Archbishop Timothy Dolan joined other religious leaders Thursday
vowing to work to reduce the number of abortions in New York City.
Leaders of various faiths denounced figures that showed that 41% of
pregnancies in the city were terminated in 2009.
They also criticized
sex-education programs in the public school system that include
distributing condoms.
“That 41% of New York babies are aborted, a percentage even higher in
the Bronx and among our African-American babies in the womb, is
downright chilling,” said the archbishop, the leader of the Roman
Catholic Church in New York City.
“I invite all to come together to make
abortion rare,” he added.
The numbers were released by the Chiaroscuro Foundation, a not-for-profit supporting alternatives to abortion.
The rate was based on figures from the city Department of Health,
which reported a slightly lower abortion rate, 38.7%.
Foundation
officials didn’t include miscarriages in their total pregnancy number,
resulting in the different rates.
The number of abortions in New York City has decreased over the past
decade.
But religious and civic leaders said the number is still too
high.
Abortion-rights advocates were quick to respond. Outside, several women passed out condoms and held up pro-choice signs.
In a statement, Mary Alice Carr, NARAL Pro-Choice New York’s vice
president for communications, said, “These men continue to meddle in
women’s lives and preach a gospel of shame and stigma,” adding that
pro-choice groups “will never stand quietly by and watch self-proclaimed
moral authorities attempt to interfere in the reproductive lives of
others.”
SIC: WSJ/USA