The Catholic Weekly 31 May 2020

15 31, May, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au WORLD THE DOCUMENTARY AKA Jane Roe (FX, streaming on Hulu) is ostensibly a portrait of Norma McCorvey, the of- ficial but largely nominal plaintiff in the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, the outcome of which was the legalisation of abor- tion across the United States. But the film’s real purpose is to drop a bombshell. In it, McCorvey – who in later life became a prominent pro-life activist – denies that she ever changed her mind on the subject. Instead, in what she characteriaes as her “deathbed confession,” Mc- Corvey, who died in 2017 at age 69, alleges she was ma- nipulated by the movement and paid to say what its lead- ers wanted her to. While McCorvey’s real out- look and motivation remain elusive, two things can be said with certainty: first, that she was a complicated person and second, that everyone in- terviewed for filmmaker Nick Sweeney’s profile of McCor- vey has an agenda of his or her own. Outspoken and earthy, Mc- Corvey endured a childhood marked by poverty, her moth- er’s alcoholism, petty crime, a spell in reform school and sexual abuse. By the time of her third ¾ ¾ John Mulderig Norma McCorvey, the-then plaintiff known as Jane Roe in the US Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe vs.Wade ruling legalising abortion, is pictured in a 2005 photo. PHOTO: CNS pregnancy in 1969, she was, according to her own account, living on the streets, addicted to booze and drugs. Unable to face the prospect of having another child – her daughter, Melissa, was being raised by her mother and her second child had been adopt- ed – McCorvey sought an ille- gal abortion. But she decided against going through with the proce- dure after seeing the unsan- itary conditions in which it would be carried out. An adoption attorney made her aware that two other law- yers, Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, were working to overturn her home state of Texas’ abortion law. By the time the case was decided, she had long since given birth. Many people, McCorvey notes, are surprised to discov- er that she herself never had an abortion. Her subsequent career working at an abortion facility came to an abrupt end, how- ever, when, under the influ- ence of the Rev. Flip Benham, a well-known pro-life figure, she converted to evangelical Christianity and was bap- tised. In 1998, McCorvey was received into the Catholic Church. McCorvey obviously rep- resented a significant asset to the pro-life movement and made many appearances on its behalf. But had her views really changed? That depends on whom you ask. McCorvey’s denial that she was ever opposed to legal abortion comes as belatedly welcome news to former al- lies. But it’s also backed up by the Rev. Rob Schenck, who worked with McCorvey after her apparent about-face but claims to have entertained doubts as to her pro-life bona fides. Yet, although he remains an evangelical minister, Rev. Schenck, as the documenta- ry eventually makes clear, no longer supports overturning Roe v. Wade, believing that the result of such a develop- ment would be “chaos.” Rev. Benham, who remains pro- life, by contrast, contests Mc- Corvey’s assertions. While balanced in its por- trayal of the many aspects of McCorvey’s complex person- ality, “AKA Jane Roe” is quite unfair in its treatment of the pro-life movement and its members. They are portrayed as clamouring, verbally abusive extremists and the rare in- stances in which a tiny minor- ity of misguided opponents of legal abortion have resorted to violence are deliberately mag- nified. Taft, seen in archival footage, says of pro-life adher- ents, “What they have done is, over and over, used terrorism, fear tactics.” The sincerity of McCorvey’s religious conversion does not seem in doubt, if only because one of its consequences, as related here, was the transfor- mation of her longtime sexu- al relationship with Connie Gonzales, a woman she met while Roe was still making its way through the courts, into a platonic friendship. But what of her moral and political views? Perhaps the last word should be left to Mc- Corvey herself. “I am a good actress,” she says, speaking of her pro-life speeches and activities. “Of course, I’m not acting now.” - CNS SAYING AMERICA needs “more prayer, not less,” Presi- dent Donald Trump declared houses of worship “essen- tial” and directed the coun- try’s state governors “to do the right thing and allow these very important essential plac- es of faith to open right now, this weekend.” “The people are demand- ing to go to church and their synagogue, to go to their mosque. Many, many mil- lions of Americans embrace worship as an essential part of life,” he said on 22 May. “The ministers, pastors, imams and other faith leaders will make sure their congre- gations are safe as they gath- er and pray. They love their congregations, they love their people,” Trump said. “If they don’t do it, I will override the governors. Amer- ica, we need more prayer, not less,” he said, though many of Trump’s critics said the US Trump calls churches ‘essential’ President Donald Trump makes a statement on 22 May about reo- pening US places of worship. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/LEAH MILLIS, REUTERS While McCor- vey’s real out- look and moti- vation remain elusive, two things can be said with certainty: first, that she was a complicated per- son and second, that everyone interviewed ... has an agenda ...” president could not constitu- tionally “override” governors’ authority on this matter in their own states. After Trump’s announce- ment, senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said the president could not override any governor, even in this case, when they issued such “ill-advised” orders to keep places of faith closed. But he said Trump could direct the Justice Department to file lawsuits against gover- nors because the right to wor- ship is “absolutely protected by the US Constitution’s First Amendment.” He added that he believed the president was “well-in- tended here” but “is without authority” to override gover- nors’ executive orders. In some parts of the US, as states have begun to open up in stages, dioceses have been issuing their own plans for the gradual reopening of churches over several phases, with the safety of congregants, priests, deacons and other parish staff foremost in the minds of Catholic officials. They include rules for so- cial distancing, small-num- ber limits on gatherings, re- quirements for face coverings, hand-sanitising procedures, and best practices for disin- fecting pews and other areas of churches. Across the board these church protocols have many other commonalities, including no holy water in fonts, a prohibition on phys- ical contact during the Our Father or the sign of peace, no presentation of the gifts, re- ception of Communion in the hand, and for the time being the Precious Blood will not be offered at holy Communion. A week before Trump’s an- nouncement, the US Depart- ment of Justice challenged the “unequal treatment of faith communities” in California’s coronavirus reopening plan, warning that continued re- strictions on worship services threaten believers’ civil rights to practice their religion. “Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the US Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” said Assistant Attor- ney General Eric Dreiband in a three-page letter sent to Cal- ifornia’s Governor. - CNS The Roe enigma lives on Uncovering the JaneRoe-Norma McCorvey truth isnot soeasy Italians praying more, study finds THE UNCERTAINTY and re- strictive measures in place due to the coronavirus pan- demic caused an increase in prayers and religious fervour in Italy, a recent study said. The study, which was re- leased on 22 May, was con- ducted by the State Uni- versity of Milan, to “daily monitor public opinion dur- ing the COVID-19 emergency” and the impact it “has had on the religiosity of Italians.” After lockdown restric- tions forced churches to close their doors, “the frequency of prayer and participation in religious services increased, although these could be at- tended only virtually,” the re- port stated. The study was based on interviews with 4,600 people across Italy from 20 April to 15 May. It showed the highest percentage increase in prayer during the pandemic was among Catholics who did not attend church at least once a week; 16 per cent more of those who reported going to Mass at least once a month, but not every week, said they prayed each day during the pandemic. The study, which asked par- ticipants about their behavior prior to the pandemic, report- ed an 11 per cent increase in daily prayer among what it described as “nominal Catho- lics,” those who said they were Catholic but seldom or never went to Mass. However, it added, “the growth of religious practice was primarily influenced by the most acute phase of the crisis. In fact, the frequency of prayer decreases with the re- duction of those infected.” Those who had a fami- ly member infected by the coronavirus “significantly in- creased their participation in religious services and prayer,” it said. Participation at Mass – in person before the pandemic and online during it – was only minimally different for people over the age of 45, the study said. However, there was an increase of 17 per cent in Mass participation among those un- der 45. The study also revealed the sentiments of both practicing and nonpracticing Catho- lics toward the pope and the church. “Trust inPope Francis,” the report said, “ismuch higher than trust in the institution of the church. The gap between trust in Pope Francis and trust in the church is growing, espe- cially for less religious people.” Most notably, the report noticed that political affilia- tion influenced the opinion of Catholics toward the pope. Catholic members of Italy’s right-wing parties – the North- ern League and Brothers of Italy – “have less trust in Pope Francis, while their trust in the church is similar to that of oth- er individuals,” the report said. - CNS ¾ ¾ Junno Arocho Esteves