What does anyone think of this?
Church to mark Roe v. Wade with burial of aborted fetuses
written by: Jinah Kim (9NEWS Reporter) and Dan Werner (Web producer)
Created: 1/22/2005 1:41 PM MST - Updated: 1/22/2005 2:06 PM MST
9NEWS Reporter Jinah Kim says a Boulder church plans to bury as many as 1,000 fetus remains to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. 10 p.m. Jan. 21, 2005.
Some members and supporters of the Sacred Heart of Mary Church, in Boulder, hold ceremonies to remember the loss of aborted fetuses.
BOULDER - Some say it's an outrageous exploitation, but others say it's their way of respecting life. On the eve of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a church in Boulder becomes the focus of a controversy.
The Sacred Heart of Mary Church has quietly buried the cremated ashes of thousands of aborted fetuses for nearly a decade. But, the rest of Boulder is only finding out about it now, and the news has some people very upset.
"Who do these people think they are, imposing their religious values on somebody else?" said Dr. Warren Hern, director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic.
Hern said he is outraged by what the church is doing, not necessarily for himself, but for the scores of women whose trauma has been re-exposed.
"All day I've received calls from women in agony wanting to know, 'is this tissue from them being used in the ceremony?'" Hern said.
But Susan LaVelle supports the church's actions and says it's their way of respecting life.
"We believe that they're given life at inception, so we want to give them dignity at death," LaVelle said. "We think all people should have proper burials."
On Sunday, the church will bury as many as 1,000 more fetus remains to mark the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
LaVelle said the purpose of the ceremony is to give people a place to mourn lost life, not to attack those who have had abortions.
"I would never condemn any woman or judge them," LaVelle said. "We're here to say we'll walk with you, sit with you, we'll cry with you."
But Dr. Hern said he fears the publicity over the ceremony will set back Colorado's progress on abortion rights.
"I think that this is an outrageous exploitation of private grief," Hern said. "It's a macabre death ritual, it's a macabre public spectacle."
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