Week in Review
Oregon Governor ‘Celebrates’ Abortion and Those Who Commit Them
In a disgusting display of support for murdering babies through abortion, Tina Kotek, the governor of Oregon, signed a proclamation that declared March 10 as “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.” Alongside Kotek were fellow abortion supporters and abortionists, including Dr. Sara Kennedy, CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette.
Unsurprisingly, Kotek has a history of supporting and enacting pro-abortion laws, including continued taxpayer funding of abortion. Following President Trump’s re-election in November 2024, Kotek ordered “Oregon Health Authority to partner with OHSU to secure a three-year supply of mifepristone – a safe and effective medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over 20 years ago for use in miscarriage management and to end a pregnancy.”
In other words, Kotek demanded Oregon to stock up on the abortion pill mifepristone so that women can kill their preborn children despite any federal or state laws that could restrict accessibility to abortion.
This declaration shows yet again the crisis of our culture’s current state of politics, ignorance of science, and most importantly, the lack of care and respect for the dignity of human persons. Let these horrible actions by Governor Kotek and others be a reminder that our preborn children are in need of defense, love, and respect more than ever before. And let us resolve to keep fighting for the protection of all human persons from creation to death, with no exceptions or compromise.
Marriage and True Love Versus ‘Contraceptive Love’
By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet
It is not uncommon to question why the Catholic Church is interested in contraception. Further, because the subject is rarely preached about or spoken of, it is often unclear what exactly the Church teaches and why.
Modern society idolizes what it perceives as freedom, especially regarding human sexuality. Some assert that “love is love.” Sex is seen primarily as a matter of “self-expression” or “self-fulfillment.” This means one can love whoever they want and however they wish. However, proponents of this view never define what “love” is, or acknowledge the potential harm this view creates. After all, not everything someone does in the name of “love” is truly loving or beneficial to others. In other words, there is no understanding that genuine love involves an unwavering commitment of the will to seek the true good of the other, respecting their dignity and one’s own.
If one believes that “love is love,” any act is permissible, even when it violates the good that is relative to one’s sexual powers. The responsibility, morality, and dignity which belong to any Christian view of human sexuality are absent. This point of view inevitably leads to the “contraceptive mentality.” This is the mentality that one can have sex without consequences, but it must be free from the “burden” of conception. The result of encouraging this kind of sex leads to the destruction of any sound idea of marriage and family life. Human sexuality becomes unhinged from the necessity of self-denial. Sexuality is thus divorced not only from possible procreation but also from marriage itself. Once it is accepted that human sexuality is concerned primarily with “self-expression” or “self-fulfillment” there logically is no need to be married. Contraception is what makes this plausible.
In rejecting contraception, the Church makes it clear that the choice to contracept has an intrinsic meaning. Procreation is an end of the marital act. To act against the nature of this end in contraceptive sex is to reject the order of the good that is inscribed in the nature of the conjugal act. In other words, a couple cannot reasonably define the act purely in terms of the end they have in view: the good end of enjoying sexual intercourse without risking conception because they believe that other responsibilities or circumstances would make it irresponsible for them to conceive. The means by which they achieve this end is contraception, which is always immoral. Its “wrongness” is that it is a contra-life choice.
Far from a never-ending list of “Nos,” Catholic teaching about contraception and marriage is primarily an affirmation of great goods to which the Church proclaims a resounding “Yes.” Her teaching is made “in the light of an integral vision of man and of his vocation, not only his natural and earthly, but also his supernatural and eternal vocation” (Humanae vitae, no. 7).
Because we are addressing human behavior and the values (goods) like marriage, conjugal love, and procreation that people pursue, the Church is concerned that these be valued in themselves and not be compromised. Furthermore, the Church not only has a vested interest in the good of her sons and daughters but also in “the well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society [which] is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1603).
To read the remainder of this article, please visit Human Life International’s site at hli.org/2025/03/marriage-and-contraception/. This article has been reprinted with permission.
ALL in the News
Katie Brown, ALL’s national director, wrote a letter to the president asking him to take action against the abortion pill drug cartel. It was referenced in Pregnancy Help News and in LifeNews this week.
Susan Ciancio, editor of Celebrate Life Magazine and director of the Culture of Life Studies Program—ALL’s pre-K-12 pro-life education program—wrote about how CLSP’s lessons seek to help children grow in both the Theological and Cardinal Virtues. You can read it here. This article was also republished by Today’s Catholic Homeschooling.
Susan also wrote an op-ed featured in LifeNews about Planned Parenthood’s facilities and CEOs. She mentions STOPP International’s upcoming CEO report, which will be available soon.
Susan’s Celebrate Life Magazine article entitled “Fostering Love and Compassion” was republished in Pregnancy Help News.Twice a week, Judie’s commentaries are distributed to an expansive media list. The list contains over 100 media outlets such as Fox News, The Federalist, Breitbart, and The Daily Caller, among others. Judie’s commentaries are each featured on the front page of ALL.org.
Pro-Life Education
Culture of Life Studies Program
St. Joseph: Pro-Life Saint, Hero, and Role Model: This lesson teaches children about the beauty of fatherhood through the example of St. Joseph as he cared for Jesus and Mary. Students will learn about why we honor St. Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord Jesus, as the guardian of the Church. They will also learn the important role that fathers play in our lives and why we should turn to St. Joseph for his intercession. ORDER HERE
ALL’s Education Materials
100% Pro-Life T-Shirt: Show off your pro-life beliefs with this comfy T-shirt that proclaims that you are 100% pro-life, no exceptions, no compromises. Wear it around town to engender conversations, make people think, and easily communicate the truth that all people have value. Hurry! National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day is April 8; order now so you have it in time! SHOP NOW
Pro-Life Social Media
Half-Baked: Ice Cream Brand Gets Torched for Celebrating Abortionists
Years ago, this writer traveled to Florida for a huge pro-life conference discussing the evils of Planned Parenthood. One evening our host family wrapped up dinner by bringing out containers of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for dessert. I politely declined without embarrassing our hosts, but it left me wondering: How do they not know that the popular Vermont ice cream makers are huge abortion advocates?
Case in point:
Today is National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day! ⚕️ We stand with abortion providers today and every day.
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) March 10, 2025
Learn more and take action now: https://t.co/80tNYpdunQ pic.twitter.com/tcPvQ327o4
Ben & Jerry’s appreciates people who murder preborn children. That’s pretty cold.
Hi Ben & Jerry, you may not realise this but induced abortion, when successfully executed, always involves the intentional destruction of a young human life by an act of violence. That is a grave injustice and not something to be celebrated. Thank you for your attention.
— Dermot Kearney (@DermotKearney3) March 11, 2025
People are looking for an ice cream when they come to your shop not a mortal sin
— Angelo Romano ☧ (@ArchangeloRom) March 11, 2025
This is even worse than standing with the women who get abortions – bc at least they might be ignorant, desperate, or coerced.
— Jackie Chea ⚖️ (@Fair_and_Biased) March 11, 2025
The providers are simply paid assassins.
I’m done with your ice cream.
So should we all.
— Mate (@cladery1) March 11, 2025
Thank you for reminding me why I will never spend any of my money on your products. What an appalling post.
— Melissa the Hopeful🏠Homemaker (@BiblicalBeauty) March 11, 2025
Well, won’t be eating your ice cream anymore
— 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕪 (@BornAgainMissy) March 11, 2025
Never buying your products again for the rest of my life and I'll be sure to tell everyone else not to either. Abortion is the murder of an innocent human life.
— Matthew-Thérèse🌹🇻🇦 (@mrlittleflower) March 11, 2025
So Ben and Jerry’s supports murder? I must say, I’m not surprised.
— Emily Rarick (@_emilyrarick) March 11, 2025
Thank you for posting this!
— Rob Alsbury (@AlsburyRob) March 11, 2025
I will NEVER purchase or consume your products again!
X might seem like a wild-west show, but at least it helps everyone know who the corporate supporters of Big Abortion are. Hopefully our pro-life hosts from all those years ago have learned the truth about Ben & Jerry’s.