in this issue:
hot button issues: HOLY CROSS / PLANNED PARENTHOOD
abortion: KANSAS / MASSACHUSETTS
activism: NATIONAL NIGHT OF PRAYER FOR LIFE / SYMPOSIUM
catholic bishops: SAMPLE
eugenics: PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS
euthanasia: BRITAIN / CATHOLIC TEACHING
inspirational: DEACON SAMS
sex education: CALIFORNIA / WASHINGTON, D.C.
wisdom: BECKMAN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD
reminders: 40 DAYS FOR LIFE / SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS / ULTRASOUND VIDEO
zinger: RED DRUM FISH, YES; PREBORN BABIES, NO!
reflection for prayer: ACTS 20:28-31
hot button issues
HOLY CROSS: An American Life League video team talked recently with students at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Jesuit-operated school permitted a conference to be held on its campus that included representatives from Planned Parenthood and NARAL. Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester asked the administration to cancel the October 24 event, but it was permitted to go on as scheduled.
Video: “American Life League Report,” 10/25/07
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: American Life League staff attorney Andrew Flusche looks at various situations in which the nation’s largest abortion chain was accused of failing to follow the law.
Reading: “Planned Parenthood faces criminal charges: Do you see a pattern?” American Life League, 10/24/07
abortion
KANSAS: Former Attorney General Phill Kline has filed a 107-count criminal complaint against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, prompting one writer to ask what may come of this move.
Reading: “Could one man influence abortion law?” ABC News, 10/22/07
MASSACHUSETTS: State senators have approved a bill that would mandate a 35-foot protest-free zone around abortion facilities.
Reading: “Mass. senate okays expanded limits on abortion protesters,” Boston Globe, 10/24/07
activism
NATIONAL NIGHT OF PRAYER FOR LIFE: December 8-9 are the dates for this event. For details contact the national coordinator, .
SYMPOSIUM: Scheduled for November 30-December 1 in Toronto, the first International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide promises to be the best conference on this topic. Details are available from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
catholic bishops
SAMPLE: In his homily at the Red Mass, celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan said:
These truths of the moral order in the areas of human life, justice, war and peace, human dignity, marriage and family life are rooted in the very nature of the human person and are inscribed in our hearts. We can discover these truths by the light of human reason and thus we call it the natural moral law.But, because of our fallen nature and the darkness of error and sin, we often have difficulty seeing these objective truths. That is why faith and divine revelation can show us these natural truths, because the author of the natural moral law is the Creator of man who inscribed those very truths in the heart of the human person.
Reading: “Text of the homily presented by Bishop Alexander Sample,” Diocese of Marquette, 10/8/07
eugenics
PREIMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS: Researcher Jamie Grifo told an interviewer, “we can create an environment where we can get a healthier baby…. We want couples to have healthy babies that don’t have genetic problems, who have healthy, happy lives.” Not only that, but the same test allows parents to test for gender. As one researcher stated, “Now we can choose the sex of the child with nearly 100 percent accuracy.”
Reading: “Building a better baby,” CBS News, 10/21/07
euthanasia
BRITAIN: Colin Norris, a male nurse who allegedly predicted the deaths of certain patients, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of murder in connection with the deaths of those patients.
Reading: “Nurse accused of murder ‘predicted deaths,'” The Telegraph, 10/16/07
CATHOLIC TEACHING: The National Catholic Register ran a three-part series on end of life questions from a Catholic perspective.
Reading: “The hour of our death,” National Catholic Register, 10/16/07
inspirational
DEACON SAMS: Every once in a while a pro-lifer writes something remarkable and inspirational. Such a creation is offered by Deacon Gregory Sams, who is also the motivation behind No Room at the Inn, a home for expectant mothers.
Reading: “We should respect, uphold everyone’s right to life,” Island Packet, 10/17/07
sex education
CALIFORNIA: The California Journal of Health Promotion reports there were 1.1 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases among young Californians in 2005. The figure is ten times higher than previously believed. California, according to one pro-family leader, teaches contraceptive-based sex education in public schools.
Reading: “Disastrous results: anti-abstinence sex-ed policy fails to prevent explosion of sexually transmitted diseases in California,” Catholic News Agency, 10/19/07
WASHINGTON, DC: When sex education guidelines for D.C. schools are described as follows, there is no doubt where the culture is heading: “The guidelines say eighth-grade students should be taught the definition of sexual orientation ‘using correct terminology’ and learn that some people ‘may begin to feel romantically and/or sexually attracted to people of a different gender and/or people of the same gender.'”
Reading: “Sex-ed guidelines add homosexuality,” Washington Times, 10/20/07
wisdom
BECKMAN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Bill Beckman writes, “Why would Planned Parenthood have any interest in promoting abstinence? Teenagers who practice abstinence will never become customers of Planned Parenthood. They do not need birth control, STD testing and treatment, pregnancy tests, and abortions. These are the services that Planned Parenthood sells.”
Reading: “Does Planned Parenthood reduce abortions?” Illinois Review, 10/17/07
reminders
40 DAYS FOR LIFE: The campaign continues through November 4 as grassroots pro-lifers in more than 80 communities are participating in the first-ever national 40 Days for Life. It combines prayer and fasting, a round-the-clock vigil outside an abortion facility and community outreach.
SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS: Of Judie Brown’s latest book, one reader writes, “God bless Judie Brown for having the courage to write this book! I wish every bishop could be given a copy to read prayerfully, asking the light of the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire them!”
TO ORDER: “Saving Those Damned Catholics” is available from ALL in hardcover or paperback. Call 866-LET-LIVE or purchase online.
ULTRASOUND VIDEO: “Baby Steps: Live from the womb, 16 stages of pre-birth development,” features dramatic 4-D ultrasound images of preborn babies from 8 to 34 weeks. This amazing new video from American Life League is impressing many in the pregnancy center movement, who say is certain to save lives.
TO ORDER: The “Baby Steps” DVD is available from ALL for $9.95 plus shipping and handling. Call 866-LET-LIVE toll-free, or purchase online.
zinger
RED DRUM FISH, YES; PREBORN BABIES, NO! President Bush recently signed an executive order to protect the striped bass and red drum fish populations.
COMMENT: I guess preborn babies don’t deserve this type of action from the allegedly pro-life Bush.
Reading: “President Bush signs executive order,” White House, 10/20/07
reflection for prayer
ACTS 20:28-31: Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears.