The government lawsuits were based on the argument that the blockades violated the clinic access law. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling. Under a new law the state of Arkansas will begin offering covenant marriages, but the Catholic Church has long considered every marriage a covenant. Reha coordinates marriage preparation in the diocese and tries to make every couple aware of the sanctity of marriage, regardless of the type of marriage license they choose. On April 11, Gov. Mike Huckabee signed into law the covenant marriage bill, which will make it more difficult for some couples to get a divorce.
Similar laws are in place in Arizona and Louisiana.
Project Rachel, the Catholic Church's outreach to people affected by an abortion loss, was started in the Milwaukee Archdiocese in 1984 and now operates in more than 130 dioceses. Both campaigns will use billboard, print and electronic media. Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, announced the change in approach after meeting April 16 with Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. When poverty, violence and injustice prevail in a society as they do in El Salvador, he said in an April 5 address, the university's search for truth and reason must confront the irrationality of the existing social structures with the truth of the rights, needs and legitimate aspirations of the populace. Father Gaborit was one of three main speakers at a symposium on Jesuit higher education in different cultures.