Pro-Life Advocates Face Notre Dame Trespass Charges

Thomas More Society attorneys appeared in St. Joseph County Criminal Court on May 28 to defend two prominent pro-life advocates against trespass charges brought by local prosecutors in the wake of protests at the University of Notre Dame.

Laura Rohling and Jane Brennan went onto the Notre Dame campus to educate students about the after- effects of abortion, based on their own personal experiences with abortion. Ms. Brennan, author of “Motherhood Interrupted,” is a frequent guest on Catholic TV and radio. She serves as regional coordinator in Colorado of “Silent No More,” a group which brings public attention to the plight of women who have experienced emotional and other pain after abortion. Ms. Rohling serves as assistant regional coordinator of that group.

“The Thomas More Society is urging the University to request that these trespass charges be dropped,” said Tom Brejcha, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society. “Such a magnanimous gesture will go far toward healing the divisions that have arisen between Notre Dame and the pro-life movement, in light of recent events.”

The Society has assembled an all-”Fighting Irish” team, including President and Chief Counsel Thomas Brejcha, Notre Dame class of ‘65, Executive Director Peter Breen, Notre Dame Law class of ‘00, and South Bend attorney David Wemhoff, Notre Dame class of ‘79, in defense of Ms. Rohling and Ms. Brennan.

“What’s vitally needed is dialogue about pro-life issues of abortion, stem-cell research, euthanasia, marriage, as well as about capital punishment and peace issues rather than confrontation in South Bend’s criminal court,” Brejcha continued. “The pro-life movement is the next stage of America’s civil rights movement, and Notre Dame is not Birmingham.”

The Thomas More Society has a history of partnership with the University of Notre Dame. The late Fr. Ned Joyce, former Executive Vice President of the University, was a regular financial supporter of the Society. Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, former President of the University, wrote fundraising letters in support of the Thomas More Society’s successful defense of peaceable, non-violent abortion protests in the landmark United States Supreme Court case, NOW v. Scheidler.

About the Thomas More Society
Founded in 1997, the Thomas More Society, Pro-Life Law Center, is a not-for-profit, public interest law firm based in Chicago and dedicated to fighting for the rights and dignity of all human life. The Society vigorously defends clients in state and federal courtrooms around the country, addressing vital issues across the pro-life spectrum, including pregnancy discrimination, end-of-life health care, the right of conscientious objection for medical workers and freedom of speech for peaceable nonviolent protest.

Pro-Life Notre Dame Students Refuse to Attend Graduation in Protest of Obama Visit

Notre Dame University seniors who have decided not to attend their commencement ceremony in protest of the university’s decision to grant President Barack Obama an honorary law degree will instead hold a meditation in the university’s Grotto of Our Lady Lourdes at 2 p.m. on May 17, to coincide with the official commencement.

ND Response, the student-led coalition that is planning the meditation, says Notre Dame should not be honoring a political figure who supports abortion and stem cell research.

“It’s not a political issue; this is an issue of human dignity, and it’s a Catholic issue,” said Greer Hannan, a Notre Dame graduating senior. “As a Catholic university, we need to stand up for it.”

The meditation, which will be led by Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, is part of a two-day rally that has been officially sanctioned by the university.

The evening of May 16, bishop of the Fort Wayne- South Bend diocese, Rev. John D’Arcy, will lead a candlelight prayer vigil for graduating seniors and their families to pray for an end to abortion and embryo research.

On May 17, Commencement Day, in addition to the meditation ceremony, a large rally will be held on the South Quad of the university, the campus’ main quad, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Speakers at the rally will include Elizabeth Naquin Border, Notre Dame graduate and former chairman of the board for the Women’s Care Centers in South Bend; Rev. Joseph Raphael, Notre Dame graduate and principal of St. Augustine’s High School in New Orleans; William Solomon, director of the university’s Center for Ethics and Culture; and Chris Godfrey, a Notre Dame law school graduate and former offensive guard for the Super Bowl XXI champion New York Giants.

ND Response is an ad hoc coalition of Notre Dame- sponsored student groups that has been organized to lead student reactions to the university’s decision to award an honorary law degree to President Barack Obama.

These groups include Notre Dame Right to Life, Jus Vitae (Notre Dame Law School Right to Life), Notre Dame Knights of Columbus Council 1477, the Irish Rover independent student newspaper, Notre Dame College Republicans, The University of Notre Dame Anscombe Society, The Identity Project of Notre Dame, Notre Dame Knights of the Immaculata, Notre Dame Children of Mary, the Orestes Brownson Council, and the Notre Dame Law St. Thomas More Society.