Take back Obama Norte Dame invite

An open letter to John Jenkins, president, University of Notre Dame: I am writing to express my objection to your invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver this year's commencement address to Notre Dame's graduating class. As a 1980 alumnus and as one active in the pro-life Movement, I am saddened, disappointed and disheartened by your decision.

Abortion is arguably the defining issue of our time, and President Obama the most prominent advocate of abortion rights in our country. His devotion to preserving these rights has been well-documented. So has been the teaching of the Catholic Church.

The day after the election, my son's Catholic high school called a special assembly to address the concerns of the students, so upset they were about what this victory would mean for the unborn. An election is a teachable moment, to be sure. So is a commencement address. And what have we learned at this moment? We have come to the realization that Notre Dame now honors the chief defender of abortion rights in this country and around the world.

And what of lasting value will our graduates learn from our president on May 17? The day before the commencement, about a dozen women will enter my neighborhood abortion facility to have their unborn children killed. It is for their sake, for those whose lives still hang in the balance, that I object to your decision to confer honors upon President Obama at the 2009 commencement exercises.

"Our Lady" is our truest model of what it means to be open to life, and so the irony of these commencement exercises will be both sad and troubling. You have effectively given the university's stage to the standard-bearer of the culture of death in the U.S. The disconnect is unsettling, and many are asking - why?

Dr. Anthony J. Clishem

Lombard