Dear Editor: Only those who desire to be misled would believe that Mario Cuomo was ever “personally opposed” to abortion. Never once did Mario Cuomo say that abortion was evil, intrinsically or otherwise. Never once did he say – as the bishops had, as he himself could have said – that opposition to abortion as a matter of public morality is a defense of the human rights of the unborn. Never once did he say the abortion dispute is a disagreement over the authentic meaning of justice.

Never once did he say abortion should not be funded by the state. He never said these things because doing so would have made his stated position impossible to defend.

He did not say these things nor have other cynical Catholic politicians citing the same sense of entitlement sanctuary. Neither have multitudes of non-prominent Catholics justifying their inaction and tolerance toward this most evil episode in human history.

It is not enough to be disappointed in a man’s failings after death. Respecting the dead includes learning from the offenses to God’s design their compromises in life unleashed upon the world and opposing that evil with renewed dedication.

JOHN LICAUSE M.D.
Forest Hills