Msgr. William Awalt loved to write letters to the various editors of newspapers. When he found that they limited him to one every three months or so, he would get around the restrictions by having others apply their names to his words. The first letter here he wrote under his own name. The second was under his brother’s name, Deacon James Awalt.
April 6, 1995
Letter to the Editor
In seeking reactions to Pope John Paul II’s new encyclical, “The Gospel of Life,” CBS interviewed students at Catholic University for an hour and a half hoping to find some criticism and rejection of the Holy Father’s teaching. In speaking to one student, she said she agreed with the Holy Father’s teaching especially on contraception and abortion. She was asked why? She said, “Because I am a biology major, in addition to my belief, and I have seen what has happened to women’s bodies because of the rejection of these teachings.” The interviewer changed subjects immediately. Nothing of this hour and a half dialogue appeared on television. Who got the attention? It was the ever-present Frances Kissling, who represents nobody by her own admission on national TV, but who can always be relied on to criticize the Church and Pope John Paul. So the media continues to show its bias and censorship. As long as they hate us, we are doing okay.
Rev. Msgr. William J. Awalt
Date Unknown
Title: Abortion
There is no consistency in the principles of the pro-abortion advocates vis-à-vis government and the pregnant mother. When the legality of abortion was argued in the last session of the legislature in Annapolis, the pro-abortion advocates argued that abortion was a private matter between the mother and her physician. Their cry was “Government should stay out of the womb.” They won the fight for legal abortion.
This year the abortion advocates want to add an amendment to the welfare bill now pending in the legislature that would provide state funding for abortions for the poor. Now it seems they want government to enter the womb with funding.
No longer is the decision an individual affair of the mother and her physician, but the taxpayer is to be forced to defray the expenses of the mother’s choice. Thus, I, who believe that the termination of a pregnancy on demand is immoral and unethical, am forced into the decision without any choice.
My appeal to all lawmakers is “be consistent” and “be fair.” If an individual chooses the elective surgery, let that person or their sponsors find the funds outside the public treasury.
James Awalt
Millersville
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