained from voting on the resolution, did not return calls for comment.