in this issue:
hot button issue: PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY
abortion: CONSENT / POPE BENEDICT
activism: VIRGINIA
catholic politics: BURKE / KERRY
euthanasia: AUSTRALIA
planned parenthood: AURORA I / AURORA II / AURORA III
reminders: 40 DAYS FOR LIFE / LIFE CHAIN / SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS / ULTRASOUND VIDEO
reflection for prayer: COLOSSIANS 3:16-17
hot button issue
PRO-LIFE MEMORIAL DAY: American Life League’s annual remembrance of the innocent victims of abortion is set for October 1. “There are memorials all over the nation dedicated to heroes who died fighting for this country,” said Erik Whittington, ALL’s youth outreach director. “It is absolutely shameful that this memorial is necessary, because abortion is truly America’s self-inflicted wound.”
TO ORDER: The official Pro-life Memorial Day 2007 shirt, featuring an image of the U.S. Supreme Court building with the words, “Tomb of the Unborn,” is available from American Life League for $6.95 plus shipping and handling. Monday, September 17, is the final day to order to ensure timely delivery. Call 866-LET-LIVE toll-free, or purchase online.
Reading: “Pro-life Memorial Day remembers abortion’s victims,” American Life League, 9/12/07
abortion
CONSENT: In a unanimous decision, the New Jersey supreme court decided it “will not place a duty on doctors when there is no consensus in the medical community or among the public” on when a human being’s life begins. The ruling states that doctors cannot be required to tell a mother seeking abortion that the child in her womb is an “existing human being.”
COMMENT: Embryology textbooks say a human being’s life begins at fertilization. What’s there to debate?
Reading: “N.J. court scraps trial on abortion data,” Associated Press, 9/12/07
POPE BENEDICT: During a visit to Austria, the pontiff spoke out strongly against abortion, begging Austrians in particular and Europeans in general “not to allow children to be considered as a form of illness.” He also decried those who are attempting to establish abortion as a so-called human right, noting that the most fundamental right is the right to life. “This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end,” he said. “Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right — it is the very opposite. It is a deep wound in society.”
Reading: “Pope says abortion not a human right,” Reuters, 9/7/07
activism
VIRGINIA: The Washington Times has published a profile of the Paul Stefan Home for Unwed Mothers in Orange County, Virginia. “This is the next step in the pro-life movement,” said the home’s co-founder, Father Stefan Starzynski. He is confident that Roe v. Wade will be overturned and when it is, he said Christians must be prepared to offer additional care for unwed mothers and their children.
Reading: “Next step for pro-lifers,” Washington Times, 9/7/07
catholic politics
BURKE: Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis has written a detailed examination of bishops’ duties in regard to denying Holy Communion to Catholic political leaders who publicly support abortion: “The discipline must be applied in order to avoid serious scandal, for example, the erroneous acceptance of procured abortion against the constant teaching of the moral law. No matter how often a bishop or priest repeats the teaching of the Church regarding procured abortion, if he stands by and does nothing to discipline a Catholic who publicly supports legislation permitting the gravest of injustices and, at the same time, presents himself to receive Holy Communion, then his teaching rings hollow. To remain silent is to permit serious confusion regarding a fundamental truth of the moral law.”
Reading: “Canon 915: The discipline regarding denial of Holy Communion to those obstinately persisting in manifest grave sin,” Periodica de Re Canonica, 2007, pp. 3-58
KERRY: Catholic University in Washington, D.C., has invited Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to lecture on environmentalism and the war in Iraq. Kerry, who claims the Catholic faith, has a 100 percent approval rating from the pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-choice America. The campus chapter of College Democrats issued the invitation, citing Kerry’s “remarkable dedication to the doctrine and principles of Catholic social teaching.”
Reading: “Pro-abortion John Kerry to speak at Catholic University of America,” Life Site News, 9/10/07
euthanasia
AUSTRALIA: Researchers sought to determine “attitudes among surgeons in Australia to assisted death, and the proportion of surgeons who have intentionally hastened death with or without an explicit request.” They found that “More than a third of surgeons surveyed reported giving drugs with an intention to hasten death, often in the absence of an explicit request.”
Reading: “The intention to hasten death: A survey of attitudes and practices of physicians in Australia,” Medical Journal of Australia
planned parenthood
AURORA I: The background concerning Planned Parenthood’s stealth abortion center construction in Aurora, Illinois–as well as pro-lifers’ response to the still unopened facility–was explained on Sean Hannity’s program last weekend.
Video: “Planned Parenthood deception exposed in Aurora, Illinois,” Fox News Channel, 9/9/07
AURORA II: The Planned Parenthood construction site is the scene of an ongoing 40-day prayer vigil. A counter demonstration is scheduled Sunday–a prayer vigil in support of Planned Parenthood. Rev. Larry Greenfield, executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago, said: “To deny somebody choice is contrary to what I believe to be the teachings of Jesus as a Christian.”
COMMENT: Huh?
Reading: “Pro-choice clerics back clinic,” Chicago Sun-Times, 9/13/07
AURORA III: An alderman in Aurora will propose legislation that will require parental permission for any medical treatment offered to a child under 18. Although the measure does not specifically target abortion, it would clearly affect the new Planned Parenthood facility. Ed Yohnka of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois said the proposal is unconstitutional and “bad policy.”
Reading: “Parental consent on Aurora council agenda,” Daily Herald, 9/13/07
reminders
40 DAYS FOR LIFE: Grassroots pro-lifers in more than 80 communities will participate in the first-ever national 40 Days for Life campaign this fall. The project is based on an event that began in Bryan/College Station, Texas in 2004 and has spread to a half dozen other communities in the three years since. It combines prayer and fasting, a round-the-clock vigil outside an abortion facility and community outreach.
LIFE CHAIN: Mark your calendars now and check online for a Life Chain in your area. The annual event is scheduled for October 7.
SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS: Of Judie Brown’s latest book, one reader writes, “Judie Brown tells the truth in a very clear, thoughtful and brilliant manner, without beating about the bush. This is a wonderful effort to help people, both Catholic and not, to be more truly knowledgeable about what God really means in His Ten Commandments.”
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,” is an amazing new video from American Life League that many in the pregnancy center movement say is certain to save lives. The video features dramatic 4-D ultrasound images of preborn babies from 8 to 34 weeks development.
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.
reflection for prayer
COLOSSIANS 3:16-17: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.