“Choice” for D.C. Moms

July 17, 2009—Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the fate of African American women, and their children, in the nation’s capital:

Following the lead of President Barack Obama, the House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that would allow the District of Columbia to fund abortions. Also following Obama’s wishes, the same bill affirmed the earlier congressional decision to end school vouchers there.

Something doesn’t add up. Last night in New York, Obama spoke at the 100th anniversary celebration of the NAACP, saying, “No one has written your destiny for you.” That’s certainly true of the crowd “clad in tuxedos and ball gowns,” as the New York Times described them. But what about the African American children in the nation’s capital about to be born? Thanks to what happened yesterday, the road is being paved to insure that publicly financed abortionists will control the destiny of a large segment of the black poor.

Here’s what it comes down to: indigent African American pregnant woman in D.C. will be told that if they decide to abort their baby, the government will pay for it. But if they persist in bringing their baby to term, the government will not help them to avoid the same lousy public schools that Barack and Michelle shunned for Sasha and Malia.

Either way, this sounds like a death warrant. That this cruel concept of choice—public funds for aborting the children of the poor but not a dime for school choice—is coming from the “champions” of the poor is all the more despicable. By contrast, they make ordinary rednecks look positively harmless.

And people wonder why the Catholic League is pulling out all the stops. Believe me, we will never yield on our pledge.

Susan A. Fani is the Director of Communications for the Catholic League. This press release was originally issued on July 17, 2009.

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