This spring before campaign season starts in earnest, GOOD Morning Wilton will run election stories and submissions from candidates on Fridays. Materials can be submitted via email to editor@goodmorningwilton.com or through the “Submit a Story” link on every webpage at GOODMorningWilton.com.
To the Editor:
Given recent news on the issue of reproductive rights, I’m reminded of a speech by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo, a pro-choice Catholic who was personally opposed to abortion, delivered at Notre Dame University in 1984.
“The Catholic public official lives the political truth,” Cuomo said, “that to assure our freedom we must allow others the same freedom, even if occasionally it produces conduct by them which we would hold to be sinful… We know that the price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that they might someday force theirs on us. This freedom is the fundamental strength of our unique experiment in government.” Preservation of that unique experiment, Cuomo said, must be our “pervasive and dominant concern.”
It is the wisest thing a politician has said about legislating against “sin” or for “morality.”
It should serve as a litmus test this year for every candidate for statewide office, including legislative candidates Toni Boucher, Kim Healy, Ceci Maher and Keith Denning:
Are you committed to preserving America’s “unique experiment,” or will you support those who would impose their beliefs on the women of this state?
Bob Carney