in this issue:
urgent / pope john paul: PRAY, PRAY, PRAY
urgent / terri schiavo: BULLETIN / FLORIDA BISHOPS
abortion: JANE ROE / KANSAS / WORLD ROUNDUP
catholic priests: SPAIN
culture of death: TIMELINE
imposed death: CALIFORNIA / OREGON
reminders: ALL’S NATIONAL PRO-LIFE T-SHIRT DAY / RIGHT TO LIFE ACT OF 2005
zinger: FRANCES KISSLING
reflection for prayer: PSALM 33:20-22
urgent / pope john paul
PRAY, PRAY, PRAY: Please continue to keep the pontiff in your prayers. In her latest Washington Dispatch column, ALL’s Judie Brown notes, “Pope John Paul II has demonstrated for the world exactly what it means to be truly human, by carrying a burden of illness – with love and compassion – for all those who experience the realities of what it means to be a person facing his mortality with courage and faith.”
(Reading: “Pope John Paul II: A sign of contradiction,” Washington Dispatch, 2/25/05)
urgent / terri schiavo
BULLETIN: It has been a week of deadlines, motions, hearings and new deadlines in the case of Terri Schiavo, the disabled Florida woman whose estranged husband seeks permission to have her feeding tube disconnected – an action that will result in her slow death. The latest wrinkle in the case is a petition from Florida’s Department of Children and Families that could keep Terri’s food supply in place indefinitely while abuse allegations are investigated. Updates are posted on the family’s web site, Terri’s Fight.
COMMENT: Keep praying, and keep encouraging to use every possible avenue to block Michael Schiavo’s quest to end Terri’s life.
(Reading: “In Schiavo case, Gov. Bush seeks delay to probe abuse allegations,” Washington Post, 2/24/05)
FLORIDA BISHOPS: The latest statement asks for prayer for all involved, but offers few specifics: “While withdrawal of Terri Schiavo’s nutrition and hydration will lead to her death, if this is being done because its provision would be too burdensome for her, it could be acceptable. If it is being done to intentionally cause her death, this would be wrong.”
American Life League is asking that the bishops take much stronger action in an effort to help save Terri’s life.
(Reading: “Florida bishops on Terri Schiavo,” Florida Catholic Conference, 2/15/05; “Catholic bishops urged to take action,” American Life League news release, 2/23/05)
abortion
JANE ROE: The court rejected without comment a request to reopen Roe v. Wade. Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” of that case, argued that the courts should take into consideration information now available about how abortion harms women. A lower court said the appeal was moot, since the Texas law challenged in the original case had long been repealed.
(Reading: “Court rejects challenge to abortion ruling,” Associated Press, 2/21/05)
KANSAS: State attorney general Phill Kline is seeking information on 90 women who had late-term abortions. The Wichita Eagle reports Kline “wants to look at the records to search for evidence of crimes defined by laws that limit late-term abortions and require mandatory reporting of suspected child sexual abuse.”
(Reading: “Kline seeks identities of abortion recipients,” Wichita Eagle, 2/24/05)
WORLD ROUNDUP: Zenit News Agency offers a look at abortion around the world, including information about minority abortions in the United States, repeat abortions in Europe, and late-term abortions in Australia. In that final category, Zenit reports, “More than half of these involved healthy babies. The mother’s ‘mental state’ was the most common reason given for justifying the abortions.”
(Reading: “Abortion: A law unto itself,” Zenit, 2/19/05)
catholic priests
SPAIN: Fr. Domingo Garcia Dobao is the target of a lawsuit filed by a man who says the priest publicly humiliated him. Fr. Garcia denied Holy Communion to the man, who had registered his “civil union” with a gay lover. Fr. Garcia said the public registration obliged him to make his decision, noting, “I have only applied ecclesiastical norms.”
(Reading: “Lawsuit filed against priest for denying Communion to gay activist,” Catholic News Agency, 2/17/05)
culture of death
TIMELINE: Life Tree has an online timeline explaining how the Culture of Death has consciously shaped our society and transformed the legal system into a vehicle for advancing death dealing. The timeline describes the funding of foundations, research and organizations that promote the Culture of Death.
(Reading: “Foundation collaboration: Two decades to an American Culture of Death,” Life Tree, 2/21/05)
imposed death
CALIFORNIA: Proposed legislation (AB 654) would permit assisted suicide. The bill is similar to Oregon’s law. The pro-euthanasia organization Compassion and Choices endorses the measure, noting, “Oregon’s aid-in-dying law has worked flawlessly for more than seven years. Californians deserve what Oregonians have — excellent end-of-life care and the choice of a peaceful, humane death.”
(Reading: “Compassion and Choices sponsors aid-in-dying bill,” Compassion and Choices news release, 2/17/05)
OREGON: The court will review the Bush administration’s challenge to Oregon’s assisted suicide law. A California appeals court rebuffed former attorney general John Ashcroft’s effort to use federal measures to stop the practice. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the action was an improper intrusion into state regulation of physicians
(Reading: “High court to review assisted suicide law,” Associated Press, 2/21/05)
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 http://store.yahoo.com/americanlifeleague/natproltshir1.html. The cost is $5 plus shipping and handling. For more information, see www.NationalProLifeTshirtDay.com.
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!
zinger
FRANCES KISSLING: The twisted linguistics of the leader of “Catholics” for a Free Choice continues to amaze: “Are there not ways to affirm and protect the right to choose abortion while actively promoting policies which would actually enhance reflection and good decision making and supporting voluntary mechanisms for nonjudgmental reflection and alternatives to abortion? For example, should we not combine our support for the right of adolescent girls to decide to have an abortion with greater efforts to involve their parents, including seeking funding for counseling for teens facing the abortion decision and their parents as an alternative to mandatory parental consent and notification laws?”
(Reading: “Life after Roe,” Conscience, Winter 2004/2005)
reflection for prayer
PSALM 33:20-22: Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and shield. For in God our hearts rejoice; in your holy name we trust. May your kindness, Lord, be upon us; we have put our hope in you.