Pro-lifers becoming Obama's worst nightmare

from David Bereit at 40 Days for Life

Last week, you and more than 36,000 other people
participated in what the Washington Post described as
a "massive webcast" -- the historic Stop the Abortion
Mandate web event.

The replay of that inspiring webcast is online at:

http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com

More than 100,000 letters and e-mails have already
been sent to Congress because of your actions in
response to the webcast and the actions of others
associated with organizations making up the Stop the
Abortion Mandate coalition.

Reporting on the webcast, U.S. News & World Report
documented: "In the last few days, Christian
conservatives have quickly organized themselves into a
coalition opposing the inclusion of abortion coverage
in President Obama's proposed public healthcare plan."

The Washington Post reported: "If the organization and
strident words during the webcast are any indication,
the anti-abortion tide that is rising against
President Obama's health care plan may shape up to be
a sizable force in coming weeks."

Bottom-line: YOU ARE MAKING AN IMPACT, and we have a
real shot at stopping this abortion mandate!

But the battle is far from over.

**BREAKING NEWS**

Last night, the House Energy and Commerce Committee
passed a pro-abortion amendment which would force
abortion into the public plan and force YOU to fund
abortion through your tax dollars.

After passage of the pro-abortion amendment, the
Committee then went on to defeat a bi-partisan
pro-life amendment.

Today, there will be another vote when an amendment
will be offered in committee to prevent taxpayer
funding of abortion.

This amendment could be the last chance to prevent the
abortion mandate before the vote goes to floor of the
House of Representatives.

And, if you've been following the news, you know that
things are changing almost hourly here in Washington.

Health care "compromises" are being proposed that
would do nothing to stop the abortion mandate and
there is a slim possibility that a full vote in the
Senate could happen prior to their recess next week.

With all the confusion and rapid changes, one thing is
clear -- this abortion mandate must be stopped. Your
action is needed TODAY to stop the largest abortion
expansion since Roe v. Wade!

**ACTION ITEM**

Even if you have already sent letters and e-mails and
made calls, it is URGENT that you call the Washington
office and district office of your Representative and
two Senators TODAY with one clear message:

"KEEP ABORTION OUT OF HEALTH CARE! Any health care
proposal or bill MUST explicitly and permanently
prohibit any use of taxpayer funds for abortion or
health plans that pay for abortion, and MUST
explicitly and permanently prohibit abortion from
being a mandated service."

Look up the phone numbers for your Senators:

http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com/senators

Look up the phone numbers for your Representative:

http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com/representatives

The phone number for the switchboard of Congress is:
202-224-3121

Please make these calls today if at all possible --
countless lives are at stake!

Stop The Abortion Mandate coalition
http://www.StopTheAbortionMandate.com

Catholic Fire: Obama Science Adviser: Trees Should be Allowed to Sue, Babies Not Yet “Human Beings”

Catholic Fire: Obama Science Adviser: Trees Should be Allowed to Sue, Babies Not Yet “Human Beings”

Divorce is lethal to more than children's hearts

We know that God hates divorce. It says so in Scripture. We know also that the Catholic Church for that reason has forbidden divorce. Isn't that enough for us?
When Judith Wasserstein wrote "The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce" she was surprised to find in her longitudinal study that the long term affect of divorce was grown children who had never recovered.
Still the divorce rates of Catholics failed to differ significantly from the rest of the population. Now a study of 8,000 subjects from the Journal of Health and Behavior says that divorce kills us sooner.
"Losing a marriage or becoming widowed or divorced is extremely stressful," Waite said. "It's financially, sometimes, ruinous. It's socially extremely difficult. What's interesting is if people have done this and remarried, we still see, in their health, the scars or marks -- the damage that was done by this event."

I wonder if anyone is listening out there.

Read the entire article at CNN.com

I'm a columnist at Catholic Mom

Go and visit my first column here. It's about the prayers of a little saint.

Does Lowe's support the gay agenda like Home Depot does? Now Home Depot has come to their senses!

UDATE: the boycott of Home Depot has officially been suspended. Because it worked. 

Home Depot practices reflect change; AFA suspends boycott

September 5, 2013

When AFA called for a boycott of Home Depot three years ago because of its support of homosexual activist groups, I knew we were taking on a huge task. After all, Home Depot is a huge company. But I knew we had a lot of friends who would stand with us.

Now, I'm glad to report to you that we are suspending the boycott of Home Depot. Aftermonitoring the company for several months, AFA is satisfied the company has withdrawn its major financial contributions to gay activist groups and events.

I truly believe this is a direct result of your willingness to become involved. In fact, more than 750,000 people signed the Boycott Home Depot Pledge.

Although Home Depot has made changes, we will continue to monitor their behavior. We suspect Home Depot will publicly deny having made changes, but their actions speak louder than words.

Your AFA will continue to challenge major U.S. companies to remain neutral in the culture wars rather than to use their resources to promote anti-family issues.

Thank you for standing with us. Our efforts are making a difference!

Sincerely, Tim Wildmon, President American Family Association

http://action.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147539182



Below was the email answer I received from Lowe's Home Improvement.
As a response, I spent about $300 there buying molding for Gabbi's new bedroom. The salespeople were more attentive and extremely helpful.
I noticed that Lowe's has a much larger, more upscale inventory of the items women like; draperies, lighting, carpets, appliances, flooring, decor items. The lamps in particular are stunning.

I am deciding between three lovely Tiffany style ceiling fixtures for my entry foyer/breakfast nook, all are under $100. Help me choose. Which one do you like?

I will be returning to Lowe's soon to finish my shoppping. I just want to bring Gabbi along to select her ceiling fan, and ask her opinion as the selection is amazing.
I owe Home Depot a favor; I have been a loyal customer since becoming a homeowner in 1995, but their support of the homosexual agenda has given me the impetus to find a better store.

Dear Leticia Velasquez,
Thank you for your interest in the community organizations that we support.
The primary philanthropic areas Lowe's supports are K-12 public school initiatives and not-for-profit, community-based organizations.
We believe that the communities we serve should be the primary beneficiaries of our charitable contributions and therefore work with the appropriate community organizations to make this happen.
Some of the organizations we work with are Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross, and Rebuilding Together. For a complete listing, please visit our community website at http://www.lowes.com/community.

If you have any additional questions about our charitable contributions, please contact us at community@lowes.com for more details.
Thank you,
Kim
Lowe's Customer Care

A Letter to Lowe's Home Improvement

I live nearer to Home Depot than to Lowe's. I love to shop at Home Depot, and found the people who work there very friendly. But I won't be spening any money there, since I read this from One Million Moms.
Here is a letter I sent to Lowe's. I'll post their response.

Dear Lowe's,

I was about to do major home repairs(about $10,000 worth) using products from Home Depot, after a washing machine flooded my home. One Million Moms told me in an email that Home Depot not only sponsored multiple gay pride parades, but encouraged children to attend by signing on as a vendor and offering workshops for them at the event.

I am looking for another home improvement company to spend my insurance check. Do you donate to homosexual organizations?



I have hope that their contributions are more family friendly since they are based in NC and all the contributions I see in Google searches seem decent (affordable housing, disease charities, etc).

Here is the information about Home Depot.

Home Depot seeks children at multiple gay pride parades
According to the Nashville Gay Pride website, Home Depot gave over $5,000 to be a major sponsor of its 2009 Gay Pride Festival in June.

But simply financing the event wasn't enough for the big box chain.Home Depot also signed on as a vendor, conducting kid's craft workshops for children via a special booth set up just for them.

To this end, Home Depot is basically encouraging the attendance of children at events which openly expose them to transvestites, cross-dressers, and homosexual activities.

Unfortunately, Home Depot's participation in the Nashville Pride Festival doesn't stand alone. It has also sponsored kid's booths at other gay events in Atlanta, Kansas City, Durham, Portland, and San Diego.

Gay pride events have a long track record for offensive public displays of homosexual conduct.

Obviously, Home Depot is OK with the idea of exposing children to an unhealthy and risky environment. So much so, it is willing to participate in it.

TAKE ACTION

Let Home Depot know you are sickened by their support and approval of children at homosexual events.

If you are a customer, please add an additional personal line to our prepared letter to Home Depot.

After sending your email, make an extra effort to protect children by calling Home Depot personally.

Paula Drake is the Senior Manager for Corporate Communications.

Her number is 770-384-3439.
Send Your Letter Now!

Overpopulation is an outdated myth

Catholic nurse forced to participate in abortion

"It felt like a horror film unfolding," said Catherina Cenzon-DeCarlo, the Brooklyn nurse who says she was forced to aid an abortion against her will. Now Cenzon-DeCarlo is speaking out, describing the terror she felt as she was asked to sacrifice her religious convictions for the sake of her job.
Catherina Cenzon-DeCarlo, a devout Catholic, says she has been having nightmares and difficulty sleeping ever since the incident took place on May 24, reports the New York Post.
Expect more of this if Obamacare passes.
Read the story at CNA.

Trig is the reason why Sarah evokes such vitriol from women

This image is why Sarah felt that for the good of her family she had better step down from the Governorship. Can you blame her? Here is the original photo.
Kevin Burke on NRO has really nailed the cause of the hostility; post abortion trauma/guilt in this article. Trig is the trigger of many painful emotions for women who chose to abort babies with disabilities and without.
"Some of the very personal and often uncharitable criticism of vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family may have a relationship to the collective grief, shame, and guilt from personal involvement in the abortion of an unborn child. Because abortion is usually a deeply repressed sensitive area of complicated grief, when a news story touches on abortion related issues, the common response is often one of the following:
Avoidance.

Reactive defensiveness, hyper sensitivity, and angry attacks to compensate for the emotional vulnerability this issue surfaces.

Some will recognize in their troubled souls the need to reach out for healing and the hope of reconciliation and peace. "

You can tell he hit the mark from the pitch of the shill hysteria of Wonkette's response. and the comments which follow. These are the hounds of hell in full cry, speaking through the lips of very twisted and wounded people. They attack an innocent little baby boy in their pain, but fail to find relief for their guilt. They need to seek forgiveness and peace in Christ.
Lets pray for their salvation, and that teh beauty of Sarah continues to bring out the ugliness of the left to reveal to the moderates exactly who they are in bed with when they vote for Obama and pro-abortion Congresssmen.
Abortion is no distraction, it's THE central issue of our time, the way slavery was in the Civil War.

Fr Loya takes up for Sarah Palin

Fr Loya discusses Sarah Palin's resignation in terms of Theology of the Body on his show, "A Body of Truth" on Catholic Radio International. He says, "her enemies need to duck" as he applauds her loyalty to her role as wife and mother and says she is now more powerful than ever. Fr Loya is not the only one who admires the spirited Sarah;

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the head of the pro-life women's group Susan B. Anthony List, had nothing but kind words for Palin.
“Sarah Palin has always been an intensely independent woman-- always true to her faith, her family and call to public service. She has provided women with a new political role model, offering a positive example of grace and poise as she deflected the barrage of baseless personal attacks on her family,” she told LifeNews.com.

Sarah evoked visceral reactions from those who have insisted that in order to be successful in politics a woman has to be like a man. Sarah is beautiful, happy and in love with her family and her God. I wish her the best in all her endeavors as she brings a breath of bracing fresh air to the Culture of Death.

Read the entire story on Life News.

Obamacare is going to have a tough week

from Operation Rescue
With the House of Representatives set to vote on a healthcare bill this week, activists will be working to ensure that taxpayer funded abortions and not part of this legislation.

The following is a partial list of 'Abortion is Not Healthcare' events:
Sunday, July 26, at 6:30 P.M.
Outside of the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, on 1st and Independence Streets SE, in front of the Cannon Office Building
A prayer vigil to kickoff "Abortion is Not Healthcare" week.

Monday, July 27, at 10:30 A.M.
Outside the Cannon Office Building, at 1st and Independence SE
A news conference with Dr. Alveda King, Dr. Johnny Hunter, Rev. Broden and other African-American leaders to discuss the tragic impact taxpayer funded abortions will have on the African-American community. The leaders will be speaking out against the funding of Planned Parenthood because of their racist agenda.


Monday, July 27, at 11:00 A.M.
Cannon Office Building
Prayer teams will work the halls of the House Office Buildings praying every day for the 435 members of the House of Representatives with a special emphasis on Blue Dog Democrats.


Monday, July 27, (TBA)
Bowling Green, Virginia
A demonstration and pro-life witness led by young women challenging the First Lady, Michelle Obama, to embrace human rights and social justice and stand against taxpayer funded abortions. The demonstration will be at Caroline Family Practice clinic in Bowling Green Virginia. The First Lady will be participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the clinic.


Tuesday, July 28, at 11:00 A.M.
Outside the Cannon Office Building
Pro-life activists will leave messages and artwork in sidewalk chalk outside of Speaker Pelosi's office at the Cannon Office Building. The messages will be speaking out against taxpayer funded abortions and calling for Congress to embrace human rights.
Prayer for all the members of Congress. Teams will walk through the office buildings.


Wednesday, July 29, 10:30 A.M.
Cannon Office Building
Pray-in at Speaker Pelosi's office. Pro-life activists will risk arrest by holding a "pray-in" at Speaker Pelosi's office. They will be praying for social justice and against taxpayer funded abortions. The activists will also be standing in solidarity with the 53,000,000 children that have died through abortion and the women who have been diminished through abortion.

Defund Plannned Parenthood amendment vote failed

I learned Thursday night on a nationwide pro-life webcast that U.S Rep. Mike Pence's amendment to cut Planned Parenthood federal funding is going to receive a vote TODAY. The Pence Amendment would cut all Title X funding for Planned Parenthood, which amounts to over a third of their budget.
Please call your Congressman's office ASAP to let him know you want him to vote for Rep. Pence's amendment to defund Planned Parenthood.

UPDATE:
The vote failed because Democrates failed to join Republicans. IF your Democratic Congressman failed to vote for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, ask him or her why they are funding a business which maked milllions a year.
“The right to life is not a partisan issue, it is a moral one. The time has come for this Congress to come together in a bipartisan way to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and to defend the rights of the taxpayer; The time has come to deny any and all federal funding for the Planned Parenthood," Pence added.
The most recent annual report shows Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, received $350 million in taxpayer dollars from state, local and federal governments."
Here's a challenge from Bill Donohue:
"This is it. We are now at the defining moment. All the chatter about “common ground” on abortion will come to a conclusion today. Will those self-identified anti-abortion Catholic individuals and groups that have abandoned legal strategies to combat abortion take the position that Title X money should not wind up in the pocket of Planned Parenthood? While Title X does not provide funding for abortion, everyone knows that money is fungible: by giving Planned Parenthood Title X funding, it effectively underwrites its abortion clinics. "
Click here to see how your Congressman voted. Joe Courtney of the First District CT voted NO.
He'll be hearing from me.
Read the entire story on Life News.

Stop the Abortion Mandate has 36,000 listeners

That's more than a fivefold increase over the previous record of 7,000 participants! The Obama Administration has heard us,calling a special press confernce last night for spin control, a and Congress has postponed the Obamacare vote till after the August recess!!
We are being heard.
Now keep the pressure on!

Listen to a re-broadcast here.

Find a sample email form to send to your Congressman in their district office here.

Write letters to the editor of your local papers on the important point of putting explicit language excluding abortion from Health Care Legislation.

Visit your Congressman over the recess, we must flood their meetings too!

Pray with Fr Frank Pavone for the halting of the biggest expansion of abortion in our time.

Prayer for our Nation’s Health Care Reform
Lord Jesus, you are the Divine Physician,
And the source of all life and health.

Guide our nation at this critical moment,
As our government seeks health care reforms.

Give our elected officials the humility to know
That they are servants, not masters.
Give them the wisdom to realize
That every life has equal value.

Give them the strength to resist the idea
That some lives can be sacrificed to save others
Or that killing the unborn is a part of health care.

Give your people the courage to speak up
And to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

Save us, Lord Jesus, from a culture of death,
And let every reform in our public policy
Be based on the reform of our hearts and minds
In the light of your Gospel,

For you are Lord forever and ever.

Amen.

Check out "The Catholic Edition" news

Karen L Williams followed me on Twitter and produces this prolife Catholic news site, The Catholic Edition.

Silent FOCA is coming

Prolifers breathed a sigh of relief when Obama did not introduce the Freedom of Choice Act in his first official act in office. But we must NOT trust the denials of Obama, NARAL etc when they promise that our tax dollars will not be used to pay for abortions in their Health Care Legislation. But the Population Research Council warns that this is not true:

"Pro-lifers are calling Obama’s new health care plan the “Silent FOCA”. Obama is aggressively pushing this plan, looking to sign it before Congress' summer recess if possible.
Entitled “America's Affordable Health Choices Act,” (H.R. 3200), the plan represents one of the clearest and most decisive attacks against the pro-life cause in this country since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

The bill poses numerous threats to the pro-life cause:
Abortion, which Obama has called “essential health care,” would be included in the minimum benefits of every health care plan.

Every taxpayer and insurance holder would have no choice but to pay for every abortion

Discriminates against practitioners who refuse to perform abortions, who may face unemployment as a result.

Will most likely lead to rationing of care for the elderly, whose treatment may not be considered cost-effective.

Under the plan, the elderly will receive an “advance care planning consultation” from the government to “help” them determine their end-of-life care.

Will put nearly all existing insurance providers out of business overnight, making Obama insurance the only insurance available.

We strongly urge all of our readers to contact their Senators and Representatives and demand that they vote against this legislation. You can find your senator here, and your representative here.

Nancy Pelosi has bragged that she has enough votes to pass the bill.

Today, Thursday July 23, at 7PM there will be a historic prolife action webcast where leaders of all major prolife organizations will address this issue, including; David Bereit, Dr James Dobson, Dr Charmaine Yoest, Tony Perkins, Fr Frank Pavone, Majorie Dannenfelser, Rep Chris Smith, Rep Joe Pitt, Carmen Pate, Wendy Wright, and Jim Sedlak.

Just go to Stop the Abortion Mandate and help prevent a tragedy in our times.

Tell your Congressman you don't want abortion included in our healthcare. In fact you like your healthcare the way it is; private and in your and your doctor's hands, without Obama's friends deciding who should be treated and who should be counseled to die for the greater good.

Peter Singer: We can play God with healthcare

Princeton ethicist Peter Singer recently discussed rationing of health care in the New York Times.
"Some will object that this discriminates against people with disabilities. If we return to the hypothetical assumption that a year with quadriplegia is valued at only half as much as a year without it, then a treatment that extends the lives of people without disabilities will be seen as providing twice the value of one that extends, for a similar period, the lives of quadriplegics. That clashes with the idea that all human lives are of equal value. The problem, however, does not lie with the concept of the quality-adjusted life-year, but with the judgment that, if faced with 10 years as a quadriplegic, one would prefer a shorter lifespan without a disability. Disability advocates might argue that such judgments, made by people without disabilities, merely reflect the ignorance and prejudice of people without disabilities when they think about people with disabilities. We should, they will very reasonably say, ask quadriplegics themselves to evaluate life with quadriplegia. If we do that, and we find that quadriplegics would not give up even one year of life as a quadriplegic in order to have their disability cured, then the QALY method does not justify giving preference to procedures that extend the lives of people without disabilities over procedures that extend the lives of people with disabilities."
Clearly, then, my mother, in her seventies, who has inoperable stage 4 cancer and is on expensive chemotherapy to prolong her life, would be cut off to die. And that 's only the beginning of the problem.

All of us who have children with special needs must be advocates for them in this Culture of Death in which we live. If not us, then who will stand up for them?

Peter Singer has a long editorial in the New York Times explaining why our children may be denied certain procedures in the new health care bill. He uses twisted logic and denies that all human life is equal. He said that we are in a position to determine who has quality of life, and should receive treatment.
A child like mine with Down syndrome or one with Cystic Fibrosis may not make it through the quality of life assesment.
Peter Singer has suggested that parents have several weeks after a child is born to decide to kill him. He has said that chimpanzees are more intelligent than disabled children. This is the mentality of a Princeton ethics professor, the type who may very well be on the committee which deterimines if your child receives health care.We have to oppose the health care plan NOW.
It is up for a vote soon.
This letter is a great way to do so:

July 21, 2009

The Honorable Henry Reid The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Senate Majority Leader Speaker of the House
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Mitch McConnell The Honorable John Boehner
Senate Minority Leader House Minority Leader
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Max Baucus The Honorable Henry Waxman
Senate Committee on Finance House Committee on Energy
Chairman and Commerce Chairman
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Chuck Grassley The Honorable Joe Barton
Senate Committee on Finance House Committee on Energy
Ranking Member and Commerce Ranking Member
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Robert Casey The Honorable Mark Pryor
United States Senate United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Mary Landrieu
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510


Dear Sen. Reid, Sen. McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Rep. Boehner, Sen. Baucus, Rep. Waxman, Sen. Grassley, Rep. Barton, Sen. Casey, Sen. Pryor, and Sen. Landrieu,
Among the deliberations about health care reform, the best interests of all Americans must be considered, especially the 49.7 million citizens who live with disabilities. If not drafted carefully, a government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan would endanger those citizens with disabilities as decisions about patient care could be made based primarily on cost.

For people with disabilities, the proposed nationalized healthcare plan is a direct threat to the essential and timely care that those families and patients need. Please consider the following examples of how nationalized health care can hurt persons with disabilities, including cutting their life expectancies:
a) The average American with Cystic Fibrosis enjoys a life expectancy rate of 37 years, compared to an Irish patient’s 27 years.
b) Within Great Britain’s nationalized system, the British Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Trust documents that 0 of the 38 British CF centers reported that they receive enough funding to provide government-recommended levels of patient care.
c) In another report, 66% of British Cystic Fibrosis nurses said that they had seen treatments denied on grounds of cost.
d) A reported 14% of British patients wait almost a year for treatment after being referred by a general practitioner.
e) The British National Health Service (NHS) reports that 54% of NHS Trusts leave disabled children waiting 5 months for a wheelchair.

Many of these vulnerable patients under nationalized systems are not even allowed onto a waiting list; they are often denied potentially life-saving procedures outright. Documented examples include:

a) In Great Britain, there have been numerous cases of hospitals refusing to perform corrective surgeries for the 40% of babies born with both Down Syndrome and congenital heart defects, despite the fact that in many cases this procedure is necessary to prevent the child from experiencing gradual heart failure.
b) The Scottish Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society found that 1/3 of all MS patients in the United Kingdom have been denied access to specialists, and 2/3 of neurology centers even lack standard guidelines for the types of services which should be available to MS patients. Financial concerns under a nationalized system drive many health authorities to refuse funding for drug prescriptions which have been shown to dramatically improve the quality of life for victims of this disease. This leaves the 85,000 Scottish families with relatives suffering with MS in a continual state of concern for their loved ones’ care.
c) A recent Parliamentary report reveals that some patients with Parkinson’s disease in Northern Ireland and Wales wait years for such needed medical care despite leading experts’ advice that specialist appointments are vital for victims of Parkinson’s.
d) Children with Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18) may face threats similar to Luke Winston-Jones who at 6 months had surpassed the life expectancy for babies diagnosed with Edwards Syndrome. He was challenged by the North West Wales NHS Trust who appealed to England’s High Court to rule on whether they had the right to refuse to provide Luke additional treatment.

Amid difficult economic times, Congress must not cut corners at the expense of the most vulnerable of our society.

We, the undersigned, urge you and your colleagues to seriously consider the needs of those 1 in 5 Americans with special disabilities in this country. Our very lives depend upon access to our doctors and their services in a timely manner which could be jeopardized should the current proposal be signed into law.

Sincerely,

--



Read the entire story at the New York Times.

Ronald Reagan warned us about Socialized Medicine in 1960

Prolifers unite in opposition to Obamacare

So you thought we defeated FOCA. Think again. It's is back in a stealth form, and if it passes, we may never be ablel to get rid of it. Like bankrupt Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, tax funded abortion may be seen as an entitlement, erasing all previous restrictions on abortion.

Prolife groups have declared a CODE RED over the Obamacare bill. Though abortion is not mentioned it will be indelibly written into national healthcare as a right.

Rep. Chris Smith has called "the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade" - has trickled only slowly to the public forum, it appears that Americans are beginning to take notice.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday showed less than half of respondents now approve of Obama's healthcare overhaul. 49 percent supported the President's stand on the issue, down from 57 percent in April, while those disapproving shot up from 29 percent to 44 percent. The poll had a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.
Prolife groups are uniting in their opposition to the dangerous legislation and you can participate by registering for this free webcast on Thursday evening.

Read the entire story on LifeSite News

Sr Gabriela is on Catholic TV tomorrow at 10:30 AM

Sr Gabriela is the dynamic Mexican nun who has gotten Eduardo Verastegui to come and speak to youth in Connecticut.
She will discuss this event on CatholicTV on Tuesday July 21 at 10:30 AM.

On August 11 at 7PM, Bella star Eduardo Verastegui will speak in both English and Spanish at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willamantic, CT.
Admission is free and all are welcome.

Chris Dodd on abortion and American public opinion

Here is my Senator from CT bragging about how the new health care plan he worked on the in the HELP committee will force American taspayers to pay for abortion. Why is this man still allowed to receive Holy Communion in the Church?
"We like the idea that people have choices and, indeed, the law of the land permits people to make those choices, and we respect that, and we are going to pursue that,” Dodd told CNS News.
“Again, we do not want to discriminate when people have--they have convictions, moral convictions and religious convictions,” Dodd added.
Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for abortions or see their insurance premiums raised to cover them would likely violate the views of the majority of Americans who are pro-life on abortion.
And that is what the bill would do, according to Johnson."

Read the entire story on Life News .
Look behind President Obama in this Citizen Link Stoplight Video, and you'll see Senator Chris Dodd. The Democrats are trying to foist the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v Wade in 1973. They are passing the Freedom of Choice Act piece by piece while we are unware. Don't let their deeds avoid the light of day. Inform yourself before abortion becomes a "health care right" and overrides all abortion bans in place on the state level.
Your employer will be forced to pay for abortions, and so will you.

Bishop D'Arcy promulgates norms for Tabernacle placement

Ever enter a sanctuary and find yourself searching for where to genuflect? I remember asking a parishoner of a neighboring parish back on Long Island, where Jesus was, only to be pointed to a plaster statue in a manger. "No, I mean the REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS" I repeated. Why should this be a subject of confusion or controversy?
I am tempted to invent a device akin to the stud finder which carpenters use, callling it the Tabernacle finder. You enter a church push the button and scan round the church till it beeps telling you where they have hidden the Body and Blood Soul and Divinity of Our Lord.
I had this problem in my old parish, until Bishop Murphy set the Tabernacle back in the center of our church. I posted on it here. It was such big news, it was posted on Spirit Daily. Now Bishop D'Arcy has written this wonderful directive for his entire diocese.
Bravo, faithful shepherd of souls!
from the website of the Diocese of Fort Wayne, IN
To Priests, Deacons, Religious,
and to All the Faithful,
The presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is at the center of our faith and of the devotional life of our Catholic people. In recent years, the place of the tabernacle in our churches has become a source of controversy. This should not be. The Eucharist, whether we are referring to its celebration or to the place of reservation, should always be a means of unity and communion, and never of division.The place of the tabernacle in our church should reflect our faith in the real presence of Christ, and should always be guided by church documents. My experience is that our people, with their instinct of faith, have always desired that the tabernacle be central and visible. They find it confusing when the tabernacle in their churches is not visible, and if possible, central.
Because of my responsibility to foster the devotional life of our people, and to keep it sound, I have asked our Office of Worship to prepare norms for the placement and design of the tabernacle in this diocese. These norms were brought before the Presbyteral Council, the Liturgical Commission and the Environment and Arts Committee. Suitable refinements and improvements were prepared.
These norms are promulgated to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend on June 14, 2009, the feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of the Lord. They will be effective on Aug. 4, 2009, the feast of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of priests, in whose honor the present Year for Priests has been dedicated by the Holy Father Benedict XVI.
I urge all priests to follow these norms carefully and completely, and most importantly — to foster devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Sincerely yours in our Lord,
Most Reverend John M. D’Arcy
For more information visit: http://www.diocesefwsb.org/WORSHIP/tabernacles.htm

Looking for a great family conference?EWTN Family Celebration

I attended the Family Celebration in Philadelphia three years ago with my mother, and it was wonderful! We got a chance to buy great EWTN goods, fellowship with faithful Catholics, meet our favorite EWTN hosts, Fr Groeschel and Raymond Arroyo, and participated in a "The World Over" broadcast with Peggy Noonan and our beloved Fr Richard John Neuhaus(may he rest in peace). It was a once in a lifetime experience and it changed my life.
I left for home feeling like I was part of the EWTN family and convinced that I had to get involved in Catholic media. I started a blog a few months later, and, as they say, the rest is history. . .

EWTN To Host FREE Family Celebration
Meet Raymond Arroyo, Danny Abramowicz and the “Crossing the Goal” team,
Marcus Grodi, Fr. Wade Menezes, Barbara McGuigan and many more!

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – EWTN Global Catholic Network will host its ninth free Family Celebration Aug. 8-9 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Ala.
Come enjoy a roster of well-loved speakers, including EWTN News Director (and Mother Angelica biographer) Raymond Arroyo; Danny Abramowicz and his “Crossing the Goal” team; “Journey Home” Host Marcus Grodi, “Open Line” Host Barbara McGuigan, and Father of Mercy Wade Menezes, CPM, a network regular.
In addition to this stellar lineup, Saturday night attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a live taping of a special edition of “Crossing the Goal” with its four co-hosts: Abramowicz, former NFL all-pro wide receiver and coach; Brian Patrick, whose “Son Rise Morning Show” airs on EWTN radio network; Curtis Martin, President and Founder of FOCUS; and Peter Herbeck, co-host of “The Choices We Face,” which airs on EWTN television.
EWTN CEO and President Michael Warsaw will provide the welcome with “Bookmark” Host Doug Keck emceeing. Deacon Bill Steltemeier and Father Joseph Mary Wolfe will also be on hand for the always popular “Family Talk.”
Children will be entranced by special guest Rob Evans, a.k.a. “The Donut Man,” who, along with Brother Leo of “Hey Brother Leo” fame, will appear at the “EWTN Faith Factory” booth throughout the weekend. In addition, “older kids” can line up to “Meet the Author” while browsing the EWTN Religious Catalogue shop.
Doors will open at 8 a.m. As always, there will be plenty of opportunities for confession as well as Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It’s a day no fan of EWTN will want to miss – and, best of all, it’s free!
For more information, please visit: http://www.ewtn.com/familycelebration/
EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 28th year, is available in over 148 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website www.ewtn.com and publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.

Strip Planned Parenthood of funding now!

a message from Judy Brown of American Life League.
Please call your representative immediately and ask them to act swiftly to make sure the House Rules Committee does not kill an amendment that could save lives.
The Pence Amendment deserves an up or down vote!It’s no secret that Planned Parenthood’s deep pockets are padded by our tax dollars.
It’s no secret that many of the funds freed by our tax dollars not only fund abortions, but are also used for highly offensive, immoral and dangerously misleading projects such as the Planned Parenthood-endorsed It’s Perfectly Normal book as well as Planned Parenthood’s Teen Talk and Take Care Down There web sites.
But it is a well-guarded secret that Planned Parenthood’s agenda is putting our kids in danger from sexual predators on a daily basis, that Planned Parenthood has come under fire for fraudulent use of those very same tax funds, and that Planned Parenthood’s racist mentality has deep roots that stretch all the way back to its founder, Margaret Sanger – a notorious racist and eugenicist.
Next week, Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana will propose an amendment to Title X funding under the 2010 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. His courageous amendment would strip PP of tens of millions of tax dollars.That means less money for PP’s sick sex-ed programs for children as young as kindergarten.
Less money for PP to peddle subpar condoms.Less money for PP staffers who cover up statutory rape – a disturbing trend revealed by several recent undercover investigations.The gravity of PP’s crimes transcends party lines. Any American concerned about keeping our kids safe should support the Pence Amendment.
Last year, PP received over 349.6 million dollars in taxpayer funds.Now it wants millions more of your tax dollars to support its contraception, abortion and sex education agenda.Our nation cannot afford to continue funding an organization that systematically destroys the lives of countless men, women and children around the country.
Please call the congressional switchboard NOW at 202-224-3121, OR call your representative’s office directly. Tell them that the Pence Amendment to strip Planned Parenthood of Title X funding deserves an up-or-down vote! The ethic of democracy in our country demands that the House Rules Committee allow a vote on this critical, lifesaving amendment.

Creative Minority Report: What's A Little Sacrilege Among Friends?

Creative Minority Report: What's A Little Sacrilege Among Friends? Is a post from my friends who object to the Democrats' blasphemous image mocking Our Lady of Guadalupe.
What would the Muslims do?
UPDATE: This is on the shouldeers of Felix Sanchez who can be reached at Info@HispanicArts.org
HT NC Register blog.

Babies can remember as early as 30 weeks

From Focus on the Family Citizen Link:
"Preborn babies log memories as early as 30 weeks of age, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Researchers in the Netherlands have found that, at 30 weeks, preborn babies have a memory of 10 minutes. At 34 weeks, they can remember events for four weeks. The findings, which help explain central nervous system development, were published in the July/August issue of Child Development. The scientists studied about 100 healthy pregnant Dutch women, measuring changes in how their babies responded to repeated stimulation. After receiving a number of stimuli, the babies no longer responded to the stimulus. This change in response is called "habituation."
In the United States, abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy — unless limited by state law."
But we knew that, didn't we? So many studies show that newborns recognize their mother's and father's voices at birth, so clearly learning begins before birth. Unborn babies learn to relax when Mom's soap opera music is on, as they know Mom will be relaxed. We just never pinpointed when this memory begins. Surely it develops gradually with the developing baby's brain.
There are many studies on this, all bad news for the abortion lobby. They liked it better when we could call a 30 week old baby a "blob of protoplasm". The more the public knows, the harder they have work to be able to lie to women.
Did you ever hear the story of a famous orchestra conductor who, when reading the score of a cello concerto he had never seen, was stunned to find he knew the piece by heart? His mother was a cellist, who was practicing the same concerto while pregnant with him. Decades later, the imprint was still fresh.
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you".
Well, it seems that before our babies see the light of day, they know us and God.
This reminds me of Regina Doman's lovely book "Angel in the Waters" where an unborn baby talks with his guardian angel, and the angel guides him into the world to meet his mother.

I have a friend who once overheard a child whisper to a baby, "Do you remember what God looks like? I'm starting to forget."
Have we forgotten?

Dr Francis Collins nominated head of National Institute of Health

Dr Francis Collins heads the Human Genome Project and has made the most undereported scientific discovery in history: no GAY gene exists. Homosexuality is largely a product of one's upbringing, according to this article in NARTH.
"Dr. Collins succinctly reviewed the research on homosexuality and offers the following: "An area of particularly strong public interest is the genetic basis of homosexuality. Evidence from twin studies does in fact support the conclusion that heritable factors play a role in male homosexuality. However, the likelihood that the identical twin of a homosexual male will also be gay is about 20% (compared with 2-4 percent of males in the general population), indicating that sexual orientation is genetically influenced but not hardwired by DNA, and that whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predeterminations."
Dr. Collins noted that environment, particularly childhood experiences as well as the role of free will choices affect all of us in profound ways. As researchers discover increasing levels of molecular detail about inherited factors that underlie our personalities, it's critical that such data be used to illuminate, not provide support to idealogues."
He was nominated by President Obama to direct the National Institute of Health. He is a convert from atheism to Evangelical Christianity and sees no conflict between that and his role as a leading geneticist, which he describes in his book "The Language of God".
Here in an interview with CNN he discusses the reason he sees no conflict between being a Christian and a scientist. He was recently interviewed about his book in a Christopher Closeup where he was called a "modern-day CS Lewis". Dr Collins loved the idea, as Lewis is his role model; a former atheist intellectual who becomes a Christian and lives to pay for it. Chuck Colson is a friend of Dr Collins and applauds his nomination with reservations; Dr Collins does approve of some forms of embryonic stem cell research as he mentions here.
HT Catholic Exchange
We wish him a long and fruitful term directing the National Institute of Health. He will provide a sense of balance and respect for life which is sorely lacking elsewhere in this administration.

Now, Dr Collins, how about more funding for Down syndrome research?

Get the prolife side of the Sotomayor hearings

Dawn Eden of Americans United for Life is live blogging the Sotomayor hearings.
Click here to read her take on the events.

I'm posting on Catholic Vote.org

Here is my first post at CatholicVote.org.
They have a new video up today.

Peter Singer's eugenics and the Nazis by Wesley Smith

Hate Crimes rider attached to Defense Authorization Bill threatens free speech rights

If approved by the Senate, and absent other controversies over defense spending issues (yes, Congress does sometimes use bill titles that refer to the actual content of the legislation), President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. What can you do? First, watch this brief video, which explains the dangers vastly expanded federal hate crimes laws pose to people of faith. Then pass the link on to your pastor and to your friends. Finally, call your Senator today (202) 224-3121 and voice your opposition to this inappropriate amendment to an important national defense bill.

Senate health care commitee defeating all prolife provisions

Day by day, in this declining economy, we are coming closer to having our limited funds pay for abortions.
In the same week when Obama insisted to the Holy Father that they were of one mind when it came to lowering abortion rates, Democrats do his bidding in the HELP committee to make abortions part of government health care, overriding the Hyde Amendment.
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said that a poor woman who had no access to funded abortions was no better than Dred Scott, the man who the Supreme Court declared to be property in 1858 sparking the Civil War. Yet she once again fails to see that the unborn are the Dred Scotts of today, declared by the Supreme Court as subhuman without the most basic of rights; the right to life.
Obama may try to appear prolife, but he has his henchman working full tilt to make abortions a basic health care item under Obamacare.

"A Senate committee on Monday defeated four new amendments by pro-life advocates determined to stop a health care restructuring bill from paying for and promoting abortions. However, the decrement in the makeup of the Senate has made it so pro-life advocates are losing most committee and floor votes.
The Senate HELP Committee ultimately voted down four pro-life amendments, all on 12-11 party-line votes with Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, joining Republicans to support the abortion limits."
Contact the HELP committee by emailing them at Help_comments@help.senate.gov <Help_comments@help.senate.gov>.

Charity in Truth for Catholic Universities

Dr William Fahey spoke with Zenit News Service about it's implications for Catholic universities.
" I have only read the encyclical letter once in its entirety. A few key passages struck me as immediately relevant to my own position as a college professor and president.
What are the implications, for example, of a statement such as, "Truth needs to be sought, found, and expressed with the 'economy' of charity?" As the Holy Father goes on to say, this means—in part—that those who are the stewards of truth, must love that truth and demonstrate it in love.
Academics do not dwell much on charity or love and its relationship to the truth—or vice versa. But as the Holy Father reminds us, to know the truth entails a love of the truth; to love the truth means that we will be urged to act, to share the truth. This seems so simple as not to deserve comment, but upon reflection it is profound. As a Catholic educator, when I meditate on this, I perceive more clearly the connection between the intellectual life and the life of grace, the work that chiefly occupies the study or classroom and the broader work of evangelization."
So many Catholic in name only universities forget that their primary mission is to defend the truth and evangelize not only their students, but the wider culture as well. Notre Dame and Georgetown come to mind immediately, but sadly, they are far from unique.
So many intellectual snobs in academia are lusting after approval of the secular elite, and lose their souls in the meantime. All in the name of academic freedom.
The Holy Father is both a world-renowned intellectual and the leader of the Church. May they learn from his wisdom, submitting their own ambitions to his leadership. Or may they be replaced by the likes of Christendom, and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts.

Voice of the Faithless in financial straits

The New York Times has a piece about Voice of the Faithful the Boston based group which fed off the priestly scandals while pushing a 1970's agenda of married and women priests.
Leaders of the group, Voice of the Faithful, sent out a fund-raising letter to members saying it needed $60,000 by the end of this month.
I attended a meeting five years ago between VOTF and Bishop Murphy. I was the only person under 72. Two white haired members were saying goodnight this way, "Peace, love and Tie-dye man".
No wonder they are fading away, their agenda is morally bankrupt. No one approves of covering priestly abuse, but VOTF was merely using this crisis to push an agenda without support in the clergy and laity.
Good riddance!

Disabled man saves UK from euthanasia law

Joanna Bogle blogs about this at A Catholic Journalist in London.
"Baroness Campbell has suffered since babyhood from a crippling disease, sometimes needing a ventilator to help her breathe. She cannot walk and is confined to a wheelchair. This has not stopped her having a distinguished career culminating in being appointed to the House of Lords. Her speech denouncing the notion of “assisted suicide” spoke passionately about the way in which it would put pressure on people who felt that their families found them a burden, and revealed the thoughts and feelings of one who knew only too well that she had more than once been deemed to have a life not worth enduring. This was a voice of truth and courage. "

This is why I blog; to let my voice be heard regarding the dignity of human life, before we completely to the Culture of Death.
Yet today two Senate committees approved taxpayer funding of abortions; in Washington DC and one in our proposed national health care. Democrats defunded tax vouchers for the poor in DC to attend private schools, but if they want to kill their children rather than educate them, why the taxpayer will foot the bill.
This ignores recent polling which shows Americans are increasingly prolife. Over 86% of Americans favor some restrictions on abortion. Under Roe v Wade, abortion is legal for the entire pregnancy.

Take at close look at what Obamacare would be like; Canda care