SANTA CLARA, CA, October 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At a celebration tomorrow evening, October 21, Santa Clara School of Law, a Catholic Jesuit-affiliated school, will bestow its Justice and Human Rights Award upon pro-abortion former congressman and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, who serves on the University’s board of trustees. The award will be presented at the University’s fifth annual “Diversity Gala: A Celebration of Diversity in the Legal Profession.”
Leon Panetta’s terms as a US Congressman were stained by his pro-abortion voting record. He co-sponsored the dangerous Freedom of Choice Act in 1990.
During his tenure as White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997, Panetta defended President Bill Clinton’s veto of H.R. 1833, the partial-birth abortion ban.
“A leading advocate for the Culture of Death is no friend of justice or human rights,” said Patrick Reilly, President of the Cardinal Newman Society about the award. “With so many admirable defenders of the Culture of Life in our country to select from, it is despicable that Santa Clara University has chosen to award a Catholic who is so clearly opposed to the pro-life work of the Catholic Church – even worse, to put him on their board of trustees.”
Leon Panetta graduated from Santa Clara University with his B.S. in 1960 and J.D. in 1963. He continues to have strong ties to the University: he has served on the University’s Board of Trustees since 1988, teaches a political science course each year, has given lectures on ethics, delivered the keynote address for a Jesuit education conference, and acted as Master of Ceremonies for a Santa Clara fundraising event.
In a 1992 constituent letter cited by National Review Online editor Kathryn Jean Lopez (www.nationalreview.com), Panetta attributes his “pro-choice” views to a Santa Clara professor, Jesuit Father Austin Fagothey, who argued that “there should be no laws on abortion.”
A similar decision by Fordham Law to honor pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has been met with a large outcry from hundreds of Fordham University alumni, priests, and others, who have signed a student-sponsored petition opposing the honor scheduled for October 29. Those interested in signing the petition may still do so at www.CardinalNewmanSociety.org.
To contact Santa Clara University:
Dean Donald Polden
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, California 95053
Phone: (408) 554-4362
Fax: (408) 554-5095
E-mail: [email protected]