The Vatican has called on German Catholic bishops to make a clear decision within the next two months about whether they will support Catholic involvement in abortion counseling centers, the radio station Suedwestfunk reported June 24.

The report cited a letter sent to German bishops by the Vatican's Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for Doctrines of Faith.

The head of the German episcopacy, Karl Lehmann, a bishop in the western city of Mainz, went to Rome for secret talks on the controversial issue, the report said.

At a two-day conference in Mainz in January, the German bishops had agreed to a papal request to stop issuing certificates from abortion centers that serve as proof that women received counselling--a legal requirement before an abortion can go ahead.

But the bishops stressed that the 260 counselling centers run by the Catholic Church would not change their practice until the end of the year. The church-run centers make up the minority of the total of 1,600 across the country.

In April, a working group set up by the bishops began studying the Church's stance on abortion.

Lehmann, who is chairing the working group, said an interim report would be published on the group's findings later in the year to coincide with a meeting of bishops in Fulda, eastern Germany.

Abortion in Germany may be performed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if the woman has a certificate showing that she has visited a counselling center.

The certificate is not itself an authorization to terminate a pregnancy, but is the necessary proof that a woman has first sought counselling.

The Pope believes certification in effect aids abortions and wants to stop the German church from postponing a decision on the matter, according to the radio report.

-- Nando.net

Dr. Andrew Harris is running for the State Senate seat now held by Vernon Boozer

Dr. Andrew Harris decided to challenge Vernon Boozer for his State Senate seat when the 9th District Republican, on February 25, moved to send a bill back to committee.

The bill was SB 145, 'Partial-Birth Abortions--Prohibition.' The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, voting 8-3, had given it a favorable report, and it came to the Senate floor with commitments from a majority of Senate members.

Rather than permitting debate and a vote on the bill, however, Senator Boozer moved to recommit it to committee--a move which succeeded with the aid of three turncoat senators, and which effectively killed the bill.

Dr. Harris had considered running for the Senate seat before, but Boozer's action, he said, was his 'decision-point--it was like a switch had been flicked on.'

His pro-life stance offers a sharp contrast to the stance of the Senator who, in addition to his machinations against the partial-birth abortion bill, also voted this year against two amendments that would have restricted state funding of abortions, and against a bill to ban assisted suicide.

'I'm pro-life along the lines of the doctrine of the Catholic Church,' declared the Cockeysville physician. He is opposed to the death penalty and physician-assisted suicide.

Joe Boteler, Republican candidate for House of Delegates, 8th District, manned the pro-life booth at the Johns Hopkins Fair in April with his wife Betty and daughter Anna

Harris knows that wresting the Republican nomination from Boozer, who is Senate minority leader, will not be easy: 'He's a very powerful man; very few people can be found to run against him. Clearly, I can't win the election on one point.'

His platform includes creating tax incentives for local businesses, supporting right-to-work legislation, fighting all tax increases on families, restoring parental control over their children's education, and eliminating parole for violent offenders.

A practicing physician at Johns Hopkins for 18 years, Dr. Harris is currently an associate professor of Obstetric Anesthesiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Andy and his wife Cookie have four children, aged 2 to 14. He is a member of and active volunteer at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Cockeysville. He has served on the Parish Council and was vice-president of St. Joseph's Home School Association.

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