AGAWAM - A national anti-abortion spokesman in a speech Thursday night laid out groundwork to reduce, and eventually eliminate abortions.
Before a packed banquet hall at Chez Josef, Frank A. Pavone, a Roman Catholic priest from Staten Island, N.Y., spoke at the 25th Anniversary Mother's Day Dinner of the Pioneer Valley chapter of Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
He told 700 listeners the goal of stopping abortion can be approached by three routes: "supply," for doctors who perform abortions; "demand," for women seeking abortions; and "license," for abortion's legal protection.
Attacking the law is an obvious route, because, "to allow abortion contradicts the very purpose of the law," Pavone said.
Getting women to seek fewer abortions is another approach, and the church should be more active in that regard, he said. "One of the single most effective tools to bring these numbers down is the full activation of our churches."
Pavone, the national director of Priests for Life, urged the audience to put adoption information on the front covers of church bulletins.
As for reducing the number of abortion providers, Pavone said that pro-choice activists "are in an absolute panic" over the declining numbers of doctors willing to perform abortions.
Joining Pavone on the dais were Bishop Joseph F. Maguire and Monsignor Richard S. Sniezyk, vicar general of the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese. Sniezyk told his listeners they should use their votes to elect pro-life candidates.