Pro-life group misused donations

By JEFF PILLETS, NorthJersey.com, Tuesday, May 9, 2006

A prominent New Jersey interest group known for lobbying public officials about abortion and other "moral" issues has been cited twice in the past three years for illegally spending the charitable contributions of its donors, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

Documents obtained by The Record show that Cranford-based New Jersey Right to Life improperly diverted proceeds of its annual raffle to pay employees' salary and other administrative expenses.

The antiabortion organization -- which only last week made an "urgent" plea to supporters for emergency donations -- was ordered to place $20,000 back into a special raffle account and directed to use the money only for educational and charitable purposes.  For the next five years, Right to Life will have to submit copies of its bank statements and accounting ledgers to state auditors for an annual inspection.

In an April 13 "consent decree" between the organization and the attorney general, Right to Life President Traude Barbiero acknowledged that her group broke the law and promised to submit to state oversight to avoid further "disciplinary action."

Barbiero, a Hillsdale resident and the organization's longtime leader, signed a "cease and desist" order in July 2004 after state officials discovered the organization was illegally using raffle funds to pay for catering and other expenses.  She did not respond to numerous phone calls placed to her home and office Monday.

But another prominent New Jersey Right to Life official said the organization never used any contributions illegally or improperly, and described the attorney general's findings as "no big thing."

"Nobody set out to break the law or do anything at all unethical," said Marie Tasy, the organization's executive director and chief lobbyist.  "I think there was some confusion of about what we could do and what we couldn't do."

Tasy declined to talk about the organization's finances or specify how much was raised in the annual raffle, which takes place every November and is one of the group's chief sources of income.  She acknowledged, however, that raffle proceeds had always been used to pay various administrative expenses, including salaries and the purchase of cars.

"To my understanding, that's the way it's been done here for many years," Tasy said.

At least one former Right to Life official, however, said all money raised selling raffle tickets had always been separated in a special account and used strictly on pro-life education programs -- never salaries.

Faith Willis, who served on the group's board of directors for 12 years before resigning in 2003, said it was "widely understood" that raffle proceeds were to be strictly separated from salaries and other overhead that were paid from cash raised through phone solicitation and direct mail programs.

In recent years, Willis said, it seems that the organization's profile has declined, along with its ability to raise money.  Right to Life's leaders, she said, have been unable to stem growing pro-choice sentiment in New Jersey, even among Republican candidates such as Doug Forrester, who ran for governor last year, and Thomas Kean Jr., who is likely to be the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate.  Both men have shied away from the abortion debate.

At such a time, she said, finance and fund raising must be beyond reproach.

"Now, more than ever, the movement must be strong," Willis said.  "Above all, Right to Life leadership must strive to represent their donors in every possible ethical manner."

As the state's most visible and outspoken group opposed to abortion, Right to Life has been a vocal opponent of embryonic stem-cell research, "partial-birth" abortion, morning after contraception, assisted suicide and a host of other related issues.  Officials of the group say the organization has 150,000 members, but decline to specify how many pay dues.

In a letter sent to supporters statewide last week, the organization made a "special plea" for donations and said it needed the money to lead the fight against the proposed $250 million stem-cell institute.  "Cloning researchers will flock to NJ and do their deadly and immoral research," says the letter, which features a photo of Barbiero and was written by the Rev. Benedict Groeschel.

The letter tells potential contributors that New Jersey Right to Life "needs to raise at least $200,000 by the beginning of June in order to meet their current operating expenses and continue their important work."

Tasy, the Right to Life lobbyist, said the letter is not linked to the recent order by the attorney general.  Although Tasy declined to release copies of the organization's most recent non-profit filings, she said it was not in any financial trouble.

"That was a fund-raising letter like any other organization sends out, the kind we send out all the time," Tasy said.

Some local Right to Life leaders, however, said they were surprised at the letter's urgency.  Some also had not heard about the attorney general's interest in the annual raffle.

"It will be a minor miracle if we raise anywhere near $200,000 by June," said Carol Lavis, the acting president of the Bergen County chapter.

Anita Sawczuk, president of Hunterdon County Right to Life, said her group only has about 10 to 15 active members.  She said her chapter counts on proceeds form the annual raffle to run educational programs and distribute pro-life literature at local universities.

"Any money we get must go to education, not expenses, we know that's the rule," Sawczuk said.  "What they're doing at the state, I can't tell you."

E-mail: pillets@northjersey.com