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USCCB National Review Board Credibility Undermined by Rabid Pro-Abort Member

NEW YORK, November 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com/National Catholic Register) - The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) National Review Board on the clergy sexual abuse scandals needs all the trust and credibility it can muster. But that trust and credibility are being seriously called into question, again, by further revelations about the rabid pro-abortion views of one of the individuals appointed to the board by the USCCB.

Pamela Hayes, an attorney and member of the Review Board is undoubtedly causing many to question how the USCCB can be sincere about rooting out gross sexual corruption within the clergy and it's root cause of dissent from church moral teachings. Hayes has 'come out' as a vehement supporter of abortion, an unapologetic supporter of and fundraiser for notorious pro-abort, pro-gay New York Senator, Hillary Clinton, and a promoter of embryonic stem cell research.

This "Catholic" lawyer, virtually dared the bishops to attempt to censure her in an interview with the National Catholic Register, "I've contributed to a lot of pro-choice candidates, and so what? So what?" she said. "What are they going to do about it? If they don't like it, then don't put me on the board. If they've got a problem with that, you tell them they've got a problem."

Hayes has donated to Emily's List, the single-issue pro-abortion lobbying organization. She has also donated $2,000 to the Kerry campaign and two $250 gifts to pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. She even boasted that not all of her donations to pro-abortion politicians were listed in the report that exposed her. "They haven't a clue how much money I've given to her," Hayes said of Clinton.

"If they're pro-choice and they're Democrat, they're my kind of candidate," said Hayes, who grew up Catholic, attended Catholic schools in Manhattan and belongs to Manhattan's St. Aloysius Parish.

The revelations of Hayes' anti-Catholic position comes at a time when the USCCB is appointing five new members to join her on the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People that oversees compliance with sexual abuse and child protection policies. Counselors have said that such a rabid supporter of abortion is inappropriate for child protection since abortion is often used to cover up cases of sexual abuse of minors.

Georgette Forney, who had an abortion when she was 16, counsels young girls. She said, "Young girls who engage in sexual activity are looking for affirmation. Older men who want to have sex with them know how to exploit that,"

Forney said, "Abortion makes this easier for the perpetrators. If the victim gets pregnant, typically she follows the perpetrator's lead and lays herself out on the table at an abortion clinic, completely clueless as to what's about to happen to her."

The Catholic Register story also surveyed the five new members of the Board about their views on Catholic moral teachings. The varying responses add more fuel to the fire of just what criteria Bishop Wilton Gregory was using to justify the appointment of individuals to these critical Catholic posts, who in a number of cases, are clearly not strong defenders of or believers in the Church's moral teachings.

Spokesmen for the USCCB had no comment when contacted by the Register.

Read the National Catholic Register Story:
http://www.catholic.net/us_catholic_news/template_channel.phtml?channel_id=1

See also
The Last Straw: Quitting the Bishops' Review Board
By Frank Keating former governor of Oklahoma
http://www.crisismagazine.com/october2003/feature1.htm

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