"As long as the abortion laws
remain unchanged, abortion will continue to be a critical problem,"
stated Cronkite in 1965.
Famed
CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite has been lauded in the media
since his death on Friday, at the age of 92, with tributes paid not
only from secular media, but even Vatican Radio and other Christian
news sources.
But while remembered by many as "the most trusted man in America," many
of Cronkite's more radical, but lesser known views, would be considered
repugnant even to many of his greatest fans.
For instance, up until his death Cronkite served as honorary chair of
the Interfaith Alliance, an organization dedicated to countering the
influence of conservative Christianity on federal politics. In
2007,
the Alliance initiated a campaign to force Christianity out of the
public sphere by promoting policies that would silence the Christian
voice. They recommended that churches be prohibited from
endorsing
political candidates, that research and health policies should not be
based on "religious doctrine," and that faith-based schools should be
banned, among other things.
Part and parcel with Cronkite's campaign against religion in public
life was his outspoken vocal support of abortion and same-sex
marriage. In 2003-2004, for example, Cronkite wrote a column for
King
Features Syndicate, which was published in about 180 newspapers
throughout the U.S. In the column he discussed 'Marriage and
Abortion', expressing disregard for "conservatives" who oppose abortion
and same-sex "marriage."
"It certainly is the right of the anti-abortionists and those who
oppose gay marriages to defend, express and even propagandize their
beliefs," he says, "but is it their right to impose their definition of
morality on those who hold opposing views? The answer is a resounding
'no'. ... This columnist believes that among conservatives and liberals
alike there is a majority who would put the sanctity of individual
rights even above the sanctity with which some would endow the banning
of abortion and gay marriage."
Cronkite served as anchor of CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, a time
of great change in America. His tenure included the JFK
assassination,
the moon landing, the Vietnam War, and he helped to shape American
sentiment on these landmark events. But his time as anchor also
included the most devastating of landmarks in American history, as many
American pro-life activists would see it - the legalization of abortion.
And, no less than with the moon landing or the Vietnam War, Walter
Cronkite shaped American sentiment on abortion. Despite such
overwhelming praise from sources Christian and secular, Cronkite's
views on abortion and his role in its legalization ought not to be
forgotten.
In 1965, before abortion was made legal in the U.S., Cronkite made CBS
the first network in America to feature a documentary on abortion when
he hosted the hour-long episode of CBS Reports entitled 'Abortion and
the Law', which can be found on the CBS News website.
The documentary claimed to tackle the controversial issue impartially,
dealing with the "legal, moral and medical aspects," but in fact, it
amounts to an hour-long argument in favour of legal abortion.
Amidst a
barrage of experts spouting the need for abortion and women giving
horrifying testimonies about illegal abortions, Cronkite pays mere lip
service to the pro-life viewpoint.
In his introduction, Cronkite states: "As long as the abortion
laws
remain unchanged, abortion will continue to be a critical problem, and
for those involved, they call for desperate decisions that result in
dangerous medical complications.
"Women have abortions for all kinds of reasons. The unmarried
girl
abandoned by the father of the unborn child, the girl who'd rather not
have a child than marry the baby's father, but 80% of the women who
have criminal abortions are married. They're women who feel they
cannot afford another child, or fear they are too old to bear another
baby, or that the baby may be born abnormal."
At one point Cronkite introduces a doctor who is supposed to speak on
the emotional effects of abortion, but while mentioning the trauma of
losing one's child, the doctor emphasizes the emotional impact of
having to obtain an illegal abortion in secret.
Towards the end the documentary discusses the status of abortion in
other countries, including in Europe, Asia, and South America, and
ending in Chile, with Cronkite describing the horror of illegal
abortion there. According to Cronkite supposedly 1 in 4 Chilean women
had had an abortion, while the documentary shows (in decorous 1965
fashion) the death of a woman from an illegal abortion.
"What happens in Chile is no different than what happens to thousands
of women in the United States," Cronkite warns, "who are hospitalized
each year because of post-abortion complications.
"While men of science, and law, and theology talk about medicine, and
legality, and morals," he says, "hundreds of thousands of pregnant
women, unmindful of what may happen to them, secretly and fearfully
seek abortions. For them, there is a wide gulf between what the law
commands and what they feel they must do."
Cronkite concludes, "We believe the moral, medical, social, and
economic aspects of abortion should be opened to public discussion, for
if changes in the law are advisable, this can only be done by the
American people themselves. This is Walter Cronkite for CBS
Reports.
Good night."
Contact: Patrick B. Craine
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
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Date: July 21, 2009
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The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in
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coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of
Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our
society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political
persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic
backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has
been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the
human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that
every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is
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