Buffalo, N.Y. - The Catholic bishop of Buffalo condemned as barbaric and cowardly the killing of a New York doctor who performed abortions.

Dr. Barnett Slepian, 52, was killed by a single shot from a high-powered rifle fired through a kitchen window at his home Oct. 23.

Police were investigating whether his death was connected with similar shootings of four other doctors who performed abortions.  Three attacks in Canada and a fourth in Rochester, N.Y., since 1994 all involved gunshots from a high-powered rifle fired through windows at the doctors' homes.  None of the other shootings was fatal.

"I condemn the killing of Dr. Slepian as a barbarous act," Buffalo Bishop Henry J. Mansell said at an Oct. 25 press conference.  "As pro-life people, we are committed to life at every stage."

Bishop Mansell said in a later statement that such an act "is totally contradictory to the values and ideals of people truly interested in life, and certainly to the pro-life movement."

In Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua said the attack on Slepian has a parallel to the recent beating death of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was a homosexual.

"These attacks are painful illustrations of what happens when we succumb to what our Holy Father has labeled 'the culture of death,'" Cardinal Bevilacqua said.  "There is dignity in every person, and when one person's dignity is denied, the dignity of each of us is diminished."

He said he finds it "difficult to fathom someone who claims to be pro-life committing such a repugnant anti-life act.  The pro-life effort is about love and respect.  It is not about hate; it not about condemnation; it is not about violence."

The National Right to Life Committee encouraged the prompt arrest and prosecution of the individual or group responsible for "this senseless act of violence.:

David N. O'Steen, executive director of NRLC, said to the group, "unequivocally condemns any such acts of violence used by individuals, regardless of their motivation."

The NRLC statement took issue with the suggestion made by some groups and individuals since Slepian's shooting that speaking out against abortion leads to such violence.

"Such a suggestion is like blaming the civil rights movement -- and all those who courageously spoke in favor of the rights of African Americans -- for the riots or deaths that were a part of that era," said the NRLC.
 

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Copyright ©1998 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

This article was published in the Arlington Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 23, No 43;
dated Oct 29, 1998, on page 1.
E-mail: letters@catholicherald.com
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A note from the Web Master:

It is noteworthy and honorable that some folks are willing to stand up for a ban on Partial-Birth Abortion.  Let us not forget that Abortion is also murder.  We must understand that murder is murder no matter the method.  Because one method of abortion seems to be horrible does not justify the other methods.  We should be horrified and sickened by any Abortion regardless of the method.  The Fifth Commandment spells it out clearly: "Thou shalt not kill."  A fetus is a person, a human being with a God given soul.  Imagine the pain the Lord must feel when any Abortion occurs.  Please contact both of your Senators and Representative, via letter or phone,  to let them know how horrified you are that Abortions are legal and to stop Partial-Birth Abortions and all other Abortions as soon as possible.

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