Governor Spitzer's executive order to license illegal
immigrant drivers has resulted in a public interest group,
Judicial Watch, suing him, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and
the DMV commissioner for circumventing the State Administrative
Procedure Act. Another problematic Spitzer bill is the
Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act (S.5829), which
could force all hospitals to allow abortions, including religious
hospitals whose mission statements oppose the procedure. The
governor's biggest problem may be tiny Gabriel Jones, who more
than anyone drives home the message that abortion kills a living
human being.
From the beginning, Mr. Spitzer's reasoning for the licensing
proposal has been flawed, which has led many to believe, as I do,
that the real purpose behind it may be to allow potential voting
mischief. Polls show that 77% of New Yorkers reject the licensing
proposal regardless of the governor's claim that national
security warrants documenting illegals who are already here. If
Mr. Spitzer believes the passports or birth certificates
presented to obtain these licenses are genuine, then I'd like to
know how he intends to authenticate them.
Mr. Spitzer has also said that he feels that issuing licenses to
illegal immigrants would lower insurance rates and bring
undocumented residents out into the open. Why on earth would
insurance companies lower their rates? The governor's proposal
does nothing to guarantee that these illegal immigrants would buy
insurance. There are many legal drivers who do not carry
insurance. This is for two reasons: It's too expensive, and they
don't own any property that can be sacrificed in case of an
accident or lawsuit.
The president of Judicial Watch, Thomas Fitton, explained in his
press release: "Eliot Spitzer wants to use his public office
to sanction illegal behavior and put all of us at risk through
his plan to give driver licenses to illegal aliens. If Governor
Spitzer wants to change the rules, he has to follow the rules -
which means going through the New York State Legislature and
otherwise following New York law."
As for Mr. Spitzer's Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection
Act, I am reminded of the time when Mayor Koch attempted an
executive order to force Catholic social agencies to provide
services that would undermine church teaching. The archbishop of
New York at the time, John Cardinal O'Connor, announced that he
would be forced to shut down all services offered by the
archdiocese. At an Albany news conference in 1999, O'Connor said
Catholic health care providers were under siege from some
community groups, but providers would not compromise their
principles on the issues of reproductive choice, physician
assisted suicide, or partial birth abortion.
Eventually, a court sided with the cardinal. Mr. Koch and
O'Connor went on to have a mutual respect and co-authored an
excellent book, "His Eminence and Hizzoner," which I
recommend to the governor so he may learn how individuals with
incompatible social positions can work together for the benefit
of the community.
Whether there are church administrators as determined as O'Connor
and who will not compromise their moral precepts, the issue of
abortion still remains a highly volatile topic for many. Those
who are pro-choice must pause when they read about miracle babies
like Gabriel Jones.
Dubbed "the boy who refused to die," Gabriel is now a
healthy 7-month-old who survived multiple abortion attempts by
doctors trying to separate him in vitro from his twin, Ieuan.
Sonograms indicated that Gabriel had an enlarged heart and was
not thriving, and a termination was deemed necessary so Ieuan
would survive. The doctors tried in vain to sever his umbilical
cord - it was too strong. Then they cut his mother's placenta in
half so that when Gabriel died it would not affect his twin.
Gabriel, whom doctors called "Rocky," had other plans,
not only fighting for his life but hanging on until both twins
were born by Caesarean section five weeks later.
Photos of the happy mother holding her beautiful identical twins
were posted all over the Internet, and while many have logical
explanations for the "miracle," I rather like what I
read last Sunday at Mass. The first Scripture reading was from
the Book of Wisdom, 11:22-12:2, which says: "For you love
all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made ? and
how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved,
had it not been called forth by you."