Time to take the gloves off: the truth about abortion

Obama has said that his first action as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act which would support abortion. He is already the bill's cosponsor in the Senate, so there is no doubt that this is one campaign promise he will keep. Read this quote from Jill Stanek from Vive Christus Rex. "One night, a nursing co-worker was taking a Down syndrome baby who was aborted alive to our Soiled Utility Room because his parents did not want to hold him, and she did not have time to hold him. I could not bear the thought of this suffering child dying alone in a Soiled Utility Room, so I cradled and rocked him for the 45 minutes that he lived. He was between 21 and 22 weeks old, weighed about 1/2 pound, and was about 10 inches long. He was too weak to move very much, expending any energy he had trying to breathe. Toward the end he was so quiet that I could not tell if he was still alive. I held him up to the light to see through his chest wall whether his heart was still beating. After he was pronounced dead, we folded his little arms across his chest, wrapped him in a tiny shroud, and carried him to the hospital morgue where all of our dead patients are taken."
McCain will undoubtedly veto the Freedom of Choice Act. He has a 100% prolife voting record, and Deal Hudson urges Catholics not to vote for Obama for this reason.
IF you can support the brutality seen in the following graphic video of abortion, then go ahead and vote for Obama, if not, we have no choice as prolifers but to vote for McCain.
We can't stay home, we can't accept an Obama victory as a fait d'accompli, we must act and pray. Millions of lives are at stake.

Here is the reality of abortion. This is the most graphic video I have ever seen, and though the song is in Spanish, the pictures are real and will haunt you forever. NOT for children!!!!

Planned Parenthood's New Image

Learn the new stealth strategy of Planned Parenthood to kept itself in the black.

Pro-life victory in Texas: Dallas abortion mill closes

Last year, I remember Julie at Happy Catholic's post, It started here, let it end here, an initiative of prayer and fasting by Dallas, Texas Catholic bloggers to end abortion. Since Norma McCorvey of Roe v Wade was from Texas, these bloggers took responsibility for the Supreme Court Decision and began a vigil of prayer and sacrifice to end abortion.
This is one of the first fruits of their efforts, and thousands of others whose prayers stormed Heaven to end the killing at this mill. Well done!
NOW let's imitate them in our area.
I live in the abortion capitol of the world, so I have my work cut out for me.
Here's the story.
Our Lady of Victory, pray for us!
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
UPDATE: The Family Research Council gives the credit for the closing of the Aaron Abortion Mill infamous for late term abortions to the local Catholic Church.
In a story of pro-life perseverance and triumph, a coalition of Catholics, under the leadership of Bishop Charles Grahmann, is reaping the reward of their 18-year commitment to pray outside of Dallas abortion clinics. In the last several years, they have witnessed the closure of seven of the city's 13 clinics. This week, an eighth announced that it will shut its doors for good, leaving just five abortion centers in the entire city of Dallas. What is particularly encouraging about putting the Aaron Women's Health Center out of business is that it was one of the three facilities in the city to perform late-term abortions. We rejoice with Bishop Grahmann and applaud him for his comforting presence outside of these clinics, as he and his parishioners ministered God's healing message to the women of Dallas.
Julie at Happy Catholic who lives in Texas, mentioned that the Mass of Thanksgiving for the end to the killing was on June 28, my birthday. What a wonderful gift.

Cardinal Rigali: the Church will never condone homosexual behavior

From a true shepherd of the Church. Read the entire post at A Catholic View.

The Pauline Year begins today

A message from Pope Benedict:
"Dear brothers and sisters, as in early times, today too Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St Paul. Paul, a former violent persecutor of Christians, when he fell to the ground dazzled by the divine light on the road to Damascus, did not hesitate to change sides to the Crucified One and followed him without second thoughts. He lived and worked for Christ, for him he suffered and died.
How timely his example is today!
And for this very reason I am pleased to announce officially that we shall be dedicating a special Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, on the occasion of the bimillennium of his birth, which historians have placed between the years 7 and 10 A.D."
HT Charlotte was both

Did SSPX accept the Vatican's conditions?

Weeell. . . not exactly, but Bishop Fellay left the door open. There's still hope for a reconciliation with Rome. I'll let Fr. Z explain this one, I'm out of my depth. . .

Florida bishops tell Gov Christ to suspend executions

This is a good move in union with Pope John Paul II who said that in Western Countries the death penalty is rarely necessary to protect society, as long as no liberal judge can let these criminals out.
One question however, where were these bishops when Terri Schiavo was being systematically dehydrated and starved? Her own Bishop Lynch actually sent a priest as a witness for her husband, Michael Schiavo who wanted her dead, saying erroneously that the Church approved of the withholding of food and water from a woman who was obviously not near death. Pope Benedict has since reiterated Pope John Paul II's statement that food and water are NOT extraordinary care and may NOT be withheld unless the patient is dying and their administration would cause the patient discomfort.

HT CNS, Life Site News

Mother Angelica had a happy Mother's Day

Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN received a book for Mother's Day with hundreds of emails from around the world from fans whom she calls"her children".
May God repay you for what you have done for us with your network, Mother, for we never could!
HT EWTN

Pope to return to more pious reception of Holy Communion

"Benedict's master of liturgical ceremonies said in an interview Wednesday in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the pontiff will place the Communion host in the mouths of the faithful who kneel before him." Will we all be able to receive Holy Communion while kneeling ? How wonderful that would be!Read the entire story here.
Its no surprise then, that the Pope prefers communion on the tongue. So do I.
Read the entire story here.
Read more at The New Liturgical Movement
HT CNS

Locura (Craziness) Spanish confer human rights to apes

But Spanish unborn babies have no rights. Que locura!
"Spain’s environmental committee approved legislation Wednesday that would grant apes the right to life and freedom. The Great Apes Project would extend human rights to chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos."
Read the entire story here.
HT Citizen Link

Obama attacks Dr. Dobson

If you were running for President, would you attack the biggest radio talk show host in the world, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family?
Barack Obama didk since Dr Dobson doesn't appreciate his twisting Sacred Scripture to justify his pro-abortion voting record, and anti-marriage stance. "He is editing God's Word to fit his liberal worldview, and the more exposure his views on these matters get, the more obvious this will become to American Christians."
A "coalition of pastors and other Christians" has launched an anti-Dobson Web site, to defend the "Christian faith and Barack Obama."
Read the etire story here.
HT Citizen link

Black minister to protest at Democratic Headquarters

Dr Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is joining the protest which will be held at Democratic Headquarters. Race and abortion politics will merge Thursday when a group of African-American pastors, led by the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., march on the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters to demand that candidates refuse donations from Planned Parenthood. The reason: They believe that Planned Parenthood allows racist donors to designate that their money go to fund abortions of blacks.
Read the entire story here.
HT ALL

Obama anti-choice on vouchers for poor children of DC

Flip flopping on his former position supporting vouchers for the poor children of Washington DC, Obama now bows to the powerful National Federation of Teachers, and opposes them. Inner city children stuck in failing schools have no alternatives. I doubt many of them will have the chance to attend Harvard or Princeton, like the Obamas.
Barack Obama prefers private education for his daughters but won't give DC parents the same opportunity," said Brian Burch, President of Fidelis, a Catholic-based political, legal, research and educational organization.
"Vouchers are Change," he continued. "Rather than subjecting kids to rotting schools, vouchers have brought change to hundreds of families, who opted for private or parochial schools. If Barack Obama had fought for this program, it would be saved. But he refuses to help these low-income families. By supporting the teachers union, he sadly has become the Status Quo Candidate on education."
Read the entire story here.
HT Life Site News

Ecce Panis

Here is the schola which will be singing on Saturday June 28 at St Matthew's in Dix Hills. My daughter wasn't present that day but she will be on the 28th. What a lovely birthday gift that will be to her mom!

Prayer Intention: Will Society of St. Pius X be reunited with Rome?

The Italian daily Il Giornale reports that Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has approved an offer to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) that could heal the breach between the Holy See and the traditionalist group.
The Vatican’s offer requires a response from the SSPX by June 28, Il Giornale says. The offer was apparently explained by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos (bio - news), the president of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, during a recent meeting with Bishop Bernard Fellay, the superior general of the SSPX.
As one commenter mentioned, this will require great prayer. I attended a Mass at my local SSPX chapel as I do about once a year, and the pastor was railing against any recognition of Vatican II or the Novus Ordo Mass. He was siding with Bishop Williamson who is the hardliner against reconciliation, and those Catholics, who, like me, and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, who love the Traditional Mass but stay loyal to Rome. I see a split happening in the SSPX if we don't cover this in prayer for the next three days. What a shame that would be!
I am attending a Latin High Mass at 11AM this Saturday at St Matthew's Church in Dix Hills, Long Island, NY . My daughter's schola will be singing, and I invite all my readers in the area to join us and pray that we receive good news that day about the reconciliation with our brethren in the SSPX.
Read entire story here.
HT NOR

Speak the truth to power

Despite pleading, Italian Premier Silvio Berluscone is still barred from the sacrament since his remarriage was outside the Church. The Holy Father said, "I want to invite shepherds and the faithful to renew their attention on how they prepare to receive the Eucharist," the pope said by videolink to an audience in Montreal.

"Despite our weakness and our sins, Christ wants to invite us into his home and asks us to start our healing. We must do everything in our power to receive him into a pure heart, and to re-find in the sacrament of pardon a pureness that sin has stained."

However, the pope did say that even people who are ineligible to receive communion can find healing by attending the church service.

There are no shorcuts for those in power, Senators Pelosi, Dodd, and Kennedy.
Read entire story here.
HT NOR

Heinz pulls offensive homosexual ad over outcry

This is NOT a video for the children. It's Heinz's latest attempt to push the gay agenda, showing a happily married couple of men. It was pulled amid protests from people who revere the institution of marriage. Power to the people!
"Heinz said that it decided to withdraw the TV commercial last week, and that it was no longer on air as of Friday.
It is understood that the commercial was not shown during children's television programming, because of new rules from Ofcom that restrict ads for products high in fat, salt and sugar. "
It's that special, our children are subjected to the gay agenda, but are protected from commercials showing high sugar, salt and fat content. Where are our priorities?!!
HT NOR

Pregnancy Pact in a state which refuses abstinence edcuation

from the Family Research Council

Despite the angst over fuel prices and the presidential race, rumors of a high school pregnancy pact are stealing headlines in America's largest newspapers and prompting more parents to question what public education is teaching their children about sex. During the 2007-08 school year, Joseph Sullivan, the principal of Massachusetts' Gloucester High School (GHS), noticed a serious spike in the number of girls who became pregnant during the school year. In an interview with Time, he admitted that the teen pregnancy rate had quadrupled at GHS, and he suspected that a group of sophomore girls agreed to "get pregnant and raise their babies together.

"While the media is consumed with whether or not such a pact exists, the story raises far more troubling issues about the school's message on sexuality. If these students never struck an agreement, as Gloucester's Mayor Carolyn Kirk insists, we can presume at the very least that these 16-year-old girls thought it was acceptable to be sexually active and become pregnant. And why wouldn't they? GHS's own policy encourages it. The school offers free on-site daycare for teen moms so that students can bring their babies to school. It also teaches "comprehensive" sex education to students in the ninth grade, just in time for high school. If the school is bending over backward to accommodate teen mothers and encouraging the promiscuity that leads to it, these girls would have no choice but to assume that premarital sex and motherhood are acceptable social norms.

Sarah Brown of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy said, "This is not a story about sex education." Of course it is! It just happens to be a story that liberals are trying to hide, as it confirms--once again--the failure of comprehensive sex education. Planned Parenthood celebrated when Gov. Deval Patrick (D) refused the federal funds for abstinence programs in Massachusetts schools. Had he accepted the grant and encouraged schools like GHS to use it to teach sexual restraint, the storyline in this storied fishing village might have been different. Instead schools like Gloucester insist on promoting promiscuity over abstinence in direct contradiction of the wishes of 78 percent of parents (as expressed in a 2007 Zogby poll)

Like us, these parents don't understand what's wrong with telling kids to simply say "no." Isn't that the message we give them on other dangerous activities like drug and alcohol use? We tell them not to smoke. And unlike sex education, we don't hand them filters and say "If you're going to light up, smoke safely." Now that public schools are starting to reap what they've sown with the "just do it" mentality, states are scrambling to accommodate kids and their poor decision-making. On teen sex, it's time to stop treating the problem and start preventing it with the only birth control that is 100% effective--abstinence.

Update: read JillStanek's take on the media's spin on this issue at World Net Daily.

Catholic Fire: Shocking Eyewitness Confession: Live Infant Stabbed To Death By Tiller Abortionist Shelley Sella

This is so henious even I didn't have the stomach to post on it, thankfully Jean at Catholic Fire has already done an outstanding job. Catholic Fire: Shocking Eyewitness Confession: Live Infant Stabbed To Death By Tiller Abortionist Shelley Sella

Catholics don't let faith influence political belief

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life came up with a depressing statistic. Catholics don't make political decisions informed by their faith. Of all the faith groups surveyed, the study found that Muslims were among the most devout, with 82 percent saying they pray at least weekly, and 86 percent view the Koran as the word of God.
Researchers also found that about one in four evangelicals, and less than one-tenth of Catholics, said their religious beliefs strongly influence their political opinions.
This explains Catholics for Obama.
HT Spirit Daily

Welsh woman dies from RU 486 as father grieves

The mainstream media doesn't want you to read this.
As LifeNews.com has reported, Jones, an 18-year-old student from Wales, experienced heavy bleeding after the abortion, which was incomplete and left part of the unborn child's body inside her.
Manon's father, Dewi Jones, told an inquest that he was never informed about his daughter's pregnancy or her decision to have an abortion until she checked into Southmead Hospital in Bristol with complications.
HT Spirit Daily

Disabled teach us about the Eucharist

Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche communities addressed the 49th Eucharistic Congress in Quebec Sunday and " told the story of a mentally handicapped boy from Paris on the day he received his First Communion: "After Mass, which was a family celebration, the boy's uncle, who was his godfather, said to the child's mother: 'What a beautiful liturgy! How sad it is that he didn't understand anything.'
"The child heard these words and, with tears in his eyes, said to his mother: 'Don't worry, Mommy, Jesus loves me just as I am.'"
Vanier affirmed: "This child had a wisdom that his uncle was yet to attain: the Eucharist is God's gift par excellence. "This child gives witness that a disabled person -- sometimes deeply disabled -- finds life, strength and consolation in and through Eucharistic communion. Is not this a call that the whole Church should hear?"
In L'Arche, the founder continued, "we have seen that if we pay attention to the deepest needs of disabled people, we can see their desire for Communion at the moment of the Eucharist."
I wrote about Christina's early relationship with Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist at an early age here and later here.
It was Mary, a young lady with Trisomy 21, who prepared me for having Christina, by the way she adored Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Many years ago, when our parish had it's only time of adoration, a Forty Hours Exposition for the Feast of Corpus Christi, I came to adoration to see Mary prostrate on the floor in front of the Monstrance for nearly an hour. As far as I knew, she had never seen anyone do that before, she was merely responding to the Lord's presence with a completely open heart, free of the fear of what others would say.
I was so moved, I said to myself, "What mother wouldn't giver her left arm for this daughter?" Little did I know that her mother was so bitter about her disability that she refused to have another child, and stopped going to church. Her husband, unwilling to disobey Church teaching on artificial contraception, never approached the marital bed for the rest of his life. I suspect he must have offered his suffering for his wife and daughter, for Mary was truly an extraordinary young lady, full of love and joy.Now that her father is gone, her mother takes her to Mass but won't stay with her.
Please pray that her mother's eyes are opened to the blessing that her daughter is and that she repents of rejecting Our Lord's friendship. Mary and her father are praying for her.
Read the entire story here.
HT Catholic Online
UPDATE: Here and here are two posts on children with Trisomy 21 receiving their First Holy Communions. I think they confirm Jean Vanier's message!

The Internet is Evangelizing

According to recent convert Jenifer Fulwweiler of Et Tu in her well-written article in Inside Catholic.
"In an interactive medium, falsehoods are called out, bad or incomplete ideas collapse under the weight of cross-examination, and anyone honestly seeking the truth will recognize it when they see it. Whatever our belief systems, we can't isolate ourselves online the way we can in real life. In my case that meant that instead of being affirmed in my beliefs by my atheist friends, I bumped into Christians and was forced to confront their ideas in a way I'd never had to before. Over and over again I noticed that it was only the Christians -- and Catholics in particular -- whose belief system didn't crack under the pressure of a flood of tough questions."

I began this blog in 2006 as an effort to evangelize with the truth, and it's edifying to see that hearts and minds are indeed being reached through the internet, and blogs in particular(see the comments). It's also a reminder to be intellectually honest, and a good example of charity.

Review of "Faith, Reason and the War on Jihadism"

An excellent review of George Weigel's new book is up on MercatorNet where he explains why the War on Terror is ineffectual, and what Catholics can bring to the discussion.
Weigel wryly observes that we are not going to “convert 1.2 billion Muslims into good secular liberals.” As should be obvious by now in Iraq and Afghanistan, we cannot also impose our own democratic systems on people who have never known them and who, at least in Afghanistan, are essentially tribal. What we can and must focus on is respect for pluralism and religious tolerance, respect for the rule of law and commitment to persuasion, not coercion. In Islam the fusion of temporal and religious authority – the theocratic state – is an obstacle; there is no mention in the Qur’an of “rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and rendering unto God that which is God’s” which led in the West, albeit slowly, to an understanding of the distinctive roles of church and state.

How to speak to atheists

Talking with atheists is something I don't relish as much as I did in college, where we'd have long debates over dinner in the cafeteria. . .maybe it's because I don't have as much time as I did then, but Jen Fulweiler of Et Tu, a former atheist, in her article suggests that atheists are getting bolder as they seem to have the upper hand in recent days.
"Atheism is a strong and growing influence in our culture. You can see it everywhere from the bestseller table at your local bookstore to the Darwin-mutated Jesus fish on the car in traffic in front of you. Atheists are comfortable declaring themselves atheists, comfortable promoting atheism, and comfortable decrying religion, which, according to some of the more prominent atheists, resides on the list of mankind's blessings somewhere between diphtheria and Nazism.

And now that we're encountering it more often, Christians sometimes find themselves ill-prepared to deal with this kind of muscular atheism. Especially for lifelong Christians, atheist arguments are so foreign that they don't know how to respond, and too often lapse into anger ("How dare you?!") or fear ("What if they're right?!"), neither of which does anyone any good, harming the Christian's witness and leaving the atheist firmly entrenched in his atheism. "
Prepare yourself for being drawn into such a discussion, it may come sooner that you think. As 1 Peter 15 says, we must always be ready to give the reason for our hope.
HT Holy Spirit Interactive

Catholic Charity workers sign for 16 year old girls' abortion

I was a social worker for Catholic Charities in New York in the mid 1980's. We were asked to uphold Church teaching on life and famliy issues, yet some of the social workers mocked such teachings and certainly didn't uphold them in their private or professional lives. What really hurt is that priests were sending parishioners to us in good faith that they would receive Catholic guidance.
So, the fact that a young woman being cared for by CC in Virginia not only brought the her for an abortion, but also illegally signed consent forms as her 'parent' fails to suprise me. At least the bishop has fired the workers involved and taken steps to re-educate the staff as to Church teaching, though it's probably the first time that most of them will learn it.
Read the entire story here.
HT Life Site News

Diocese of Rockville Centre has Confirmation in the Tradtional Rite

The growth of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in this past year since Summorum Pontificum has surpassed even my optimistic expectations. Last Sunday, Bishop Murphy confirmed several of my friend's children in the Traditional Rite. See the story here. Thank you, Bishop Murphy.

HT The Long Island Catholic

Holocaust survivors grateful for help from Pope Pius XII

from the Catholic League
Today, Pope Benedict XVI is welcoming a group of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Arranged by the Pave the Way Foundation, the group will personally thank the pope for the Catholic Church’s intervention in saving their lives in Italy during World War II.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue addressed this event today:

"Despite attempts by embittered ex-priests and seminarians, and others, to discredit Pope Pius XII's heroic efforts in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust (as many as 860,000 were saved), the evidence is mounting that Pius was a 'Righteous Gentile.' What is happening in the Vatican today is another reminder of just how great a man he was.

"October 9 marks the 50th anniversary of Pius' death. To mark this important event, the Vatican announced yesterday that a convention will be held November 6-8 to honor his work; a photo exhibit will be on display in the colonnade of St. Peter's Square from October 21-January 6. Millions of Catholics hope that eventually Pius will be beatified and then canonized. The Catholic League certainly supports this process.

"Those who disagree with this assessment have a lot of explaining to do. For example, the true test of the Catholic Church's role in rescuing Jews was in Italy, and nowhere in Europe were more Jews saved"fully 85 percent"than in Italy. Also, the chief rabbi in Rome during the German occupation, Emilio Zolli, once said that "no hero in all of history was more militant, more fought against, none more heroic, than Pius XII." Indeed, Zolli was so moved by Pius' work that he became a Catholic after the war, taking the pope's name as his baptismal name.

"Finally, today's meeting of Jewish Holocaust survivors thanking the pope for what the Church did to save their lives says it all. No amount of revisionism can change that."

To help educate your family on the important role the Church played in helping holocaust survivors in WWII, rent the 1983 made for TV film, "The Scarlet and the Black" starring Christopher Plummer and Gregory Peck about Monsignor O'Flagherty who hid POWs and refugees in the Vatican under the watchful eye of the Nazis who occupied Rome during the war.

Pro-life Pharmacy opens in Virginia while AMA denies pharmacists freedom of conscience

A completely contraceptive/abortifacient free pharmacy has just opened in Chantilly, Va amid much media attention. See the EWTN report here.
At the same time, the America Medical Association is moving to restrict freedom of conscience of pharmacists who don't want to perscribe these drugs. In 2007, 36 states considered legislation to protect health care providers' right of conscience.
The American Medical Association (AMA) is considering a policy that would require pharmacists to dispense drugs that can cause abortions, even if it violates their beliefs.
“We have opened a very dangerous door if we try to impose our viewpoint on another organization," said Dr. Tom Eppes, who is heading the Virginia delegation at this week's AMA board meeting.
Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical Association, called the proposal hypocritical and elitist.
“Hypocritical, because they say very clearly in their own documents that physicians have a right of conscience," he said. "It’s elitist because they’re acting as if the pharmacists aren’t professionals like they are.”
In 2007, 36 states considered legislation to protect health care providers' right of conscience.
HT Citizen Link

Leader of "Pro-Life Nation" honored by Holy See at UN

By Piero A. Tozzi and Susan Yoshihara
(NEW YORK – C-FAM) At United Nations headquarters this week, President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador received the “Path to Peace” award in recognition of his commitment to the “development of peace in national and international arenas.” Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, bestowed the honor in his capacity as president of the Path to Peace Foundation. The Path to Peace Foundation promotes initiatives of the Pope and the Holy See aimed at building “justice, charity and peace.”
President Saca was a media personality who gained the attention of El Salvador’s ARENA party and won the presidency in 2004. According to the Path to Peace Foundation, he was recognized for implementing judicial and fiscal reform, as well as programs designed to eradicate poverty in order to help El Salvador rebuild society in a manner consistent with Catholic social principles. After a bloody civil war, the country signed a peace agreement in 1992.
In his acceptance remarks, President Saca credited the “enormous contribution” of the Catholic Church to restoring peace and cited the 1983 visit of Pope John Paul II to the war-torn country as a pivotal event. He also touted his administration’s policy of promoting a “solidarity network” in impoverished rural and urban areas, providing incentives so that poor families would send their children to school and obtain medical examinations.
The award however caused an “outcry,” according to Raul Gutierrez of the IPS news service. Gutierrez reported that “Several Salvadoran Catholic organizations said they ‘regretted’ the foundation’s decision, in a letter to the Apostolic Nunciature in El Salvador.” Gutierrez did not cite the names of the organizations but said they disagreed with the foundation’s assessment of the president’s achievements. IPS news focuses on “civil society” and the “impact of globalization on the [global] South.” Among its supporters are the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, organizations whose population control policies run counter to the strong pro-life laws of El Salvador, whose constitution protects life from conception.
El Salvador has come under heavy fire from abortion rights advocates and in the media in the last few years, fallout from which led to a major scandal at the New York Times. In a story reported by LifeSite News, the Times published Jack Hitt’s April 2006 article, “Pro-Life Nation,” erroneously saying that a woman was serving a 30-year jail term for having undergone an illegal abortion. The Times relied on a translator from a UN-accredited non-governmental organization called Ipas that promotes abortion and sells portable abortion devices over the telephone. (C-FAM Friday Fax: UN NGO at the Center of New York Times Reporting Scandal) Due to the controversy the LifeSite News story caused, the New York Times was forced to admit it was wrong in an “editor’s note” but stopped short of calling it a “correction” or “retraction.” I posted on this scandal here and here.
Despite such pressure, El Salvador continues to maintain its protection for life in its various stages. This week, all 84 Salvadoran legislators signed the “Yes to Life” statement – part of a campaign to promote respect for human life in Central America – condemning abortion as an “abominable crime” and affirming the duty of legislators to “unconditionally” defend life from conception to natural death."
What a blessing that this tiny nation which has suffered from so much injustice should have such a good Catholic leader. I'm sure that all the money sent from Salvadorean immigrants here in the USA contributed to the well-being of the poor there. This is the family of God at work. We should help children get health care and schooling, not force abortion upon their parents.

Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: E.J. Dionne on Kmiec Being Denied Communion [UPDATED]

Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: E.J. Dionne on Kmiec Being Denied Communion [UPDATED]

Heroic Catholic families

The late Fr. John Hardon said, "only heroic Catholic families will survive in this world".
Dr Jeff Mirus of Trinity Communications describes the heroic Catholic family at the dawn of the Third Millenium. Here's my favorite paragraph:
"In early third millennium America, heroic Catholic families generally don’t send their kids to public schools if they have any conceivable alternative. Nor do they take advantage of parochial or diocesan schools if their staffs are still riddled with cafeteria Catholics (or worse). If a sound Catholic school is not available, heroic Catholic families pull up roots and move, or they found independent schools, or they home school. Even if outstanding schools are available, they may still home school. I use the word “generally” in the first sentence, because there are exceptions to every parenting rule, and it isn’t anybody’s job but yours to make the best decision for your own children. "
Faced with only Cafeteria Catholic schools in our area, we have home-schooled, tried to start an independent school many times (and failed) and now we are discerning whether to pull up roots and move for outstandingly Catholic schools. And we are catching flack from a few quarters. But, we are heroic. Thanks, Dr. Mirus, I needed some affirmation!
HT Catholic Culture.org

Happy Father's Day

Read here about Max McGinley and his father, actor John McGinley, who participated with us in the 2006 Buddy Walk in NYC.

This is fatherhood at it's best; an accomplished father who refuses to leave his son in his shadow, despite the fact that he has Down syndrome. They are moving forward together.

Happy Father's Day everyone!

National Geographic Series on the Vatican

Two five minute segments can be watched here. They are well done, accurately and respectfully detailing the history of the Vatican and St. Peter's basilica.

Protest at NAACP Convention to call attention to abortion as black genocide

Rev Clenard H. Childress, Jr. a pastor from New Jersey will be protesting the NAACP's convention in Cincinati, he said, "Historically, the NAACP has failed to address the concerns of many of its delegates about abortion," he added.
The black pastor pointed to a 2004 resolution voicing support for “equal access to abortion” and urging its members to participate in a pro-abortion rally in Washington.
In 2007, the NAACP, for the second time in four years, blocked a proposed resolution expressing opposition to abortion. Read more at Black Genocide.org
HT Life News

The Holy Father gives an insider tour to President Bush

"The usual protocol for heads-of-state is a meeting in the pope's library in the Apostolic Palace, but a spokesman for the Vatican said Benedict wanted to reward Mr Bush for the "warmth" of his reception at the White House earlier this year. "
Read the entire story here.
HT UK Telegraph
Oh, how I wish to have been privy to that intimate chat!
Didn't I post about Bush being close to converting just a few days ago?!
"Catholics have noted that during the contested election in 2000, Jeb Bush travelled to Mexico and prayed to the icon of Our Lady of Guadelupe. His victory was announced by the Supreme Court on December 12, the feast day of the Lady of Guadalupe."
I went to Washington DC with my family to attend Bush's Inauguration in 2000 for the express purpose of reminding him of this. While I didn't realize how Jeb went to Our Lady's Basilica, I certainly asked her as the Patroness of the Unborn, for Bush's election. My Catholic friends and I prayed and fasted so hard during that month, it was like Lent. Fr. Frank Pavone said, " God saw how much the election was making us pray and fast, and decided that this was such a good thing, that he pressed the HOLD button!"
The day after the Inauguration, I stood in line in the snow at 5AM for ticket to a special reception at the White House the day after to remind him that since Our Lady put him in office, he'd better live up to her standards. When we entered the White House, President Bush and Laura had stopped shaking hands.
It seems that somehow, he got the message,
"Mr Bush has filled the White House with Catholic speech-writers and consultants and is also thought to have asked a Catholic priest to bless the West Wing.
Before he became president, Karl Rove, his former political adviser, invited Catholic intellectuals to Texas to lecture the candidate on the church's teachings. Mr Bush appointed the Catholic judges Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court. "

Tim Russert the Catholic

I deeply regret the loss of Tim Russert, and prayed the rosary last night for the repose of his soul. His family must be in terrible pain, and I hope their Catholic faith is a comfort to them at this time. I think especially of "Big Russ" Tim's father living alone in Buffalo.
May Our Lady comfort you at this time.
I appreciate that Tim went to weekly Mass, and by all accounts was a loving father to his son Luke, and good husband to his wife, who writes for Vanity Fair.
HOWEVER, before we canonize Tim, as some Catholic sources already are, let's remember he worked for pro-abortion Governor Mario Cuomo and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, two Catholic politicians who raised the ire of our late beloved Cardinal John O'Connor for their stand on life issues. Here is an excerpt from a TV interview with Al Gore on which he pressed him for a consistent stand on life issues.
RUSSERT: When do you think life begins?
GORE: I favor the Roe vs. Wade approach, but let me just say, Tim, I did—
RUSSERT: Which is what? When does life begin?
GORE: Let me just say, I did change my position on the issue of federal funding and I changed it because I came to understand more from women—women think about this differently than men.
RUSSERT: But you were calling fetuses innocent human life, and now you don’t believe life begins at conception. I’m just trying to find out, when do you believe life begins?
GORE: Well, look, the Roe vs. Wade decision proposes an answer to that question—
RUSSERT: Which is?
The quote ends here, which is a shame, I wonder what Al Gore answered to that one!
HT Get Religion
I'm happy he pressed politicians on life issues, I just wish he hadn't worked for pro-abortion Cuomo and Moynihan because they called themselves Catholic. Here's a statement from the American bishops to remind Catholic voters what is most important this election.



BISHOPS RESTATE PREEMINENCE OF LIFE ISSUES

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today reaffirmed its rejection of embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue called on Catholics to support the vote that was taken today in Florida:

"It is important for all Catholics to acknowledge that the first and most important issues affecting public policy are the life issues. To maintain that other issues are the moral equivalent of matters like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and direct euthanasia, is to denigrate the privileged position that the life issues have in Catholic teachings.

"The bishops referred to the harvesting of embryonic stem cells as "the deliberate killing of innocent human beings, a gravely immoral act." They also said that "Human cloning is intrinsically evil," something which "shows disrespect for human life in the very act of generating it.’ These words were chosen carefully, and they reflect the sentiments of Pope Benedict XVI who recently said abortion was a 'non-negotiable' issue for Catholics.

"The life issues, then, are of preeminent importance to Catholics. To discuss social justice, for example, while being dismissive of the life issues is profoundly un-Catholic."

Creative Minority Report: Latin Mass: Not Some Parishes - All Parishes!! - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

Creative Minority Report: Latin Mass: Not Some Parishes - All Parishes!! - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

For those fathers who lost a child to abortion

Some of them struggled mightily to keep their children, but were told that the choice wasn't theirs. . .from the Elliot Institute
Fathers and mothers of aborted children . struggle with how to grieve the loss of a
person who .disappeared. from their lives.. .Wayne Brauning, M. Div., D. Min.
.Meds and massive amounts of therapy helped. But not completely. Something was still
missing..
.There is a myth in society that says men don.t care. . that men are untouched by the
experience. . My experience of having listened to men.s stories over the years is that
the scenarios are much more complicated.. .a post-abortion counselor
“The Lord says: Cease your cries of mourning. Wipe the tears from your eyes. The
sorrow you have shown shall have its reward. There is hope for your future.”
— Jeremiah 31: 16-17
“The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
— Psalm 34:18
But if you give Him the broken pieces,
God can make all things new.
HEALING IS POSSIBLE. LEARN MORE.
Free fact sheets. Free resources. Healing options. How to help.
For post-abortion healing, call 1-877-HOPE-4-ME
www.TheUnchoice.com/men.htm

La Principessa Catolica

Princess Alessandra Borghese, I didn't recognize her name as I avoid tabloids like the plague, however, now that she's a committed Catholic and has reformed her formerly wild lifestyle, I don't mind knowing that I contributed to her fortune by drinking San Pellegrino mineral water.
" In 1999, she recalls, looking me straight in the eye, she had a meeting. 'Catholicism is not a philosophy, neither is it a theology, but it is a meeting with a person.
So the moment you meet Jesus Christ, your life can change radically. That is when I started to look at everything differently.' Borghese has since that meeting, become Italy's best-known born-again Catholic.
Her 2004 book, With New Eyes, the story of her return to the fold, was a bestseller in her home country and over much of Catholic Europe. She has followed it with four other equally successful, equally personal, devotional works, including In The Footsteps of Joseph Ratzinger, her first outing in English, published this month. "
Read the entire story here.
HT New Oxford Review

ACLU Talking points on legalizing homosexual marriage

from the Family Research Council
You need to read this document because in order to battle the attack on marriage effectively, you must know the enemy's strategy. And our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. We love our misguided neighbors in the gay rights movement, we just want their corruption of the culture to stop, as we know who is behind all this.

Homosexual Activists Draw Battle Lines
A how-to manual for forcing same-sex "marriage" on all 50 states was just unleashed on the ACLU's website. The strategy, which was outlined in a succinct six-page memo called "Make Change, Not Lawsuits," urges couples who marry in California next week to proceed with caution. Homosexuals recognize that their movement to marry does not have the broad support of the American people. Instead of bringing lawsuits in every corner of the country, groups like the Human Rights Campaign, GLADD, Lambda Legal and others, ask homosexuals to wait for state legislatures to tackle the issue. To the question of whether couples should sue their home states and employers to recognize their unions, the memo says no. "[It] unnecessarily angers a public whose support we ultimately want to have... Bad rulings will make it much more difficult for us to win marriage, and it will certainly make it take much longer." Like us, this coalition recognizes that everything is riding on the California marriage amendment. This is one battle that both sides cannot afford to lose. Get involved in preserving marriage. Additional Resources ACLU Memo forcing counterfeit marriage on all 50 states [PDF]

Tell John McCain to Oppose Homosexual Marriage

From the American Family Association
As you know, the California Supreme Court has legalized homosexual marriage. This happened despite the fact that voters in California passed Proposition 22 with 61.4 percent of the vote. Proposition 22 defined marriage as only between one man and one woman.
The recent 4-3 ruling, if allowed to stand, would destroy marriage as it has been known for thousands of years.
It would lead to the logical conclusion of the following:
* Legalization of polygamous and other aberrant unions as "marriages"
* Legalization of marriage between an adult parent and adult child
* Legalization of group marriage
* Overturn all the marriage laws in the other 49 states

ACTION STEP:
1. Send a message to Sen. John McCain asking him to strongly support a federal marriage amendment making marriage legal only between one man and one woman. Sen. McCain has said in the past he supports marriage only between one man and one woman. But he voted against the federal amendment when it was voted on in the Senate.

Such an amendment would override the legalization of homosexual marriage by the liberal California Supreme Court.
It is time for Sen. McCain to take a stand for marriage!

Tim Gill is buying the America he wants: against the will of voters

Wasn't California enough of a wake-up call?
How about Colorado?
Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, Action, has said Tim Gill and two billionaires have essentially ‘bought’ the Colorado Legislature and are responsible for the recent passage of SB 200.
This article first appeared in the December issue of Citizen magazine.
Tim Gill's tactics of working below the radar, giving large donations to candidates on the state level explains why such a tiny minority as the radical gay community has has such a huge impact, changing laws about marriage against the will of the people. If we don't learn about our opponent, it will be too late, and Christians will be hamstrung like this Canadian pastor.
"These homosexual donors are interested in state races in order to stop “antigay” politicians before they reach the level of Rick Santorum–enemy #1. “Operating at that level,” Green writes, “gave them a chance to ‘punish the wicked,’ as Gill puts it–to snuff out rising politicians who were building their careers on antigay policies, before they could achieve national influence.” They fancy themselves the Hammer of God to crush dissenters to the homosexual cause of full acceptance.
This is not–or at least was not–an open attack. It’s all about stealth. “Revealing targets only after an election makes it impossible to fight back and sends a message to other politicians that attacking gays could put them in the crosshairs.” Shut up or we will silence you. "
Read the rest of this sobering post in Balaam's Ass.

Read the entire story about SB 200 in Colorado at Citizen Link here.

HT Citizen Link

Bravo, El Salvador!

The land of my husband's birth has just rejected abortion unequivocably.

Every one of the 84 lawmakers in the El Salvador Congress have signed a petition called the Book for Life, displaying their commitment to defend unborn children and people from abortion and euthanasia from conception until natural death.
"Every human being should be protected and respected from the moment of conception…until his natural death," the petition reads. "Our primary responsibility as legislators is to unconditionally defend life. We condemn abortion as an abominable crime."

Take that, Planed Parenthood!

Read the entire story here.

HT Life News

My review of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

is up at Catholic Exchange.

The Next Terrorist Attack: an interview with Rick Santorum

Former Senator Rick Santorum, in an interview with the Westchester Institute's Fr. Berg, describes his new book, "The Gathering Storm".
"Berg: Is it an exaggeration in any way to continue to believe that the US is in a state of war with world-wide Jihadism? Do most Americans believe this? What about the millions of Americans who simply reject this outright? Where does that leave us in terms of preparedness?
Santorum: It is not an exaggeration. It is a simple fact of life in the 21st century. The Islamists have declared war on us and defend their attacks on the West with appeals to Koran and other classic canonical Islamic texts and with Sharia reasoning. This is not to say that all Muslims are terrorists or that all Muslims agree with the arguments and justifications of the Islamists. But it is important to recognize that the jihadists are making a claim to represent authentic Islam and that they have a great many sympathizers and supporters throughout the Islamic world. "

I agree with Mr. Santorum that we must define who our opponent is to wage an effective campaign to stop him, and the Bush Admistration has not done this, and thus the Democrats have too many of us believing that world wide jihad is merely a figment of our imgination. Remember they said that about the Cold War too. It took Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul to save us from that terrible threat.
What would happen if we elect a leader like Barack Obama who caters to Islamist dictators?
What terrible risk are we about to take because we are enthralled by making history by electing an African American president, while forgetting that our freedom and our lives are at stake?

Vatican launches website in Latin

Good news for those of you who have been brushing up on your Latin since Summorum Pontificum, a new webite with papal texts in Latin has been launched by the Vatican.
Read entire story here.
"Father Reginald Foster, an American priest who is the Pope's official Latinist, praises the virtues and the clarity of the Latin language.
"You have to say something and move on," he says.
"It's not like French and some of these philosophical languages where you can write a whole page and say nothing - in Latin you can't do that!''
Fr Foster has a weekly programme on Vatican Radio called The Latin Lover, in which he explains the historical and contemporary uses of the language. "
HT BBC News

No school choice for DC's poor children

from the Family Research Council
Forbidding the Poor from Choosing Good Schools
Congressional Democrats, in a foretaste of their likely education agenda for 2009, have signaled to poor families in the District of Columbia that their school choice vouchers aren't going to be renewed this fall. The news comes as a bitter blow to nearly 2,000 such families in the District, where Congress instituted a pilot school voucher program using federal funds in 2004.
District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who supports axing the program, says she met with families receiving the choice funds and "they look completely befuddled." It's no wonder why. The average yearly income for the families that participate in the program is just $22,736. Children enrolled in the program can use their vouchers, or scholarships, to attend a private school, a religious school, or one of the city's charter schools, as an alternative to the public system.
One affected mother, Patricia Williams, credited the program with changing her son Fransoir's life. At the District's Sacred Heart Catholic School, she said, Fransoir has "been developed in so many ways, intellectually, emotionally and in his values. I couldn't ask for anything better." Soon, thanks to Congressional Democrats and their singular devotion to just one form of education, Mrs. Williams and others in the District will lose their choice to ask.

Where is Barack Obama? Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton?
These poor children are being denied a private education to escape DC's failing public school system. Or has the NEA and the UFT (United Federation of Teachers) bought their silence on this issue?
McCain should step into the gap and champion this cause, it's a true solution to poverty.

Pastor fined $7,000 for comments on homosexuals

This Candian pastor is being fined for stating the Gospel truth that homosexuality is a sin. And his rights to free speech are being taken away. Is this a harbinger for things to come in the US?


Most disturbingly, says Boissoin, is that the ruling calls for him to "cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals."


Boissoin wondered to what extent the right to freedom of expression in Canada will be deteriorated, stating, "I am not allowed to hold on to my views."
The pastor also maintained that his beliefs are founded not on hate or malice, but derive from a personal concern for the family and society rooted not only in faith, but also in science.
"I am not allowed to hold my views, but the Lunds of the world are allowed to bring gay ministers into schools, they are allowed to present scientifically baseless teachings to kids that people are born gay."


HT Life Site News

Oregon to cancer patient: no more treatment, but we'll pay for suicide

"The state apparently considers suicide part of end-of-life 'comfort care.'
Barbara Wagner is dying of lung cancer, and Oregon won't pay for any more treatment.
But it will cover a fatal dosage of drugs so she can kill herself."

Didn't pro-lifers predict this when Oregonians approved assisted suicide? Pretty soon, both Grandma AND junior will be killed to save money in our national health care system for the taxpayers needed to support it.
Read entire article here.
HT Citizen Link

Tornado in East Moriches, NY

We were enjoying a barbecue at the home of some friends on the East End of Long Island. when a terrible thunderstorm struck. The rain was torrential, the thunder loud, and the wind, the wind was bending the trees in way which made me afraid. B

We were told about flash floods in Greenport, but nothing had happened in Southold. We just don't get dangerous weather out of nowhere on Long Island, we get hurricanes which work their way slowly up the coast, with plenty of warnings. Until now.

As we entered East Moriches at dusk, we noticed the traffic light was out, and the blue spruce on the corner which is covered with lights at Christmas, had snapped in half like a matchstick.

But that couldn't begin to prepare us for the devastation which met our eyes in our own driveway, a few houses down from the corner. . .we are still counting, but we currently estimate that we lost 10 trees on our 3/4 acres property. It seems that a small tornado sliced through the block, in everyones' backyards, wreaking unbelievable havoc in it's path.

When you first confront this sort of damage, you are speechless, except to say "wow" at the sheer power of the winds that were in your yard. When you are faced with such utter destruction, yet your family is safe and no major damage occured on your property, your heart overflows with gratitude to God.

Our swing set and two sections of fence are crushed, however, the pool deck and the girls' dollhouse are perfect.

Several of our neighbors had their cars crushed, one had their lovely porch smashed, but once, again, no one was harmed.

Amazing.

Thank you Lord, for protecting us.

Today is Protest the Pill Day

The devil and the politician

Chief exorcist of Rome, Fr. Gabried Amorth said, “Everybody is vulnerable to the work of Satan” and that “the devil loves to take over those who hold political office.”
You must be watching CNN, Father!
HT CNA

The President and the Pope are very close

Some say George Bush is the second Catholic President. He certainly has given a better moral example than womanizer JFK, who, in case you have forgotten. was the president who started sending troops to Vietnam, yet is nearly worshipped by some Catholics who can't resist re-electing his brother Teddy, and various other Kennedys who have all but abandoned the faith.

My friend at Vive Christus Rex says he thinks that President Bush will convert to Catholicism after he leaves office. I have suspected this for some time. He'd be most welcome, his record on life issues is far superior than my Catholic Congressman Tim Bishop. THAT's why, in the 2004 campaign, I hobbled on my broken toe and handed out thousands of National Right to Life pamphlets on Bush's pro-life stance. He hasn't let me down on life issues, even though I consider Iraq a mistake.
Read this article from Religion News Service on to see just how close the Pope and the President are.

He's been speaking with Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, himself a convert, who may be guiding him into the Church. Will President Bush do as Tony Blair did and convert after his term is up? I'm expecting it.

I welcome you home to Rome, President Bush.

UPDATE:

The following comment was left after the article:

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Air Force One arrived at Pittsburgh and a Catholic priest had the honor of greeting the president. At that moment, the president knelt on the tarmac and asked for a blessing. The priest then entered the building and 12 of us prayed that if it is God’s will, may the president be re-elected. I suspect that George W will eventually become Catholic.
God Bless+++

Gerard Beer

Pittsburgh

HT Spirit Daily

Atheist Billboard

Good thing they are not alone, they are going to need a friend when they appear before the thone of God and He says "I don't know you".

The Smoke of Satan

A Catholic Perspective has a fascinating interview with Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the chief exorcist of Rome on how sadly, many bishops in the Church feel we no longer need exorcism and why he knows that we do now, more than ever.
Fr. Amorth: "The smoke of Satan has entered everywhere. Everywhere! Perhaps we were excluded from the audience with the Pope because they were afraid that such a large number of exorcists might succeed in chasing out the legions of demons that have installed themselves in the Vatican."
I have read his book, "An Exorcist Tells His Story" and highly recommend it. Fr. Amorth's testimonies of demonic posession are credible and will convince you to pray for the Church to restore the Old Rite of Exorcism. This world has certainly given itself over to Satan's power.
Here is another outstanding article by Fr. Amorth about the power of the rosary against Satan. Read it and you'll never miss your daily prayers with Our Lady again.
"The Hail Mary - The Value of the Rosary. Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of the Vatican writes:
One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism: "EveryHail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end." The secret that makes this prayer soeffective is that the Rosary is both prayer and meditation. It is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and is a meditation centred on Christ. "
HT A Catholic Life

Tabernacle at St. Teresa of Avila near Boston

The Insidious Effect of Abortion on Culture

It's not a fantasy; abortion coursens a culture. I felt it yesterday, as a well-dressed woman in Toys R Us sneered at Christina, and then was cruel to us as we attempted to pay for a candy bar. I told the girls to forgive her as she may have suffered from an abortion, she certainly had little respect for children with disabilities. But you can certainly feel the coarsening of culture here on Long Island, which has one of the highest abortion rates in the world.
Human life isn't what's important; money and comfort matter.
Read this article by Fr. Euteneuer about a culture which has rejected abortion.

Maternal Deaths Down In Nicaragua Once Abortion Is Eliminated
Unsuspecting pro-life cultures are regularly assaulted by the "logic" of the international abortion promoters who push their anti-life agenda into every culture that will cave in to the pressure. Their main argument goes roughly like this: "When abortion is not legal, women have abortions anyway but in unsafe conditions and back-alley clinics with untrained people who injure and kill them. All this death and injury is totally unnecessary and we could just solve the problem overnight by legalizing abortion to make it safe and keep all these poor women from dying."
That's the main argument which, in one form or another, is repeated ad nauseam by the abortion lobby to sympathetic healthcare providers, social workers, government leaders and the media. It can be an effective argument for legalized abortion because people are generally more willing to sacrifice the rights of the unseen child for the immediate perceived needs of the suffering woman.
However, that argument is a ruse. Abortion doesn't work the way they say it does. In reality, legalized abortion, besides killing babies, creates a climate of disrespect for women's health that leads to a greater number of maternal deaths. Let's take another look at the most fascinating and heroic case study in the abortion wars that our modern age has seen: Nicaragua.
That marvelous little pro-life country in Central America is a good example of what happens when a country chooses a culture of life. Remember that Nicaragua made abortion completely illegal in 2006 and then reaffirmed that prohibition in 2007. The overall positive results for Nicaraguan women have been just amazing. The abortion promoters screamed that making abortion illegal would cause women to die in droves because of more back-alley abortions, but that didn't happen. In fact, the opposite is true - fewer women are dying now! A recent publication by Nicaragua's Ministry of Health noted that the overall maternal mortality rate decreased by 58% in the year that abortion has been made totally illegal. There were 21 maternal deaths for 2007 compared to 50 maternal deaths the year before. This is a stunning reversal!
The lie that women will die from back-alley, "unsafe," abortions is nothing but a scare tactic to coerce pro-life cultures into compliance with abortion. The truth is that abortion-free cultures have a greater respect for women and babies and are not subject to that degrading pall of killing that lies over the medical profession. In the case of Nicaragua, their rejection of abortion in 2006/2007 coincided - not surprisingly - with a greater provision of basic pre-natal services for pregnant women and accompaniment in childbirth which is what led to the surprising turn-around in the maternal death rate. Even aside from legal protection of babies, pro-life cultures just protect women better, it's that simple.
We don't have to listen to the liars who tell us that legalized abortion is "safe." Women are much safer in countries where abortion is not legal. Abortion enthusiasts were never able to use the maternal death argument in abortion-free Ireland which has the lowest rate of maternal deaths in the world. They are also confounded by pro-life cultures like Poland that restricted abortion in 1993 and has seen a phenomenal increase in maternal wellbeing ever since.
The abortion promoters tell us that certain abortions are unsafe. They're half right. Actually, all abortions are unsafe. The numbers don't lie.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

Holy Shamelessness

A spiritually “disinterested” person is not swayed by “human respect” (also termed “respect of persons.” St. Josemaria Escriva calls this attribute of not being unduly swayed by the people in our lives “holy shamlessness.”
“How clearly I see now that 'holy shamelessness' is rooted, very deeply, in the Gospel. Fulfill the Will of God, mindful of Jesus falsely accused, Jesus spat upon and buffeted, Jesus brought before the shabby courts of men ...”
The Furrow, #35

St. Josemaria Escriva also tells us strongly not to spend time with the worry of:
What will they say?
“When the defence of truth is at stake, how can one desire neither to displease God nor to clash with one's surroundings? These two things are opposed: it is either the one or the other! The sacrifice has to be a holocaust where everything is burned up, even the thought: “what will they say?”, even what we call our reputation.”
HT Mary Vitamin
This blog is an attempt at 'holy shamelessness', to stand up for the truth in a world which is often hostile to it, especially with regard to moral issues, and if someday there are consequences, such as political persecution, may God give me the strength to endure it.