More of our tax dollars may go to fund abortions

from Focus on the Family
The Obama Congress is moving quickly to funnel hundreds of millions of your tax dollars to the abortion industry.

Sign the Focus Action petition
In recent years, Congress has attached special annual funding provisions called pro-life “riders” to the spending bills to ensure that taxpayers aren’t forced to fund abortions here and overseas. Well, a move is underway to strip those “riders” from the spending bills and all this could happen in the next few weeks.
New Focus Action Petition to keep your tax dollars from funding abortion
Focus on the Family Action has just launched a citizen petition to oppose this latest phase in the radical, pro-abortion agenda, as well as the effort to force you and me to pay for it. As you know, President Obama has already reversed President Reagan’s pro-life “Mexico City Policy,” which prevented U.S. funds from going to overseas abortion providers. Now, Congress is set to strip pro-life “riders” from the appropriations bills. This move will force you and me to pay for abortions and services from abortion providers through our taxes.
Please take a moment to sign Focus Action’s new petition to keep your tax dollarsfrom funding abortion.
Votes Expected In March
Our Focus Action research team expects the legislative battle over the taxpayer funding of abortions to begin soon. That is why we are launching this petition today. With your help, we can rally tens of thousands of citizens to take a stand.
So, please take a moment to sign the petition. Then, spread the word to your friends.
These are certainly times that demand our vigilance! We must be informed and engaged in these issues every step of the way. Thank you so much for the stand you are taking with Focus Action on behalf of life, faith and family.
Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President,
Government & Public Policy

50th Anniversary of discovery of genetic cause of Down syndrome

Although Dr Jerome Lejeune,to his horror soon discovered that this important discovery, along with the discovery of amnio-centesis was used to abort 90% of babies with DS, it is a victory nonetheless, as it has improved the lives of the thousands who have Down syndrome. This was the topic of discussion at the Ponitifical Academy of Life in Rome this week.

Prof Bruno Dallapiccola recalled how Down syndrome children were previously ostracized, but now, 50 years later, "kids with trisomy have managed to reach an autonomy never seen before […] and can discreetly integrate themselves into society. They earn degrees. Professor Lejeune's discovery permitted this victory.
"Now, despite that in some countries as many as 90% of Down syndrome babies are aborted, the professor noted that every year, he meets 10 to 20 families who welcome a Down baby.
Dallapiccola recalled a visit to Lejeune in Paris in 1963. Since his discovery, he said, "something important changed in history," and "that mustn't be regretted."
To celebrate this important discovery and the fact that the Church has given Dr Lejeune the title of Servant of God, which has put him on the path to sainthood, read my article at the National Catholic Register, and send me an email at marysjoys@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll send you a holy card of Dr Lejeune with a prayer for his intercession for a miracle.
Read the entire story on Zenit.

Breaking News: North Dakota Legislature passes Personhood Amendment

This legislation, if passed by the North Dakota Senate, will ensure that the unborn child is accorded the Constitutional right to life of all Americans, regardless of age. Abortion will become illegal forever in North Dakota, the first state of the Union to do so.

a breaking news press release from the American Life League

North Dakota Personhood Bill Passes State House 51-41

by Katie Walker (communications director of the American Life League)

Washington, D.C. (17 February 2009) –

The civil rights movement gained a significant victory today as the North Dakota House of Representatives voted Feb. 17 to recognize the personhood of all human beings.
Led by American Life League Associate group North Dakota Life League, the personhood movement celebrated the passage of The Personhood of Children Act (House Resolution 1572), introduced by State Rep. Dan Ruby, in a 51-41 vote.
"We are very excited about the personhood movement in North Dakota – which has the chance to become the first state to protect the rights of all its citizens from their biological beginning," said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League.
The Senate vote is expected in the next two to three weeks.
Fifteen other states are currently pursuing personhood legislation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Personhood North Dakota: http://personhoodnorthdakota.com/
North Dakota Life League:http://members.tripod.com/NDLL/
Examiner: ND Pro-Lifers Hang Hopes on Personhood Refrendum (9 February 2009)http://www.examiner.com/x-2359-Evangelical-Examiner~y2009m2d9-North-Dakota-prolifers-hang-hopes-on-Personhood-Referendum

US House Republicans write Cardinal Rigali, promise defense of human life

Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives have promised to fight against passage of the Freedom of Choice Act. In an open letter to Cardinal Justin Rigali, the chairman of the US bishops' pro-life committee, Reps. John Boehner and Thaddeus McCotter-- the House Republican leader and chairman of the Republican Conference, respectively-- vow that the minority "will not be caught off-guard" by attempts to enact legislation affirming the Roe v. Wade decision.

Boehner and McCotter thanked Cardinal Rigali for his clear stance in defense of life, articulating in a February 5 letter to all members of the US Congress. "We stand with you n the defense of all human life," the Republican leaders said.

Read the entire article at Catholic Culture.

Need a Lenten idea?

Convert Obama
Posted: 16 Feb 2009 11:00 PM CST
Hey guys,
I know that the site has been having some problems in some of the video sections, and updates have been less frequent. I do have the site going up on a new server soon, with an all new design and feature set, but I’ve been working on another project recently that I felt was really needed.
Joe McClane and I, AKA The Catholic Hack, recently launched a new Lenten Project called Convert Obama. It’s geared towards bringing Catholics together to offer prayer and sacrafice this Lent for the conversion of Barak Obama, and an end to abortion in America.
So please keep both Catholic Tube and Convert Obama in your prayers. Help spread the word, tell your friends, sign up for this Lenten mission of prayer and sacrafice for the souls of the innocent unborn.
God Bless!

KIDS in the National Right to Life News and Views

An excellent article by Dave Andrusko on the grassroots movement that gave rise to KIDS Keep Infants with Down syndrome, and our participation in the March for Life this year.
Read the entire article here.

The baby who would be born

In anticipation of Obama's signing of the ominous omnibus spending spree, and it's deadly secrets, I thought that this article might serve to remind us WHO is really in charge of the world.
God will not be mocked, He is still sovereign, and it's wonderful to see His power in a story like this. This was sent to me by a reader.
Sometimes, God gives us what we want even when we don't know enough to ask for it. This single mother thought she couldn't endure another child with a kidney defect like her first two, so when her contraception failed, and a child was conceived, she had him aborted at 8 weeks, or so she thought. At 19 weeks, she felt a flutter and discovered the abortion wasn't successful. Now she has a nearly perfect newborn son and couldn't be happier.
Miss Percival said: "I just couldn’t believe that this child had got through it all and looked so perfect.
"He may need an operation but as only one of his kidneys is affected he can survive. I still struggle to believe just what he has fought through. Now he’s here I wouldn’t change it for the world."
Read the entire story here at the Telegraph UK.

Vatican initiates YouTube channel

Don't forget to subscribe to the latest channel on YouTube,from the Vatican, courtesy of Pope Benedict who is leading the way on using the media to proclaim the Gospel.

Susan B. Anthony was pro-life

from our pro-life friends at the Susan B. Anthony list.
Today is the 189th anniversary of the the birthday of Susan B. Anthony.
Many of our opponents want to hide the fact that Susan B. Anthony and the other women suffragists were staunchly pro-life.
Both you and I know that to be pro-woman is to be pro-life!

"Guilty? Yes. No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh, thrice guilty is he who...drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime!"
-Susan B. Anthony, The Revolution, 1869

KIDS in National Right to Life News and Views

"Tragically, the great majority of babies who are diagnosed with Down syndrome while still in the womb are never welcomed into a family. Of those parents who are told their unborn child has Down syndrome at least 90% choose to abort the baby.
The enormity of this crisis led Eileen Haupt and Leticia Velasquez, who both have daughters with Down syndrome, to work together to challenge the misinformation that often leads a mother to abort her child diagnosed to have Down syndrome. As Haupt said, "The one thing that prenatal testing cannot tell you is the unspeakable joy that your child with Down syndrome will give you."
Though Eileen Haupt and I met for the first time in person at the March, the closeness of our kindred spirits continue to amaze me. For example, when asked to add my own thoughts to Dave Andrusko for this article, I was left speechless by the elegance of the above quote from Eileen. Those are my sentiments exaclty, I thought, what more could I add?
We sense that God has formed a team with us, and that our work with KIDS is just beginning. . .
Read the entire story here.

A pro-life teen encourages us to get networked!

But please do not think this is just for young people. You don’t need to be a technology “wiz” to use any of these social networking tools. If you have a young person in the house, nine chances out of ten they use all of these vehicles. They can teach you how to use one or all of them in a very, very short period of time.
Through online social networks, the youth of our movement are becoming better connected with each other and with our cause. If we continue to nurture and encourage this exciting new trend, the future of the pro-life movement will only get brighter as our bonds grow stronger!
HT National Right to Life News. Read the entire story here.
This was undeniably the most common message at the March for Life Conferences this year: get connected! Those of us who blog feel more connected than most, however, in one week on Facebook, I have over 300 pro-life 'friends' with whom I share news, join causes, encourage, console in grief, pray for, and form networks. Many of them you will know: Norma McCorvey, Sandra Cano, FrMichael Scanlan, Fr Frank Pavone, Joe Schiedler, Chris Slattery, David Bereit, Jill Stanek, Dr Alveda King, Senator Sam Brownback, and Lila Rose.
Did I mention that my blog readership has increased?!

Then come and visit my profile and make me your friend.
Together we can oppose the tsnami of pro-death spending about to hit us.
YES WE CAN!

Poison in the Stimulus Package

I haven't posted much on the Stimulus Bill because I try to keep to life issues here, and once the contraceptive provision was eliminated the worst thing you could say about the bill is that it would put us in enormous debt forever, probably beholden to potentially hostile foreign powers. But then, we elected Democrats whose track record should have told us as much.
Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story on this dangerous stimulus bill, however. It's a sneak attack to re-write our healthcare system, virtually same program as Bill Clinton tried to foist on us publicly. But Obama is clever, he has learned from the debacle which Bill Clinton's plan suffered. His changes to the health care systemare to be accomplished by stealth, they are buried deep in the 2,000 page bill which was given first to lobbyists, THEN to members of Congress last night, so they'd have to read ALL NIGHT to cover all the provisions. It's a safe guess that few if any in Congress will have read the bill before the vote.
IF this is the beginning of socialized health care, and the anti-life appointees of the Obama administration are the ones deciding who gets what care, you can say goodbye to frail elderly, frail premature babies, or handicapped relatives. They are akin to the "useless eaters" of National Socialism(Nazi Party) of 1930s Germany. If you are too feeble to produce, you don't get care. IF you are a health care provider who disagrees with the denial of care, you're out of a job. This is a death sentence for many in this nation.
Here's an inteview on Lou Dobbs where the dangerous provisions of the Stimulus Plan are described. ( All comments in black are mine). This is from an email, the Lou Dobbs Show and the Conservative Caucus.
What the "Stimulus Bill" has hidden deep in page 496 has very disturbing implications. One world order is on the move. Everybody, down on your knees! It’s the only way we can weather this thing.

"It [the Stimulus Bill] promises several things. It promises that whatever the system is, it's going to eliminate inefficient care, excessive care, duplicate of care. It's going to eliminate disparities of care between one person and another…Whatever the federal government deems unnecessary care. Take a look at page 442. And worse yet, and now I'm speaking really to the physicians, this bill gives the secretary of health and human services the power to determine which doctors are "meaningful users of this new system." That's against the rules not to be. And empowers the secretary to use "increasingly stringent measures to enforce compliance." Translation: you better not claim that our new policies bother your conscience, or you're out of a job.
- Fmr. NY Lt Governor Betsy McCaughey on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" 2/10/09
Dear Fellow Republicans, Conservatives, Constitutionalists, and other Patriotic Americans:
Buried in the "Stimulus Bill" is a provision that gives the HHS Secretary the power to deny patients "excessive" care. What is excessive care and who decides what is excessive care? Answer; the HHS Secretary! (I thought liberals didn't want the government getting in the way of health decisions between the patient and his/her doctor – as they say when they defend legal abortion). In short, this bill makes the HHS Secretary America's health dictator. Is providing a feeding tube to a brain damaged woman excessive care? How about a feeding tube to a elderly or disabled person? How about cancer surgery to someone over 80?
I just found about this last night. Lord only knows how many other radical measures are buried in this bill. No wonder why they are rushing this through. Call your Senators and congressman and tell them to pull this out.
Below is the Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript and a Conservative Caucus bulletin.


Lou Dobbs Transcript:
DOBBS:Well, hidden deep within the stimulus package are provisions that could greatly limit the health care that we all receive. My next guest says those provisions in fact could give the federal government unprecedented control over our medical treatment. Betsy McCaughey is former governor of New York , she's the founder and the chair of the committee to reduce infection deaths. She's also senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Great to have you with us. BETSY MCCAUGHEY, CMTE. TO REDUCE INFECTION DEATHS: Thank you. I really appreciate this opportunity to call to the public's attention and actually encourage them to look in this bill which anybody can download now. It looks big. But if you have a computer, you can download it. DOBBS: We're having warring legislation.
MCCAUGHEY: I've got my pink slips on mine. And this bill will affect every individual in the United States . The bill is emphatic about that. Every person in the United States , every individual, check out page 445, 454, 479. It says several things, Lou. First of all, it says that every single person in the U.S. must have their medical treatments entered into an electronic federal data base. Now, electronic medical records can be a good thing. It means if you have to go to the hospital, you can get your records instantly. That your doctor has more at his fingertips when he needs that information.
DOBBS: I think everyone would agree, absolutely beneficial.
MCCAUGHEY: Yes. DOBBS: And something that we would look forward to. Your problem -- MCCAUGHEY: It's compulsory, however. In addition, it goes much farther than that. It promises several things. It promises that whatever the system is, it's going to eliminate inefficient care, excessive care, duplicate of care. It's going to eliminate disparities of care between one person and another.
DOBBS: The issue is, in whose opinion is it --
MCCAUGHEY: That's right. Whatever the federal government deems unnecessary care. Take a look at page 442. And worse yet, and now I'm speaking really to the physicians, this bill gives the secretary of health and human services the power to determine which doctors are "meaningful users of this new system." That's against the rules not to be. And empowers the secretary to use "increasingly stringent measures to enforce compliance." DOBBS: You know the proponents of this legislation are saying that it's only about the technology, only about the data. How do you respond?
MCCAUGHEY: First of all, I'd like to know why it's slipped in here, this is a stimulus bill. It's about taxing and spending. The spending --
DOBBS: I know you well enough to know when you ask a question, you've got the answer.
MCCAUGHEY: I looked at page 196 of Tom Daschle's book. Remember, he was planning on being secretary of HHS, Health and Human Services. On page 196 he said he was going to advise the next president, this was written before President Obama was elected, that any health care legislation be slipped into a budget bill, so that it would avoid debate or delay. He said this issue is so important, that it should not be stalled by senate protocol. Well, senate protocol is his word for it. I call it democracy.
DOBBS: We wouldn't want to burden government with a little thing like a vote, and actual hearings. A little bit like the economic stimulus legislation, isn't it.
MCCAUGHEY: That's right. Where is the transparency they promised?
DOBBS: And where are we headed with this legislation? We'll find out.


CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS:
Dear Fellow American,
I urge you to immediately call your two U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121 and urge them to vote NO on the "Stimulus" bill. Hidden in the massive stimulus bill is the first part of the socialized health care system we've been dreading, and it could kill you—literally.
Government bureaucrats will draw up charts assigning arbitrary values to each element of health care, and weigh them against factors such as age and medical history; and someone you will never be able to meet will decide whether or not your life is insufficiently valuable to treat, and they could prevent your doctor from providing the treatment you need.
In 2006, a similar English system ordered that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly drug to save the other eye. That could become an everyday drama in hospitals and doctors offices across the country. They might as well tattoo "Die" on the victim's foreheads.
This was one of the ideas Senator Daschle recommended, and while public outrage kept him from being confirmed to be the HHS Secretary, his deadly idea lives on, hidden in the stimulus bill which will be voted on anytime in the next few days. The bill number is H.R. 1, but it's just known as the Stimulus Bill. You can call it the "Death Stimulus Bill" when you call, just so they get the point.
Please call both your senators at 202-224-3121 now. Tell them to vote NO on the stimulus bill and that there is health care rationing in the bill. Post it on blogs and websites. Call and email talk shows. Email a letter to the editor of your newspaper. You can email your Senators, but please call them first because they will notice if we jam the phone lines, but they could ignore email until after the vote.
You can also call the Senator's home-state offices, you'll find the numbers on their websites at www.Senate.gov. Senate emails: www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm.
We must spread the alarm immediately to stop this bill.

You can read the bill yourself at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1eh.txt.pdf or read the status at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1: (you do need the colon at the end of this address). Most of the dangerous health care parts of the bill are on pages 190-192, 442, 444-446, 479, 511, 518 and 540-541.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Art HarmanWebmaster
The Conservative Caucus

UPDATE:
A prolife doctor friend was very discouraged by this news and wrote:
"I don't know what the future holds for our country. Some days it is just all too depressing. Looks like I may have to find another career... or go underground, but then the govt probably wouldn't give me a medical license to practice since they already control that."

Sarah Palin is mad, but undeterred

Planned Parenthood has set up a special fund so that donations may be given in her name, in order to mock her pro-abortion views."I have boxes of thank-you notes from people associated with Planned Parenthood thanking me for the donations," she said during a press conference. "It's political theater -- it's great theater, I guess, for some."
Palin said that she and Planned Parenthood may "agree on a mission here that we'd like to see fewer and fewer abortions, I, embracing the culture of life, have perhaps a different approach in how I would like to see that goal reached."
The donations are "not going to change my views or the views of many other Alaskans who believe every life is precious," Palin added.

Read the entire story at LifeNews.

Pro-lifers were quick to launch a counter-offensive.

Blogger Rod Drehar, of BeliefNet, highlighted the email and suggested that pro-life advocates launch a counter campaign to support pregnancy centers in Palin’s name.
“You may wish to donate to your local pro-life crisis pregnancy center to offset any contribution to the abortionists. If you don't know how to find one, you can always give to CareNet, a national organization that runs a network of crisis pregnancy centers,” he says.
Drehar calls the email “tactically brilliant” but “of course wicked.”
“I suggest any readers who donate to a pro-life cause to counter that do so in Trig Palin's name, and send notification to” the Republican Party or McCain’s campaign.
Related web sites:

National Right to Life - http://www.nrlc.org

Care Net - http://www.care-net.org

Read the entire story at Life News.

Listen to this rabbi

This year, I had the rare opportunity to meet Rabbi Yehuda Levin in front of the Supreme Court, to thank him for his outrageously funny and boldly pro-life talks at the March for Life every year. I told him of our efforts with KIDS and wished him Shalom. He is proof that ecumenism isn't about ignoring our differences, it's about celebrating what we share; love for the God of life and the source of all truth.

The Rabbi and I also agree on this. When are we going to have an end to the uproar caused by SSPX Bishop Williamson's foolish denial of the Holocaust? The Pope has denounced his remarks, his superior, Bishop Fellay has silenced him, so it should be a dead issue but somehow this issue just continues to live in the press. . .
The Rabbi is from Brooklyn: he's no dope, he smells an agenda at work. A liberal Catholic one.
"Rabbi Levin said that he believed that the Vatican has dealt appropriately with the controversial comments by SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson. However, he said that while this will will put to rest the "ridiculous" suggestions that the Pope is anti-Semitic, it will not end the controversy.
"At this point there has been a wonderfully strong renunciation of Bishop Williamson by the Vatican and therefore the Jewish community from their statements seems to be satisfied that things are going in the right way," he said. "This is just going to increase the frenzy of left wing Catholics, whether outside the Church or inside, because they now have to carry the ball in terms of keeping the attack on the Pope going."
German dissident priest-theologian Hans Kung is one such left-wing Catholic, who recently suggested in an article that Barack Obama would make a better Pope than Benedict. Writing in the German publication Sueddeutsche, Kung expressed his wish that Obama were the Pope. "The mood in the church is oppressive, reforms are paralyzed, and the church in crisis," he said. "Benedict is unteachable in matters of birth control and abortion, arrogant and without transparency and restrictive of freedom and human rights. "
By the way, The Holy Father has just announced to Jewish leaders that he will be visiting Israel next May.


Read the entire story at LifeSiteNews.com

Eulana Englaro dehydrated to death

An Italian version of Terri Schiavo's tragic dehydration death has come to Italy, in the shadow of the Vatican. This time it was the victim's own father who insisted on killing her, despite efforts from the Italian Parliament, and Prime Minister, she has died.
"Last week, the comatose 37-year-old Italian woman was taken by her father Beppino from a hospital in Lecco, Italy, where Eluana was receiving care from Sisters of Mercy. She had been in a coma since 1992 as a result of injuries she sustained in a car accident.
Her father acted without legal authorization, in order to place Eluana in a medical clinic in Udine that was willing to kill her by depriving her of the food and hydration she required through a feeding tube in order to stay alive. "
Why is it that one person, with a will to kill a loved one can overcome the efforts of an entire national government? It happened with Terri Schiavo. Her husband Michael overcame the efforts of both Governor and President Bush, and the US Congress and successfully dehydrated his wife to death. The Culture of Death grows stronger with each tragedy like this. Don't be complacent and think this can't happen to you; a new study shows that 40% of comatose "vegetative state" patients are misdianosed.
Read the entire story at the NCR blog.

watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition to see special friends, the Girards, get their dream home.
http://ping.fm/JkTvo

Ogden a disaster for family values

I've got to stop saying "Surely this is the worst nominee Obama's got up his sleeve". Now he wants Davide Ogden, the protector of sleaze.
Ogden, Obama's choice for second-in-command at the Justice Department, took plenty of heat during his confirmation hearing yesterday for his advocacy of child porn and the adult entertainment industry in general. "I was young then," he explained. The Deputy Attorney General-designate represented Playboy to sue for access to smut at the Library of Congress. He won. Ogden also fought against Internet filters in public libraries, called regulations on child pornographers "terrifying," and tried to defeat parental notification for minors' abortions. His nomination should signal to voters that this is just the beginning of Obama's campaign to undermine families through the courts. Now is the time to draw the line on extremism.\

Call your senators today at (202) 224-3121 and tell them you oppose Ogden's nomination.
from the Family Research Council.

Al Gore to kids: don't listen to your parents

It always puzzled me that subscribers to the Culture of Death mindset have few if any children. and those who love life have many. Soon we should outnumber them, and save the world. But there's one flaw in this plan; they own the media, the public schools, the universities and Hollywood. They steal our children's hearts and minds if we aren't vigilant. Glenn Beck and Fr Jonathan Morris discussed this on his show last night. Fr Morris reaffirmed the Church's teaching that parents are their children's first teachers, and Glenn compared Al Gore's speech to the indoctrination of the Hitler Youth.
On the tape, Gore states: "When I was your age and the civil rights revolution was unfolding, and we kids asked our parents and their generation, 'Explain to me again why it's okay for the law to officially discriminate against people because of their skin color?'
"And when our parents' generation couldn't answer that question, that's when the law started to change. There are some things about our world that you know that older people don't know," he continued.
This tactic is nothing new. I remember the biggest argument I ever got in with my dad in elementary school in the mid-seventies is when our 6th grade teacher, Ms Koons, sent us home to grade our parents with an "Are You Prejudiced?" test. I told my father he was a racist because he said that the Jewish people are a race and a religion. The test said no, but now I know who was right. Dad, of course!
Separation of parents and children ideologically is what public schools do best. It's what they are for, according to Adolf Hitler. Guess who outlawed homeschooling in Germany?
So did John Dewey
"Dewey believed that neither traditional moral norms nor traditional philosophical ethics were up to the task of coping with the problems raised by these dramatic transformations. Traditional morality was adapted to conditions that no longer existed. Hidebound and unreflective, it was incapable of changing so as to effectively address the problems raised by new circumstances. Traditional philosophical ethics sought to discover and justify fixed moral goals and principles by dogmatic methods. Its preoccupation with reducing the diverse sources of moral insight to a single fixed principle subordinated practical service to ordinary people to the futile search for certainty, stability, and simplicity.
In practice, both traditional morality and philosophical ethics served the interests of elites at the expense of most people. To address the problems raised by social change, moral practice needed to be thoroughly reconstructed, so that it contained within itself the disposition to respond intelligently to new circumstances. Dewey saw his reconstruction of philosophical ethics as a means to effect this practical reconstruction."
Source: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Read the entire story at World Net Daily.

Walter B. Hoye II, civil rights leader unlawfully detained

Prolife Leader Calls for Prayer and Fasting
To Save Black Pastor Facing 2 years in Jail
MT. FREEDOM, NJ – Just one month after celebrating Martin Luther King’s birthday, a black Pastor faces a 2-year jail term following a 9-month ordeal that began when he was arrested for peacefully witnessing in front of an Oakland, California, abortion facility.

He is Walter B. Hoye II, a deeply compassionate pastor from nearby Berkeley. At a sentencing hearing on February 19, 2009, he faces two years in jail, and a $4,000 fine for allegedly harassing women entering an abortion clinic and failing to maintain an 8-foot distance from them.
It doesn’t matter that he has a video proving that he did nothing of the sort.
On January 15, he was nevertheless convicted of unlawfully approaching clients coming for abortions at the clinic. His conviction foreshadows even stiffer sentences if President Obama signs the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) into law. FOCA will effectively end civil rights for pro-life activists.
All Pastor Hoye did was wear a sign reading, “Jesus Loves You! Let us help!” He also offered women information on abortion alternatives with his customary smile. “Can I talk to you for a minute about abortion alternatives? I was simply offering them a choice,” he says.
But for now, Walter Hoye is at the mercy of the court.
That’s why Dennis Howard, President of the Movement for a Better America, is calling for a nationwide campaign of prayer and fasting from now through February 19 – and continuing after that date if Pastor Hoye is sent to jail. “I invite all people of good will to join in this campaign of mercy for Pastor Hoye.”
Pastor Hoye tells his moving story in a 12-page testimony called “Letters from a California Courtroom,” just published by The Movement for a Better America and the Issues4Life Foundation. It is available on both organizations’ websites.
Commenting on Hoye’s testimony, Howard said:
“This is every bit as powerful a document as Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ – written 46 years ago. It is must reading for every pro-lifer, every enemy of genocide by abortion, and every opponent of the exploitation of the helpless and the unborn”
Howard called on “bishops, pastors, churches, pro-life organizations, and all people of good will to fast and pray that this good and holy man will receive mercy from the court, and be allowed to continue his heartfelt ministry while respecting reasonable limits imposed by the court.”
Howard added, “It is vital that pro-lifers show their respect for the court during this period by praying and fasting as an alternative to demonstrating in front of abortion clinics. No one will gain if Pastor Hoye is summarily taken off to jail, away from his beloved wife Lori and his beloved ministry.”
He said: “We need to lay our prayers and sacrifices before the Lord in our churches, in our homes, in adoration chapels across our nation. These killing centers are satanic workshops. Yes, we must witness in front of abortion mills, but it is time we asked: Are we sending up our petitions in the right places? We better start praying a lot harder in our churches and our homes, or we risk losing those freedoms, too.”
Howard also sees this as “an opportunity for the pro-life movement to show greater unity and solidarity. This is not 'our' campaign. It belongs to the whole movement, and the sooner we all start working together, the sooner this struggle can be won.”
He invited all pro-life groups – state, local, national -- to download the “Letters” document, send links to their email lists, and post them on their websites.
“This may be our last chance to stop FOCA,” he said. “If FOCA passes, a darkness will descend across America. Pastor Hoye is the light that could end the darkness.”
He pointed out: “February is Black History Month. Let us celebrate it by working to end genocide by abortion. It is time to defend all of the unborn. What a tragedy it would be if a genuine follower of Martin Luther King, Jr., -- like Pastor Hoye – should end up going to jail in Oakland 46 long years after Dr. King went to jail in Birmingham.”
Howard also invited people to write to their state and local leaders – including pastors, bishops, governors, mayors – as well as Congress and the President.

Read about Pastor Hoye at California Catholic Daily

Obama speaks out against hate at National Prayer Breakfast

The President said,“But no matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate. There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.”
"When will he speak out for the personhood of the unborn? Such hypocrisy is staggering. How does he sleep at night?
Read Tom McFeely's editorial at the NC Register, Deacon Keith Fournier at Catholic Online.

The Mother of all Battles SCOTUS is coming

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been diagnosed with lethal Pancreatic Cancer. I pray she repents of her staunch support of abortion before God calls her home, so that she rejoices in the mercy of God rather than suffers in His justice.
THEN comes the battle of Obama's presidency; the battle for the balance of the Supreme Court. Before the sudden upsurge of Republican oppostion to the budget and Tom Daschle's nomination to HHS, I would have been cringing at the near certain prospect of an uber liberal nominee sailing through the Senate confirmation process, just as Justice Ginsburg, an ACLU lawyer, was confirmed 99 to 1.
But now that the Republicans found their backbones, with the help of millions of your emails, I pray we can give whoever may replace Justice Ginsburg one heck of a battle.
Like Ted Kennedy gave Justices Sam Alito and John Roberts.
May God grant him final repentance as well.
Both Ginsburg and Kennedy will have to answer to a Higher Court soon.

Fr Euteneuer says occult is on the rise

Fr Euteneuer warns that many forms of popular entertainment are portals by which satan enters souls.

“Most people with demonic problems have opened a door somewhere,” said Fr. Euteneuer. He cited the popularity of the occult in bringing people closer to demonic interaction, primarily through the growth of the New Age movement and other paraphernalia. He said that even Hasbro markets Ouija boards to children.

“I’m very set against Harry Potter,” he said. “It’s pumping into our children’s minds the language and imagery of the occult. It’s extremely spiritually dangerous.”

He also called attention to a growing fascination with the cult of the vampire, especially through the popularity of books and movies like Twilight, where the main character falls in love with a vampire.“

I predict that in the next 10 years or so, we’ll see an explosion of occult activity,” said Fr. Euteneuer. “The number of soft-core occultism in the form of things like Harry Potter, Wicca and the New Age is on the increase.

These are the gateways to the hardcore stuff. Ask any inner-city police department if they’re seeing evidence of Satanism. They’re organizing whole task forces to deal with crimes having to do with these things. As society becomes more faithless, this wickedness comes and fills the vacuum.”

This is where I get my aversion to books like Harry Potter, and the ubiquitous Twilight series. I trust priests like Fr Gabriele Amorth and Fr Euteneuer who have dealt with the devil in souls. They are speaking from experience, not personal taste. We should listen to them before someone we love is ensnared.

Read the entire story here. at The Bulletin.

Our Tax Dollars funding anti-Catholic video

from the Catholic League

LINK TV MOCKS CATHOLICISM;
VIDEO PRODUCED WITH FEDERAL FUNDS

On February 3, Link TV featured a three and a half minute video that mocks Catholicism. The media outlet is available as a basic service in more than 31 million homes that receive direct broadcast satellite TV.

The video, “Divine Food,” opens with a priest waking up to a rumbling noise that shakes the religious symbols and statues in his room. He proceeds to a Catholic church where he discovers several wafers near a cup (the implication is that they are consecrated Hosts). In a disrespectful manner, he chews them vigorously and then admonishes the statues that are “looking at him.” He falls asleep in the church and when awakened he is asked to say Mass, which he refuses to do. The priest then makes large wafers out of dough and gives the pancake-like substance (which he calls the “Body of Christ”) to confused parishioners at Communion. The video ends when he drops the remaining “Hosts” into a dirty aquarium.

Here is what Catholic League president Bill Donohue said about it:

“This video first aired last summer, right after a professor from the University of Minnesota intentionally desecrated the Eucharist. Now it’s being shown again. At first we thought this was just another loony attack, but then we found out that Link TV is funded by foundations that support anti-Catholicism. To wit: the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund and George Soros’ Open Society Institute all fund Link TV, and all are generous contributors to Catholics for Choice, a notoriously anti-Catholic front group. Worse, of the three co-producers of the video, one of them—ITVS—is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a public entity.

“So here we have the urbane bigots in the foundation world, and a taxpayer-funded organization, underwriting anti-Catholicism. We will ask Link TV to pull the video. We hope we don’t have to do more.”

Contact Link TV media head, Julia Pacetti: jpacetti@linktv.org. We’ll contact the others involved. To see the video, click here.

Octuplets were IVF babies: the tangled web we weave

Judge Andrew Napolitano said, and I agree with him, that it's a good thing that this woman did NOT abort any of her octuplets. But she is divorced, and already overwhelmed by the six children she has, and without a husband or enough income, has 14 children to care for. This would not be possible without IVF. God never intended for a single mother to be able to bring 8 children into the world, and according to the IVF people, she broke the rules by not being ready to abort some of them. Did she even ask her ex-husband permission? They are his children. He may even be financially responsible for them.

What a complicated web we have woven with In-Vitro Fertilization! This is what happens when we play God; we kill the children He sends us in abortion, and decide when to make them in a lab, regardless of common sense or moral duty to the children. Now this woman will have to rely heavily on the government to raise the family she should not have had.

Poor children of such thoughtless mother! I wish the family well, but want the public to learn a lesson, every act of In-Vitro Fertilization leaves frozen human embryos in a lab where they will either be destroyed or experimented on.
"According to the grandmother of octuplets born in California last week, rather than allow her leftover frozen embryos to be destroyed, dissected in a laboratory, or frozen indefinitely, their mother chose to give them a chance at life by implanting them in her womb.Little did she expect to give birth to eight relatively healthy babies, or to be deluged first by congratulations, then by scorn, as critics questioned her choice not to selectively abort as a single mother of reportedly little means."
She was told this when she had the first fertility treatments, and if it bothered her then, she should not have had them.That was the time to make the right choice.
Judy Brown said, "this case actually highlight the grave moral reasons why the Catholic Church has so consistently identified the practice of IVF as gravely evil. http://catholicinsight.com/online/church/vatican/article_475.shtml The babies are not evil; the practice is simply unacceptable, according to Catholic medical ethics. As a matter of fact, each of those babies are blessings; they are gifts from God — not products from an assembly line, as some would suggest."
HT Renew America

The Creighton Fetility Method has an 80% success rate and no babies are destroyed, no moral laws broken, for a fraction of the $20,000 per IVF treatment. When will we women learn to respect our bodies as sacred vessels for bringing life to the world, not sites for medical profiteering?
When I was expecing Christina (naturally) I was treated at a fertility clinic with Progesterone because of my three previous miscarriages. I offered the doctor a book, "Fertility Cycles and Nutrition" by Marilyn Shannon, which had helped me, and he threw it back at me! No one makes big money teaching nutrition.
Read the entire story at Life Site News.

Mommy can you hear me?

Archbishop Burke: No Communion for Catholic pro-abortion politicians!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4 February 2009

VATICAN: BISHOPS MUST REFUSE COMMUNION TO PRO-ABORTION POLITICIANSWashington, DC (4 February 2009) –
Judie Brown, president of American Life League, issued a statement today in response to an interview in which Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest court, stated,"There's not a question that a Catholic who publicly, and after admonition, supports pro-abortion legislation is not to receive Holy Communion and is not to be given Holy Communion … This is a law of the universal Church and it should be applied."

About the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Burke commented,"I think this argument [that this matter should be decided by theUSCCB] too is being used by people who don't want to confront theissue, this whole "wait 'til the Conference decides"...well the Conference has been discussing this since at least 2004. And nothing happens…
Individual bishops and priests simply have to do their duty.They have to confront politicians, Catholic politicians, who are sinning gravely and publicly in this regard. And that's their duty.
"Statement by Judie Brown:"It has long been American Life League's contention that canon law applies within the Church in the same way that state, federal or local law applies to the citizens of the United States. At American Life League, our focus has been on Canon 915, which is written for the express purpose of protecting the body and blood of Christ from sacrilege.We have repeatedly called on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to enforce this law, abide by this law and deny the Holy Eucharist to any public figure who claims to be Catholic while at the same time supporting abortion. Abortion is an intrinsically evil act,and no Catholic who supports that act in any way should be permitted to receive Christ.

We are deeply grateful for the definitive words of Archbishop Raymond Burke. Archbishop Burke was also asked about Catholic bishops who claim that denying Holy Communion to a pro-abortion politician "makes the Communion rail a [political] battleground." He simply and succinctly responded, "Nonsense."
We extend our sincere gratitude to Archbishop Burke for once again making it clear why every single Catholic bishop and priest not only should enforce Canon 915, but is obliged to do so for the sake of souls and for the sake of protecting Christ in the Holy Eucharist from sacrilege."

American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death.
For more information or press inquiries,
CONTACT: Katie Walker540.659.4942
kwalker@all.org
Fr Angelo at Mary Victrix makes some vital points about pro-abortion politicians, and those who support them.
"In our Supreme Court and in our Congress, we have a plethora of so-called Catholics who are failing to live their Catholic identity. Over 50 percent of our electorate voted for a president who is one of the most pro-culture-of-death candidates from a major party to run for the highest office of the land."
Yes, we can thank one-half of our Catholics for bailing out on their faith!

Americans disagree with reversing Mexico City Policy

According to a recent Gallup Poll, 65% of Americans disagree with one of Obama's first decisions in office; to reverse Ronald Reagan's Mexico City Policy which prohibits Federal money from going to organizations which promote abortions overseas. We don't want our much needed tax dollars funding the death of the children of the poor overseas.
And we're not alone; other nations want us to keep our money and pro-death agenda to ourselves.
Read the entire column at Jill Stanek.

Poor little Sequenon

Their stock is falling. Few companies deserve it more. They make a new pre-natal test for Down syndrome, to ensure 99% accuracy that the 10% of babies with T21 that make it to birth, don't .
Now the truth emerges that the tests aren't that accurate. Too bad.
Read the entire story here.

Don't give up on your children's school

Good News: Parents Use Internet to Influence Schools
Some parents think it's impossible to stand up for truth in public schools and actually get their voices heard.

Michelle Turner and hundreds of others in Montgomery County, Md., know better. When they were ignored, they tapped the power of the Web.

Turner learned about a pro-gay curriculum by volunteering on a citizen’s advisory committee. But she was outnumbered.

“This is enough," she said. "This has gone too far. People’s voices are not being heard. Parents are not being heard.”

Not content to stay silent, Turner then formed a group called Citizens for Responsible Curriculum and a Web site by the same name, to influence school leadership.

When the grassroots group was unable to gain an audience with the school board or superintendent, it tried e-mail, the media and finally the courts. Last year, its Web site received 1 million hits.

In Fairfax, Va., Cheryl King is using the Internet to work with other parents and students on the True Tolerance initiative. The goal is to place books with a Christian perspective on homosexuality into public school libraries.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit Focus on the Family's education Web site.

Lila Rose's latest video nails Planned Parenthood

A historic, and prophetic homily by Fr Joseph Shea

Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber By Father Joseph Shea; Pro-Life Sunday—
January 18th 2009 FrCusack

A couple of weeks ago, two of my priest friends and I went to see the new movie, Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise. The movie presents the true-life story about a large-scale conspiracy within the German army to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The heroic German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg led the coup. The assassination attempt on July 20, 1944, failed because the detonated bomb only injured Adolf Hitler. Colonel von Stauffenberg and the other conspirators were arrested and executed for treason. Now, of course, they are honored as heroes who tried to stop the madness of Hitler.

Unbeknownst to most people is that there was another hero living at that very same time who courageously opposed Hitler and his plans. His name was Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Munich from 1917 to his death in 1952. An interesting side note is: the last man that Cardinal von Faulhaber ordained to the priesthood was one Joseph Ratzinger, our present Holy Father.

As you might imagine, the years between 1933 and 1945, when Hitler was in power, were especially difficult for Cardinal von Faulhaber because he courageously chose to speak out against the Nazi regime and its policies, rather than remain quiet out of fear of the Nazis. At every opportunity, he condemned the crimes of the Nazis, risking his life every time he did so.

His Advent sermons of 1933, delivered in the glorious Cathedral of Munich, drew thousands of Munich citizens — standing room only. They came to listen to the Cardinal fearlessly challenge National Socialism, to assert the rights and freedoms of the Catholic Church and to call for the protection of the Jewish people.

By the 1940’s, when Hitler’s final solution became clear to all, in response to the atrocities that the Nazis were doing to the Jews, Cardinal von Faulhaber ordered yellow armbands with the Star of David to be placed on all the statues of Christ and Mary throughout his Archdiocese. Cardinal von Faulhaber’s courageous actions infuriated Hitler and the Nazi leaders, but the Gestapo didn’t dare remove the yellow armbands for fear of a Catholic uprising.

So Munich , the birthplace of the Nazi movement, became the center of Nazi resistance; and although Dachau was located only ten miles outside Munich’s city limits, within Munich, Hitler and his policies were weakened severely by the courage of one man who chose to speak out and to act courageously rather than to remain silent.

What made Cardinal Faulhaber so courageous? Why would he risk his life for people he did not know, for people who were not considered “worthy of life” because they were Jewish or because they were physically or mentally impaired, or too old and using up too much of the society’s resources, or because they were homosexual, or because they protested too much against Nazism and its evil policies, such as many Catholic priests and Christian ministers did?

Why? Because Cardinal Faulhaber had met the Savior Jesus Christ, just as John and Andrew did in today’s Gospel. Cardinal Faulhaber had heard Jesus’ invitation to “come and see” who Jesus was, and that encounter changed his life forever. From that moment, Cardinal Faulhaber followed Jesus faithfully, never wavering in his dedication to Christ, despite incredible hardship.

That raises the fundamental question that each one of us needs to answer on this Sunday — dedicated as Pro-Life Sunday because this coming Thursday, January 22nd, marks the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade.

Like Andrew and John and Cardinal Faulhaber, will we respond to Jesus’ invitation to be His disciples, to “come and see” who Jesus is, and faithfully follow Jesus in a way that neither our lives will nor our moral positions will ever be the same again? That’s the fundamental and challenging question set before us today.

I ask this question because we find ourselves in an eerily similar situation as the German people nearly 70 years ago.

One of the most troubling questions facing the German people after World War II was how was it possible that a Holocaust of so many innocent people went on without a huge protest. How was it possible that a great people, such as the Germans, could have been fooled by an evil leader with such a diabolical political agenda? Wasn’t Germany the country that produced Frederick the Great, the philosopher-king? Wasn’t Germany, in the late 1800’s, arguably the most enlightened and free nation in Europe? What happened that caused the majority of people to get confused, deceived, or intimidated? Let me explain.

If you remember, Germany was on the losing side of World War I and the German people had to pay very costly war reparations. The conditions of the Treaty of Versailles bankrupted Germany, and Germany’s economy went into a freefall. The German currency of the time, the Reichsmark, was worth less than the paper on which it was printed. Hyperinflation was so great that it was cheaper to burn money than firewood.

Hitler came to power in the midst of this incredibly difficult time. He promised the German people that he would revive the German economy, that he would reestablish order to a society falling in disarray, that he would give the German people a renewed sense of pride, and that he would save Germany. It sounded great to a nation that had been beaten down.

The problem was how Hitler planned to “save” Germany. His plan was based on very evil principles: the killing of the innocent; the genocide of neighboring people and the plundering of nearby nations; a systematic eugenic movement to eliminate the Jews, the handicapped, the infirmed, the aged, homosexuals, and any dissenting voice — all in the name of progress — all in the name of creating a “master race” — a utopian society that would last, not for 1000 years, but for 10,000 years.

How could so many Germans, especially German Christians, have supported Hitler? Because some of them viewed their economic prosperity, their comfort, the strengthening of their public institutions and army, and the pride of a restored nation as more important than certain groups of people, others because they became part of the conspiracy of silence. They were confused, deceived, or intimidated. The terrible Holocaust happened — over ten-million people were executed.

Today, we find ourselves facing a similar, but even more horrible Holocaust of innocent people. I say more horrible because over 36-million innocent people — the most innocent and defenseless of all — babies — have been aborted since the Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade in 1973.

The horror of the Holocaust doesn’t stop there. This Holocaust also includes the manipulation of stem cells harvested through abortions and the termination of life of our elderly through euthanasia solely for the purpose of a national agenda of convenience, economic prosperity, and creating another “master race” of people who will never get sick, who will be as beautiful as the models and movie stars we see on TV, in the movies or the Internet, or who will be the brightest and most talented in the world — another Albert Einstein or another Michael Jordan — a super race.

Why is this happening? Because some people in this nation really do believe that the end justifies the means. They believe that the evil means of abortion, euthanasia, and some genetic engineering justify the good end of a better nation and society, better health and a more convenient life.

This present day Holocaust is also happening because the majority of people have become part of a conspiracy of silence. They have been confused, deceived, or intimidated.

Hitler tried to intimidate Cardinal Faulhaber and many others into silence during the first Holocaust. The secular world tries to do the same today with this Holocaust.

Edmund Burke expressed it best in a quote from his essay Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents:
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
That’s why we must answer the question that the Gospel reading lays before us today: Will we be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ?

You see, brothers and sisters, Jesus is very clear about what His followers should do in the face of the evil of this modern day Holocaust of abortion and euthanasia.

I was listening to a CD of a retreat that Father Benedict Groeschel recently gave to priests. Father Groeschel told a story about a prominent New York celebrity who approached Mother Teresa and asked her, “Mother Teresa, what is your view about abortion?” Mother Teresa stared at him, like Daniel Boone drawing a bead on a poor raccoon in a tree, and replied, “What do you think Jesus thinks about abortion?” Utter silence.

Jesus is very clear about abortion and euthanasia. There is no confusion and no ambiguity. Abortion and euthanasia are murder. The only ones who are confused, ambiguous, and deceived are unbelievers and fair weather Catholics.

Fair-weather Catholics are gung-ho followers of Jesus when it comes to the light, easy, cheerful teachings of the Gospel; but when it involves the challenging, moral dictates that Jesus teaches, they stumble over their euphemisms, excuses, their doublespeak, and their rationalizations. You’ve heard them, “I am personally opposed to abortion, but I believe that a woman has the right to choose.”

I wonder: would those same people say, “I’m personally against stealing, but I believe that a person has the right to steal my car?” No way! Isn’t amazing how people wouldn’t accept that rationalization with any other Commandment. It’s just with the 5th Commandment and the issue of abortion and euthanasia.

Jesus is very clear about His teaching on abortion and euthanasia. There is no confusion, no ambiguity. It is only unbelievers and fair weather Catholics; but there is still the majority of Catholics out there who are good and trying to be faithful, but who have been intimidated or confused into silence. I urge you not to be afraid. We Catholics make up ¼ of the population of America. If we stood together as dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ and Catholics faithful to Christ’s teachings, we would change the entire moral fabric, fiber, and direction of our country. We need to stand up. We need to speak out for all those unborn or elderly citizens who have lost their voice in our sleek, chic, sophisticated world. I will tell you why.

President-elect Barack Obama has stated publicly that the one of the first things he will do when he gets into office is to the sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).

For those who do not know, the Freedom of Choice Act currently before the Congress, which Barack Obama sponsored as a Senator, will roll back all the restriction on abortion that the majority of Americans want and have voted in during the past 36 years. FOCA will invalidate for the entire country all restrictions on abortion including parental notifications, waiting periods, and partial birth abortions, yes — the brutal killing of 9-month old fetuses while they are in the birth canal, ready to be born.

FOCA also will attempt to force Catholic hospitals to adopt these evil measures.

Thank God, Cardinal George of Chicago, the president of the National Council of Bishops, has told President-elect Obama and his team that, if FOCA is signed into law, the Catholic Church will close their Catholic hospitals rather than participate in evil. By the way, Catholic hospitals make up one third of all hospitals in the nation.

Do you know what President–elect Obama’s team said to Cardinal George? “That’s OK! We’ll just buy your hospitals.” To which Cardinal George replied, “You didn’t hear me! I said that we will close our hospitals. You will have to build your own!” Good for him and all the Cardinals and Bishops standing with him! They are the new Cardinal Faulhabers, standing up against evil!

Brothers and sister, our Cardinal Roger Mahony has urged all of us in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to get involved with a postcard campaign to turn back this terrible legislative act. As your pastor, I also strongly urge you to stand up and speak out.

Hitler wanted the Church to remain silent in the face of all the atrocities of the first Holocaust, all in the name of progress and pride of a nation. Fortunately, a small group of great Christians, such as Cardinal Faulhaber, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and others stood up and shouted in defiance. Ultimately, their voices were heard, but not before ten-million innocent people lost their lives in the Holocaust.

Many in our government, in our nation, and sadly, even some in our Church today, want the Church to be silent about this new Holocaust. Many want the Church not to get involved in politics — all in the name of economic prosperity, comfort, convenience, progress, and pride of our nation. Many say that the Church shouldn’t say anything because there is a separation of Church and State.

I’ll tell you what: The Church and I won’t speak to or about politics if the government will stay out of our beloved Church and the Gospel. Once the government comes across that boundary, we will speak, and speak loudly.

Brothers and sisters, don’t be intimidated, confused, or deceived. Jesus is very clear what He wants us his faithful disciples to do. Let’s act with courage and faith. If we don’t, we will rue the day, as the German people still do now about the first Holocaust. If we don’t stand up and speak out, then we will stand condemned by future generations, and maybe even before God, because we failed to heed Edmond Burke’s admonition, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do and say nothing.”


Father Shea is the pastor of Saint Rose of Lima Parish, Simi Valley, in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

So much for "safe, legal and rare"

from Operation Rescue
Unlicensed California Abortionist Sentenced To Over 3 Years In Prison

Bertha Bugarin is scheduled for sentencing on 9 more felonies in San Diego County on Feb. 6
Los Angeles, CA - Bertha Bugarin was sentenced in a Los Angeles court on Friday to 3 years, 4 months in prison for committing illegal abortions without a medical license. Prosecutors had asked for five years.
Bertha appeared in court sobbing uncontrollably and begging for leniency and mercy. Her 22-year old daughter, Evangelina Bernal, cried as she read a prepared statement extolling the virtues of her mother.
"In sentencing Bugarin, Judge Sam Ohta has forgotten that Bugarin's victims were given no such mercy. Many of the women were cruelly given abortions without anesthesia or pain medication," said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger.
"Bugarin preyed on vulnerable Hispanic neighborhoods. She hoped to earn the maximum amount of profit by providing the shoddiest care, hoping the illegal status of many in those neighborhoods would prevent them from reporting what one journalist described as her 'shop of horrors.' Her victims will have to live with the trauma and injury Bugarin inflicted on them for the rest of their lives. Bugarin is a cold-hearted predator whose only remorse is that she got caught."
Bugarin has a long history of total disregard for the law and the safety of women who came to her abortion business that once operated 11 abortion mills. At least six of Bugarin's abortionists have lost their medical licenses due to negligence and fraud.
One of her abortionists, Laurence Reich, was a twice-convicted sex offender who molested and raped his abortion patients. Reich surrendered his license in 2006, but continued to work as an abortionist for Bugarin until his arrest in February, 2008.
Even after her arrest in a Los Angeles Police raid on 4 of her remaining 6 clinics, Bugarin continued to operate in San Diego County until her arrest there.
Bugarin pled guilty to 9 felony counts in San Diego County and is scheduled for sentencing there on Friday, February 6, 2009.
"We are very thankful that Bugarin's clinics are now closed and that she is on her way to jail where she belongs. We worked very long to protect the women of Southern California further abuse at the hands of this ruthless predator," said Sullenger.
"This sends a message to abortionists around the nation who have the attitude that they are above the law: We are watching you, and we will not stop working to enforce the laws until you, like Ms. Bugarin, are brought to justice."

This is the reality of 'choice' in this nation. This legal clinic chain was breaking a multitude of laws, as Tiller the Baby Killer in Witchita. It seems that the only difference is that Bugarin had not paid off as many high level politicians as Tiller, who has Gov Kathleen Sebelius (a Catholic) in his pocket,and has slipped out from the net many, many times. You may pay now, or you may pay later, Tiller, but God will not be mocked eternally.
We're trying to save your immortal soul!

"Prevention First Act" wolf in sheep's clothing

Statement of Culture of Life Foundation on Senate Bill 21
"Prevention First Act" introduced by Senator Harry Reid.
"The Act is based on the false premise that contraception prevents abortion. The more contraception is available, the more abortions occur because contraception is the gateway to abortion." States Dr. William E. May, Senior Fellow of the Culture of Life Foundation.
On January 6, 2009 Senator Harry Reid introduced the Prevention First Act (S. 21), which claims to be aimed at reducing unintended pregnancies and abortion. The Act is based on the false premise that contraception prevents abortion. The more contraception is available, the more abortions occur because contraception is the gateway to abortion.
First of all, many so-called contraceptives do not prevent conception but rather "work" by preventing a newly generated human baby from implanting in his or her mother's womb. This is true of the way IUDs operate, it is one way that the "Pill" works, and it is the sole purpose of RU 486.
As Janet Smith has pointed out, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a Supreme Court decision that confirmed Roe v. Wade clearly demonstrated that contraception is the gateway to abortion. It stated, "in some critical respects abortion is of the same character as the decision to use contraception . . . . for two decades of economic and social developments, people have organized intimate relationships and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail." Bluntly put, the Court says that we need abortion so that we can continue our contraceptive lifestyles (see http://www.goodmorals.org/smith4.htm).
Most abortions occur because men and women do not want to have a baby but nonetheless have sexual intercourse, the kind of bodily behavior that can generate human life, but they seek to prevent the child's coming to be by contracepting, counting on abortion as a way to prevent the child's birth if contraception fails.
Contraception facilitates premarital sex and has led to an alarming increase of sexually transmitted diseases. "Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major public health challenge in the United States. CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year- almost half of them among young people 15 to 24 years of age. In addition to the burden on youth, women are also severely affected.Biological factors place women at greater risk than men for the severe health consequences of STDs. The two most commonly reported infectious diseases in America - chlamydia and gonorrhea - pose a particular risk to the health of women, as both can result in infertility if left untreated. Together, these diseases were reported in almost 1.5 million Americans in 2007, but the majority of cases continue to go undiagnosed....The national rate of reported chlamydia in 2007 was 370.2 cases per 100,000 population, an increase of 7.5 percent from 2006(344.3). Women, especially young and minority women, are hit hardest by chlamydia...Chlamydia is common among all races and ethnic groups; however, African-American, American Indian /Alaska Native, and Hispanic women are disproportionately affected. CDC: Trends in Reportable STDs in the U.S. in 2007 (January 2009).
Advocates of contraception/abortion, like Senator Reid, think that "no unwanted child ought ever be born" and contraception and abortion are the best tools to prevent this tragedy. The truth is that "no person, born or unborn, ought to be unwanted but loved," and the way to achieve this goal is to be chaste prior to and after marriage. Marital chastity does not require complete abstinence. There is a time to embrace and a time not to embrace. If there is a serious reason to avoid causing a pregnancy, chaste spouses abstain from the marital act when pregnancy will likely follow and engage in it when the wife is not fertile. A procreative intent is not necessary for the act to be virtuous and holy.

William E. May, Senior Fellow
Jennifer Kimball
Culture of Life Foundation
jennifer@culture-of-life.org
(202) 289-2500

New bishop coming to New York wil be dynamic and orthodox

Pope to Announce New Archbishop of New York
By: Edward Pentin


Pope Benedict XVI is set to announce a new Archbishop of New York to replace Cardinal Edward Egan, an informed Vatican source tells Newsmax.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source says the decision was made today and an announcement is expected “within the next week to ten days”. He says Cardinal Egan’s successor is from the “conservative and orthodox” wing of the Church.
Speculation on the next leader of the New York Archdiocese, one of the most important posts in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, has been going on for some time among church-watchers.
Cardinal Egan, 76, submitted his resignation in 2007 when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75, but the Pope asked him to stay on in the post. Many commentators saw Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to New York last year as a final farewell to the cardinal.
Names often cited as Egan’s possible successor include Archbishop Harry Mansell of Hartford, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, Archbishop John Myers of Newark, Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan.
The appointment is a crucial one for the Pope. Church observers say his choice will provide a further important indication of the direction of his pontificate

Bill Donohue reacts to the Congressional Reprimand of the Holy Father

CATHOLIC DEMOCRATS CHIDE POPE
On January 29, nearly 50 Catholic Democratic congressmen sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI stating their concerns over Bishop Richard Williamson’s comments questioning the historical record on the Holocaust. The bishop belongs to the St. Pius X Society, a group which recently had its excommunication lifted by the pope. The congressmen implored the pope to denounce the bishop’s views.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue spoke to this issue today:

“The congressmen’s letter to the pope smacks of posturing and hypocrisy, and is factually wrong. They begin by saying ‘we are writing to express our deep concerns with your decision to reinstate Bishop Richard Williamson to communion with the Catholic Church….’ The fact is that the pope did not reinstate the bishop to communion with the Church—he merely lifted the excommunication of the group to which he belongs. In order for the group to be fully reinstated, it would have to express its fidelity to the teachings of the Church, as well as the norms of Vatican II. In other words, the letter is based on a false predicate.

“Facts aside, this kind of posturing is a disgrace: for American congressmen to lecture the pope about an event in which he was personally victimized, and about which he has long condemned, is nothing short of arrogant.
“The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. They beg the pope to ‘publicly state your unequivocal position on this matter so that it is clear where the Church stands….’ How ironic that most of these very same Catholics fail to speak with clarity about what the Church teaches on abortion. Of the 47 signatories, the majority have a 100 percent NARAL score (meaning they vote with the radical pro-abortion group on every issue). The leader of this group, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, never agrees with the Catholic Church on abortion—her NARAL score is 100 percent.
“One more thing: they addressed the pope not as a head of state but as a ‘spiritual leader.’ Didn’t they ever hear of respecting separation of church and state?”

Please contact Congresswoman DeLauro at her website.

Spotlight Commentary: Judgement to Rush

Patrick Madrid on Demographic Winter

Sorry, Speaker Pelosi, the facts are NOT on your side. Babies are GOOD for the economy.
Patrick Madrid, on his new blog, describes in vivid detail how the population is in a state of catastrophic decline, having seen the presentation on Demographic Winter.
Celebrated columnist and pro-family leader Don Feder gave a jaw-dropping presentation on the coming 'Demographic Winter' at the Rose Dinner which closes the official March for Life festivities every year. Speaking to hundreds of attendees, Feder suggested that the demographic problem of worldwide declining birthrates "could result in the greatest crisis humanity will confront in this century" as "all over the world, children are disappearing." "In the Western world, birthrates are falling and populations are aging," said Feder. "The consequences for your children and grandchildren could well be catastrophic."
This was also documented by Pat Buchanan in his terrifying book, "The Death of the West", in which he predicts that Europe will be completely Muslim in half a century. Such are the fruits of the Culuture of Death. How many times have our Popes tried to warn us about this? From Pope Paul's prophetic Humanae Vitae to Pope John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae, to Pope Benedict, who addresses this topic frequently we have been instructed to be open to life and stop contracepting. Yet materialism has hardened our hearts. Like my former neighbor, who proudly told me that she was 'done' after one child, since she and her husband had decided to buy a sailboat instead of having a little brother or sister for their lonely son. James used to peek through the pickets of the fence which divided us, at my two daughters playing together in our yard. He had the big boat, all right, but he still envied us.
Once I brought Christina, who was then a toddler to visit Congressman Tim Bishop (D-NY) a pro-abortion Catholic, who was having a town meeting in fabulously wealthy Westhampton. Dozens of retired denizens of Wall Street were lamenting loudly their fears that their Social Security checks might be reduced. (Whatever do they do with such a paltry sum; pay dues at the Country Club?)
Christina and I were waiting for an opening in the clamour to address Rep Bishop's refusal to vote for the ban on Partial-Birth Abortion. Soon, Christina, for whom pulling to a stand was a new accomplishment interrupted the noise with her unexpected giggling. Heads turned to glare at her for interrupting, and I jumped at the opportunity to address the Congressman, "Congressman Bishop, I seem to be disrupting your meeting; let me get a word in, and I'll be happy to leave". I strode, Christina in arms to the front of the room, and asked the crowd if she had a life worth living. I pointed out that her disability is the main reason barbaric practices like Partial-Birth abortion are used. An angry man in the crowd told me to "Shut up and sit down". Since the Congressman looked relieved to get rid of us, I did leave, shooting over my shoulder, "I am a teacher, and the classroom I look out at every day is 1/3 emptier because of abortion. If you are worrying about the future of Social Security, remember that you killed one third of the young workforce which would have been paying into the SS system.".
Jaws dropped, as I turned on my heel and walked out. No one living their selfish lives running after the good life, thinks they are part of the bigger picture. But, like it or not, they are. Each choice we make effects the entire world.
I would have like to be like my friend Mary Ellen, giving birth to my eighth child, but due to multiple miscarriages, I have only three girls. We have to thank unselfish women like Mary Ellen for the wealth of children they have given to this world.
Once, a swelter ting hot summer day at the Bronx Zoo was interrupted by a violent thunderstorm, which cleared out the place. When the brief storm subsided, only three families where there besides mine. All three had more than eight children. All three were deeply religious. They were Hasidic Jews, Muslims from Pakistan, and my friends, an Italian American deeply Catholic family of ten. A thought entered my head, "These people are the future of the world". The secularists are contracepting themselves out of existence.
God will not be mocked. His first command, given to Adam and Eve was "be fruitful and multiply". He has never revoked this. We just stopped listening.

Charmaine Yoest at the Blogs for Life Conference