My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

It is hard to believe that in the State of New York our legislators introduced a bill this session to legalize prostitution. Unfortunately, the so-called progressive politics of today has one aim; to make individual rights override social norms and societal responsibilities.

A campaign by certain women’s rights groups against this legalization is underway in our state. For some women’s rights groups, abortion and to sell one’s body would be considered a right. However, “right thinking” rights groups would consider the degradation of prostitution as something that goes
against basic human dignity.

I commend the work of Reverend Dr. Que English, a member of the New York City CORL (Committee of Religious Leaders) group, of which I am a member. She has spearheaded this campaign among the clergy of our city. Her organization is called: Not On My Watch: https://nomwi.org/

Clearly, the teaching of the Church is not in favor of this type of human degradation. This is always the perspective of the Church; the dignity of the human person is foremost as the Church takes positions on many social issues. This is the principle that guides us so that we do not deviate and become politically correct or cave into the morality of the day.

Basically, there are two issues that are involved in this legislative movement. First, those who are for legalization say that it would improve the conditions under which women prostitute themselves. Unfortunately, for most it is not a free-will act because almost 90 percent of women in prostitution today are trafficked. This means that they have come mostly from other countries to be enslaved in a life of prostitution. This is not what we have encouraged our native-born girls and sometimes boys to find as a profession.

Clearly, we know what kind of a life this leads to for those who choose this profession. Unfortunately, the legalization in states like Nevada for over 50 years has proven to be a colossal failure. There is no safe way of protecting women in prostitution from violence and sexual abuse and enslavement, which leads to drug abuse.

All of these factors contribute to a misunderstanding that somehow legalization of toxic phenomenon can make them better. We have another example with the legalization of marijuana that is still being considered as of this writing. I have addressed the issue of marijuana in the past; this gateway drug is not controllable and will not assist us in stopping the opioid epidemic that afflicts our country today.

Prostitutes are victims; victims of neglect, trafficking and social tolerance for exaggerated personal freedom. Some legislators and law enforcement officers would rather concentrate on prosecuting those who use prostitutes. The so-called “Nordic Model”, which is meant to reduce the demand for prostitution has not proven itself to be successful. Recently, in the Netherlands 40,000 youth signed a petition to eliminate legalized prostitution from their country which has led to the degradation of women in a worse way. There is no way to control sin. Sin is sin, and will ever be so. The consequences are not only personal, but also societal.

This issue has become politicized and is even entering in the 2020 presidential race through the
comments of some candidates, as well as in our local elections. Clearly, the elimination of prostitution as a scourge in our society is important. Law enforcement and our legal apparatus needs to recognize this important issue. The plight of those forced into prostitution – the trafficked women, girls and boys – need the protection of all in our society.

As we continue to put out into the deep in protecting the dignity of the human person at all levels and in all situations in our society, we need to redouble our efforts of understanding the moral and political issues before us. We must act as informed citizens in a democracy that still allows some advocacy against a so-called progressive mentality.