Posted on 10/23/2006 7:40:24 AM PDT by SmithL
LOS ANGELES -- Sister Rosa Gonzales says she can count on receptive audiences when she knocks on doors in Latino neighborhoods to urge a "yes" vote on Proposition 85, the parental notification initiative on abortion.
"When they see that nun's habit, they listen," she says.
The sight of Sister Rosa walking voter precincts near the Resurrection Church east of downtown Los Angeles is but one illustration of how the Catholic Church and Proposition 85 proponents are targeting a critical constituency: Latino voters.
The outreach in Latino communities -- by both anti-abortion and abortion rights forces -- reflects the competitive stakes of the parental notification initiative. The measure, a modified version of last year's Proposition 73, would require doctors to notify a parent or guardian before performing abortions on girls under 18.
Proposition 73 lost by 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent as voters were resoundingly rejecting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's unrelated special election initiatives. So parental notification backers gathered signatures anew, hoping the initiative would fare better in a general election with a broader voter turnout.
While the parental notification initiative is strongly supported by anti-abortion Republican groups and widely opposed by Democratic leaders, the issue plays out differently among Latinos. Though predominantly Democratic, they are seen as a crucial vote because they are more likely to part with their party's abortion rights views.
At Our Lady Queen of Angels Church, a Los Angeles parish with a history of backing immigrant rights, the Sanctuary Movement sheltering 1980s war refugees from El Salvador and other liberal causes, the Rev. Steve Niskanen melds sermons favoring Proposition 85 with criticism of the Iraq war. "I mention 85 in the context of a wider net of pro-life issues, including opposition to war and euthanasia,"
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
That's liberal "logic" for you: your kids can only be safe when you (the parent) is kept in the dark!
Talk about a load of pathetic claptrap...
As political as that commie church has been over the years they should have their tax exempt statis jerked!
While I agree with the principle, that is more for the primaries. In the general election, I'll take a liberal with an 'R' over a liberal with a 'D'. The liberal with an 'R' will give us Hastert and company. The liberal with a 'D' will give us Pelosi and gang.
Show me the last time an incumbent was defeated in the primaries and then you'll understand why this "defeat the RINOs in the primaries" is just so much asinine empty rhetoric.
Asinine and empty as it may be, at least we have a "chance" with the R's... do you really think we have a chance for change with the D's?
EVERY group is key to EVERY proposition.
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