To the editor:
Everyone understands the bishop’s position on abortion. He has a right as a citizen to speak his mind on it. And everyone understands his obligation as bishop to be strident on it. The disclaimer at the head of the piece is insufficient for that task. It is called a product of Bishop Tobin’s imagination. One might suggest it is fantasy, which is fine for fiction but not for serious opinion. Quoted or italicized responses or statements in newspapers require attribution of time and place. The bishop’s imagination qualifies as neither.
The responses used by the bishop are an outrageous misrepresentation of the president’s positions and statements.
The bishop is also disingenuous by speaking selectively about the order the president issued. The order allows funding of organizations providing family planning and reproductive services in undeveloped countries even if they include abortion. Those services, denied by the Bush administration, include other family planning subjects which are especially critical in places with extreme poverty and high infant mortality rates. Among these, of course, is contraception, which the bishop also opposes.
Bishop Tobin owes an apology to President Obama. He also owes one to those who read the Rhode Island Catholic.
David Monaghan
Wakefield
