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Thomas More He Ain't

After A Career of Anti-Life Voting, Catholic Politician Gets it Right

BY ANNE KNIGHT

South Bay assemblyman Juan Vargas shifted from his usual anti-life and anti-family positions on two hot-button moral issues during the 2005 legislative session: assisted suicide and same sex "marriage." Observers wonder whether the shift signifies a change of heart in the Democrat. Or, is it related to his bid to unseat Congressman Bob Filner in 2006? And have three meetings with Catholic groups this year played any part?

Juan Vargas was raised in a devout Catholic family and graduated from the University of San Diego in 1983. "As a young adult," states the biography on his website, "Juan entered the Jesuits, a Catholic religious order, where he worked with many disadvantaged communities, including orphaned children and internally displaced people in El Salvador. For years, his work with the Jesuits focused on the health and welfare of children and issues of social justice. Juan left the Jesuits in order to pursue family life."

He later became an attorney, having earned a law degree from Harvard University. Vargas is married and has two children. In 2003 parishioners at St. Mary's Church in National City told ACI Prensa reporter Maria Elena Kennedy that Vargas grew up in the parish and still attends Mass there and occasionally at Our Lady of the Angels in San Diego, near his home in the Golden Hill area.

Vargas was elected to the San Diego City Council in 1993. As a councilman, he voted for the city's "bubble law" to prevent pro-lifers from picketing and counseling at abortion clinics, endorsed Toni Atkins, a radical lesbian and former abortion mill director, for a seat on the council, and pushed for a council resolution opposing Proposition 22. That ballot measure, passed by California voters -- including 65% of Vargas' assembly district -- in 2000, defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Vargas and six other council members voted for the anti-Proposition 22 resolution despite being advised by the city's intergovernmental relations department that the council should remain neutral on it, as the state initiative had no bearing on city government.

Vargas was elected to the State Assembly in 2000. According to Project Vote Smart's web site, "based on a combination of voting records, responses to a candidate questionnaire, interviews, and public statements gathered in 2000, the California Pro-Life Council chose to endorse Assemblymember Vargas."

Vargas had previously indicated that he was against third-trimester abortions and favored parental consent. However, since taking office, Vargas earned nothing other than 100 percent favorable ratings from Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights Action League for his 2001-2004 voting record. Two radical homosexual organizations, Equality California and the Lambda Letters Project have between them given Vargas two ratings of 92 percent favorable, one 97 percent rating and five 100 percent favorable ratings for his 2001-2004 voting record. The pro-life, pro-family California Republican Assembly gave Vargas a five percent favorable rating in 2001 and a zero percent favorable rating in 2003.

Early in the 2005 legislative session, AB 654, which would have legalized physician-assisted suicide in California, was introduced. The bill ultimately stalled, but while it was still in question, Shirley Henry, pro-life coordinator for Most Precious Blood parish in Chula Vista, headed a group of local Catholics who met with two of Vargas' aides at his Chula Vista office in early March. "They told us that Juan Vargas was still out of town, but was aware of our meeting," she explained.

Henry was accompanied by her pastor, Father Frank Wagner, Linda Arreola, a staffer at the diocesan social ministry office, Evangely Aliangan, pro-life coordinator at Saint Rose of Lima Church and other local Catholics. They delivered 2,000 signatures on anti-AB 654 petitions and a letter outlining their concerns about the pending legislation. In her report for the social ministry office's March 29 e-mail newsletter, Henry described Vargas' aides, George Jordan and Janine Pairis, as "very receptive and open to our concerns.... [They] said they would talk with Mr. Vargas about the meeting in detail and especially deliver the petitions to him, as he puts special value on petitions. They gave us suggestions as to what we may do in the future to get this bill stopped."

Yet Jordan told Henry that he had no idea of how Vargas would vote at that point.

On April 1, Henry and Arreola, this time accompanied by Bishop Cordi leone and Kent Peters, director of the diocesan office of Social Ministry, met with Vargas himself to discuss AB 654. The office of social ministry's April 22 online newsletter reported that "After a 90-minute spirited conversation, Assemblyman Vargas committed to opposing AB 654. As he put it, it wouldn't be easy to look your own mother or father in the eyes and say, 'I just voted for a bill that would let us kill you, together.' We appreciate Assemblyman Vargas' support as we attempt to kill the suicide bill."

Local Catholics also met with Vargas in Sacramento on April 26, Catholic Lobby Day. Among the group were Henry, Arreola, Aliangnan, and Saint Rose of Lima's pastor Father John Dolan. "He [Vargas] considers himself pro-family," Henry later said. "He said that he will vote against the physician-assisted suicide bill and he will also vote against any same-sex marriage bill that would come before him.... However, he said he is for choice when it comes to abortion ... and he said he probably will not be moved on that."

When asked how Vargas squares this with being a Catholic, Henry reported, "We talked about that, and he said, 'I have free will to make my own decisions' or something like that."

Catholic attorney Jennifer Patrick arranged a meeting with Vargas in late May that she attended along with a dozen or so pastors from different denominations and Phil Magnan, director of Biblical Family Advocates. Among the clergy were Father Dolan and Mission Valley Christian Fellowship's Pastor Leo Giovinetti. "The pastors and I wanted to find out how Juan felt about [AB 19, the homosexual marriage bill]," Magnan, a long-time Chula Vista resident, recalled. "He said that he would at least abstain from the vote if he didn't vote against it. I think he was basically trying to say, 'I don't want to disrespect my colleagues who are voting for it.' But the impression I got was that he didn't feel comfortable with it. We brought up abortion. He went on a long speech about loving your neighbor and having justice for the innocent. So I asked him, 'Well, Mr. Vargas, if you're so much for justice and for loving your neighbor, what about abortion?' He really danced around the question."

Magnan described Vargas as being very likable and polished, "but make no bones about it, he's always been in favor of gay rights to some degree and in favor of abortion rights. But I am pleased that he actually would vote against these gay marriage things. Perhaps he has a tinge of conscience in that; perhaps gay marriage actually goes too far in his mind. I have no doubt that he [also] knows he's going to offend the sensibilities of Hispanics in the South Bay area if he votes for gay marriage."

In the June 9, 2004 San Diego Union-Tribune ("Catholics Giving Governor a Pass on Abortion?"), Bill Ainsworth reported that Vargas believes abortion is the wrong choice. "Abortion isn't something we ever would have chosen for us," Vargas told him. "However, if you believe in free will, which is a very strong religious concept, God gives you the ability to make choices. Those choices are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Those are choices you get to make."

Ainsworth also reported that "Vargas believes the campaign against Catholics who support abortion rights is misguided because it politicizes the church. 'I go to church quietly and prayerfully with my family,' he said."

Vargas did keep his word to vote against same sex marriage when AB 19 and AB 849 came up for votes this year. AB 19 makes marriage gender neutral and failed an Assembly vote in June. Vargas was one of five Democrats voting against it. A later version, AB 849, barely passed the State Senate and Assembly in early September. Vargas was one of four Democrats who voted against it. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has pledged to veto this measure.

Vargas' current position on same sex marriage represents a shift from his 2001-2004 voting record, in which he supported an avalanche of bills granting marriage-like benefits to same sex relationships: AB 25, the domestic partners bill granting homosexual registered domestic partners 13 rights equivalent to traditional marriage; AB 2216, allowing "domestic partners" to be treated as spouses by the state in the case of their partner dying without a will; AB 1684, funding marital-equivalent bereavement and family/parental leave for domestic partners of state employees, as well as awarding them spousal-equivalent health benefits; AB 2777, allowing Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Marin counties to use taxpayer money to pay for spousal-equivalent benefits to a homosexual "domestic partner" of a county employee who dies; SB 1575, creating a family exemption for writing a gift into the will of a domestic partner; SB 1661, forcing private employers provide "family" disability insurance benefits to domestic partners; AB 17, forcing businesses seeking to contract with the state of California to pay for domestic partner benefits equivalent to spousal benefits without any religious or conscience exemption clause; AB 205, equating domestic partnership with marriage and recognizing out-of-state partnerships; AB 2208, requiring health insurers to provide domestic partner coverage equal to spousal coverage; and AB 2580, further equating domestic partnership with marriage.

From 2001-2004, Vargas also supported other bills advancing the homosexual agenda. In 2005, Vargas supported several less publicized bills identified as harmful by pro-life and pro-family groups: AB 866, which would amend the Fair Campaign Practices code to prevent candidates from using or permitting "any appeal to negative prejudice based on sexual orientation or gender identity"; AB 723, which requires the state education department to develop a "tolerance curriculum" for grades K-12; AB 1400, which forces businesses to include sexual orientation in their anti-discrimination provisions without provision for conscientious objection; SB 161, which requires the state education department to publicize, for students' benefit, the "confidential" medical and psychological services available to them without parental knowledge; AB 172 and 1246, both aimed at establishing universal preschool; AJR 3, which asks Congress and the president to uphold Roe v. Wade and proclaims that Roe should be celebrated; AB 21 and SB 644, both obligating pharmacists to fill all prescriptions while placing severe restrictions on their right of conscience."

Despite helping to fuel this anti-life, anti-family juggernaut through Sacramento, Vargas was quoted in the January 18 Imperial Valley Press saying, "I am not a left-wing Democrat."

The comment was made as part of his declaration that he will run against Bob Filner for the 51st congressional district seat after he is term-limited out of his Assembly seat in 2006 and has declared himself as a candidate for Bob Filner's seat in the 51st congressional district. (He ran unsuccessfully against Filner for Congress in 1992 and 1996.) "Vargas said he considers himself a moderate Democrat while Filner is an 'extreme leftist,'" Rudy Yniguez reported in the Imperial Valley Press.

John Marelius, writing about the Vargas-Filner rematch in the February 1 Union-Tribune, stated that "Vargas portrays himself as a moderate Democrat and Filner as a liberal ideologue.... If there is a stark ideological divide between the two Democrats, interest groups that rate the voting records of members of Congress and the Legislature have failed to discern it," Marelius observed. He also quoted Allen Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book, as saying, "I don't see where he [Vargas] can claim that he's to the right of Filner," said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book. "This is not a voting record of a moderate Democrat. Far from it. It's certainly not the record of a conservative Democrat."

Ironically, Vargas is scheduled as the guest speaker at the Thomas More Society's December 2 meeting. The organization for Catholic attorneys states in its August 15 newsletter that his topic will be "harmonizing one's faith with the demands of elected office." Saint Thomas More, chancellor of England, was martyred in 1535 for refusing to contradict papal authority in the matter of King Henry VIII's desire to divorce his wife.

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