Week in Review – CMP Update; The Sex Education threat; Cardinal Burke
The projected nine-day hearing in California where a judge will evaluate the 14 criminal charges against the Center for Medical Progress’ undercover journalists—David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt—continues. As The Federalist reported, during this hearing, the judge will determine if there is probable cause Daleiden and Merritt committed a crime, and if so, will schedule a date for trial. For those interested in following this hearing in detail, the Center for Medical Progress is posting the highlights and a summary of each day’s activities on its website (bottom of left side column).
Life Site News reported this week on the surprise testimony of Special Agent Brian Cardwell who revealed that Obama Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, sent a letter to California Attorney General Kamala Harris (now a US senator) asking that David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress be investigated.
In addition, this week, the prosecution in the case surprisingly tried to get a gag order put in place so the defendants and their lawyers could not publicly comment on the hearings. CMP reports, “9/11 Day 5 . . . It was a contentious fifth day at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco. First, Judge Christopher Hite heard arguments on the Attorney General’s request for a gag order against Daleiden, Merritt and their attorneys for the duration of the public hearing. The AG’s request was baseless and Judge Hite ruled against the gag order on First Amendment grounds.”
The most startling revelation coming from the hearings so far was that “Doe 12 (the judge will not allow real names of abortion industry witnesses to be used at the hearings) admitted that when a fetal brain is able to be harvested, it is because the baby’s head may still be attached to the body after being pulled out of the womb. When confronted with her statements on undercover video about shipping “intact cases,” she also did not deny that StemExpress harvests and transfers unborn children from completely intact abortions.
It is September and the focus of the culture of death returns, as it does every year, to classroom sex education. Planned Parenthood released a new sex education book this week entitled In Case You’re Curious: Questions about Sex from Young People with Answers from the Experts. In addition, Blume, a retail site selling female products, launched a new website, The States of Sex Ed. The site is all about where school sex education stands in each state. The website is upset that only nine states mandate “medically accurate” sexual education. It is even more upset that 20 states do not mandate any kind of sex education, and the rest allow abstinence programs in the schools. Back in 1986, Planned Parenthood announced a goal of having K-12 comprehensive (medically accurate) sexuality education mandated in every state in the nation. It obviously has failed to come anywhere near achieving that goal, but it keeps trying. We need to be constantly vigilant. Remember, sexuality education of any kind does not belong in any school. It is harmful to our children. Sex education must be taught one-on-one with each child, when the child is mature enough.
In California, where an outrageous sex education curriculum is being implemented this year, the Alliance to Protect Children is holding a state-wide event next Thursday, September 19. Go here to get information.
The National Catholic Register reports that Cardinal Raymond Burke and Bishop Athanasius Schneider have issued an eight-page declaration warning against six “serious theological errors and heresies” they say are contained in the Amazonian Synod working document. They are calling on the faithful to pray and fast for 40 days to prevent such errors being approved. They propose that clergy and laity “pray daily at least one decade of the Holy Rosary and to fast once a week” for such intentions over a 40 day period, from Sept. 17 to Oct. 26. American Life League encourages all our readers to review the NCR article and the document issued by the Cardinal and the Bishop.
ALL in the News – ALL Cited as an Authority on Abortion Stats; Jim Sedlak Comments on Pete Buttigieg
This week, American Life League was cited in an article from MRC News Busters. The article cites abortion statistics from ALL. Similarly, in a Live Action article, American Life League’s annual STOPP report was cited.
Jim Sedlak was interviewed for a OneNewsNow article. Sedlak discusses the recent comments made by Pete Buttigieg on abortion.
Judie’s weekly commentaries continue to be featured as a column on Renew America. This week, her Tuesday commentary,This modern-day holocaust is profit driven, appeared on the site’s front page.
Jim Sedlak’s Pro-Life Activism from Creation to Death is 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).
Video of the Week – HORROR: Nurse Describes Watching Abortion Survivors Left to Die
From BlazeTV: In a special hearing before Congress, former Illinois nurse Jill Stanek shared her testimony from her time working for a local hospital. Stanek describes in horrifying detail how babies that survived abortions were left out to die and then later used to create sick memorabilia of the abortion.
Action Item of the Week – 40 Days for Life begins September 25
The annual Fall campaign of 40 Days for Life begins in just 12 days all across the United States —and around the world. While most people think of 40 Days as standing outside abortion facilities, there are actually three distinct parts to the effort:
PRAYER AND FASTING
Christ told us some demons can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. The two go hand in hand. Prayer keeps us rooted in the fact that it is our desire to carry out God’s will. Fasting is a sacrifice that helps us reach beyond our own limitations with God’s help. Each day during 40 Days for Life, individuals, churches, families and groups will be asked to join together in prayer for a specific request so the entire Body of Christ can unite around a common focus. People of faith are also invited to fast throughout 40 Days for Life. We believe that when God’s people fast with a broken, repentant and contrite spirit, our heavenly Father will hear from heaven and heal our lives, our churches, our communities, our nation, and our world.
CONSTANT VIGIL
The visible, public centerpiece of 40 Days for Life is a focused, 40-day, non-stop, round-the-clock prayer vigil outside a single Planned Parenthood center or other abortion facility in your community. It is a peaceful and educational presence. Those who are called to stand witness during this 24-hour-a-day presence send a powerful message to the community about the tragic reality of abortion. It also serves as a call to repentance for those who work at the abortion center and those who patronize the facility. If you do not have an abortion facility or Planned Parenthood office in your town, you can still conduct 40 Days for Life; however, you will need to select a different location which has some strategic significance—perhaps near city hall, a courthouse, or a highly visible intersection.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
During 40 Days for Life, the message is taken proactively to every corner of your community. Media outreach is conducted through carefully targeted news stories, talk shows, and editorials. Church involvement begins by meeting with local pastors, other church leaders, and members of different congregations. A door-to-door petition and education drive reaches out to every household in your town or city. People visibly show their support for 40 Days for Life by wearing wristbands, placing signs in their yards, or displaying bumper stickers on their vehicles. If your community has a college campus, many students can be impacted through an intense 40-day campus outreach. This can consist of flyer raids, public witness, petition drives, table displays, and much more.
We invite you to go to the 40 Days website to get full information on how you can participate in this tremendous effort.
Pro-life Social Media – Planned Parenthood Misses the Pro-Life Message in its Instagram Post
Leave it to Planned Parenthood to post something so lacking in self-awareness that pro-lifers favored the message more than PP’s own followers. The image originated from illustrator Lina Dirscherl, who describes herself on her IG page as body positive, pansexual, and feminist.
Her message, “The size of your body doesn’t define your worth!”, attracted Planned Parenthood enough to share the image on its own Instagram page:
Planned Parenthood has yet to concoct a medical theory as to when a human being gets his body. Perhaps the child’s body is the mother’s body until—as presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg so poorly put it—first breath. Who knows? Biology isn’t PP’s forte, as much as it pretends to be. Pro-life advocates tried pointing out what was obvious to people who don’t believe in the business of butchering babies.
I can’t believe the lack of introspection on @PPFA’s part with this: “The size of your body doesn’t define your worth!”
— Tom Shakely (@TomShakely) September 5, 2019
That’s exactly what defines your worth in EVERY @PPFA clinic. pic.twitter.com/HE445QAbre
So they’re saying that a little baby in the womb who is only 2 inches long has worth?
— WhitShouldBeAlwaysRoyal (@jediliz) September 5, 2019
So… this counts right? pic.twitter.com/FTFozl7XI8
— B (@BrookelynB01) September 7, 2019
Irony of ironies.
— Gina Barthel (@GinaBarthel) September 5, 2019
