Catholic Nun’s Group in Michigan Criticized for Pro-Abortion Election Donation 
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by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
September 9, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A database of Michigan donors has revealed that The Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, a Catholic teaching order, has made a donation to EMILY’s List, a pro-abortion political action committee.
Sister Mary Katherine Hamilton, vice president of IHM, said the group made the $200 donation in August 2003 to promote the election of more women into public office, and not as "a political statement" on abortion.
Paul Long, executive director of the Michigan Catholic Conference, pointed out that there were alternatives to promote the election of women, without "contributing to an organization that solely promotes the destruction of human life."
The Susan B. Anthony List also has a mission to get more women elected, but only those who are pro-life on abortion. EMILY’s List is notorious for sponsoring only female candidates that are radically pro-abortion — including opposing a partial-birth abortion ban and supporting taxpayer-funded abortions.
"EMILY’s list is a pro-abortion group that specifically promotes candidates based solely on their support of abortion rights," Kristen Cella of the Michigan Catholic Conference told LifeNews.com
"It is disgraceful that any Catholic entity, but especially a group of religious, would support a blatantly pro-abortion group despite the truth of the Gospel of life and the
Vatican’s clear teaching that abortion is ‘a grave sin,’" Cella added.
Ned McGrath, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said officials at the archdiocese learned of the incident from the Detroit Free Press newspaper. McGrath said Cardinal Adam Maida would be "prepared, if necessary, to address what happened with the appropriate pastoral response."
"Supporting legitimate causes for the advancement of women is one thing," McGrath told the Free Press. "Support for Emily’s List, with its defining litmus test for abortion rights, is quite something else."
The IHM Sisters did not respond to LifeNews.com’s inquiry on the incident.
"This incident undermines the work of the entire Church to protect and promote the dignity of every human life from the moment of conception until natural death," explained Cella.
"Clearly, more dialogue is needed on the abortion issue, perhaps most especially within the Church," Cella told LifeNews.com. "We cannot assume anymore that we are preaching to the choir when teaching those in the pew about the preciousness of human life."
Sister Hamilton added that they made the donation because they shared views on issues of human rights, the environment, the economy, children and education with many of the candidates endorsed by EMILY’s List.
The pro-abortion group has helped elect Hillary Clinton to the New York Senate, Kathleen Sebelius to the Kansas Governor’s seat, and Governor Jennifer Granholm in Michigan.
Recently Granholm has been criticized for her veto of Michigan Legal Birth Definition Act, which was intended to ban partial-birth abortion.
The Catholic Church in Michigan was instrumental in overturning the veto through a state-wide petition drive.
ACTION: To express your views, contact: Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, 610 West Elm Avenue, Monroe, MI 48162, (p) 734.240.9838, (f) 734.240.9801, or email [email protected]
Related web sites:
Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters – https://www.ihmsisters.org
