Common Ground
Dotty Lynch is the Senior Political Editor for CBS News. E-mail your questions and comments to Political Points
Tom Suozzi was nervous on Tuesday. The ambitious 42-year-old Nassau County executive, who has carved a reputation in New York as someone who likes to rock the boat, lost a bit of his self-confidence as he prepared to challenge both Democratic Party and Catholic Church orthodoxy on the abortion issue.
"As a Democrat, I do not often find it easy to talk with other Democrats about our need to affirm our commitment to the respect for life and how we need to emphasize our party's firm belief in the worth of every human being," said Suozzi. "As a Catholic I do not often find it easy to talk with other Catholics about my feeling that abortion should and will remain safe and legal."
Suozzi echoed Hillary Clinton in his attempt to find "common ground" on an issue that has been the poster child for polarization, but he went beyond rhetoric. He put forth a plan that would put real money toward reducing the number of abortions. He suggested that Nassau County spend $3 million over three years on programs for sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancies; homes for single mothers; and promotion of adoption. He said he was shocked to learn that last year in Nassau County there were only 300 local adoptions but over 4, 000 abortions.
He was right to be nervous. The speech drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans who cast it as a political ploy to move to the center for a possible statewide run, and from pro-choice leaders who said the measures were ineffective. One Nassau County Democratic woman called his words "patronizing." His aides said he was peppered with calls from friends telling him this was a "no-win" issue and to stay away from it.
But he got some praise from an interesting place. Roman Catholic Bishop William Murphy gave him an "atta boy" for his "positive call to move beyond polemic," and said he "supported all those in public life who will join Mr. Suozzi in the good programs helping pregnant women make choices other than abortion." He reaffirmed the church's opposition to abortion but said that Suozzi "deserves our gratitude for exercising this kind of political leadership." Murphy, a former aide to Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, is no flaming liberal but by reacting with support rather than condemnation, he moved the debate forward.
That evenhanded move was in contrast to some of the signals coming out of the Vatican in the last few weeks. The day after Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was selected as the new pope, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd predicted that, for pro-choice Catholics the "cafeteria was officially closed." And there have been suggestions from allies of the new pope that a "smaller, purer" church might be the way to go.
One of the most immediate signals of the new order has been the forced resignation of Rev. Thomas Reese, the editor of the Jesuit magazine, America. Reese apparently lost his job because his magazine offered serious dialogue on controversial issues that American Catholics are grappling with – gay marriage, stem cell research and the status of Catholic politicians who, like Suozzi, support legalized abortion. Reese has refused to comment publicly on his departure, writing only in his farewell column that his greatest challenge "was running a journal of opinion when some in the church do not want opinions expressed."
These are confusing times for American Catholics. Silencing a good priest and fine journalist like Tom Reese and trying to turn the Jesuit opinion magazine into an advocacy journal is dispiriting. But Tom Suozzi and his bishop gave some hope to this week to those who believe that open discussion of a difficult issue is the way to truly find common ground and promote the culture of life.