Preserving the right to life in Massachusetts

By Margaret M. Russell
And Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

The struggle to preserve the right to life for the unborn in Massachusetts will continue despite last Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said there is no constitutional right to abortion.
People in the Diocese of Worcester care for and support women with unplanned pregnancies, pray in public and in private to change hearts and minds, and educate people about the grim realities of abortion. They will not stop.
Civil laws have never been on the side of pro-lifers in Massachusetts, but higher authorities have.
“We knew from the beginning that we were on the right side of this issue,” said Father Michael J. Roy, pastor of St. Roch Parish in Oxford, who has long been involved in pro-life endeavors. “We knew from the beginning what was God’s will.”
“We are finally following the science, and the science tells us that … (a baby is) a unique human being from conception to natural death,” said Dr. Mark Rollo, a family physician in Fitchburg. He said unborn babies should be protected by law and physicians should not kill their patients.
The majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks, was written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. It states: “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision. … It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” The decision overturned 1973’s Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide, and 1992’s Casey v. Planned Parenthood ruling, which affirmed Roe.
“God commanded, ‘You shall not kill.’ Individual states will now decide whether to obey God or not. Legislators in the six New England states have already voted not to,” noted Father Anthony Kazarnowicz, associate pastor at St. Joseph Basilica Parish in Webster and a pro-life activist for some 40 years.  
On the day of the Supreme Court decision, Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order to further protect access to abortion in Massachusetts.
“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, it is especially important to ensure that Massachusetts providers can continue to provide reproductive health care services without concern that the laws of other states may be used to interfere with those services or sanction them for providing services that are lawful in the Commonwealth,” his order says.
Dr. John Howland, a family physician in Southbridge, said he hopes women in states where abortion becomes unavailable will come to see that abortion is not the right way to go, and that they will receive help from healthcare professionals and places like Problem Pregnancy of Worcester Inc., and Visitation House in Worcester. 
Roderick P. Murphy, executive director of Problem Pregnancy, which supports women in choosing alternatives to abortions, said the decision overturning Roe was a long time coming. “We’re very pleased about it, of course,” he said.
Problem Pregnancy has been an option for women considering abortion since December 1982 when it opened its office down the corridor from the newly opened Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts abortion facility on Main Street in Worcester.
Nancy Clark, who does volunteer sidewalk counseling outside the Planned Parenthood abortion facility, now on Pleasant Street in Worcester, will continue working to stop abortions, which she said will be performed up until birth in Massachusetts. People from other states will come here for abortions, she lamented. 
Mrs. Clark was a petitioner in a case the U.S. Supreme Court heard in 2014: McCullen v. Coakley. Petitioners challenged “buffer zones” around abortion facilities in Massachusetts, a law that prevented counselors like Mrs. Clark from effectively offering alternatives to abortion on public streets. The Supreme Court struck down the Massachusetts law.
Dr. Rollo praised the courage of five of the Supreme Court justices and the work of pro-life volunteers who, for nearly 50 years, have made no money trying to protect the unborn, while “the pro-abortion side (is) making lots and lots and lots” of money aborting babies.
On the day of the Supreme Court decision, Dr. Rollo laid a dozen roses on the grave of his mother, Claire Rollo, who “worked tirelessly” for the pro-life effort. “She belonged to Massachusetts Citizens for Life since 1973 … when the Roe v. Wade decision came down. ... She also helped establish the Fitchburg/Leominster chapter of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. And she also helped establish the Family Life Center, one of the first crisis pregnancy centers in the state,” he said. The center in Fitchburg is still active and is now called Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center of North Central Massachusetts.
Sandra Kucharski, a retired nurse, and a member of the Massachusetts Citizens for Life board of directors, thinks there is a chance for change in Massachusetts. “We now have the power to end abortion in our state through the democratic process, but we still have our work cut out for us,” she said.
People need to educate themselves and others about what drives women to choose abortion, which she said is usually a “forced choice.”
 Dr. Howland said, “A lot of times women resort to abortion, not because they want one, but because ... they feel trapped.”
“We must work to ensure women have what they need to continue their pregnancy,” Ms. Kucharski said.
Mrs. Clark said she thought prayer helped overturn Roe v. Wade, and that more prayer outside abortion facilities is needed, because prayer changes hearts. She suggested that each parish send people to pray outside Planned Parenthood during the two annual 40 Days for Life campaigns to end abortion.
The Roe v. Wade “decision led to the slaughter of 60-million innocent and defenseless unborn babies, not to mention the grave harm caused to women and the American culture. As a result, America had become (and remains) a ‘culture of death,’” Father Kazarnowicz said.
“What’s needed now is a deeper conversion in our nation, that God’s authority over life will be restored,” added Father Roy, chaplain of Visitation House, which provides a home and services for women with crisis pregnancies and a safe place to live before and after giving birth. Since Visitation House opened, on the feast of the Visitation, May 31, 2005, hundreds of mothers and babies have been served.
“It will be important to continue to make known the care and support that is available to women in crisis pregnancies that has been ongoing for decades, as well as the compassion the Church has for those who have suffered the pain of a past abortion; the Church’s ministry of Project Rachel offers safe and confidential help to those who are seeking healing from this painful experience.
“May we continue to be vigilant, pray fervently, and, with God’s help, work to change one heart at a time, that all may embrace God’s gift of life in every circumstance,” said Allison LeDoux, director of the diocesan Respect Life Office.