Pro-Abortion Congressman Barred from Speaking at College Graduation

WASHINGTON -- Catholic Church officials were set to bar Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican who supports abortion rights, from speaking at a Utica nursing college commencement ceremony, officials said Tuesday.

Boehlert, a Catholic, voluntarily canceled his planned speech to the 70 graduates of St. Elizabeth's College of Nursing, saying he did not want to draw attention away from the students' celebration.

College president Marianne Monahan said Tuesday that while the cancellation was the congressman's idea, she also been told by the office of Bishop James M. Moynihan that the bishop opposed Boehlert's appearance.

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