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ABORTION: Granholm blasted for her pro-choice views

Catholic protesters say church must speak out
September 2, 2002

BY KATHLEEN GRAY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Catholic Church leaders have always spoken out against abortion, but now they're being asked to speak out against one of the flock -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm -- because of her very public views on abortion.

It's a challenge for a church that has a significant number of parishioners who believe abortion should remain legal in at least some circumstances.

Granholm, the state's attorney general, belongs to Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Plymouth. For months, abortion opponents have greeted parishioners with graphic signs condemning her.

In campaign appearances, Granholm describes herself as "100-percent pro-choice." While she has said she is personally opposed to abortion, she also doesn't believe in imposing those views on others.

Protesters can't reconcile that.

"Jennifer Granholm running as a pro-choice Catholic is inconsistent with the teachings of the church," said Suzanne Housey, 24, of Ann Arbor, one of about 20 protesters at the church on Sunday.

"The church has never said anything regarding Granholm, and they should condemn her position," added Robert Klucik, 35, of Ann Arbor.

Protesters backed up that demand with protests at Cardinal Adam Maida's home and church in Detroit during the weekend. Some have even called on church leaders to kick her out of the fold.

In response to the latest series of protests, church leaders have reiterated their opposition to abortion and urged Catholics to seriously consider a candidate's stance on issues like abortion before voting. Although some church leaders have suggested punishing Catholics who are abortion rights advocates, it has never become official church policy. And they have not spoken directly about Granholm.

"There are a fair number of Democratic party officials who are Catholics and pro-choice at a time when the church has been mobilizing against abortion," said John Green, a political science professor at the University of Akron in Ohio who also specializes in religion and politics. "But one of the issues debated in the church hierarchy is, why single out officeholders when there are so many pro-choice Catholics out there?"

In three different national polls taken since 1999, 30 percent to 50 percent of Catholics questioned about abortion said they believe abortion should remain legal in at least some circumstances. A Gallup poll done for CNN and USA Today in 1999 showed 50 percent of Catholics considered themselves abortion rights advocates while 46 percent said they opposed abortion.

At a time of unparalleled crisis in the Catholic Church in light of sex abuse scandals, the church can ill afford to alienate a large percentage of its members.

"If the Catholic Church were to kick out every pro-choice person or politician, the pews would be empty," said Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for Free Choice, a Washington-based advocacy group.

But over the years, the church has done more to make it uncomfortable for Catholics who support abortion rights.

In the Alberta, Canada, city of Medicine Hat last week, a Catholic church canceled the wedding of a woman who works for Planned Parenthood and who had been quoted in a local newspaper supporting abortion rights. The bishop of Alberta is now threatening to excommunicate the woman from the church.

In 1983, Agnes Mansour was forced by the church to choose between leaving the Sisters of Mercy or keeping her job as the director of the Michigan Department of Social Services, which at the time administered Medicaid-funded abortions. She left her vocation, but remained a practicing Catholic.

And in California, the church refused to administer the sacraments to former state Sen. Lucy Killea after the Democrat declared herself opposed to abortion, but unwilling to force those beliefs on others.

"Excommunication is extremely rare, but there is a tremendous amount of pressure put on pro-choice Catholic officeholders," Green said. "Some have been very severely sanctioned. Some have been prohibited from attending mass. And to deny a Catholic the sacraments is almost as bad as excommunication."

In Granholm's case, excommunication will not happen, said Ned McGrath, spokesman for the diocese. "It's not something the church just throws around," he said last week.

As for the protesters, Richard Laskos, another spokesman for the archdiocese, said they should channel their energy toward working for a candidate they agree with rather than waging a negative campaign against one they don't.

Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, the Republican candidate for governor, opposes abortion, but has nothing to do with the protests at Granholm's church, said Sage Eastman, a spokesman for the Posthumus campaign.

No matter how they feel about abortion, parishioners at Our Lady of Good Counsel agreed the protesters have every right to picket the church. But many were upset with the photos of aborted fetuses that were on display.

"The images are kind of hard to explain to the kids," said Sean Furlong, 36, of Plymouth as he was leaving Sunday services with his wife and three children.

Dan Mulhern, Granholm's husband, passed out a letter to parishioners last month apologizing for the disruption to services. The Granholm campaign said the protesters have the right to make their views known.

"But interfering with the operations of the church shows very poor judgment on their part," said Chris DeWitt, spokesman for the campaign. "There will be groups in the Catholic Church who will oppose her because of her stand, but she's also not the only Catholic who believes that."

Klucik said he's ready to leave the weekly protests behind as soon as Maida condemns Granholm.