Mobilizing from the pews to the Legislature

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Local Catholics are being encouraged to lobby legislators about current bills aimed at expanding access to abortion and legalizing physician-assisted suicide, as well as bills about sex education.
Sandra Kucharski, of Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden Parish in Worcester, said she and other area Catholics plan to join a lobby day in Boston next Wednesday to learn about upcoming legislation and talk to legislators.
The Massachusetts Family Institute, the local associate of Focus on the Family, sponsors the annual Pro-Family Lobby Day and buses people to it, according to Michael King, MFI director of community alliances.
“We’re just trying to create a culture in people’s personal lives to stay aware” of such important issues as life and liberty, to stay educated and to contact legislators, he said. MFI has expressed concern about several bills.
Allison LeDoux, director of the diocesan Respect Life and Marriage and Family offices, said it is especially important at this time for Catholics to voice opposition to the following Senate and House bills: S.1209, “An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access,” called the ROE Act, and S.1208 and H.1926, both physician assisted suicide bills called “An Act Relative to End of Life Options.” (As of Wednesday, all three of these bills had been referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health.)
Also important to oppose are H.410 and S.263, both sex education bills called “An Act Relative to Healthy Youth,” which were referred to the Joint Committee on Education.
It is productive to lobby legislators about physician-assisted suicide because many are undecided on the issue, said Kristine Correira, co-chair of Witness for Life, which works to prevent the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. She said it is especially important to lobby members of the Joint Committee on Public Health, which includes legislators from central Massachusetts.
Witness for Life will put together a fact sheet and she will be available on the bus and at lobby day to guide people who want more information, she said.
Concerns about the sex education bills were voiced by Linda R. Thayer, vice president for education for Massachusetts Citizens For Life.
“Part of the problem with these bills is, the end result is sometimes hidden,” said the former public school teacher, who has been monitoring for years what’s being done with sex education.
One of her concerns was that the bills  say “the board of elementary and secondary education shall direct the commissioner to update the health curriculum framework.”
Ms. Thayer said: “It makes the commissioner solely responsible for the criteria of the health curriculum. Where does that leave concerned parents and towns?”
Another of her concerns was that the bills say: “Sexual health education … shall include … teaching … the options for pregnancy, including parenting, adoption, and abortion.”
“These critical issues affecting life and family are fundamental to the common good,” Mrs. LeDoux said. “So we have a right and responsibility as Catholics to make our voices heard.”
“It’s about participating in our government,” Miss Kucharski said. “Apathy about participating in our government has led to a government that has drifted apart from our Judeo-Christian values.”
“If you can mobilize the power of people in the pews, we can take back the culture,” she said. “The people in the pews need to think of themselves as powerful citizen lobbyists.”
People are intimidated by legislators’ authority, but “we elected them to represent us,” she said.
“These are our neighbors,” she said. “They have families. And a lot of them don’t know what these bills contain,” since they can’t read every bill. “That’s why it’s important to educate them, once you’ve been educated, and to say that ‘this legislation does not agree with our values.’”
Those interested in taking a bus to lobby day should RSVP no later than Monday night, Mr. King said. They should text the number 797979 and type in “lobby” for a return text in English or “lobbyspanish” for a return text in Spanish. The return text tells how to register for a bus, which costs $10 per person, leaving from Worcester or another part of the state.
    Those who register will be contacted if there is a need to reschedule because of bad weather, Mr. King said.
    He said those taking the school bus from Worcester can park in the First Assembly of God Church parking lot at 30 Tyler Prentice St. (behind Lincoln Street School across from St. Joan of Arc Church). The bus is to leave from there at 8 a.m., so people should arrive by 7:45. The bus is to drop people off at 10 a.m. at Park Street Church in Boston, where they are to receive summaries of bills of concern and hear from legislators and Massachusetts Family Institute representatives, he said. After lunch, which is included in the cost of the bus, participants are to walk to the State House a block away and lobby their legislators.
    “We’re encouraging them to call their legislators ahead of time” to schedule a meeting between 1 and 2 p.m., Mr. King said.
    The bus is to leave the State House at 2:15 p.m. and arrive back in Worcester at 4 p.m., he said.
    “The face-to-face contact is important,” Miss Kucharski said. “Phone calls are very impressive too.” She said legislators have said that even five telephone calls can determine how they vote.
    “Most people are apathetic,” she said. “They’re not really attuned to what’s going on in the State House. Five phone calls means somebody’s paying attention.”
    If voters cannot meet with their legislators on lobby day they can talk to legislators’ staff members or arrange to meet sometime at the legislators’ local offices, she said. They can go as individuals, as their schedules allow, or in groups, to find strength in numbers.
    

    – Those seeking additional information can view the Massachusetts Family Institute’s summaries of bills on the website www.mafamily.org /legislation/ or call Sandra Kucharski at 508-799-7337 or Michael King at 978-204-9131