An even-handed feature from the Journal News -
Mission: Fight abortion on many fronts
Marion and her husband, Joseph, knew that the oldest of their two sons had become a pretty serious Roman Catholic, even talking about his faith during advanced-placement presentations at school. They didn't know that he was considering becoming a priest.
So Frank tagged along to the third annual March for Life. It was a disorganized gathering that attracted little notice on a biting cold day. But the influence of that march on Frank Pavone has rippled across the nation's "culture wars" for more than three decades.
"I didn't know much about abortion," he said recently. "Going to the march made me realize this wasn't a private issue, but a public issue. All these people from different backgrounds were coming to Washington to say so. It was more than a religious issue, a political issue. This was a matter of civil rights and human rights."
Pavone was ordained in 1988 and five years later took over Priests for Life, a tiny anti-abortion group with $3,000 in the bank. Today, Priests for Life is a national force with a $12 million budget, 60 full-time staffers and a leadership position atop the religious right.
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