By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
A women’s leadership forum featuring Christine Todd Whitman at an all-girls Catholic school in Princeton Township has been canceled because of the former governor’s pro-choice abortion views.
Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, a pre-school through grade 12 institution under the authority of the Diocese of Trenton’s Bishop John M. Smith, last week withdrew an invitation requesting Ms. Whitman’s participation in a “Women in Leadership Forum” planned for Monday, at the behest of the bishop.
Ms. Whitman, who served as New Jersey’s first female governor, from 1994 to 2001, ran on a pro-choice platform supporting abortion rights for women during her political career.
”Gov. Whitman has made it her position over the years that she is pro-choice, and so supports a position totally contrary to Catholic teaching on our moral responsibility to respect and sustain human life from conception to natural death,” said Bishop Smith, in a statement withdrawing the invitation, dated Sept. 23.
Days later the school’s headmistress sent out e-mails to parents, notifying them of the cancellation of Monday’s event.
”As a Sacred Heart School, we respect and honor the views of the Roman Catholic Church,” Headmistress Frances de la Chapelle said in her e-mail.
The headmistress expressed regret over a missed educational opportunity for students and attendees.
”We are saddened that our students, and the wider community, will not be enriched by the lively discussion and critical thinking that surely would have resulted from Gov. Whitman’s lecture on leadership, values, and the environment,” wrote Sister de la Chapelle. “We constantly strive to educate our girls to be critical, independent thinkers.”
Bishop Smith’s decision to withdraw Ms. Whitman’s invitation, which caused the cancellation of the event, was based on existing church policy regarding individuals holding pro-abortion views, according to Rayanne Bennett, spokesperson for the Diocese of Trenton.
She said the church takes the position that Catholic institutions are not to offer speaking invitations to persons with pro-choice views, and public honors should not be bestowed on those individuals.
”Having someone like Gov. Whitman who is pro-choice (speaking at Catholic institutions) sends the wrong message to the very people we seek to serve,” Ms. Bennett said.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Whitman, who contacted the former governor Thursday, relayed her reaction to the cancellation.
”I was happy to oblige the school’s request that I speak to their students about leadership, and regret that I will be unable to do so,” Ms. Whitman stated.
Like the governor, some parents with students attending Stuart reacted with dismay to the cancellation.
Linda Bonnell, a Catholic parent with two children attending Stuart, said Ms. Whitman’s views on abortion had little if anything to do with Monday’s event.
”I certainly would have expected that Gov. Whitman wouldn’t even have raised those issues,” Ms. Bonnell said.
The event would have provided a good opportunity for students to listen to a successful female leader in Ms. Whitman, the state’s first female governor, according to Ms. Bonnell.
”I found it appalling,” said Ms. Bonnell. “This school is supposed to be about empowering young women.”
Ms. Bonnell said the event should be held elsewhere, at another institution in the Princeton area where Stuart students and other people could attend.
One parent questioning the withdrawal of Ms. Whitman’s invitation cited previous Women in Leadership Forum speakers, like Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman and National Public Radio contributor Cokie Roberts.
At times, Ms. Roberts has criticized legislation banning partial-birth abortion and the church’s stance on abortion, birth control, and homosexuality.
Ms. Tilghman has advocated for federal funding for stem cell research utilizing human embryos, while the Catholic Church condemns the practice in a manner similar to its stance on abortion and the sanctity of human life.
Officials from the diocese chose not to comment on the positions of prior participants in the Stuart leadership forum.

