TIFFIN--In a statement released to the media April 7, the Tiffin Franciscan Sisters affirmed their opposition to abortion. The statement was in response to Bishop Leonard P. Blair's Catholic Chronicle column decrying the order’s action of signing a letter to Congress written by Network, a Catholic social justice lobby based in Washington, D.C.

In his column – “Health care and a house divided” published online March 30 and in print April 11 -- the bishop said that the Network letter, signed by dozens of women's religious communities in the United States, “pulled the rug out from under” the efforts of pro-life legislators to uphold the federal protections against abortion in the recently passed health care legislation. Bishop Blair pointed out that the sisters’ letter was described by the largest abortion provider in the United States, Planned Parenthood, as a “brave and important move,” worthy of Planned Parenthood’s “gratitude and support.”

The bishop also called “upon the Tiffin Franciscans and all the other communities of sisters who signed the Network statement to rededicate themselves to the Catholic teaching reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council that ‘abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes’ and to defending with ‘maximum determination,’ as Pope John Paul said, ‘the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights,’ including the right to health.”

The April 7 statement from the Tiffin Franciscans Sisters acknowledges signing the letter and confirms their stance on life issues: “The Tiffin Franciscans have always been and continue to be pro-life, against abortion, and dedicated to the poor, who need health care.”

Further, the statement quotes Tiffin Franciscan Sister Jacquelyn Doepker, community minister: “The bishop’s statement implies that the Tiffin Franciscans are not dedicated to the Catholic teaching against abortion. We have always opposed abortion. We have sent sisters to the Right to Life march in Washington for many years, we have lobbied our congressional representatives, we have participated in prayer vigils, and we have personally supported pregnant women so that they would not have an abortion.”

In a statement released April 8, Bishop Blair said that he welcomed “the reaffirmation by the Sisters of Saint Francis, Tiffin, Ohio, of their commitment to life issues, including a commitment against abortion. This is an important and reassuring clarification in light of their recent signature of the Network letter to Congress.”