After our Canadian experience, John taught theology at a college in Salina, Kansas.
The Kansas Abortion Law
During the academic year of 1969-1970, we experienced three things of special interest. First, in 1969 the State of Kansas passed legislation that allowed a mother to kill her unborn child for any reason whatsoever up to the time of delivery. Most people are surprised to learn that Kansas had such a liberal abortion law prior to the Roe vs. Wade decision of January 22, 1973…. Not long after abortion was legalized, one of the hospitals in Salina offered to perform them. That called for a protest, and some of the religious sisters at Marymount agreed. They helped me paint a few picket signs, but
they would not join me in picketing the hospital because they feared such a public confrontation would have adverse consequences for the college. So I went there by myself with a couple of signs and started to picket. Soon I was joined by a woman who identified herself as a Jehovah’s Witness. I didn’t keep a diary at the time, and I have forgotten how often we picketed, but I do remember that not one other person joined us.
Kansas Labor Law
In the spring of 1970, I got involved in a second event of special interest. I read in the paper that the president of the Salina firefighters union had been suspended by the city safety director who felt that the union president had used inappropriate language. Suspended? And most likely without pay?… At the time I was teaching a course on Catholic social-justice doctrine, so one spring afternoon I went to the City Council meeting to give them a very short course on social justice. A photographer caught me in a classic prophetic pose with my forefinger making an emphatic point and my mouth
wide open. One of my students, however, found it very helpful. He said that he had been having some faith-related problems, but seeing that short presentation of Catholic teaching made him extremely proud to be a Catholic and had really increased his faith.
I had touched a sore point, and the controversy lingered. I remember that a friend at the college told me repeatedly that I couldn’t accomplish any good and that I was only hurting myself by continuing to support the firefighters. He was, of course, correct. In my first meeting with Marymount’s new president, he told me that at his first meeting with some of the prominent city fathers whose cooperation he needed in fund raising, he was asked, “When are you going to get rid of the ‘perfesser’?”
Salina and Humanae Vitae
The third memorable event of our stay in Salina occurred in the spring of 1970… We decided to have a meeting with other likeminded couples. Sheila knew some through her breastfeeding contacts, but we wanted a few more. We advertised in the parish bulletins of Salina and some surrounding towns, and two couples and three breastfeeding mothers
showed up. We were excited to learn that some of them knew more about NFP and the budding NFP movement than we did. We said, “This is great. Can we work together to form an organized effort to spread the good word?” Utter silence. It turned out that our fellow NFP users were “closet NFPers.” The social pressure was so strong against Humanae Vitae that they didn’t want to be known as believers—even in their own parishes.
(Excerpts from Battle-Scarred, pages 60-63) Battle-Scarred: Justice Can Be Elusive by John F. Kippley is available at a 50% discount at lulu.com during NFP Week.