Abp. Dolan rallies against abortions

Describing the abortion rate in New York City as “downright chilling,” Archbishop Timothy Dolan headlined a January 6 news conference in which religious leaders called for action to curtail the practice.

Last year there were 87,000 abortions performed in New York City. That figure accounts for 41% of all reported pregnancies. Although the number of abortions was down last year, the percentage of pregnancies ending in abortion in New York remained nearly twice the national average.

At the press conference, sponsored by the Chiaroscuro Foundation, participants pointed out that the abortion run among black women is substantially higher: over 60% of all pregnancies end in abortion.

Acknowledging the difficulty of changing existing laws that allow abortion on demand, Archbishop Dolan said that religious leaders would work to help women continue their pregnancies. “Let’s see to it that abortion is rare,” he said.

The archbishop noted that the New York archdiocese offers support to any women needing help with a problem pregnancy. That policy will continue, he said.

Sean Fieler, the chairman of the Chiaroscuro Foundation, announced that his group will devote $1 million to a 2011 campaign to discourage abortions. Such action is overdue, he told the press conference: “Not only are we not addressing this human tragedy; we are not even talking about it.”