Aaron Oliver thinks it’s possible to be pro-life and a loyal Democrat. But party leaders want him to resign. / Courtesy of Aaron Oliver
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 2, 2022 / 07:30 am (CNA).
His fellow Democrats call him a traitor (and worse) and the leaders of his party have pressured him to resign.
What has Aaron “A.J.” Oliver, the Democratic municipal chairman in his New Jersey hometown, done to deserve such scorn?
He’s pro-life.
Never mind that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and other prominent Democratic leaders have professed tolerance for pro-life Democrats.
Or that Oliver, an Episcopal priest and New Jersey Army National Guard chaplain, says he’s a faithful Democrat soldier in every other respect.
“I’m a loyal Democrat, a lifetime Democrat,” he told CNA. “Many of us think that there’s not an inconsistency with being pro-life and a Democrat. We think the party should be the open tent that it claims to be.”
The flaps of the tent appear to be drawn tight in New Jersey when it comes to abortion, however, Oliver has found, even though Pelosi and other Democratic leaders insist there’s no litmus test on abortion. Pelosi famously cited her own “devout Catholic family” in 2017 as the reason for her openness to Democrats who don’t share her staunch support of abortion rights.
“Most of those people — my family, extended family — are not pro-choice,” she said. “You think I’m kicking them out of the Democratic Party?”
Democratic leaders in the Garden State have taken a different approach with Oliver.
A party ‘betrayal’?
The 41-year-old Morristown resident was elected to a two-year term in June as chairman of the New Jersey suburb’s municipal Democratic committee, an unpaid position. The committee’s chief role is to recruit and support strong Democratic candidates, Oliver said.
Until very recently, party leaders saw Oliver as that kind of candidate, having initially supported his run in 2021 for the Morris County Board of Commissioners, a GOP stronghold for many years.
His ultimately unsuccessful bid ran into trouble after a video surfaced of him at an event sponsored by Democrats for Life of America (DFLA), an organization that opposes abortion and promotes pro-life Democratic candidates. A public interest group called NJ11th for Change swiftly retracted its endorsement less than a week before the Nov. 2 election.
“Given the revelation that Oliver’s position is far removed from what most of us would consider ‘pro-woman’ or ‘feminist,’ we feel strongly that continuing to endorse this candidate would be a betrayal of our members’ values, which are and have always been overwhelmingly pro-choice,” the group’s co-executive directors said at the time.
In December, the Morris County Democratic Committee called on Oliver to resign his municipal post. The county organization said it was its “duty to choose representatives and party leaders who will support, protect and expand equitable and quality access to reproductive rights in New Jersey and help make that a reality for every American.” More recently, the committee Oliver chairs issued a “no confidence” vote against him.
But Oliver is standing firm. He says party leaders were aware of his pro-life views prior to his run for commission and still thought he’d be good candidate, “especially since the county government doesn’t vote on legislation involving abortion,” he added. Yet know they want him out as Morristown chairman.
“I don’t think that’s a sufficient reason to resign, I really don’t,” he said.
“And to be honest with you, many of us are sick and tired of being bullied and marginalized for a matter of conscience like this, for defending a consistent life ethic … and we don’t want to take it anymore.”
Embracing a ‘Whole Life’ approach
Oliver’s story illustrates not only the hardened abortion stance of the Democratic Party but also the diversity of the pro-life movement.
Oliver, who is gay and a staunch Democrat, witnessed that heterogeneity himself when he attended a Democrats for Life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1 during oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case. Among those advocating for the unborn that day were secularists, atheists, feminists, and members of the LGBTQ community.
“It’s not just religious people that are pro-life,” Oliver said. “I think that the pro-life movement is growing. It’s diverse in a lot of ways, I mean ethnically, politically, as far as age, religion. I was happy to see that.”
Nor is the pro-life movement strictly focused on abortion, he added. Democrats for Life’s own “Whole Life” philosophy embraces a range of issues, he noted.
“We talk about issues like euthanasia, and capital punishment, and protecting women — providing real choice for them when it comes to pregnancy support (and) reducing the maternity mortality rate,” he said. “And our (DFLA) movement is actually led by women, so the false dichotomy, (that) it’s a men versus women thing, I think is kind of a false narrative.”
Extreme NJ bill a ‘turning point’
Faith and service have been running themes in Oliver’s life.
Raised in a Methodist family, he says his brother and several other relatives served in the military. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, he enlisted in the New Jersey Army National Guard in 2003, joining an infantry unit. Meanwhile, his spiritual journey led him to join the Orthodox Church, and after discerning a vocation, he became an Orthodox priest and a U.S. Army chaplain.
The journey wasn’t over. He left the Orthodox Church and was accepted as an Episcopal priest in 2012. A couple of years later he went on active duty with the Army for five years, spending some of that time overseas. He rejoined the National Guard as a chaplain and captain in 2020.
He says his pro-life position evolved over time.
“I certainly haven’t reached this point overnight,” Oliver told CNA. “I’ve always had pro-life inklings … I’ve always wanted to look out for the vulnerable and the marginalized. And I started to see unborn children as being vulnerable and marginalized, and I started asking more questions, like, ‘Why aren’t we standing up for them and supporting them?’”
Those questions ultimately led him to Democrats for Life of America, which states on its website that “every human being is worthy of dignity and respect, from fertilization to natural death.”
But Oliver says the real turning point for him politically was Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s effort to pass the New Jersey Reproductive Freedom Act.
Crafted as a hedge against the possible decision in the Dobbs case that would overturn the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, the legislation would codify an unrestricted right to abortion up to the moment of birth, while removing the state’s longstanding conscience protection for medical professionals who object to abortion.
Additionally, the act authorizes non-physicians to perform certain abortions, and requires insurers to cover abortions with no out-of-pocked costs. It also mandates an annual allocation of state taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood.
“Those provisions terrified me, honestly,” Oliver said. “I started talking to DFLA and we started a movement to protest it, which I think was pretty effective.” After enough Democrats were persuaded the legislation was too extreme, the legislation stalled in the state’s legislature last year, though Murphy, a Catholic, is pushing to get it passed in 2022.
Oliver said the extreme nature of the legislation “galvanized” his thinking on the abortion issue.
“At first I was kind of afraid to talk about it, because I don’t want to be accused of being anti-woman or not being sensitive to people who have to make that difficult decision,” he said. “But then I realized that … this is the civil rights issue of our time.”
Oliver says some of his fellow Democrats have privately told them that they share his pro-life views, but they’re too afraid to buck the party. At the same time, Oliver says it disturbs him to hear some abortion rights proponents talk about the issue in a way that “goes beyond pro-choice to pro-abortion” and equates abortion with routine health care.
“I’m even starting to hear people say, ‘Yes, the fetus is a (human) life, but abortion is still OK,’” he said.
Oliver and the DFLA have their work cut out for them staving off the abortion legislation in New Jersey indefinitely. In addition to pressing for the act to be passed, Murphy found a way around the legislature when political appointees sitting on the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners agreed to allow nurses and midwives to perform first-trimester abortions, effective Dec. 6.
Kristen Day, DFLA’s executive director, calls Oliver a role model for pro-life Democrats, in the tradition of former Illinois congressman Dan Lipinski.
“I just have such respect for him, because when they went after him before, right before the election, he took the high road. He never called anybody names, he never got angry. He just laid out his case why he would be a good candidate, and all the things that he has done to support Democrats in New Jersey,” Day said of Oliver.
“So I think what they’re doing to him now is just really terrible. I mean, the names they’re calling him, the emails that they’re sending. It’s just not what the Democratic Party, (which) prides itself on diversity and inclusion, should be doing to someone who really cares about the party and wants to elect Democrats and who cares about feeding the poor, cares about … affordable health care and child care. I mean, he’s fighting for all of that. In addition, he wants to support pregnant moms and the right to parent,” Day said.
“New Jersey’s abortion numbers are an embarrassment,” Day added, referring to data from the Guttmacher Institute that place the state’s abortion rate among the highest in the U.S. “We should be doing more as a party to lower the abortion rate in New Jersey and provide women with real choice. And because he’s doing that, they’re trying to kick him out of the party.”
Oliver, who spent six weeks guarding the U.S. Capitol with his National Guard unit after the civil unrest on Jan. 6, isn’t sure what’s next for him, politically. Asked if he is considering switching to the Republican Party, Oliver said he would prefer to remain a Democrat, though his party isn’t making it easy for him.
In the meantime, he says his faith is helping him weather the adversity he faces now.
“My faith tells me that life begins at conception,” Oliver said. “So my Christian beliefs certainly inform my position on the issue. But they also allow me to hold firm on it, as well.
“They allow me to still advocate for life, even amidst all the criticism, and even hatred,” he said.
[…]
About the courageous Jennifer Roback Morse, yours truly recalls her vigorous testimony before the Legislature of the state of Washington in 2012, when legalization of gay “marriage” was on the docket, or on the table, or the bed, or whatever.
Testifying that same morning, here also was a quite handsome young man of twenty years, a poster child in white shirt and tie and whose parents divorced when he was twelve. After having been shaped by his father’s absence, he had recently reunited with his father–for whom he discovered that he now had a deep attachment. He would like to find an older man just like his father to intimately share the rest of his life. The bobble heads of legislators nodded in compassionate sympathy. Only moments before, in the crowded front of the chamber, two sympathetic male staffers, also in white shirts and ties, embraced each other with prolonged excitement, each chortling aloud without blushing, “I have ‘straight’ love. . . .”
The rest is history…
“In the regular November 2012 elections, voters for the first time approved the legalization of same-sex marriage by popular vote in three states: Maine, Maryland, and Washington [an unsuccessful referendum]. Maine’s law took effect on December 29, 2012. Maryland started allowing same-sex marriages on January 1, 2013. In Washington state, the first [FIRST!] licenses were distributed on December 6, with the first marriages on December 9 following the mandatory three-day waiting period [Wikipedia].”
Then, of course, the United States Supreme Court climbed in bed (5-4), reversing millennia of Civilization with the stroke of a pen, or whatever. Said Chief Justice John Roberts: “Celebrated today’s decision, but do not celebrate the Constitution.” https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/26/417720924/roberts-celebrate-todays-decision-but-do-not-celebrate-the-constitution
Well, I’m not surprised. The massive entertainment industry (even children’s entertainment), the artistic and creative industries (especially children’s authors of books), the political world, many influential companies that employ people at really good wages, and especially the academic community, along with many of the historically mainline churches (who seem to be bleeding members!) have all embraced and endorsed everything that the very powerful and visible Same Sex Lobby groups have presented as “facts”. These three social organizations, much more than the orthodox “religious world”, influence almost everyone, even devoted Christians.
I think that same sex couples can raise well-balanced children IF they include heterosexuals in their circles of friends and allow their children to spend time with coaches, teachers, friends, relatives, etc. who hold opposing views from them, and make it clear to the child that he/she is a unique individual who needs to follow the path that is really “them” and not try to be someone they are not. I think that’s tough for many younger people nowadays, who have swallowed the mantra that we can all “be all that we can be!”
I also think that’s tough for many “straight” (and LBGTQ+) parents who often expect their children to be something they’re not; e.g., very intelligent, or artistic, or “religious” or athletic (especially athletic!), or outgoing and popular, or contemplative and sensitive.
If SSA couples raise children who turn out to be well balanced it’s only through the Grace & Mercy of God, not because of their domestic circumstances.
It’s bad enough when a single parent has to raise a child without a mother or father due to death or desertion. Children can understand that. It’s entirely a different thing when a biological mother or father is purposely erased through an anonymous donor/surrogate.
Overturn Anthony Kennedy’s insane quackery woke-religion, which is absolutely abusive to all, especially children and young people.
Common Law [for the US the common law of England] conveyed to the legal mind traditions drawn from natural law, universally acknowledged legally observed standards, reasoned opinions, religious principles, stare decisis verdicts that were the basis for an ordered society.
As Chief Justice Roberts, Scalia, the other dissenting justices during the 2015 majority decision to permit same sex marriage, the Constitutional based understanding of marriage exclusively between a man and a woman, drawn from tradition, was struck down by a radical, irrational intrusion into that commonly held understanding.
It is the same as saying a man can be a woman, or that we cannot define what a woman is – which is exactly what has transpired since the 2015 Scotus decision. Logical or Right Reason has been undermined. Only a reversal of that decision can remove legality from that immoral madness. Unfortunately, ending the practice requires a moral conversion of our culture.
Catholicism in context must first put its own house in order regarding the trend toward normalizing homosexual behavior in house to be effective in reversing it in the general population. Otherwise homosexuality will lead to the destruction of mankind.
True, Father Peter. It is, in essence, discriminating against the essence of being, in essence, a Loving Husband or Wife, Father or Mother, in order to accommodate the engaging in or affirmation of sexual acts that regardless of the actors or the actors desire, even if the actors are a man and woman united in marriage as Husband and Wife, deny the Sanctity and Dignity of every Human Person, and are thus Physically, Psychologically, Spiritually, and Emotionally harmful. We can know through both Faith and reason, any follower of Jesus The Christ who desires to accommodate the engaging in or affirmation of demeaning sexual acts , which are disordered because they deny the Sanctity and Dignity of the marital act within The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and thus The Sanctity and Dignity of every Beloved Son or Daughter from the moment of conception to natural death, ipso facto separates oneself from The One Body Of Christ, due to the fact that Love, which is always rightly ordered to the personal and relational inherent Dignity of the persons existing in a relationship of Love, is devoid of every form of Lust.
“Catholicism in context must first put its own house in order regarding the trend toward normalizing homosexual behavior in house to be effective in reversing it in the general population. Otherwise homosexuality will lead to the destruction of mankind.”
Respectfully, Catholicism is ordered to The Word Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love Incarnate, Our Savior, Jesus, The Christ, thus Catholicism is in order and practiced by The Faithful, The One Body Of Christ, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost.
Those who deny Christ’s Teaching on Sexual Morality, having ipso facto defected from The Catholic Faith, until they repent and affirm Christ’s teaching , are not to be counted among The Faithful, least it appear one can remain in communion with Christ and His One , Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church, while denying The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ, Who Proceeds From The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ.
That divine ordering of the Mystical Body doesn’t ensure that all its members are living lives that reflect that order. That includes hierarchy. As such there’s sin in the Church today, the egregious sin of homosexuality. A faithful elect will remain to the end. In the end the Church teaches it is Christ who will be the victor of Satan and evil.
Natural Law, the reflexion of the Eternal Law as Aquinas teaches the Natural Law Within, refers to the innate ability to distinguish good from evil. We find it recognized by Cicero who said the law of nature is the same in Rome as it is in Athens.
It is prescient knowledge realized in the act of deliberation of a moral act. Which is why the Church says the Decalogue is a reminder God gave to Man through Moses. As a natural faculty we don’t require grace to apprehend the natural law, thus it’s the bedrock for conscience. Although grace assists in its apprehension and consistency in practice.
Apart from Natural Law there are laws or principles of behavior that surpass Natural Law and are revealed by the Holy Spirit. These revealed principles of behavior are those that are necessary for salvation and best recognized in Christ’s passion, and the willingness to suffer deficit to oneself for the good of others.
Tullius Cicero in De Legibus Book I says, “And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times”.
If the Ruth institute was founded for the purpose of defending traditional Christian marriage, would their endorsing any study pertaining to a defense of their position be a credible reason for believing it? Since we all tend to stack the deck in our favor there is little hope that their case is presented objectively. Is it likely that they would ever cite a study which came to opposite conclusions as being good or accurate? No not at all.
I am not making any statement about the mission or reputation of the Ruth Institute ( about this I am totally ignorant) , I’m only trying to make the point that it is very difficult if not impossible to defend our moral values by citing sociological studies. Professionals on both sides of the fence can come up with “studies “ which support their biases.
I am 100% pro traditional family values and I don’t need any study to confirm it and no number of opposing studies will ever change my mind. Period.
I think you might have it backward, James – the Ruth Institute isn’t endorsing the Regnerus study; the Regnerus study affirms the Ruth Institute’s positions. I’m no sociologist, and I haven’t poured over any of the data or read the study; but based on the commentary provided by the Cornell Sociologists from their Multiverse Analysis on Regnerus’ data, it sounds like they were hoping to discredit Regnerus’ study; but instead re-affirmed his result. That said, the point of the article seems to say that there is scholarly, robust research (even in the field of Sociology! and even from a school like The University of Texas!), that reaffirms the value of providing traditional marriages and family composition for the material welfare of offspring.
I think i remember that The Ruth Institute tries to help victims of the Sexual Revolution. Defending marriage would correlate with that goal I guess.
Surely you wouldn’t reject every study an organization like The Ruth Institute makes public on the grounds that studies with differing outcomes exist?
I’m cautious about these kind of things too but you’d have to look at the criteria and populations studied to make a comparison.
Studies and polls do mean something but they can also be set up for certain outcomes.
From an NCR article today:” Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., is founder and president of the Ruth Institute, which helps the victims of the Sexual Revolution recover from their experiences and become advocates for positive change.”
A premise for homosexuality’s universal expansion and the destruction of mankind is the dissolution of moral principles that correctly direct the will toward its correct object. Remove those rational, religiously held principles and the will loses its direction toward a due end. Reason wanders where pleasure leads it, abnormal sexuality becomes an option solely based on pleasure.
And the absence of a well formed conscience!
Do we really see distingush between a same sex home from a broken home? Perhaps I don’t.
God created two sexes, not one. Homosexual activity is abhorrent. But the progressive movement looks to expand recognition of Gay rights. The dilemma for straights is how we conduct our relationship with Gays going forward?
Can we isolate them? I have Gay friends. Will there be a bill to outlaw same sex marriage? Will that attempt at containment trigger violence? There have been many attempts to evangelize Gays. A major attempt was made in Minnesota…
Several years ago, former U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann and her husband Marcus created a “clinic” using the slogan “Pray the Gay away”. They practiced “Conversion Theory”. It was closed for improper record keeping. The “impact” of the clinic remains largely unknown, except for several men who said their mental anguish was the result.
We must continue our trek to “address” the issue. However, it remains an issue until we know how we do it. God help us.
‘Do we really see distingush between a same sex home from a broken home? ”
***************
Yes, Mr. Morgan I think so. While prison populations are largely boys from single parent homes that can reflect poverty as well as the absence of a father in the home.
I’m guessing psychological issues will look different when children are “created” through anonymous donors & surrogates. I know a woman who found out her conception happened in that fashion & she had a real breakdown. It completely turned her world upside down.
Children aren’t pets or commodities. They have inherent human rights & one of those is to know & have a relationship with their father & mother, if living. And their extended family also.
mrscracker: so much truth in what you write. Shout it from the rooftops!
Thank you, Deacon Edward and God bless you.
“Reality is greater than ideas” – what reality, which idea? When? How?
The reality that man is biologically grounded which necessarily informs his interior and his society
Or
That state of affairs where delinquents and criminality are not backing off “so therefore” -the therefore being a mental idea process- “therefore” they must be facilitated – a combination of moralized obliging “must”/“ought” and of creating activity and directing action for real
With the latter being given not only ascendancy but being presented as absolute.
Very sad. My cousin and his wife are still friends with two women (I knew them in HS, younger than me, but don’t think they were gay then or they hid it).
When gay started to be “accepted” in society they came out. They married when that became a thing you could do. They ended up “adopting” 2 babies who are mid/late teens. We were all at a picnic and my aunt heard the boy, sadly lament saying, “I’m never going to have a dad”. It broke my heart. Unfortunately, he did while growing up, had a lot of behavior issues. I suspected because his family wasn’t “normal” and wanted a dad like other families. Horrible. His sister also had some difficulty, but she “seems” sort of ok in comparison, but she has females that are like her. Although, not having a dad could cause bad decisions when dating/marrying. It’s hard to be around them, the boy is miserable, the girl trying to deal with it and the “moms” look miserable /unhappy too, bc the kids aren’t completely happy. I’m sure the son has told them what he thinks and resents them or even hates them for doing that to him. Extremely heart breaking.
I had thought what would I think if I was in that situation. I’d be confused, and feel like I wasn’t grounded. And I’d totally lament not having what most people had a dad and a mom. I’d probably run away and stay at a friend’s if I could or ask family members if they could adopt me! I would be beyond miserable.
Wish I could adopt their kids and get them out of that selfish situation. How could you make a decision to have kids without thinking about the repercussions that they would have to endure-being made fun of in school-haha you don’t have a dad/mom.
If one chooses to act on their propensity toward homosexual, don’t adopt or surrogate children. You bringing them up in an unnatural situation., that in most cases cause harm-confused, behavioral/ anger, self-harm or suicide. It’s one thing if people make their own decision to be gay, but, don’t drag children into it. 🙏🏻
Re Fr. Morelli above (7:17) – “Unfortunately, ending the practice requires a moral conversion of our culture”.
Agreed. A tall order but that’s what’s required.
I note that the Baptists have urged a rethinking of Obergefell.
From a phenomenological perspective, imagine for a moment the life experience of a person who comes to know the fact that his/her life began as a result of the union of donated ova and sperm in a petri dish adopted by two (or three or four since laws are indeed fungible) homosexuals. Imagine for a moment that this is you.
There will always be problems when we encourage the patients to run the hospitals and the lunatics to run the asylums. It is doubtful that the Creator made a mistake in creating men and women with their unassailable characteristics and function for reproduction of their species.