US Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) has backed out of delivering the commencement address at St. Elizabeth's College of Nursing in Utica, after being told that he would be barred from speaking in the Catholic church where the ceremony is usually held.
From an AP story, via New York Newsday :
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
More on the flip.
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.
The ceremony is to take place this Saturday. By tradition, it is held at Our Lady of Lourdes, a church across the street from the college. Monahan said she was told church policy bars politicians who vote for abortion rights to speak at church facilities.