Girl Talk
By Diogenes ( articles ) | May 08, 2004
Remember the lovable, tender side of Adolf Eichmann -- e.g., when he wrote Heydrich after the Wannsee Conference asking for the recipe for Rice Krispie Marshmallow Treats? Maybe it wasn't Heydrich. At any rate, Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice interviews Kate Michelman of the National Abortion Rights Action League in order to let her display her Inner Altar Girl. You'll want to read it to your children tonight in place of Goodnight Moon. (Appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, this is not a spoof; go here, scroll down to "Conscience 2004," and click on "Leading from the Front.")
Frances Kissling: Isn't part of our problem as a movement that people don't know the complexity of decisions that a prochoice person goes through in relation to the question of life? Don't you want sometimes to scream from the rooftops, "I am a pro-life person"?That may be a satisfactory answer for Kate's archbishop, but Kissling plays hard-ball, and follows up with one of those tough, in-yo-face questions:
Kate Michelman: Absolutely. I believe we have allowed ourselves, perhaps, to be intimidated about talking about what is a human life. I do sometimes give voice to my own personal experience when I had to consider the value I placed on the developing life within me. That was when I was deciding-- as a Catholic woman-- about whether or not to have an abortion. I say Catholic deliberately because I was raised a strong Catholic. I believe in living the values of the Catholic church. And, in many ways, I still do.
Frances Kissling: You have developed into a major leader on the issue of reproductive rights and abortion, and a leader of women. Lots of things have happened in the 19 years you have led NARAL Pro-Choice America. You've changed enormously as a person, you had certain innate talents and wisdom, but you've become stronger, wiser, more skilled at being a leader. What does leadership mean to you now? What are the qualities of leadership? What would you say to a younger person who is moving up towards leadership?
Kate Michelman: The other day a woman at a reception said, "I'm so honored to meet you. You have been such a role model for me since I was in law school 15 years ago." I have to admit that I am always a little surprised when I hear that. I don't view myself through that lens. It's not that I don't recognize I have a leadership role and that I've been in the public eye and that I've had some successes. I view myself the way I always viewed myself.
And she wants to scream from the rooftops, "I am a pro-life person!"
Frances Kissling: The Clinton campaign defined NARAL as a powerhouse.Who says Catholic values were slighted by the Clinton administration?
Kate Michelman: President Clinton's veto of the ban on abortion -- twice, the five executive orders he signed his first day in office, among them lifting the Global Gag Rule, overturning the Mexico City policy, lifting the ban on RU-486, all of these were a product of the work we did. And those five executive orders were written by NARAL's legal director, Dawn Johnsen.
Frances Kissling : And you're a good cook too.Note to Kate: Check out Eichmann's recipe for barbecued baby back ribs.
Kate Michelman: I love to cook.
Frances Kissling: What's next for you?
Kate Michelman: I haven't defined that absolutely yet. But first I want to lend myself to electing a prochoice president. ... On a personal level, I also want to indulge that "grandmother" part of me.
Catholic girls tend to go in for that.
Frances Kissling: When you die and arrive at the pearly gates, what would you like God to say to you?
Kate Michelman: That I was a good person.
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