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New Jersey Bishop Persuades Princeton Catholic School to Disinvite Pro-Choice Former Gov. Whitman

As governor Whitman vetoed a partial-birth abortion ban; her veto was later overturned by the legislature

By Kathleen Gilbert

PRINCETON, NJ, October 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Princeton's Stuart Country Day School, a Catholic school, has disinvited former New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman as the keynote speaker for a women's leadership forum at the request of Bishop John Smith, who warned against the scandal that would be caused by inviting the famously pro-abortion political figure.

Bishop Smith of the Trenton diocese cited the section in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" that condemns abortion and euthanasia as intrinsically evil and insupportable.

"Governor Whitman has made it her position over the years that she is pro-choice, and so supports a position totally contrary to official Catholic teaching," Bishop Smith wrote in a letter addressed to the school's headmistress, Sister Frances de la Chapelle of the Society of the Sacred Heart. 

Bishop Smith urged the school to reverse the invitation, which "may well mislead your students, parents and faculty to falsely conclude that the Church tolerates the pro-choice position."

The school subsequently cancelled the woman's leadership forum altogether.  In a statement concerning the cancellation, Sister de la Chapelle said, "We are saddened that our students, and the wider community, will not be enriched by the lively discussion and critical thinking that surely would have resulted from Governor Whitman's lecture on leadership, values, and the environment."

"I ask that we pray for our Church, Governor Whitman, and ourselves at this time," said the headmistress.

Stuart Country Day School, run by the Society of the Sacred Heart, cites its commitment to social awareness on its website: "The school educates to a critical consciousness that leads its total community to analyze and reflect on the values of society and to act for justice."

Republican Christine Whitman, an outspoken advocate for abortion and homosexual legal rights, was governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001.  In 1997, Gov. Whitman met with strong condemnation for vetoing a partial-birth abortion ban, in a year when fourteen states had passed similar legislation. The legislature later overturned Whitman's veto.

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