021074 Amendment hearing date set in March

WASHINGTON (NC) - March 6 and 7 have been set as tentative dates for opening hearings on a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would reverse the 1973 Supreme Court abortion ruling.

While still trying to reconcile the dates with the schedules of various witnesses, the Senate subcommittee on constitutional amendments is planning to hear from Congressional witnesses on March 6 and from other witnesses on March 7.

The news of the hearings was hailed by Bishop James S. Rausch, General Secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Catholic Conference. He called it 44a moral imperative of the highest order" to protect "the life and well-being of all human beings, before as well as after birth."

The hearings will concern two amendments before the Senate subcommittee:

-An amendment introduced last May 31 by Sen. James L. Buckley (Cons. R.-N.Y.), which would outlaw abortions except when

continuing the pregnancy would endanger the life of the mother.

-A June 29 proposal by Sen. Jesse A. Helms (R.-N.C.), which gives "equal protection" and "due process of law" to "any human being, from the moment of conception." The Helms amendment is identical to that proposed in the House of Representatives by Rep. Lawrence Hogan (R.-Md.), which has received strong backing from many right-to-life groups.

The first opportunity for testimony will be given to members of the House and Senate, he said, and later hearings will provide opportunities for testimony from medical experts, religious spokesmen, constitutional experts, and proabortion and antiabortion spokesmen.

Bishop Rausch said he was "extremely pleased" to hear of the Senate subcommittee action.

"Events of the, past year have made it clear that millions of men and women, of many religious creeds and none at all, believe the Supreme Court abortion decisions of last January were a terrible tragedy for this nation," he said.