Contact: John Tessitore
212-423-9237 ext 161

New York, N.Y. (November 9, 2001)— Priests for Life, the Staten Island, N.Y.-based anti-abortion group known for its aggressive assaults on abortion-providing clinics and for its close ties to the militant wing of the anti-abortion movement, has taken its media campaign to new levels. The latest series of advertisements, broadcast on CNN's "Larry King Live," is part of a $12 million ad campaign announced earlier this year, which has included the use of neighborhood billboards and full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

For a long time Priests for Life strove to present itself as a mainstream anti-abortion group, but that deceptive image has since given way to a far more militant approach. As documented in the IDS Briefing Paper, Priests for Life: A New Era in Antiabortion Activism, Pavone has explicitly justified criminal trespass against abortion-providing clinics, and has encouraged the blocking of clinic doors.

"These are dangerous people," said Alfred F. Ross, President of the Institute for Democracy Studies (IDS), a research and education organization that published the first full study of Priests earlier this year. "This is not just a matter of standing up for your beliefs. Priests for Life‹and specifically Frank Pavone‹are closely affiliated with some of the most extreme members of the antiabortion movement in our country. This includes Joseph Scheidler, the architect of militant street activism, and Norman Weslin, someone who has been jailed repeatedly for criminal trespass." Pavone's interview with Weslin was recently posted on the Priest for Life website (www.priestsforlife.org).

It is perhaps for this reason that Edward Cardinal Egan of New York recently informed Pavone that he must leave Priests for Life and accept a new assignment as a parish priest. However, despite this reassignment by his Cardinal, Pavone has continued to present himself as a major threat to pro-choice forces. In an October 15 letter addressed to New York State Senator Eric Schneiderman, a strong pro-choice defender, Pavone boasted that "if in fact I am in a different assignment... then I will be free of the restrictions that sometimes accompany such a position of leadership, and more capable of doing various types of pro-life activism. This, of course, includes political activity."

Given the expanding Priests for Life ad campaign and the well-funded challenge to reproductive choice, Alfred Ross urges "the broad pro-choice community and all Americans‹including the media‹to learn more about the real agenda and operations of Priests for Life."

For more information, or to speak with Alfred Ross, please contact John Tessitore, IDS Communications Director, at 212 423-9237.