Pro-life advocates today are making the weekend passing of Judge William Clark, a top advisor to President Ronald Reagan and someone who worked to ensure the pro-life movement got a seat at the table during the administration and afterwards.
Clark began working for Reagan in 1966 by managing his gubernatorial campaign in California.
“After Reagan won the governorship, Clark served as his executive secretary in Sacramento. Reagan late
r appointed Clark to the state appellate court in Los Angeles and then the state Supreme Court,” according to The Hill. “Clark moved with Reagan to the White House to serve as deputy secretary of State, national security adviser and finally Interior secretary. Clark was a key player in Reagan’s dealings with the Soviet Union.”
Priests for Life director Father Frank Pavone informed LifeNews of Clark’s passing.
“Our Priests for Life team learned with sadness yesterday of the passing of Judge William P. Clark, Jr. This was a man who served our nation constantly, whether in the key positions he held in President Ronald Reagan’s cabinet, or in the countless ways in which, behind the scenes, he defended the very principles on which the nation was founded,” Pavone said.
Pavone explained: “He was a great friend of Priests for Life and especially of our administrative team. We got to know him in the late 1990’s and he invited us frequently to his ranch. He opened his property in Shandon, and the beautiful chapel he built on it (“Chapel Hill”), to the pro-life movement, and several times a year we hosted private retreats there for national pro-life leaders. These retreats built up the unity of the movement and enabled leaders to come together in confidential settings to build up relationships of trust, which led to fruitful collaboration. We look forward to the continuation of these retreats.”
“Judge Clark served as national security adviser. But along with his role in that position under President Reagan, he fought for our nation’s security by fighting for the right to life, on which all other rights and security depend. He understood the priority of this issue, and lent his advice, encouragement, and personal involvement to the initiatives that we in the pro-life leadership would undertake,” Pavone said.
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Pavone continued: “He and his wife Joan made a public profession of promises as a Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, which is the pro-life spirituality program of Priests for Life.”
He concluded: “It will be my honor, along with our Executive Director, Janet Morana, and our Vice-Chairman, Anthony DeStefano, to represent so many of our colleagues in the pro-life movement as we participate in the funeral on Wednesday of our great friend and national hero, Judge William Clark.”
