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Labor's Neutrality on Abortion By Msgr. George G. Higgins The Yardstick July 2, 2001     A Catholic journalist recently published a column in a prominent Oklahoma daily charging that “the union movement, like liberals in general, sold its soul, and lost it, with support of legalized abortion on demand over the last three decades.” True, some liberals (and some prominent conservatives) support abortion on demand. I strongly disagree with them. But to say that the labor movement as such supports legalized abortion is simply not true.     I have tried before to clarify the record on this issue. In fairness to the AFL-CIO, let me try again. The AFL-CIO executive council voted overwhelmingly July 31, 1990, to adopt a recommendation that it remain neutral on the abortion issue. The recommendation came from a special panel appointed by the then-AFL-CIO president, Lane Kirkland, to study several pro-choice resolutions submitted at the AFL-CIO convention in November 1989.     The council's decision is final and applies to the AFL-CIO and all of its state federations and local central labor councils. I was one of two “witnesses” Kirkland invited to testify before the panel in June 1990. To avoid any misunderstanding of my role, let me repeat here, in condensed form, the notes I used in addressing the panel. I made several points, saying:     “I am here at the committee's invitation.... I have too much respect for trade-union democracy to get involved, except by invitation, in the federation's internal processes....     “It is not my style to lobby the federation. I have, to be sure, made two public statements on the issue before you. It will be the burden of my presentation to explain why I felt it appropriate to do so.     “There are differences of opinion in our pluralistic society on both the ethical and public-policy aspects of the abortion issue. I have my own strong opinion about both, but I respect the opinion of those who see the issue in all its complexity differently than I do. There are many forums in which men and women of good will can dialogue with civility about their differing opinions, but I do not intend to initiate such a dialogue in this committee meeting.     “In my judgment ... it would be a serious mistake, if only for pragmatic reasons, for the federation to take an official position in favor of abortion on demand....     “I am firmly committed to the proposition that effective labor unions are still by far the most powerful force in society for protecting workers' rights and improving their conditions.     “It is precisely because I am firmly committed to this proposition that I feel very strongly that the federation should maintain its traditional neutrality on issues on which the members, as a matter of conscience, are deeply divided. I am absolutely certain that if the federation were to deviate from its long-standing policy of neutrality on such issues it would seriously disrupt the movement's unity and solidarity at a time when it needs the fullest measure of internal unity and solidarity if it hopes to survive and prosper.     “The U.S. labor movement has from Day 1 been ‘neutral’ in the best sense of the word -- a movement in which men and women of differing ideologies and religious and ethical convictions have been able to unite around basic labor issues and work together in solidarity.     “This solidarity obviously demands a certain price. It demands that all of the movement's officers and members agree on basic trade-union issues, and agree to disagree and go their separate ways in nontrade-union forums of their choice on volatile and highly divisive issues of ethics and morality, and to refrain from voicing their own personal views on such issues onto the movement's official agenda.” Papal Social Encyclicals Other Catholic Social Teachings General Articles of Interest Catholic Worker Connection Msgr. George Higgins Home Page E-Mail: Fr. Sinclair Oubre