NEW YORK — A member of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People says she's proud of her efforts to promote and expand abortion through political action.

But counselors who work with teens say that her position is incompatible with the protection of children. In abortion, not only are unborn children abused — they say teen mothers are, too.

Attorney Pamela Hayes is one of twelve members who were appointed to the National Review board formed by the bishops in 2002. It oversees compliance with sexual abuse and child protection policies.

“I've contributed to a lot of pro-choice candidates, and so what? So what?” Hayes told the Register. “What are they going to do about it? If they don't like it, then don't put me on the board. If they've got a problem with that, you tell them they've got a problem.”

She spoke in harsh terms about U.S. bishops who have suggested that Catholics vet the abortion platforms of politicians before voting and expressed enthusiastic support for the promise of fetal stem-cell research to “expand life of living.”

Hayes was responding to a recent report that said she had donated to Emily's List, the single-issue political-action committee whose sole purpose is to elect pro-abortion politicians. The story also revealed $2,000 in donations to the John Kerry for President campaign and two $250 gifts to pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Hayes said the story also failed to mention numerous other pro-abortion causes and candidates to which she has contributed.

“They haven't a clue how much money I've given to her,” Hayes said of Clinton in an interview Oct. 21. “I've given her way more than that, and I mean a lot more. In addition, I was on her finance committee and raised substantial amounts of money for her.”

Hayes characterized support for abortion as the key political issue for her. “If they're pro-choice and they're Democrat, they're my kind of candidate,” said Hayes, who grew up Catholic, attended Catholic schools in Manhattan and belongs to Manhattan's St. Aloysius Parish.

Hayes expressed her pro-abortion agenda on the heels of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ announcement of five new members who will join her on the board to replace former and outgoing members Charles Keating, Robert Bennett, Anne Burke, William Burleigh and Leon Panetta.

Federal Election Commission records reveal that Bennett and Panetta also donate to pro-abortion candidates, and Panetta voted for abortion funding in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bill Ryan, deputy director of communications for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said neither he nor other officials at the conference would comment about the pro-abortion views expressed by Hayes.

“It would be inappropriate to comment on the views of an individual board member,” Ryan told the Register.

The Register contacted the office of Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the bishops conference, and was told he was unreachable in Rome. The Register also left messages for Msgr. William Fay, general secretary of the bishops conference, and Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, director of communication for the conference, and was told both were unavailable for comment.

Abortion and Abuse

Georgette Forney, who had an abortion when she was 16, has counseled hundreds of girls who suffer from post-abortion psychological trauma.

Her own abortion led her down a path of drugs, alcohol and self abuse that she says is common today among girls as young as 12 who are getting impregnated by older men who pay for abortions.

She describes a cycle of sexual abuse perpetuated by the abortion industry, and urged the National Review Board to oppose it.

“Young girls who engage in sexual activity are looking for affirmation. Older men who want to have sex with them know how to exploit that,” says Forney, 44, of Pittsburgh. “Abortion makes this easier for the perpetrators. If the victim gets pregnant, typically she follows the perpetrator's lead and lays herself out on the table at an abortion clinic, completely clueless as to what's about to happen to her. At 16, I had no idea they were going to put a vacuum hose in my body and suck a baby out. They just did it.”

Molly White, a post-abortion counselor in Belton, Texas, also warned that abortion and abuse are related. She tells of a girl in Texas who, starting when she was 14, was impregnated at least three times by one teacher who convinced her each time to get an abortion.

“There's no question today that the abortion industry helps facilitate the sexual exploitation of very young girls,” White said. “One would not expect someone on a board that's concerned with sexual exploitation of minors to be championing the abortion industry's rights.”

Abortion also kills a child, said Dolores Grier, president of Black Catholics Against Abortion. Grier, a New Yorker, knows the review board member personally. She said it's inappropriate that Hayes or anyone else engaged in pro-abortion activities be chosen to serve on a board for the protection of children. She says the abortion industry is rooted in racism and kills a disproportionately high number of black children who should be protected by the Catholic Church.

Asked Grier: “How can you be a Catholic, in accord with Catholic Church teachings — which are pro-life — and favor abortion rights while serving on a board that's supposed to protect children?”

Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.