Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state laws banning abortion in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, the debate over abortion has divided this country.
In that time, both sides have held protests in the hopes of spreading their message, as is their constitutional right. A protest that took place this Saturday in Westbrook was similar to many of those – a group of activists gathered with picket signs and chanted slogans.
However, this protest didn’t take place outside of an abortion clinic or a confirmation hearing for a supreme court nominee. It took place outside of a church where two legislators had organized a supper to raise money for heating assistance.
While these protestors have a right to protest in public, it’s unfortunate these protestors decided to disrupt a supper for heating assistance to “educate” people on these two legislators voting records. Many people interested in attending a community supper would likely be intimidated by a picket line.
The purpose of the dinner was overshadowed by their protest, and that’s too bad. Because with the cost of heating fuel constantly on the rise, it’s more important than ever to make sure people stay warm this winter.
The protestors said they were there because they were upset that a Catholic church was being used for an event sponsored by two politicians they claimed had a 100 percent pro-choice voting record in Augusta.
“I think it’s sad,” said City Councilor Brendan Rielly, who is also a parishioner at St. Anthony’s. “As a lifelong Catholic, the church teaches helping poor. To confuse it with other issues confuses the point.”
Rielly makes a good point. This dinner was not about politics, it was about raising money to help others. However, this group of protestors chose to use the dinner as an excuse to further their own political agenda. And that’s unfortunate.
Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition said the representatives were using the spaghetti dinner to ingratiate themselves with Catholics. “This is nothing more than an attempt to blur the reality of the pro-abortion voting records of these two,” he said.
That argument seems dubious at best. It’s quite a stretch to take an event designed to raise money for heating assistance and say there was a hidden political agenda behind it.
In fact, in Duplessie’s case, Maine law prevents him from seeking another term. “This has nothing to do with politics,” he said. “It has to do with just trying to help people out who are in need. I have nothing (to gain from) this. I’m term-limited out.”
Madore and the others protesting the dinner said Bishop Richard Malone went against his own policy by allowing two politicians with pro-abortion voting records to host an event at a Catholic church.
Driscoll said the event, which had been planned for months, was originally set for the high school, and when that venue fell through, the church offered its hall to make sure the dinner went on as planned. And it seems highly unlikely that Duplessie and Driscoll’s voting records ever entered into the discussions about holding the dinner at St. Hyacinth’s.
Mark Mutty, director of public affairs for the Catholic diocese in Portland, said the diocese specifically prohibits churches from being used for political campaign events. In this case, the diocese determined it was appropriate for the dinner to be held at the church.
That decision rightly, and ironically, left these protesters picketing on a day so cold that they probably could have used some heating assistance of their own.
City doing the right thing
This week, Westbrook Police Chief Paul McCarthy announced he was asking the city to conduct an independent investigation of the way information about arrests is made available to the press.
This comes in response to an editorial in this space last week questioning why Westbrook Fire Inspector Lt. Charles Jarrett’s name did not appear in the public arrest log the week after his Jan. 18 arrest. The city has instructed its attorney to look in the matter, and expects to have a report back next week.
It’s good to see McCarthy and the city take these concerns seriously. It’s important for the public to have access to information, and this is a good step to ensuring that access is not impeded in any way.
Police have said that a problem with a new software system is at least partially to blame for the problem. Hopefully, the investigation will uncover all the problems in the system.
Mike Higgins, assistant editor
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