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I'm Pro-Choice

Bustamante as Abortion-Friendly as Gray Davis

By Maria Kennedy

Among those running for governor in California's recall election on October 7 is Democratic lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante. The historic recall election has set the stage for the possible rise of the first Mexican American governor in the state of California in over a hundred years. As lieutenant governor, Bustamante has been feuding with Davis since the governor showed reluctance to drop the state's lawsuit against Proposition 187, the California law that denied most government services to illegal aliens in California. Because of the friction between governor and lieutenant governor, it was not surprising when Bustamante decided to enter the race for governor -- in spite of Davis' insistence that no Democrat enter the race.

Bustamante's rise from the dusty fields of the San Joaquin Valley to the corridors of power in Sacramento has been remarkable. Yet along the way, in his quest to leave the small town of San Joaquin, Bustamante has shunned the traditional values that so many Latino families cherish.

On its website, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) quotes Bustamante as saying, "I'm pro-choice. While I served as Speaker of the California State Assembly, I thwarted attempts to limit a woman's right to choose." NARAL goes on to say that Bustamante "opposes legislation to prohibit abortion procedures, spousal notification/consent, and mandatory waiting periods." NARAL points out that Bustamante is in support of "making available alternatives to surgical abortion, such as RU 486, and supports public funding for abortion services for low income women." In addition, Bustamante is quoted on the web site as saying, "I was a strong supporter of legislation to require health insurers to cover prescription contraceptives under their health plans and efforts to maintain full public funding for woman's reproductive services."

Some of those who knew him growing up recall a young Bustamante attending Mass with his family. Ruth Carvello, who knew Bustamante during his youth, remembers him attending Tranquility High School in her hometown of Tranquility. "He lived in San Joaquin, but he came to high school in Tranquility," she said in a telephone interview. According to Carvello, Bustamante and his family attended St. Paul's Catholic Church in Tranquility as well as St. Vincent de Paul in nearby San Joaquin. "He [Bustamante] grew up in San Joaquin, but he also attended Mass in Tranquility," said Carvello. "His father was a barber in San Joaquin; we knew the family through church and also through school. Back then, it was a really small school, with about 300 students." Carvello said that she doesn't remember much about Bustamante other than he was just another local boy. The communities of Tranquility and San Joaquin are "farm communities," Carvello noted. "We have a blend of Latinos; some are very Americanized, some come from different parts of Mexico and have different ways."

Growing up, Cora Lopez of San Joaquin also knew Bustamante. "He went to school with my brothers. My dad was his sponsor for his confirmation." According to Lopez, Bustamante was an altar boy at St. Paul's Catholic Church. "He's three years younger than I am and he did things with my brothers. I think his mother taught in the CCD program."

According to Bustamante's web site, after he graduated from Tranquility High School, he attended Fresno City College and later transferred to California State University at Fresno, where he became a member of the leftist radical group MEChA: Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán. In 1977, Bustamante became summer youth employment program director at the Fresno Training and Employment Commission. In 1983 he became a field representative for Congressman Richard Lehman. Later, he joined Assemblyman Bruce Bronzan's staff as a field representative. In 1993, Bustamante won a special election for the 31st assembly district. The following year, he was elected to a full term. Three years later he became the first Latino Speaker of the California Assembly. In 1998, Bustamante became lieutenant governor.

After his swearing in as lieutenant governor, Bustamante was honored with a Mass at Sacramento's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, concelebrated by the Rev. Vincent Brady and Monsignor James Peterson. The Mass was hosted by the California Latino Legislative Caucus (a group that supports abortion and homosexual rights) and La Cooperativa Campesina de California. Those attending the Mass comprised a virtual who's who of California's Latino Democratic establishment.

But the Mass held one embarrassing glitch for Bustamante.

When the faithful were asked to come up to the podium and offer the intercessory prayers, one pro-life activist prayed that the newly elected Bustamante renounce his support for abortion. "Let us also pray now that Cruz Bustamante and all politicians, especially Catholic politicians, abandon their pro-abortion advocacy which makes ceremonies like this frequently sacrilegious," said the activist. According to witnesses who attended the Mass, there were cries of "shut up, sit down" coming from the pews. At least a third of the attendees left the Mass after the intercessory prayer, including Bustamante and his entourage, according to press accounts. This year, after winning a second term, Bustamante did not have a Mass.

During his years in office in California, Bustamante has consistently voted for abortion and homosexual rights. Jan Carroll of California ProLife Council noted, "he has consistently voted pro-abortion.

"Cruz Bustamante fits into the Democratic Party line of being a pro-abort," said Bob Cielnicky of Life Priority Network. "He is to the extreme of funding partial birth abortion, which kills a baby on its birthday. In the assembly, he has had an almost perfect pro-abortion voting record." According to documents provided by Cielnicky, Bustamante was a speaker at a Lawyers for Choice fundraiser for Planned Parenthood on March 20, 1997.

The Catholic Church has addressed the issue of the widespread support for abortion rights by Catholic politicians such as Bustamante and his Latino Democrat colleagues in Sacramento. Last January, the Vatican issued a document, "A Doctrinal Note On Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life," stating that Catholic politicians must take into account their Catholic faith when voting on issues such as abortion. "A kind of cultural relativism exists today, evident in the conceptualization and defense of an ethical pluralism, which sanctions the decadence and disintegration of reason and the principles of the natural moral law," said the document. "Furthermore, it is not unusual to hear the opinion expressed in the public sphere that such ethical pluralism is the very condition for democracy. As a result, citizens claim complete autonomy with regard to their moral choices, and lawmakers maintain that they are respecting this freedom of choice by enacting laws which ignore the principles of natural ethics and yield to ephemeral cultural and moral trends, as if every possible outlook on life were of equal value. At the same time, the value of tolerance is disingenuously invoked when a large number of citizens, Catholics among them, are asked not to base their contribution to society and political life -- through the legitimate means available to everyone in a democracy -- on their particular understanding of the human person and the common good. When political activity comes up against moral principles that do not admit of exception, compromise or derogation, the Catholic commitment becomes more evident and laden with responsibility."

Bill Lucido, communications director for Fresno's Bishop John Steinbock, said that Steinbock takes the educational approach to Catholic politicians who do not follow the Church's teachings. When asked if the bishop would weigh in on Bustamante's possible occupation of the governor's mansion, all the while supporting abortion and homosexual rights, Lucido said, "no, I don 't think the bishop will weigh in. His approach is to educate the voters about abortion and let them make the decision on how to vote. He would try to instruct the faithful as to what our moral values are."

One priest who works with Latinos in Los Angeles noted that Bustamante needed to learn his faith better. "He obviously hasn't integrated his faith and his public life," said the priest, who asked not to be named. "It would seem to me that this is the type of person to whom the recent document from the Holy See is addressed."

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