European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes Page 5 abortion Catholic Bishops efforts to outlaw i called threat to religious Liberty Washington a a group of 215 specialists in ethics religion and related Fields said that efforts of roman Catholic Bishops to outlaw abortion is a serious threat to religious Liberty and Freedom of voicing support for the 1973 supreme court decision legalizing abortion the group said the decision has come under relentless attack from those who take the absolutist position that it is always wrong to terminate a pregnancy at any time after the moment of the statement issued at a news Confer ence by a panel of jewish protestant and Catholic scholars said the most com Pelling argument against the absolutist position is its Cost in human misery. The absolutist position does not concern itself about the Quality of the entire life Cycle the health and Well being of the Mother and family the question of emotional and economic resources the cases of extreme deformity. Its total pre occupation with the status of the unborn renders it Blind to the Well being and free Dom of Choice of persons in considering All the medical and moral factors and concern both for the born and unborn the statement said abortion May in some instances be the most Loving act spokesmen for the group said it was made up mostly of teachers of ethics of the three major faiths mostly protestants and jews but including about eight roman catholics. Abortion is a serious and sometimes tragic procedure for dealing with fetal life their statement said. It raises important ethical issues and cannot be blandly legitimized by the Mere whim of an individual. Nevertheless it belongs in that Large realm of often tragic actions where circumstances can Render it a less destructive procedure than the rigid prolongation of the statement criticized efforts to deny honorary degree from Georgetown tribute paid to Rose Kennedy Washington a Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy accepted her first honorary College degree saturday and was hailed by her son As the Rose of All roses the Rose without thorns Rose of old thank you a million times mrs. Ken Nedy wearing an academic Cap and gown Over a tailored Royal Blue suit told the Georgetown University officials who gave her a doctor of humane letters degree for her work on behalf of the mentally retarded. Mrs. Kennedy the 87-year-old matriarch of one of the nation s Best known families had turned Down offers of honorary de Grees in the past. She told her daughter Eunice at breakfast Well dear i pick my Pope Paul i sent affection and his Benediction through an aide. The president said i want to express our love and admiration in a Handwritten letter signed Jimmy there were other tributes not read at the 45-minute ceremony including one from Britain s Queen Mother Elizabeth. Yes i m thrilled mrs. Kennedy told a reporter. I m not sure i deserve Well we Are said her son sen. Edward m. Kennedy d-mass., and her three daughters almost in unison As they were going up in an elevator to the ceremony in a University building. Mrs. Kennedy s own daughter Rose Mary is mentally handicapped. The Kennedy foundation has established at Georgetown the Joseph and Rose Ken Nedy Institute for the study of human re production and bioethics for which she was honoured. Faced with the grief shared by Mil Lions of other parents of knowing one of her children to be mentally retarded she chose unlike so Many of her contemporaries not to hide the fact the citation read. Rather she turned this affliction into the occasion of a crusade on behalf of All others similarly most of the ceremony was less Pon Derous than the citation formally presented by the Rev. Timothy j. Healy George town president. Mrs. Kennedy a trim and erect woman who stands a head and a half Shorter than her son and father Healy waved to the audience of 500, which included about two dozen of her 29 grandchildren. Sen. Kennedy said she particularly enjoyed the occasion because Mother has always liked Irish he recalled that the late president John f. Kennedy said on receiving an honorary degree from Yale that he had the Best of All possible worlds an education at har Vard and a degree from Yale. Mother said at breakfast that she now would have an education from Dorchester High school and a degree from George town the senator said. Noting that there Are proposals to raise the age for retirement Kennedy said some years ago we passed a Bill in the Kennedy family setting a mandatory retirement age of 85, and Mother vetoed it. She did everything nine times. And now she s doing everything 29 times again said the senator. She could diagram a sentence bisect an Angle in geometry conjugate a latin verb. She could spot a Hole in a sock from 100 Yards away. She could catch an error in our grammar or sense a wandering Eye at Grace before our meals. She could recite the ride of Paul re vere name the capital of every nation in the world and bring alive the history of every event or place we went. Her preeminence in politics is secure. Rose had always been the mayor s Daugh Ter the Best campaigner any of us Ever had. Her 33 teas in Jack s Senate race in 1952 became a legend. Henry Cabot Lodge gave her perhaps her greatest Campaign tribute when he said it was those Damn Tea parties that did me or. Rose Kennedy medicaid for abortions for poor women and said we Are saddened by the heavy institutional involvement of Catholic Bish Ops i a Campaign for enactment of religiously based antiabortion Law. Groups and individuals have a right to seek Laws that reflect their religious and ethical beliefs the statement said. But it added that the institutional mobilization of roman Catholic dioceses including massive financial contributions by those dioceses to the National committee for a human life amendment is inappropriate on this Issue. If successful it would violate the deeply held religious convictions of individual members and official bodies of Many other religious groups about when human per so Hood begins the relative rights of a woman and a fetus and responsible family life. This is particularly a problem when there is no Clear majority opinion on these fundamental issues nor an adequate social base of consensus for legitimate enforceable the panel presenting the statement included the Rev. Or. James h. Cone a Black Episcopalian and theology professor at new York s Union theological Semi nary or. Margaret Maxey a roman Catholic and associate professor of bioethics at the University of Detroit. Also the Rev. Or. Foy Valentine of Nash Ville tenn., head of the Southern Baptist Christian life commission or. Beverly Wildung Harrison a United presbyterian and Christian ethics professor at new York s Union Seminary and rabbi or. Eugene Horowitz professor of jewish thought at new York s hebrew Union College jew ish institution of religion. The statement said those taking the absolutist position against abortion Square it at any stage of pregnancy with murder or manslaughter. From such an extreme viewpoint All Legal Means Are considered justified if they limit abortions no matter what the human consequences for poor women and pro life must not be limited to con Cern for the unborn it must also include a concern for the Quality of life As a whole. The affirmation of life in Jude Christian ethics requires a commitment to make life healthy and whole from beginning to end. Considering the Best medical advice the Best moral insight and a concern for the total Quality of the whole life Cycle for the born and unborn we believe that Abor Tion May in some instances be the most Loving act of time Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy 87, matriarch of the Kennedy fondly is con grate attend by daughter Eunice Shriver after receiving an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from George town University. A photo oct. 3, 1947 the two refugee ships Paducah and North lands carrying 3,500 visa less jewish immigrants were boarded by British officials off the coast of pales Tine. The refugees Are to be deported to Cypress. Oct. 3, 1957 Arkansas gov. Orval Faubus said he is standing Pat on the wording he used to accept president Eisen Hower s terms for withdrawing Federal troops from Little Rock s recently desegregated Central ugh school. Eisenhower said Faubus s wording is oct. 3, 1987 the South vietnamese provisional Assembly voted 58 to 43 to reject charges of election irregularities and seat Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu As president. The speaker of the House immediately resigned in protest
