Of all the praise that was heaped on Thomas Manton at his funeral last Friday, it was easy to miss the praise for his passionate opposition to abortion.
After all, he was eulogized by former President Bill Clinton, an abortion-rights supporter he backed in 1991 when Clinton was a long-shot in a crowded presidential field.
And he played a key, perhaps decisive role, in getting Councilwoman Christine Quinn, an abortion supporter, elected speaker of the City Council. Quinn, the first openly gay person in the post, also attended the mass at St. Sebastian’s R.C. Church in Woodside.
Msgr. Michael Hardiman, the pastor, recalled that Manton was one of the first recipients of the Pro Vita award from the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Bill Murphy
The award, which Manton got in 1987, recognizes pro-life activities and is frequently given for championing principles of the anti-abortion movement.
“He was back then, and continued to be, a champion of the cause of life,” the monsignor said at the funeral mass.
And yet Manton managed to separate his own beliefs from his public politics. Clinton - while not addressing abortion rights - had a clear explanation for Manton’s ability to avoid confilicts in politics.
“He was very clever on categories when he rightly, and I think correctly, endorsed Chris Quinn,” Clinton said. “She was reminding me today that when Tom was describing her, he said, ‘Ah. She’s a great Irish politician.’ He knew his categories.”
“He knew we had to be organized by categories. He knew the enormous pyschological holds our categories have - our self-designations. So he organized us by categories. But the reason we’re all here today and the reason we all love him...is that he dealt with us as human beings beyond our categories,” Clinton said from the church pulpit.