C-FAM Attacked in a New Report Issued by “Catholics” for a Free Choice

By Austin Ruse | 2001

     In a just released report, the pro-abortion group "Catholics" for a Free Choice charges the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) with disrupting UN meetings and attempting to hide its connections to other pro-life groups. Bad Faith at the UN: Drawing Back the Curtain on the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute charges that C-FAM is no more than a front for Human Life International (HLI), the Virginia-based pro-life group that is an ongoing financial supporter of C-FAM.

     The report also alleges that C-FAM works to undermine the UN, quoting from the Friday Fax and from the public speeches of C-FAM president Austin Ruse. Ruse said to the New York Post last year that, "They (UN resolutions) are a club used to beat small nations. Small nations are told by big ones if they don't conform to these standards, they risk losing aid money." In a UN lobbying alert C-FAM reported, "It was there (at the Child Summit) that radicals attempted to separate children from their parents and from the Churches." The report does not explain how these and other quotes undermine the UN.

     "Catholics" for a Free Choice also charges C-FAM with intentionally disrupting UN meetings. Since pro-family successes at Beijing+5 last year, UN radicals like "Catholics" for a Free Choice have made increasingly wild charges that members of the conservative coalition have among other things, invaded feminist meetings, thrown water on radical lobbyists, and stalked feminists. All of these charges are unproven and have been repeatedly denied by the pro-family coalition. Among the more unusual charges is that C-FAM encourages women to attend UN meetings and intimidate others "by praying."

     Much of the information in the report comes from court documents filed by a disgruntled former employee who was fired by C-FAM three years ago. The employee sued C-FAM for, among other things, interfering with an employment contract, which the employee was never able to produce. The New York courts summarily dismissed the charges, which cost C-FAM more than $40,000 to defend. It is unknown how these documents found their way to "Catholics" for a Free Choice. In them it is revealed that the entire 1998 budget for C-FAM was less than $150,000 per year, which is significantly less than the $225,000 yearly salary of "Catholics" for a Free Choice president Frances Kissling.

     "A quick glance at the report shows no less than 33 errors of fact", said C-FAM president Austin Ruse. "First, they couldn't get our name right, calling us CAFHRI, which we haven't used in more than two years. They also say C-FAM has applied for official UN NGO status and we never have. They say that in college I demonstrated against the Vietnam War even though they correctly report I started college after it ended. They say I studied Jewish mysticism and I don't even know what that is. What's really going on is they are sore at us for harming their silly campaign to kick the Church out of the UN. It is an honor to be attacked by such dubious anti-Catholic bigots who have been repeatedly condemned by the Catholic Bishops. Our donors could not be more pleased."

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