LifeNet Jan-Feb 2003

Senators Schumer and Clinton .actually in their Offices for
March for Life & Meet with Prolifer's (Is This a first?)

"As has been my custom in recent years I attempted to get to see the two New York Senators, read their handouts if any, and write a letter to them. This year. 1 immediately went down to the Senate office buildings. I went to Hillary Clinton's office first and wrote the annual letter and copied it to give to Senator Schumer As always the staffers were there and they supplied me with Hillary's letter to the Pro-Life group. I then proceeded to Senator Schumer's office... and was informed by his receptionist that there was a meeting going on in a conference room in which Senators Clinton and Schumer would be in attendance.

I proceeded to the location of the room. Hillary had chosen to both address the group and answer questions and placed herself right up against the front row ....the atmosphere was, at the very least, cordial and professional. There were no media present that I could see, and there were perhaps sixty people sitting in the room. The discussion was refreshingly candid, the Pro-Life audience making their points Hillary stated that she has been an advocate for programs to reduce teen pregnancy either through abstinence or the availability of birth control (this might be worth researching) There was a discussion about government benefits for pre-natal care, yet the pre-born child is not considered to be an entity. I only got to hear Hillary for about fifteen minutes then she had to leave for another obligation. She mentioned that her positions differed from Senator Schumer's. Hillary closed by stating that people of good faith should be able to come together to solve these things. I was pleasantly impressed. As a Christian person I would like to believe that her heart, like many others in the ProChoice group, is being moved by the grace of Grad. However, experience teaches us that politicians are often moved the way they perceive the tide to be moving.

In the perhaps thirteen years that I have been going to Washington I have never known a ProAbortion Senator to ever be around, let alone meet with Pro-Life people. I suspect that they now believe Roe vs. Wade may well be in jeopardy and they want to position themselves to salvage as much as they can Better to go back to your core constituents with half a loaf than no loaf at all As I was leaving Senator Schumer was walking down the hall to come to the meeting I made a point to shake his hand and said, "Chuck, I couldn't watt any longer I have to catch the bus, thanks for stopping by " He was cordial and a little surprised. Perhaps this was his first physical contact with a Pro-Lifer It didn't seem to hurt him too much.

I'll mention that when Hillary left, her aides took over. They were very knowledgeable. An aide from Senator Schumer's office was there as well They addressed virtually all the questions that the audience asked It appeared to me to be a good exchange. I will be interested to see if I get no response, a standard form letter, or something more individually tailored to the letters I left.

As a young elementary school child, I remember praying for the conversion of Russia at the end of every Catholic Mass. Then suddenly one day the Berlin wall came down and in a relatively short period of time, the Soviet Union as such ceased to exist. Western governments and intelligence agencies were all surprised. Hopefully people of faith were not. The prayers, the work, the sacrifice of the Pro-Life community matters. The outcome is in God's timing.