On Friday, the University of Notre Dame announced that President Obama would speak at the university’s Commencement Ceremony in May and, not surprisingly, anti-choice activists are absolutely livid.
The Cardinal Newman Society has lunched a petition to “halt this travesty immediately”:
It is an outrage and a scandal that “Our Lady’s University,” one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage … Notre Dame has chosen prestige over principles, popularity over morality. Whatever may be President Obama’s admirable qualities, this honor comes on the heels of some of the most anti-life actions of any American president, including expanding federal funding for abortions and inviting taxpayer-funded research on stem cells from human embryos.
The Pro-Life Action League has announced that “If Notre Dame does not disinvite Obama … the Notre Dame campus can expect a massive pro-life protest on graduation day” while the American Life League declares the invitation to be a “disgrace to every Catholic in the United States” and promises to “do all in our power to activate our supporters and friends across the country to cease their funding of Notre Dame University if the school does not rescind their invitation.”
And, never one to be outdone, Randall Terry weighed in to liken Obama to Herod and the Pharaoh and announce that he is re-locating to South Bend with the intent of making the university’s life a living hell:
[W]ould Notre Dame invite Herod to speak — after he tried to kill Our Lady’s Son, and slaughtered the Innocents in Bethlehem? Would Notre Dame invite Pharaoh to speak — after he ordered the drowning of Jewish boys in the Nile? If not, how can they justify this invitation to President Obama?
We are not going to take this lying down; and we are not going to simply send emails and make phone calls. By week’s end, we will have an office open and fully staffed in South Bend. From that office, we will have nonstop activism geared to derail this invitation, and to make life miserable for those at Notre Dame who betrayed the Faith and the Innocent.
