By Bishop Thomas L. Dupre Bishop of Springfield

One of the great yearly happenings here in western Massachusetts is the annual Mother's Day Dinner, which is a pro-life gathering. I have been attending for years and there are normally about 700 people in attendance. During the program, awards are presented and usually a well-known guest speaker is featured. The proceeds support the pro-life cause. This has been going on for some 26 years; however, you'd hardly know it because of the publicity or the lack thereof. Yet, there are few western Massachusetts events that can equal it for the number and quality of the people involved.

This year the speaker was The Honorable Thomas F. Finneran, Speaker of the State House of Representatives: a fine man, a devout Catholic, a strong supporter of the pro-life cause. I was privileged to sit next to him at dinner and enjoyed a pleasant conversation with him. He is well acquainted with the situation in western Massachusetts and with our needs and goals.  As expected, Speaker Finneran delivered a strong pro-life speech, emphasizing our reasons for hope and confidence as we face the future.

The message promoting hope and confidence was indeed a welcome one.  Sometimes our people can be discouraged at the negative messages they hear or read in the mass media. Pro-life people are sometimes portrayed as right-wingers, as extremists, or as bigots. This is, of course, part of a strategy, the purpose of which is to demonize the opposition. The goal is to discourage the weaker members while exerting influence over the great middle ground of the people.

Have you noticed that reporting on this issue has been less than fair? For some 26 years, the pro-life cause has drawn tens of thousands of people to Washington for the annual pro-life march at the end of January - not the best time for many people from around the country to travel. Yet, this very successful annual event gets but a passing mention on the national and local news.

At the same time, you can be sure that Frances Kissling's Catholics for a Free Choice will be publicized on the national news whenever there is a major issue or question referring to abortion. Yet, Frances Kissling represents herself, and no one else that we are aware of. It is one of those pseudo organizations set up to discredit the church and its teachings and which, by the way, receives huge sums of money from organizations promoting abortion and contraception. No membership list has ever been seen.

A recent newsletter from the NCCB (National Conference of Catholic Bishops), however, indicates that the news is actually upbeat for the pro-life cause.

The newsletter begins with these encouraging words, and I quote: "The new year holds great promise for the pro-life movement. Polls show the country is moving steadily in the pro-life direction and state efforts to restrict abortion continue unabated."

While I do not wish to put too much stock in polls because they can be fickle and they should not be the standard by which we make moral or political decisions, nevertheless, they have their usefulness. They tell us whether our efforts to educate and persuade are bearing fruit or not. With this in mind, the following report is encouraging.

The abortion rate for 1996 is the lowest since 1976. There has been a 15 percent decline since 1990 - a 3 percent decline between 1996 and 1997.

Pregnancies are sharply declining among teens, many of whom are choosing to be sexually abstinent. The bad news is that a shocking 79 percent of teen births are to unmarried teens. This again points out the need for a values-based education. We in the Diocese of Springfield will continue to provide an alternate, God-centered, values-laden, private school system for the people of western Massachusetts.

The number of abortionists declined 14 percent between 1992 and 1996. There are now only 2,042 abortion providers, compared to more than 3,000 pregnancy help centers in the United States.

Furthermore, the polls show a growing pro-life majority among the American public.

Four out of five (80 percent of) Americans are opposed to abortion after viability, three-fourths (75 percent) would ban partial-birth abortion, two-thirds (66 percent) would ban abortion after the first trimester.

Eighty-six per cent of Americans favor informed consent, 74 percent support a 24-hour waiting period, 74 percent favor parental consent laws. Only 9-13 percent think abortion should be legal under all circumstances for all nine months.

According to the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), 70 "anti-choice" measures were enacted in state legislatures in 1999, up from 62 in 1998 and 14 in 1996. States around the country have moved aggressively to enact laws advocating and funding abstinence-only education!

Finally, we are all waiting, and praying ardently as we do, for the Supreme Court's decision on partial-birth abortion, expected by July. Thirty states have enacted such legislation; others are preparing to do the same. Much good will come if the Supreme Court decides against this horrendous procedure. May God help the Supreme Court to make the right decision!

So you see, my friends, there are good signs around the country that our efforts are bearing fruit. We must keep up our efforts to educate, to persuade and to pass meaningful legislation, knowing that our course is right. In the end, God will prevail.