WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A campaign video released yesterday by the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign includes an image of Mother Teresa with then-First Lady Mrs. Clinton. The national Catholic-based advocacy group Fidelis called on the campaign to remove the image from the video. "It is wholly inappropriate, disrespectful and disturbing that Hillary Clinton is using an image of Blessed Mother Teresa as a political tool, especially given their radically different views on abortion," said Fidelis President Joseph Cella.
"Mother Teresa tirelessly fought to protect unborn children, while Hillary Clinton staunchly supports abortion on demand in all nine months of pregnancy, including partial birth abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion," he said. "Out of respect to Mother Teresa, and the Missionaries of Charity strict guidelines for the use of Mother's image, we call on the Hillary Clinton campaign to immediately remove her image from their campaign video."
At approximate 2:26 into the video, the former President says, "Hillary in effect, was the face of America…in India" with a photo of Hillary waving alongside Blessed Teresa. The video then goes directly to a clip of the former First Lady's address at the 1995 Beijing Conference, where a push was made to declare abortion a fundamental "human right."
In 1999, Hillary Clinton addressed a UN forum at the Hague aimed at increasing funding and protecting the right to abortion worldwide saying, "Government has no place in personal decisions about whether to bring a child into the world."
Mother Teresa by contrast, abhorred the international abortion policies of the UN, and sent a letter to the 1995 Beijing Conference in which she wrote, "That special power of loving that belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother. Motherhood is the gift of God to women…Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion …. No job, no plans, no possessions, no idea of "freedom" can take the place of love."
Cella stated: "As a courtesy, I have faxed a letter to Sister Nirmala, the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, and suggested she may wish to look into this matter and request that the party cease and desist in its unauthorized use of Mother's image."
Fidelis is a Catholic-based organization working with people of faith across the country to defend and promote the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and the right to religious liberty by electing pro-life, pro-family and pro-religious liberty candidates, supporting the confirmation of judges, and promoting and defending laws faithful to the Constitution of the United States.
The video ad can be viewed on YouTube by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9U0ZNteqdw
