New York Governor Says No To Civil Rights
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says there’s no room for pro-lifers or natural marriage supporters in New York. “… they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are,” said Cuomo. Obviously Governor Cuomo doesn’t know many of the prolife people who live in New York, who they are and what they believe.
Many New Yorkers including my boss Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization and based in New York, would disagree.
Perhaps the Governor should read the Bible. God says to choose life. Is there no room for life in New York, Governor Cuomo? There is room for life at the welcoming table of Jesus Christ, because life and love are part of God’s gift to humanity. Let’s be honest, everybody living needs God’s love, whether they realize it or not. And all human beings make mistakes. Nobody is perfect, so we could all use a good dose of repentance. There’s no room for self-righteousness, just a good dose of Agape Love and Repentance.
Then too, in the Beloved Community of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. there’s room for everybody. Yes, we’re all in need of love and forgiveness and there’s a lot of that to go around. We can all recover if we just learn to love each other. This is the basis of human rights, civil rights and social justice. The right for everyone to be born, and to live is actually the first and most basic of human and civil rights.
“The next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. …Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such….And when we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won’t exploit people, we won’t trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we won’t kill anybody.” – MLK 1967 Christmas Sermon
The New York Governor is actually denying us our civil rights, our Constitutional rights, our human rights. The opportunity to speak out and say what we believe as long as we are loving, gracious, and kind should never be denied any human being.
Yesterday, on my birthday, January 22, I took a few moments to somberly reflect that I’m not truly free and won’t be until the babies are free. Babies and their parents, mothers and fathers, are being denied the opportunities to live happy and productive lives and enjoy genuine civil and human rights including the right to be born and live by people seated in high place in misused seats of power.
For example, we have a temporary injunction against the HHS Mandate order requiring that Priests for Life, where I am Director of African American Outreach, has to pay to provide our employees with easy access to carcinogenic contraceptives and easy access to abortion even though our mission and purpose is to inform the public about the harm and damage these very agents can cause in a family’s life. And Governor Cuomo would deny us the right to free speech and would actually deny us the right to live in New York if we should so choose, unless we give up our right to freedom of speech. Tsk, tsk, tsk and shame on him! I guess he’s not going to invite the Pope to visit New York either.
So let’s shout it out in New York while the sun is still shining – babies are still being aborted in America. Until that stops and everybody has the right to see the light of day, there are no civil rights in New York or anywhere else people are being denied the right to grow healthy families.
I’m on the way home from the very successful observance of the 41st March for Life in Washington activities. Still have hope; still praying that truth is marching on.