EXCERPT #1 FROM THE PSYCHIATRIC INTERVIEW
DR. RESNICK: OKAY, MR. SALVI, LET ME EXPLAIN WHY I'M ASKING YOU THIS.
I'M NOT ASKING YOU RIGHT NOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE CRIME YOU'RE CHARGED WITH. YOU
ARE A CATHOLIC, YOU HAVE STRONG BELIEFS AS A CATHOLIC. I SIMPLY WANT TO
UNDERSTAND YOUR VIEWS ON ABORTION.
JOHN SALVI: Of course, I have the right to refuse the
question.
DR. RESNICK: RIGHT, BUT YOU UNDERSTAND I'M WORKING WITH YOUR DEFENSE
ATTORNEY IN TRYING TO BE HELPFUL. AND IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE BEING ASKED IN COURT
WHERE YOU HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO RAISE-- YOUR FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHT NOT TO
INCRIMINATE YOURSELF. BUT, I JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND YOUR VIEWS ON ABORTION,
PERSONALLY AND AS A CATHOLIC.
JOHN SALVI: I believe along the lines of what the Pope believes.
Whatever the Pope believes, I believe.
DR. RESNICK: ALRIGHT.
JOHN SALVI: The Pope delegates his authority to the cardinals, to the
bishops--
DR. RESNICK: THE POPE HAS TAKEN A VERY FIXED--
JOHN SALVI: Yes, and I back the Pope up.
DR. RESNICK: OKAY. AND WHAT IS THAT POSITION?
JOHN SALVI: He's against it completely.
DR. RESNICK: AND DO YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY?
JOHN SALVI: Yes.
DR. RESNICK: ALRIGHT. HOW STRONGLY--
JOHN SALVI: I'm also against quite a few forms of birth control
too.
DR. RESNICK: LET'S STAY WITH ABORTION, AND JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE HERE.
HOW STRONG AN ADVOCATE ARE YOU FOR THE ANTI-ABORTION--
JOHN SALVI: As strong as the Pope is. If the Pope says "jump" the
Catholic people should jump; if the Pope says "sit" the Catholic people should
sit. The ones who don't sit when the Pope says "sit" and the ones who don't jump
when the Pope says "jump" are the ones that aren't smart. There's a reason for
that.
DR. RESNICK: YOU BELIEVE IN ADHERENCE TO THE POPE'S ...
(inaudible)?
JOHN SALVI: Yes. (simultaneous conversation) -- cross many lines, it
goes into a financial issue. Will the Catholic Church have their own Welfare
system.
DR. RESNICK: OKAY, LET ME STAY WITH THE ABORTION QUESTION.
JOHN SALVI: They will if every member of the Catholic Church is like
me. I guarantee it.
DR. RESNICK: OKAY. NOW, WITH REGARD TO THE ABORTION QUESTION. SOME
INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN POLITICALLY ACTIVE, WHETHER CARRYING PLACARDS OR--
JOHN SALVI: Some individuals are politically active, are they
carrying placards or--
DR. RESNICK: OR VOTING PEOPLE INTO OFFICE WHO MAY OUTLAW ABORTION AND
SO FORTH.
JOHN SALVI: First of all, that's not how you do it.
DR. RESNICK: HOW DO YOU WANT ... (inaudible) ABORTION? HOW DO YOU DO
IT?
JOHN SALVI: Abortion, strangely enough-- especially the way-- You
can't force, for the most part, religion on people. I can't tell-- I can't say
to you, "You can't do this." I can try and stop you, but I can't say, "You can't
do this." God, for the most part, wants people to make up their own choice, so He
can set up a system of punishment for-- ... (inaudible) decide. People out of
their own free will would-- would live a certain way, and those are the people
you'd want to live with. So, you can't completely say that-- Abortion is, though
a large part of it, wouldn't have to be made illegal for the Catholic people to
be smart.
Now, a Catholic girl that gets an abortion is not bright, at all. For the main
reason is you don't want to be outnumbered too much. Abortion, in a great way,
is wiping out the Catholic Church.
DR. RESNICK: NOW, DO YOU OPPOSE ABORTION --
JOHN SALVI: Catholics have a bad outlook. They'll say, "Oh, if
we're not financially ready, we won't get married." That's not what you
say.
DR. RESNICK: DO YOU OPPOSE ABORTION FOR CATHOLICS OR FOR ...
(inaudible)?
JOHN SALVI: What you do is you get married.
DR. RESNICK: HOLD ON.
JOHN SALVI: Hold on. And you be strong. The Catholic people are
weak, very weak.
DR. RESNICK: LISTEN TO MY QUESTION.
JOHN SALVI: You have to have a government, you have to have a
structure in society. We can't be a bunch of monkeys.
DR. RESNICK: OKAY. DO YOU OPPOSE ABORTION ONLY FOR CATHOLIC
INDIVIDUALS OR FOR ALL INDIVIDUALS?
JOHN SALVI: Do I oppose-- Could you please repeat that?
DR. RESNICK: DO YOU OPPOSE ABORTION ONLY FOR CATHOLICS OR FOR ALL
INDIVIDUALS?
JOHN SALVI: I would advise all individuals not to. I don't think
it's good; that's my opinion. I would strongly advise the Catholic people not to
for many other reasons. Mainly to not be outnumbered. The Catholics used to
have large families.
DR. RESNICK: IT'S A PRACTICAL REASON. THERE'D BE MORE POWER FOR
CATHOLICS IF THEY HAD LARGER FAMILIES?
JOHN SALVI: Well, if you were going up against the Catholic Church on
an issue, would you want to go up against an only child, or would you want to go
up against five brothers?
DR. RESNICK: I SEE YOUR POINT.
JOHN SALVI: --who had a hundred cousins.
DR. RESNICK: NOW, YOU STARTED TO SAY, HERE'S THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT,
YOU SAID THE PLACARD CARRYING WASN'T DOING IT. HOW WOULD YOU DEAL WITH THE ISSUE
OF ABORTION IF YOU WERE IN CHARGE? WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL--
JOHN SALVI: Excuse me?
DR. RESNICK: WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL BELIEFS ABOUT HOW THE ABORTION
ISSUE SHOULD BE DEALT WITH?
JOHN SALVI: How should it be dealt with? I already went over that
for the most part. You know, you have to have leadership in the church. We have
to talk about it, sit down. You know, at the end of each mass, instead of just
everyone just rushing out of the church, we need to see the church as a
government. It's a fine mark for government; it just needs a little bit of
muscle.
It needs some education, and it needs--
DR. RESNICK: WELL--
JOHN SALVI: ... (inaudible), please, that's rude. It needs a set
rules, how do we live. If the Pope says "jump", you teach your children to jump.
Don't say to your children, "Don't ever do this. You don't want to ever rock
the boat, cause waves." That's how the Catholics raise their children.
(whisper) Or we run from pain. Well, that's insane. Because pain's going to
run after you.
DR. RESNICK: OKAY, NOW YOU'RE SPEAKING GENERALLY.
JOHN SALVI: We need to educate the children; we need to educate the
congregations. The congregations need to start thinking a little, which they
haven't ever.
DR. RESNICK: NOW, THAT MIGHT INFLUENCE CATHOLICS TO AVOID ABORTION.
BUT, THAT WILL STILL LEAVE ABORTION CLINICS IN THIS COUNTRY OPEN TO THOSE WHO
CHOOSE TO USE IT, RIGHT? DO YOU HAVE ANY SOLUTION TO THAT?
JOHN SALVI: Look, the Catholic Church needs to be sufficient in and
of itself.
DR. RESNICK: NOW, THAT MIGHT INFLUENCE CATHOLICS TO AVOID ABORTION.
BUT, THAT WILL STILL LEAVE ABORTION CLINICS IN THIS COUNTRY OPEN T THOSE WHO
CHOOSE TO USE IT, RIGHT? IS THERE A WAY-- DO YOU HAVE ANY SOLUTION TO THAT?
JOHN SALVI: Look, the Catholic Church needs to be sufficient in and
of itself. We can't even, uh-- We have trouble even going up and farming because
of taxation. Not to say that there aren't programs that compensate farmers.
There are. But, it's not always easy to get those ... (inaudible)
DR. RESNICK: DO YOU FEEL THAT ABORTION CLINICS--
JOHN SALVI: Being paid not to grow food.
DR. RESNICK: EXCUSE ME. DO YOU FEEL THAT ABORTION CLINICS IN THIS
COUNTRY SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN?
JOHN SALVI: In my opinion?
DR. RESNICK: YES.
JOHN SALVI: Oh yes.
DR. RESNICK: AND HOW CAN THAT BE ACCOMPLISHED?
JOHN SALVI: But, you can't completely impose that on people. You
could-- You literally could. But people, for the most part, should have a
personal opinion.
DR. RESNICK: DO YOU BELIEVE IN FREE CHOICE IN THAT RESPECT?
JOHN SALVI: Well, yeah, that's ... (inaudible) I can't say-- I'm a
prolifer, I stand with the Pope completely. I can't say to a young lady, "You're
going to take care of this child; bring this child into the world. You're not
going to be yellow and get an abortion; you're going to be blue and ...
(inaudible) at the world."
I can't completely say to you, "Raise this child." Am I against it? Yes.
Why? Because I knew people when I was growing up that were adopted. And if
abortion had been legal back then, I wouldn't have known them, most probably.
That's why. And I feel that their presence in the world betters this earth.
Most of the Catholics are poor; most people that get abortions are poor.
DR. RESNICK: OKAY, SO I UNDERSTAND YOUR THINKING, PHILOSOPHICALLY ON
THIS MATTER. WHAT SPECIFIC STEPS TO CLOSING DOWN ABORTION CLINICS DO YOU FEEL
NEED TO BE TAKEN, OR WHAT ARE PROPER?
JOHN SALVI: Let's get off that subject a little bit. And please
don't keep up on it. This is an interview. I'd like to state something.
DR. RESNICK: OKAY, WE'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT
AND THEN I'LL COME BACK--
JOHN SALVI: In the Church, each and every member of the church needs
to submit a file to their priest. What do they do? "My name is John Salvi or
James Smith." "What do you do for a living? How much do you make? Where did
you go to college? What do you do? What do you like to do? What do you like?
Are you tough? Are you tough?" If someone was going to hurt a priest of a ...
(inaudible), a bishop, are you going to protect them, or are you just going to
sit there and say, "Well, there's nothing we can simply do."
DR. RESNICK: SO, YOU BELIEVE IN BEING--
JOHN SALVI: You want to know what you're dealing with.
(Next excerpt)
