Week in Review – Trump protects conscience rights; NY pro-lifers; “It’s Perfectly Normal”
The big news this week comes from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights and deals with conscience rights. HHS issued an updated rule that will apply to all programs funded in whole or in part by the department. In January 2018, following the launch of its new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, HHS announced the proposed conscience rule. OCR received over 242,000 public comments and analyzed and carefully considered all comments submitted from the public on the proposed conscience regulation before finalizing it.
This final rule, implemented this week, replaces a 2011 rule and ensures that HHS implements the full set of tools appropriate for enforcing the conscience protections passed by Congress. These federal laws protect providers, individuals, and other health care entities from having to provide, participate in, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for, services such as abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide. It also includes conscience protections with respect to advance directives. “Finally, laws prohibiting government funded discrimination against conscience and religious freedom will be enforced like every other civil rights law,” said OCR director Roger Severino. “This rule ensures that healthcare entities and professionals won’t be bullied out of the health care field because they decline to participate in actions that violate their conscience, including the taking of human life. Protecting conscience and religious freedom not only fosters greater diversity in healthcare, it’s the law,” Severino concluded. Click here – PDF to read the Final Conscience Rule.
American Life League’s Jim Sedlak traveled to Long Island, New York, last week to give talks in two different communities. What Jim found was unexpected. Given the devastating laws implemented in New York this year, Jim expected a community that needed to be given hope. Instead, he found a pro-life community on fire for the battle against abortion. What Jim was told by local pro-lifers is that Governor Cuomo’s actions have reinvigorated the pro-life community. Groups reported that they’ve seen an increase in interest and their ranks are growing with people who have not been active in the pro-life community before. One such individual was so inspired to “do something” that his first activity was to organize a 40 Days for Life effort at a Planned Parenthood facility. In addition to the actual laws that went into effect, New Yorkers said that the community found Cuomo’s all-out celebration and the lighting in pink of One World Trade Center to be particularly outrageous. Jim observed: “Back in 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was not as devastating as the Japanese had hoped. It’s been reported that one Japanese naval commander commented, after the attack, the he worried they had ‘awakened a sleeping giant.’ The evidence is building that the activity in New York and Virginia and other states by the egotistical pro-abortion advocates have now awakened the sleeping giant that has been much of the pro-life movement. More and more pro-life people are getting involved and joining the core pro-life activists to change the acceptance of abortion in America. Praise God!”
After 24 years, the Planned Parenthood-endorsed sex book for children as young as 10 is still causing problems. When “It’s Perfectly Normal” first came out in 1995, STOPP and ALL used it to condemn the outrageous sex education programs of Planned Parenthood. Yet, the organization continues to push it on kids. The latest uproar from responsible parents is going on right now in Minnesota. One legislator talked about the horror of this book from the floor of the Minnesota legislature and confirmed that it is a Planned Parenthood-endorsed book. ALL has been using “It’s Perfectly Normal” as an example of what is wrong with Planned Parenthood for almost a quarter of a century. Despite the consistent outcry, Planned Parenthood refuses to back away from the book. Why? Because the book represents EXACTLY what Planned Parenthood needs to teach your children in order to convert them into customers and lead them into lives of sexual sin. Planned Parenthood must be STOPPED!
ALL in the News – Convert Cuomo; USCCB: Census—immigrants YES, babies ?
American Life League’s video about the nine-year-old who started an online effort to pray for the conversion of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to be viewed and over 1,000 individuals have signed on to pray for Cuomo’s conversion.
Judie Brown wrote a commentary on the USCCB’s concern over not counting illegal immigrants in the upcoming census and how they did not say a word about not counting preborn children.
STOPP issued the Wednesday STOPP Reportthis week; the four articles can be read on the STOPP homepage.
Jim Sedlak’s Pro-Life Activism from Creation to Deathis a weekly talk-radio program on the Radio Maria USA network. The show can be heard live every Friday at noon (Eastern Time) and is repeated on Saturdays (10 PM) and Mondays (10 PM).
Jim’s April 12 show with guest BJ Garrett, pro-life convert and author of “Unwanted No More,” can be heard on YouTube.
Video of the Week – Ohio lawmaker wants abortions for black babies.
An Ohio legislator proposed an amendment to a Heartbeat Bill that would allow an exception for babies of black mothers.
Action Item of the Week – MAY—The Month of Mary
This being the first Friday in May, let’s stop and reflect that the Catholic Church has, for centuries, celebrated May as the Month of Mary. It is a time when devotions to our Blessed Mother abound. Most churches have the Crowning of Mary as part of the devotions this month.
It is a good time for all Christians to reflect on the fact that Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of His divine Son. That the Holy Spirit, as explained at the annunciation, became the spouse of Mary. And that Jesus, God’s Son, lived within her womb for nine months as He took His human genes from her. At the crucifixion, Jesus gave Mary to us as our mother.
It is right that we take time each May to join in celebrations of this holy mother and give thanks to God for her creation and her mission.
The Catholic News Agency provides us with day-by-day prayers and actions for the entire month. We encourage you to go to their website daily during the month. Since this is May 3, we present for you here the first three days prayers and actions:
May 1
MARY: THE MOTHER OF GOD
“When the Blessed Virgin said yes, freely, to the plans revealed to her by the Creator, the divine Word assumed a human nature—a rational soul and a body—which was formed in the most pure womb of Mary. The divine nature and the human were united in a single Person: Jesus Christ, true God and, thenceforth, true man; the only begotten and eternal son of the Father and from that moment on, as man, the true son of Mary. This is why our Lady is the mother of the Incarnate Word, of the second person of the Blessed Trinity, who has united our human nature to himself for ever, without any confusion of the two natures. The greatest praise we can give to the Blessed Virgin is to address her loudly and clearly by the name that expresses her very highest dignity: ‘Mother of God’.”
Let us offer to our Mother today: Brief but frequent prayers of love, such as: “Mother of God, your petitions are most powerful.”
May 2
MARY: THE MOST PERFECT CREATURE
“She who is full of grace, the object of God’s pleasure, exalted above all the angels and the saints, lived an ordinary life.
“Mary is as much a creature as we are, with a heart like ours, made for joy and mirth as well as suffering and tears. Before Gabriel communicates to her God’s plan, our Lady does not know that she has been chosen from all eternity to be the mother of the Messiah. She sees herself as a lowly creature. That is why she can acknowledge, with full humility, that ‘he who is mighty has done great things’ for her.”
Let us offer to our Mother today: Many glances of affection and many words of love when we see her image or picture in our home, in the church, or anywhere.
May 3
MARY AND THE BLESSED TRINITY
“Through the Incarnation of our Lord in her immaculate womb, Mary, the Daughter of God the Father, is also the Spouse of God the Holy Spirit and the Mother of God the Son.”
Let us offer to our Mother today: A “Hail Mary” each time the clock strikes another hour.
We encourage you to visit the CNA website each day this month and pray daily for an end to abortion and other attacks on life.
Pro-life Social Media – Creators Turn Ultrasounds into Art
Have you ever brought home sonogram pictures and thought about what to do with them after you’ve shown them to everyone you know?
Sonogram images are “cooked” onto thermal paper using a tiny printer head acting as a heat gun, much like grocery store receipt paper. If you were to leave your ultrasound images in the car all afternoon, you would be sad to discover your precious preborn images have turned completely black.
That makes original ultrasound images vulnerable to time and temperature. But several artists on Instagram have discovered creative ways of preserving baby’s first photos.
Embroidery:
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Cross stitch:
Pyrography (wood burning):
Watercolor:
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Ornaments:
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Slate:
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Paint and acrylic:
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View this post on InstagramI think color brings these images to life, and that’s what my art is all about, Charlie Brown.
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