Westwood man wants to fly anti-abortion flag at Borough Hall

WESTWOOD — A longtime anti-abortion activist is asking the borough to fly a "Respect Life" flag from the balcony of Borough Hall. 

Matthew Connell, who is a member of the local Knights of Columbus, approached the council last week for approval to fly the flag during October, which the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has marked as Respect Life Month.

Although Connell is a member of the Knights, a Catholic organization, he said he was representing only himself when requesting that the flag be flown. 

"I saw that they flew a gay pride flag, so I think this can be flown, too," Connell said. "Everyone has different ideas." 

The council is weighing its legal options before making a decision. 

Mayor John Birkner said the borough has the right to decide what causes to support, noting the rainbow flag that the borough flew in support of LGBT Pride Month. 

"The government chose to light up the White House after the Supreme Court ruling of marriage equality," Birkner said. "That didn’t mean the White House had to light up in colors for any other cause."

However, it was not so clear-cut for other members of the council, who asked Borough Attorney Russell Huntington to return with more information. Before the next meeting in September, he is expected to provide council members with the status of federal cases that deal with similar situations. 

"Next meeting, we will have some kind of clearer stance of what we are legally obliged to do with any of these requests," said Councilwoman Alyssa Dawson. "That way, we will understand the precedents in the future. Obviously, it's a very contentious issue."

Huntington was not immediately available for comment.

Carlos Ball, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark, said a town has the right to send any message it wants to send.  

“It would be a different matter if the town was opening it up to members of the public,” Ball said. “At that point, the First Amendment would prohibit making the distinction between different types of messages.”

Westwood is among numerous municipalities that fly LGBT pride flags. The mayor and council made the decision to fly the rainbow flag at Borough Hall, and were not asked by a resident to provide a venue, Birkner said.

Connell, a Westwood resident, said he was surprised the discussion had taken place, but believes he will be allowed to fly his flag in the end.

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He said the pro-life movement has been an issue close to his heart since the Roe vs. Wade ruling in 1973 that legalized abortion. Since 1985, Connell has traveled to Washington with the Knights of Columbus to walk in the March for Life.

“What’s more important than life?" Connell said. "You wouldn’t be here without it.”

In Ridgewood last year, controversy arose when the Village Council opted to allow a rainbow banner on the village green, rather than flying one from the flagpole at Village Hall for Gay Pride Month.  

That decision followed a warning from Village Attorney Matthew Rogers that flying the flag could set a bad precedent and compel the village to fly political flags when asked. 

Email: noda@northjersey.com