K of C, March for (Some) Life, and Cdl. Dolan, Too!

Eric Hoffer had it right:  “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”

The March for Life is in Stage Two, moving rapidly to Stage Three.

Following the death of Nellie Gray, the March's foundress (along with a few other helpers), the March took on new leadership.  Since the Knights of Columbus had been supporting the March since its founding, they wound up governing the March.

The political rationale for the March for Life has always been the securing of a mandatory Constitutional Human Life Amendment declaring the unborn child at every stage of biological development to be a human being and a “person” under the law.

But the original National March for Life organization as it was created in the fall of 1973 is no longer in existence, and the “Life Principles” have long been forgotten by the new March for Life leadership....

Along with the change in management came a significant change in mission, accompanied by a VERY serious warping of Catholic doctrine on the matter of abortion.  Carl Anderson, Grand Knight (CEO) of the Knights of Columbus, pushed that warping as documented in the video at this link.

Anderson said 

"The Catholic position – that abortion takes a human life, is morally wrong, and should be substantially restricted — is not only backed up by science, it is now the public’s consensus by a wide margin."

That is a crock.  Catholic doctrine does not admit 'substantial restriction.'  Instead, it states  “The prohibition against the direct and intentional taking of innocent human life is universal and without exception.”

The change in the March's mission was a natural evolution from Anderson's pronouncement.  Now the mission is purely political, albeit wearing the clothes of 'morality.'  Anderson's New 'March' is Barbara Bush-ism IYKWTMAITYD.

...Today’s drive for “Abortion Consensus” as a legislative and political strategy for the Prolife Movement can be traced back to a Knights of Columbus public relations ploy titled “The Moral Compass Project,” carried out by the Media, Research and Development team of the Knights under the leadership of Supreme Knight Carl Anderson between 2008 and 2010 and the Marist Institute for Public Opinion (MIPO)...

In Chapter 5, titled “Beyond the Clash of Absolutes: Abortion,” Anderson explains how Consensus works on the issue of abortion.

Citing a 1995 Gallup poll which indicated that 51% of Americans identify themselves as “prolife” as compared to 42% who identified as “prochoice,” Anderson states that Americans are slowly moving toward the “prolife” position.^[6]Unfortunately, in order to justify that conclusion, Anderson must redefine what it means to be prolife.

...Thus, his definition of “prolife” includes Americans who support abortion 1) to save the life of the mother, 2) rape, incest and life of the mother 3) abortion “only” during the first three months of pregnancy, and 4) and support for more restrictions than Roe v. Wade allows (note: Roe v. Wade  permits abortion up until birth and slightly beyond (partial birth abortion and infanticide). Doing the math, this leaves approximately 13 to 14% of Americans in the “extreme anti-life camp who support Roe v. Wade without exception.^[7]

Oh.  So Nellie Gray and all the rest of the March's early founders are now 'extremist.'

That 'first trimester' exception gives away the entire game.

...the vast majority of surgical and chemically-induced abortions carried out in the United States are carried out in the first trimester of pregnancy. According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2016, 91% of all abortions were performed in the first trimester of pregnancy and 9% in the second and third trimester....

But of course, the "exceptions" Anderson so happily endorses would obviate the "restriction" he proposes.  Do you get the idea that Anderson is blowing foo-foo dust up your butt?  You ought to.

We wondered about then-Abp. Dolan's sudden embrace of Wisconsin Right to Life (and his contemporaneous cutting dead of Pro-Life Wisconsin), and (Catholic) Kevin Fischer's description of Pro-Life Wisconsin as "extremist."  Apparently the Anderson foo-foo dust breeze was already blowing up the Archbishop's copious cassock, and Fischer, a political operative, had also 'seen the light' from inside the Capitol dome in Madistan.

When you add the political and financial power of Opus Dei to the Knights of Columbus, as is the case with the March, it's clearly very difficult for ranking Churchmen to hold fast to what is good, eh?

We live in very strange times.  Pray harder.