Passing along Fr Pavone's letter on vacant seat

July 1, 2005

Dear Friends:

As you may have heard, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has just 
resigned her position.  Justice O'Connor was frequently the deciding vote in 5-4 
decisions.  Please pray for Mrs. O'Connor and her family in this difficult time.

With her resignation, a Supreme Court vacancy has been created.  We have every 
confidence that President Bush will appoint a nominee who will exercise the 
restraint necessary to judges to strictly apply the Constitution rather than write 
new policies into it.  Even so, we know that as you are reading this, the White 
House is being flooded with calls regarding the vacancy.  Even if President Bush 
is predisposed to nominate a judge who recognizes the many levels on which Roe 
was wrongly decided, it is extremely difficult for politicians to withstand pressure 
that is heavily against their inclinations.

How important is this nomination?  The Supreme Court is currently divided 6-3 in 
favor of Roe.  This is an opportunity to gain an anti-Roe seat on the Supreme 
Court and replace Ms. O'Connor with a strict constructionist who will apply the 
Constitution rather than rewrite it.

That is why I am writing to you now.  We need as many pro-lifers as possible to 
contact the White House about the vacancy.  Please call the White House 
Comment Line at (202) 456-1111 and tell President Bush that you strongly agree 
with his view that Justices on the Court should not write law, but apply it.  You 
may also contact the President via e-mail at president@whitehouse.gov or by fax 
at 202-456-2461.  Because time is of the essence, it is best to use one or more of 
these methods of communication, as mail will likely be too late to have a serious 
impact on the decision.  Please also forward this to all of your pro-life friends and 
relatives.  Any given call could mean the difference between protecting women 
and children in three years and not protecting them for decades to come.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director,
Priests for Life