Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506290022
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAL THOMAS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It was gracious because at last year's National Prayer Breakfast, Mrs. Clinton and the president listened to a speech by Mother Teresa about the evils of abortion. The pro-choice first lady could have treated the incident as an affront and stiffed the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Instead, after the breakfast, she asked Mother Teresa what could be done to provide more help to women with unplanned pregnancies.
Clinton's press secretary, Lisa Caputo, tells me the first lady assigned two lawyers to the task of cutting red tape so that a home might be established in Washington. Such homes once were common when abortion was illegal.
``If you know there is a child who is unwanted and unloved, please bring it to me,'' said Mother Teresa, echoing words she spoke at the prayer breakfast last year. Caputo says Clinton's resolve to help establish the home in Washington was deepened when she visited the Sisters of Charity home in New Delhi in March.
At the dedication ceremonies, Hillary Clinton said, ``The work being done by the Missionaries of Charity reminds us all that each society is judged by the way it treats its weakest members. ... ''
Indeed. That's why abortion falls into a special category of evil and why adoption can be a middle ground on which pro-life and pro-choice people ought to be able to meet.
Tragically, abortion has become so politicized - a type of right of passage for some women - that most are denied access to information about adoption as a positive choice.
Nearly 2 million would-be parents want to adopt babies; 1.5 million women will abort this year. Why can't we get these ``unwanted'' babies and their reluctant mothers together with these eager-to-adopt couples? If the debate is about ``choice,'' why can't adoption at least get equal billing with abortion?
Is it ignorance or selfishness that leads some women to reject adoption, fearing, as I've heard some say, ``I would always wonder where my baby was and what kind of care it was getting.'' The answer to that is, a lot better care than the child gets at the abortion clinic.
I asked Clinton whether she might take the lead in promoting adoption as an alternative to abortion. She responded through Caputo, ``Even if pro-choice and pro-life advocates can never agree philosophically on the question of abortion, we can agree on adoption. I have long been a proponent of adoption and will continue to support it. Both pro-choice and pro-life advocates can and should come together to promote adoption. Too many children desperately need families and homes.''
Some cynics will say Hillary Clinton is trying to shore up the Catholic vote. But I think she's serious about this. She should be taken at her word and encouraged to raise the adoption alternative as often as she can.
- Los Angeles Times Syndicate
by CNB