in this issue:
hot button issues: POPE JOHN PAUL II
abortion: MONTANA / SOUTH CAROLINA / NEW YORK
birth control mandates: COLORADO / ILLINOIS / NARAL
culture of death: NETHERLANDS
planned parenthood: GAG RULE / PRAYER BREAKFAST
pro-life movement: OREGON
reminders: ALL’S NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY / RIGHT TO LIFE ACT OF 2005
reflection for prayer: PSALM 27:4-5
hot button issues
POPE JOHN PAUL II: “Much will be written about him,” said ALL’s Judie Brown, “but the one thing that stands out above all else, after 26 years of his pontificate, is the single, solitary fact that every single innocent human being is a person created by God, to be cherished, loved and respected, without compromise and without apology.”
(Reading: “American Life League mourns death of Pope John Paul II,” American Life League news release, 4/2/05)
abortion
MONTANA: Versions of a bill limiting pro-life presence outside abortion facilities have cleared both houses of the state legislature. The measure faces a final Senate vote next week. Critics say it would prevent pro-lifers from handing out literature on the sidewalk.
(Reading: “Senate advances bill limiting abortion protesters,” Associated Press, 4/5/05)
SOUTH CAROLINA: A legislative committee has approved a bill that would guarantee due process and equal protection rights at fertilization. Last year, a similar bill languished in committee.
(Reading: “Bill would give rights to fetus at fertilization,” Associated Press, 4/5/05)
NEW YORK: Testimony in a murder trial suggests a 26-year-old man killed his 20-year-old pregnant girlfriend for refusing to abort their child. A witness testified that Emmanuel Pierre killed Sandra Bonaventure because “she was gonna ruin his life.”
(Reading: “Witness: Stony Brook grad chose murder over abortion,” New York Newsday, 4/4/05)
birth control mandates
COLORADO: Gov. Bill Owens vetoed a bill requiring hospitals to tell sexual assault victims about so-called emergency contraception. Owens cited religious freedom, noting the bill would have applied to Catholic medical facilities. “One method that is covered by this legislation would prevent a fertilized egg from imbedding in the uterine wall,” wrote Owens, who is a Catholic. “This raises serious concerns for those whose conscience tells them that a fertilized egg is a human life.” The bill would have required Catholic hospitals to refer patients to other facilities. A spokesman for the Colorado Catholic Conference said, “That in itself is a cooperation with evil that we cannot tolerate or participate in.”
(Reading: “Owens vetoes pill bill,” Denver Post, 4/6/05)
ILLINOIS: Gov. Rod Blagojevich has signed an executive order that requires drug stores to fill prescriptions for birth control pills. The action followed a Chicago pharmacist’s refusal to fill a prescription. “No hassles, no lecture, just fill the prescription,” the governor said. If an individual pharmacist has qualms about dispensing the pills, the store has to be sure someone else is available to fill the prescription. Drug stores are not required to carry contraceptives, however, so pharmacies affiliated with Catholic hospitals that do not dispense the drugs are not affected.
(Reading: “Illinois drug stores required to fill birth control prescriptions,” Los Angeles Times, 4/2/05)
NARAL: The pro-abortion organization is upset that pharmacists are “refusing to fill birth control prescriptions because it violates far-right ideology,” according to a presentation on the NARAL web site. The group has launched a campaign “combating the efforts of extreme anti-choice activists,” asking pharmacies to sign a pledge that all prescriptions will be filled.
COMMENT: The “far right ideology,” of course, is the teaching of the Catholic Church.
(Reading: “Activists launch grassroots campaign to stop pharmacies from refusing birth control prescriptions,” NARAL news release, 3/28/05)
culture of death
NETHERLANDS: The Dutch supreme court has awarded damages in a “wrongful life” case. Kelly Molenaar was born with serious disabilities 11 years ago. Courts awarded damages for medical malpractice in the case, but according to the British Medical Journal, the supreme court also ruled that “Kelly was entitled to compensation for emotional damage because of the fact she was born.” Her parents were told testing for genetic risks were not necessary. But the court said testing would have shown the abnormality, in which case the parents would have aborted Kelly.
(Reading: “Dutch supreme court backs damages for child having been born,” British Medical Journal, 4/2/05)
planned parenthood
GAG RULE: The U.S. Senate gets a salute from Planned Parenthood for voting against the so-called gag rule that keeps federal tax dollars from flowing into the coffers of overseas organizations that perform or promote abortion. Planned Parenthood calls it “inhumane” that the current regulation fails to support “comprehensive – and potentially life-saving – reproductive health services and information.”
COMMENT: Can someone explain how killing a baby is a life-saving service?
(Reading: “Senate votes to overturn devastating global gag rule,” Planned Parenthood news release, 4/5/05)
PRAYER BREAKFAST: The nation’s largest abortion chain has invited Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson to keynote an interfaith prayer breakfast at Planned Parenthood’s annual conference in Washington this month. In an interview with Planned Parenthood, Robinson said, “We encourage our folks to take this very private issue seriously. We urge them to talk to their priests about it and to think through all the questions they might have. And then we absolutely stand behind a woman’s right to choose.” He added a plug for Planned Parenthood’s “extraordinarily fine work.”
(Reading: “Bishop V. Gene Robinson talks to Planned Parenthood,” Planned Parenthood web posting, 4/6/05)
pro-life movement
OREGON: Three pro-life groups are challenging Oregon Right to Life’s position as the leader of the state’s pro-life effort. According to a report in The Oregonian, the three groups “are unapologetically strident about wanting to end abortion, and they say Right to Life has been too willing to compromise on legislation to get along in the Capitol.”
(Reading: “Anti-abortion groups emerge,” The Oregonian, 4/4/05)
reminders
ALL’S NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY: American Life League’s third annual National Pro-life T-shirt Day is April 26. All pro-life Americans, especially students, are encouraged to wear pro-life apparel that day to show support for the preborn. The official shirt of ALL’s National Pro-life T-shirt Day is available online at www.NationalProLifeTshirtDay.com. The cost is $5 plus shipping and handling.
RIGHT TO LIFE ACT OF 2005: This bill (which will be identical to the previous version) states, “The terms ‘human person’ and ‘human being’ include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including, but not limited to, the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.”
COMMENT: Is your member of Congress a co-sponsor? He or she should be. Ask!
reflection for prayer
PSALM 27:4-5: One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: To dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, To gaze on the Lord’s beauty, to visit his temple. For God will hide me in his shelter in time of trouble.