Below are excerpts. To read the full article go to AP News.
Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, hopes the Democrats do highlight the issue – and says abortion opponents should engage head-on in the ensuing debate, rather than skirting the issue.
“We need an honest debate about abortion — a debate that starts with a clear, objective and public description of what the abortion procedure is,” Pavone says in a strategy memo he’s distributing to political candidates. “Abortion supporters refuse to describe what they defend ... abortion itself is the last thing they want to talk about.”
Pavone was a Catholic priest from 1988 until 2022, when the Vatican removed him from the priesthood for “blasphemous communications” on social media, and persistent disobedience of his bishop. Over many years, he had drawn attention for partisan political activities that accompanied his anti-abortion activism.
In common with Burbidge, Hickey and Burch, Pavone advocates showing compassion for women considering abortion.