CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT #
2
"Shall the Missouri
Constitution be amended so that to be valid and recognized in
this state, a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman?
"The estimated fiscal
impact of this proposed measure to state and local governments
is $0."
Posted August
4, 2004
DATE: August 3, 2004
FROM: David Early
O 202-541-3200
H 703-534-4775
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BISHOPS' OFFICIAL COMMENDS
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ACTION ON PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
WASHINGTON - This week the U.S.
Department of Justice filed an appeal of a June ruling by a federal
judge in the Northern District of California declaring the Partial-Birth
Abortion Ban Act in violation of Roe v. Wade.
"The American Medical Association
says that partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary,"
said Gail Quinn, Executive Director of the Catholic bishops'
Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. "To say that it is
a fundamental constitutional right, as the federal judge in California
did," said Quinn, "makes a mockery of the Constitution."
"We commend the U.S. Department
of Justice for appealing this dreadful decision. There is no
place in a civilized society for this cruel and dangerous practice,"
said Quinn
USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat
Posted July
15, 2004
From: "Austin Ruse
-- Culture of Life Foundation"
[email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:38:23 -0700
To: Women for Faith & Family
Subject: Marriage Vote Fails in US Senate
Dear Colleague,
The vote in the US Senate in favor of marriage has failed. The
final vote was 48 in favor and 50 against. The vote was a procedurual
vote that would have led to a vote on the amendment itself.
Do not be deflated, friends. This is the first skirmish in what
will be a protracted battle. Remember the civil rights movement
of the 1960s. Those in favor of civil rights for black Americans
lost time and again in the Congress, but they never gave up.
What they did was to make their case day by day, door to door,
all over this country and they kept going back to the Congress
until they prevailed.
What this vote today accomplished is that we know our friends
and we know our opponents. It is vital that we shore up our friends
and that we convince our opponents. I urge you to call your Senators
and thank them if they voted in favor and if they didn't, let
them know your disappoval.
The battle will continue in the coming weeks in the Senate and
in the House. Stay tuned.
Here is below is a list of the Senators and how they voted.
Very best,
Austin Ruse
President
Culture of Life Foundation
Vote Counts:
|
YEAs
48
|
NAYs
50
|
Not Voting
2
|
Alexander
(R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Fitzgerald (R-IL)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Miller (D-GA)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-NE)
Nickles (R-OK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA) |
Akaka
(D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Breaux (D-LA)
Campbell (R-CO)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Daschle (D-SD)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Graham (D-FL)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hollings (D-SC)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Sununu (R-NH)
Wyden (D-OR) |
Edwards
(D-NC)
Kerry (D-MA) |
Posted July
14, 2004
From: USCCB
Pro-Life Secretariat <[email protected]
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:33:21 -0400
To: [email protected]
Subject: UNFPA Committee Vote
DATE:
July 12, 2004
H
-202-686-1824
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BISHOPS' OFFICIAL PRAISES COMMITTEE
FOR KEEPING U.S. OUT OF COERCIVE POPULATION PROGRAM
WASHINGTON Today the House Appropriations
Committee defeated by a vote of 32-26 an amendment that would
have forced the government to give $25 million to the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The amendment was offered by
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY).
"This is a victory for women
and children around the world, and for the U.S. taxpayer,"
said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq., spokesperson for the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.
"The United States should remain out of the business of
financing the exploitation of women through coercive programs
supported by UNFPA."
Secretary of State Colin Powell
on July 21, 2002 denounced the People's Republic of China's regime
of severely penalizing women who have "unapproved"
births, calling it a "program of coercive abortion."
"UNFPA,s support of, and involvement in, China,s population-planning
activities allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively
its program of coercive abortion," said Powell.
"As long as UNFPA supports
these barbaric policies imposed on families, it must remain ineligible
for U.S. funding, period," said Ruse.
Gail Quinn, Executive Director
of the Pro-Life Secretariat, had urged members of the Committee
to vote down the amendment in a letter stating: "Current
federal policyreflects a broad international consensus among
member nations of the United Nations" which have "condemned
'forced sterilization and forced abortion' as 'acts of violence
against women'."
USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat
Also see WFF
Statement on UNFPA
Posted June
28, 2004
June 28, 2004
Dear Colleague,
In two weeks the US Senate will
vote on the future of marriage. Over the July 4th Senate recess,
your US Senator absolutely must hear your views on this vital
issue. THIS IS HIGHLY URGENT. IT CANNOT WAIT.
This will be one of the most
important phone calls or visits you will make this year.
Here are the reasons marriage
needs protecting right now. [Below that is a list of targeted
Senators and their IN-STATE office telephone numbers.]
REASONS MARRIAGE MUST BE PROTECTED
RIGHT NOW
State judges in Massachusetts have set in motion what will bring
catastrophe to children, adults and all of society. They have
forced their citizens to accept homosexual marriage. This action
will eventually, sooner rather than later, force other states
to accept same-sex marriage. This will force you to accept homosexual
marriage.
What the Massachusetts judges
have forgotten, what all the proponents of same-sex marriage
have forgotten, is that every child has the right to a mother
and a father.
Society's experience of the divorce
culture over the past few decades abundantly proves the wisdom
that every child has the right to a mother and a father. The
only coupling that allows for children to know a mother and a
father is the one between a man and a woman. Two men cannot provide
both mothering and fathering. Neither can two women. Only a man
and a woman can provide children with this basic right.
Some will say you are a bigot
for supporting the notion that children have a right to a mother
and a father. Let them. Move on. They will not be convinced.
Where you need to make your voice heard, right now, is in the
US Senate.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO OVER THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS
The US Senate will take up the
Federal Marriage Amendment the week of July 12. The Federal Marriage
Amendment will ensure the protection of children through the
protection of marriage. The Federal Marriage Amendment will ensure
what we all know in our bones: that marriage is only and ever
the union of one man and one woman.
Over the July 4th Senate recess every US Senator will be in his
or her home state. They will be at public meetings. They will
be in their home-state offices. It is in their home state where
you must be heard. It is where they will listen.
Each of you must contact your Senator no matter where you live.
But there is a list of Senators who absolutely must be contacted.
The list is just below. This is the list of Senators who have
not decided on the question
of protecting traditional marriage and children. These US Senators
are sitting on the fence. It is your job to gently move them
to the right side.
Do not be shy. Call their home
state offices and let them know where you stand. Find out where
they are publicly appearing and tell them there.
Tell them where you stand on traditional marriage. Tell them
that marriage is only for a man and a woman. Tell them that the
lives of children are at stake. Tell them that you support the
Federal Marriage Amendment.
Please friends, be brave. Do
it with a friend, your spouse, your children. If you live in
any of the following states, you must contact one or both of
your Senators over the July 4th Senate recess.
Do it, friend. Our country depends
upon your action now.
BELOW IS THE LIST OF TARGETED
SENATORS AND THEIR IN-STATE OFFICE TELEPHONE
NUMBERS.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse
President
Culture of Life Foundation
PS All US Senators should be
contacted, but we are only including those
who are sitting on the fence and MUST be contacted.
List of Targeted Senators
and contact information.
ALASKA
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Main District Office: (907) 271-3735
Fairbanks: (907) 456-0233
Juneau: (907) 586-7400
Kenai: (907) 283-5808
Ketchikan: (907) 225-6880
Wasilla: (907) 376-7665 |
ARIZONA
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Main State Office: (602) 952-2410
Tempe: (480) 897-6289
Tucson: (520) 670-6334 |
ARKANSAS
Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Main State Office: (501) 375-2993
Ft. Smith: (479) 782-9215
Texarkana: (870) 774-3106
Jonesboro: (870) 910-6896 |
ARKANSAS
Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Main State Office: (501) 324-6336
|
COLORADO
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Main State Office: (303) 843-4100
Colorado Springs: (719) 636-9092
Ft. Collins: (970) 206-1788
Pueblo: (719) 542-6987
Grand Junction: (970) 241-6631
Durango: (970) 385-9877 |
CONNECTICUT
Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
Main State Office: (860) 549-8463 |
DELAWARE
Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Main State Office: (302) 674-3308
Georgetown: (302) 856-7690
Wilmington: (302) 573-6291 |
FLORIDA
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Main State Office: (407) 872-7161
Tallahassee: (850) 942-8415
Tampa: (813) 225-7040
Coral Gables: (305) 536-5999
West Palm Beach: (561) 514-0189
Jacksonville: (904) 346-4500
Ft. Lauderdale: (954) 693-4851 |
GEORGIA
Senator Zell Miller (D-GA)
Main State Office: (404) 347-2202
Moultrie: (229) 985-8113
Savannah: (912) 238-3244
Young Harris: (706) 379-9950 |
INDIANA
Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Main State Office: (317) 554-0750
Evansville: (812) 465-6500
Ft. Wayne: (260) 426-3151
Jeffersonville: (812) 218-2317
Hammond: (219) 852-2763
South Bend: (574) 236-8302 |
INDIANA
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Main State Office: (317) 226-5555
Jeffersonville: (812) 288-3377
Ft. Wayne: (260) 422-1505
Valparaiso: (219) 548-8035
Evansville: (812) 465-6313
|
LOUISIANA
Senator John Breaux (D-LA)
Main State Office: (504) 589-2531
Baton Rouge: (225) 248-0104
Lafayette: (337) 262-6871
Monroe: (318) 325-3320 |
|
LOUISIANA
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Main State Office: (504) 589-2427
Baton Rouge: (225) 389-0395
Shreveport: (318) 676-3085
Lake Charles: (337) 436-6650
|
MAINE
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
Main State Office: (207) 945-0417
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Biddeford: (207) 283-1101
Lewiston: (207) 784-6969
Caribou: (207) 493-7873
Portland: (207) 780-3575 |
MAINE
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Main State Office: (207) 874-0883
Auburn: (207) 786-2451
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Bangor: (207) 945-0432
Biddeford: (207) 282-4144
Presque Isle: (207) 764-5124 |
MICHIGAN
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)
Main State Office: (313) 226-6020
Saginaw: (989) 754-2494
Lansing: (517) 377-1508
Grand Rapids: (616) 456-2531
Warren: (586) 573-9145
Escanaba: (906) 789-0052
Traverse City: (231) 947-9569 |
|
MICHIGAN
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Main State Office: (517) 203-1760
Traverse City: (231) 929-1031
Flint: (810) 720-4172
Detroit: (313) 961-4330
Grand Rapids: (616) 975-0052
Marquette: (906) 228-8756
|
MINNESOTA
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Main State Office: (651) 645-0323
Mankato: (507) 625-6800 |
MONTANA
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)
Main State Office: (406) 657-6790
Helena: (406) 449-5480
Missoula: (406) 329-3123
Kalispell: (406) 756-1150
Bozeman: (406) 586-6104
Butte: (406) 782-8700
Great Falls: (406) 761-1574 |
NEBRASKA
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Main State Office: (402) 758-8981
Lincoln: (402) 476-1400
Scottsbluff: (308) 632-6032
Kearney: (308) 236-7602 |
|
NEBRASKA
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Main State Office: (402) 441-4600
Omaha: (402) 391-3411
Chadron: (308) 260-2278
Scottsbluff: (308) 631-7614
|
NEVADA
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
Main State Office: (702) 388-5020
Reno: (775) 686-5750
Carson City: (775) 882-7343 |
NEW
HAMPSHIRE
Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Main State Office: (603) 225-7115
Berlin: (603) 752-2604
Manchester: (603) 622-7979
Portsmouth: (603) 431-2171 |
NEW
HAMPSHIRE
Senator John Sununu (R-NH)
Main State Office: (603) 647-7500
Portsmouth: (603) 430-9560
Berlin: (603) 752-6074
Claremont: (603) 542-4872 |
NORTH
DAKOTA
Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Main State Office: (701) 258-4648
Fargo: (701) 232-8030
Fax: (701) 232-6449
Grand Forks: (701) 775-9601
Minot: (701) 852-0703 |
NORTH DAKOTA
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Main State Office: (701) 250-4618
Grand Forks: (701) 746-8972
Fargo: (701) 239-5389
Minot: (701) 852-0703
|
OHIO
Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH)
Main State Office: (614) 469-5186
Cincinnati: (513) 763-8260
Cleveland: (216) 522-7272
Toledo: (419) 259-7536
Marietta: (740) 373-2317
Xenia: (937) 376-3080 |
OHIO
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH)
Main State Office: (614) 469-6697
Cleveland: (216) 522-7095
Cincinnati: (513) 684-3265
Toledo: (419) 259-3895
Gallipolis: (740) 441-6410
|
PENNSYLVANIA
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Main State Office: (215) 597-7200
Erie: (814) 453-3010
Allentown: (610) 434-1444
Wilkes Barre: (570) 826-6255
Harrisburg: (717) 782-3951
Pittsburgh: (412) 644-3400
Scranton: (570) 346-2006 |
RHODE
ISLAND
Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)
Main State Office: (401) 453-5294
Newport: (401) 845-0700 |
SOUTH
CAROLINA
Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Main State Office: (803) 765-5731
Charleston: (843) 727-4525
Greenville: (864) 233-5366 |
SOUTH
DAKOTA
Senator Thomas Daschle (D-SD)
Main State Office: (605) 334-9596
Aberdeen: (605) 225-8823
Rapid City: (605) 348-7551 |
|
SOUTH DAKOTA
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Main State Office: (605) 332-8896
Aberdeen: (605) 226-3440
Rapid City: (605) 341-3990
|
TENNESSEE
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Main State Office: (615) 736-5129
Knoxville: (865) 545-4253
Memphis: (901) 544-4224
Chattanooga: (423) 752-5337
Jackson: (731) 423-9344
Blountville: (423) 325-6240 |
WEST
VIRGINIA
Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Main State Office: (304) 342-5855 |
WEST
VIRGINIA
Senator John Rockefeller IV (D-WV)
Main State Office: (304) 347-5372
Beckley: (304) 253-9704
Fairmont: (304) 367-0122
Martinsburg: (304) 262-9285 |
WYOMING
Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY)
Main State Office: (307) 261-6413
Cheyenne: (307) 772-2451
Rock Springs: (307) 362-5012
Riverton: (307) 856-6642
Sheridan: (307) 672-6456 |
Write
to your Senators:
United
States Senators |
Write
to your Representatives:
United States
Representatives |
|
Posted June
23, 2004
From: Mary Jo Anderson
Subject: Urgent action for victory of marriage
Greetings all;
Below is a message I pray each of you will heed---the Marriage
Amendment may be heard on the Senate floor on July 15th. Never
forget that deconstructors of marriage have no difficulty rallying
their troops and appear to speak for the "majority"
of Americans. The gay agenda present themselves as "mainstream"
and as concerned for civil rights--we must not allow our senators
to think that the "gay agenda" speaks for America.
Essentially, we are in this vise because one activist federal
judge has tried to declare all marriage laws void and homosexual
marriage legal.
If same-sex unions become the
law of the land in just two years jr. high text book units on
health and family will present gay "marriages" as part
of the norm for marriage and family. Is this what you want for
your children and grandchildren?
Thousands of churches will be
participating in "Marriage Protection Sunday" on July
11. That will be followed with "Call Your Senator Day"
on Monday, July 12. Please ask your pastors to participate.
To underscore the enormity of
this battle, I also want to alert you to new language coming
out of a Latin American regional meeting sponsored by the UN.
Ellen Sauerbrey, US Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status
of
Women is also the head of the US delegation at the Mexico City
conference. She reports:
" I am concerned about the implication of sexual rights,
because to the best of my knowledge it is a new and undefined
concept, one that I have not seen in any major international
document."
Veterans of international conferences
understand that "sexual rights" are pushed by homosexuals
seeking gay marriages and sexual autonomy for children. The UN
Treaty on the Rights of the Child has already taken the
first steps toward giving children "rights" their parents
cannot mitigate.
Please act today--and email /fax
this info to any and all who might join the battle.
God bless you all,
Mary Jo Anderson
You can sign a petition at:Grassfire.org
Alliance - The Official Petition of Alliance
for
Marriage Foundation's Federal Marriage Amendment
http://www.grassfire.net/32/petition.asp?PID=6282703
Or write to your Senators and
Representatives:
United States Senators
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
United States Representatives
http://www.house.gov/Welcome.html
Posted June
23, 2004
From: USCCB
Pro-Life Secretariat <[email protected]
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 10:11:04 -0400
To: [email protected]
Subject: Statement on Fetal Pain
DATE:
June 22, 2004
FROM:
William Ryan
O: 202-541-3200
H: 202-686-1824
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BISHOPS' OFFICIAL SAYS WOMEN
SHOULD BE TOLD THAT ABORTION AT 20 WEEKS OR BEYOND CAUSES PAIN
TO THE CHILD
WASHINGTON-- Cathy Cleaver Ruse,
Esq., spokesperson for the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, made the following
statement today:
"Testimony in recent federal
trials concerning the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act highlighted
the fact that unborn children experience severe pain during abortions
at 20 weeks and beyond. It also revealed that women are kept
in the dark about this important information. "An exchange
between Judge Richard Casey of the Southern District of New York
and one abortion doctor witness is illustrative:
Q: Do you tell [the women] whether or not it will hurt the fetus?
A: The intent [is] that the fetus
will die during the process of uterine evacuation.
Q: Ma'am, I didn't ask you that,
you will deliver the baby partially and then insert a pair of
scissors in the base of the fetus' skullDo you tell them whether
or not that hurts the fetus?
A: I have never talked to a fetus
about whether or not they experience pain.
"According to a pain specialist at the trials, Dr. Kanwaljeet
Anand, there will be pain caused to the unborn child,
and 'it will be severe and excruciating pain.'
"Women deserve to know the
truth about this."
Cathy Cleaver Ruse participated
in a press conference conducted by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ)
and cosponsors of the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (HR442)
featuring Dr. Jean Wright, fetal pain expert, to respond to the
closing arguments in the New York trial on the Partial-Birth
Abortion Ban Act.
# # # # #
04-118 SEC,CNS,RNS,Crux
USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat
Posted May
30, 2004
US Bishops' Pro-Life Secretariat Criticizes
9th Circuit Approval of Assisted Suicide in
Oregon
USCCB (May 27, 2004) -- A spokeswoman
for the Pro-Life Secretariat of the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops criticized a ruling yesterday by a panel
of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, striking down Attorney
General John Ashcroft's directive that doctors in Oregon
may not misuse federally controlled drugs to assist suicides.
The Ashcroft directive had reversed a Clinton Administration
decision to allow Oregon doctors to ignore federal law and prescribe
lethal doses of federally controlled substances. The decision
in the case of Oregon v. Ashcroft will likely be appealed to
the Supreme Court.
"Suicide among the elderly
and those suffering from serious illness or disability is not
a 'medical practice' but a tragic public health problem deserving
a thoughtful, caring response," said Cathy Cleaver Ruse,
Esq. "The 9th Circuit has just told these patients that
their lives are expendable."
The Ashcroft directive restores
the uniform enforcement of the longstanding federal Controlled
Substances Act, and also clarifies that aggressive pain management
is legitimate medical care even where it unintentionally increases
the likelihood of a patient's death.
"This is not about an attempt
by the Attorney General to control Oregon law," the spokeswoman
said. "Rather, it's about whether Oregon should be able
to ignore federal law and at the same time co-opt the federal
government into facilitating assisted suicides by providing federal
prescribing licenses and federally controlled drugs."
Posted May
26, 2004
WFF
Statement on the UNBORN CHILD PAIN AWARENESS ACT
Includes WFF statement
and statements of sponsors
Posted May
5, 2004
Lab Creates Babies
As Stem-Cell Donors
Excerpts below from a story by LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO - In a growing practice
that troubles some ethicists, a Chicago laboratory helped create
five healthy babies so that they could serve as stem-cell donors
for their ailing brothers and sisters.
The made-to-order infants, from
different families, were screened and selected when they were
still embryos to make sure they would be compatible donors. Their
siblings suffered from leukemia or a rare and potentially
lethal anemia.
This is the first time embryo
tissue-typing has been done for common disorders like leukemia
that are not inherited, and the results suggest that many more
children than previously thought could benefit from the technology,
said Dr. Anver Kuliev, a Chicago doctor who participated in the
research.
"This technology has wide
implications in medical practice," Kuliev said Tuesday (May
4) at a news conference.
The Chicago doctors said the
healthy embryos that were not matches were frozen for potential
future use. But some ethicists said such perfectly healthy embryos
could end up being discarded.
"This was a search-and-destroy
mission," said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops. The chosen embryos "were allowed to
be born so they could donate tissue to benefit someone else."
News
Archive
Posted April
28, 2004
"Reproductive
Freedom is a Gay Issue - Now, More than Ever" says National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force: NGLTF Co-Sponsors 'March for Women's Lives'
One of the largest and oldest homosexual-rights activist organizations
stated April 23 that abortion and homosexual activity are not
only linked, but are two facets of the same issue.
"For nearly 30 years, the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has considered reproductive
freedom a 'gay' issue," said Matt Foreman, executive
director of the organization. "Today, that reality is more
evident than ever before, as is the necessity that we join together.
Our right to have private, consensual sex - won in last summer's
U.S. Supreme Court Lawrence v. Texas decision - will be
lost if Roe v. Wade falls under the right's persistent
onslaught. Likewise, the enemies of reproductive freedom are
the very same people we battle every day in trying to win equal
rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Finally,
the Bush Administration's war on gay America - including his
support to amend the U.S. Constitution to deny equal marriage
rights to our community - is inextricably tied to the administration's
assault on reproductive freedom - from 'abstinence only' programs,
to the multi-million dollar 'marriage promotion' plan, to his
'every child deserves a mother and a father' mantra."
Foreman's statement, issued just
before the much-publicized demonstrations in Washington by pro-abortion
groups, appears on the NGLTF web site: http://www.thetaskforce.org/news/release.cfm?releaseID=666
The abortion-homosexuality connection
was further emphasized during the April 25 "March for Women",
when NGLTF deputy director, Rea Carey, addressed the crowd
of demonstrators gathered on the Mall in Washington:
"Today, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are here marching for women's lives! Our movement and the movement for womens reproductive freedom are sister movements -- and today we take a stand together!
"The National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force - along with thousands of other queer people, especially
queer young people - march today for Women's Lives!
"We are marching because
- like everyone else - we need, deserve, and demand the fundamental
right to control and use our bodies without the interference
of government."
The legal victories of both movements
are mutually dependent, Ms. Carey said.
"We will march today because
the constitutional right of all people to have private, consensual
sex is inextricably linked to preserving Roe v. Wade. If Roe
falls, so does last year's Supreme Court Lawrence v. Texas decision,
which struck down sodomy laws.
"We have pro-choice legal
victories to thank for our recent legal progress. In fact, our
legal legacies depend on each other."
The twin movements must combat
common enemies, Ms. Carey stressed, and she urged the "pro-choice"
demonstrators to support the NGLTF agenda in the fight for same-sex
"marriage":
"the enemies of reproductive
freedom are the same enemies of equal rights for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender people. The forces of intolerance have
passed into law the so-called "partial birth abortion"
ban. Now, for the first time in history, these same elected officials
are using an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to exclude gay
and lesbian Americans from the promise of equality - from the
ability to get married."
Rea Carey's speech was also posted
on the NGLTF web site April 26: http://www.thetaskforce.org/news/release.cfm?releaseID=667
Posted April
26, 2004
Wife of Ex-Governor
Gray Gives Advice to "Pro-choice" Catholics
In a story on the "March
for Women" that was sponsored by pro-abortion organizations
and took place yesterday (April 25) in Washington, DC, The San
Francisco Chronicle (see link below) quotes the wife of former
California Governor Gray Davis:
Former California first lady
Sharon Davis said the march underscored California's strong
commitment to abortion and reproductive rights -- and suggested
that Kerry could win more support from swing voters and Catholics,
like herself, who are upset that the church may try to deny them
Communion for taking a pro-choice stand.
"As a pro-choice Catholic, I think we should join John Kerry
and not accept Communion", she said. "It would be a
strong message that we will not be driven out of the church".
Mrs. Davis's husband was confronted
on this same issue by Bishop William Weigand, of Sacramento
in January 2003. Bishop Weigand stated,
"I have to say clearly that
anyone - politician or otherwise - who thinks it is acceptable
for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts
his or her soul at risk and is not in good standing with the
Church. Such a person should have the integrity to acknowledge
this and choose of his own volition to abstain from receiving
holy Communion until he has a change of heart".
Davis objected to Bishop Weigand's
statement and said he would neither stop taking Communion nor
renounce legalized abortion, according to a National Catholic
Register story (February 6, 2003), which also reported that
Davis had canceled two meetings that had been scheduled with
the California Conference of Bishops to discuss the matter.
Davis was later forced out of
office in a mid-term referendum.
Mrs. Davis may intend to "punish" the Catholic Church;
but the action she suggests for "pro-choice" Catholics,
abstaining from Communion, would be the honest thing to do. The
"strong message" it would send is that they now understand
that being given Communion is connected with receiving
the doctrine of the Church.
As Cardinal Francis Arinze said Friday (April 23), at
a press conference presenting the new Instruction
on the discipline of the Liturgy, "if they do not receive,
they should not be given".
-- Helen Hull Hitchcock
Link to San Francisco Chronicle
story: "Huge abortion rights rally - Hundreds of thousands
in D.C. pledge to take fight to polls
by Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Monday, April 26, 2004 :
<http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/04/26/MNGNQ6B56Q1.DTL
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle
<http://sfgate.com/chronicle/info/copyright/
Posted April
23, 2004
The
Discipline of the Eucharist: Holy
See Releases Redemptionis
Sacramentum,
Norms for Celebration of Mass Instruction on Liturgy, called
for in Ecclesia de Eucharistia,
is presented at the Vatican on Saint George's Day
By Helen Hull Hitchcock
Posted April
23, 2004
Cardinal Francis Arinze, the top Vatican cardinal in charge
of the sacraments, was asked at a news conference whether priests
should refuse communion to a politician who is unambiguously
pro-abortion.
"Yes," he replied. "If the person should not receive
it, then it should not be given. Objectively, the answer is there."
Source and complete story --
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=855505&tw=wn_wire_story;[link broken 12/3/2007]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4922254;
and http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4814926/
Posted February
24, 2004
President George W. Bush
today called for a Constitutional Amendment protecting marriage.
Click HERE to read
President Bush's speech.
Women for Faith & Family
sends letter of support for President Bush's action.
Posted February
18, 2004
House will Vote on the
Unborn Victims of Violence Act (Federal Fetal Homicide
Bill)
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004 -- Click
here for complete press release!
Media Advisory and Backgrounder:
Congress to vote on Unborn Victims of Violence Act (Federal
Fetal Homicide Bill)
House will Vote on Bill, Thursday,
February 26, 2004; First-ever Senate Action may follow soon --
President Bush Supports Bill -- Senator Kerry opposes it.
This is a media advisory from the National Right to
Life Committee (NRLC), Federal Legislation Department, issued
Tuesday, February 17, 2004, at 9 a.m. For further information
on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and state fetal homicide
laws, visit the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org,
send e-mail to [email protected],
or call 202-626-8820.
Posted February
13, 2004
NEW - Online article: Warehousing
the Disabled: the case of Ron Wilkison
Note: To whom it may concern: I am writing to thank you for
publishing my son's story ...May God Bless All of You. (Click
to e-mail Sheryl Wilkison
)
Posted February
6, 2004
RESOURCE KIT
FOR PRO-LIFE LEADERS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
Springfield, IL -- The Pro-Woman/Pro-Life
Introductory Resource Kit, developed by the Elliot Institute,
is now available online. Pro-life leaders and others can download
these materials free of charge. The kit includes new fact sheets,
current research summaries, talking points, and similar resources
that are useful for public education and similar outreach. The
information is helpful for counselors, students, pro-life activists,
or anyone interested in learning more about the impact of abortion
on women.
"One of the best kept secrets
in the abortion debate is that medical research has conclusively
shown that abortion poses significantly greater physical and
mental health risks to women than childbirth." said Dr.
David C. Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute and host of
the new EWTN series "Making Abortion Rare." (www.makingabortion
rare.com)
Reardon said this information
is particularly important because public opinion polls have shown
that as people become more aware of abortion's harmful effects
on women, they are less likely to advise others to abort and
they are less likely to support "poor-choice" political
candidates.
The resource kit includes 20
documents, including:
** New fact sheets about the
aftereffects of abortion, including its psychological and physical
risks.
** Media talking points
** Project ideas, including the
"Hope & Healing" newspaper insert distribution
project and a sample issue of the insert
** "Ending Abortion With
Compassion/A Healing Strategy" -- brochure
** "Reversing the Gender
Gap" -- booklet
Web site visitors can download
resource kit materials at www.afterabortion.info/list/kit.
The Elliot Institute is the nation's
leading provider of information on abortion co mplications. These
new resources are being made available free of charge to assist
pro-life activists and leaders to better educate the general
public about these new research findings.
"Every pro-life leader should
have these new fact sheets in their files," Reardon said.
"These provide the latest information that should be worked
into every organization's educational materials."
Reardon is asking those who are
convinced of the importance of abortion complications on the
political debate over abortion to call or email their local,
county, or state organizations involved in pro-life or pro-family
education, post-abortion ministry, or pregnancy center services
to make sure they have downloaded these new fact sheets. "The
key to public education is a clear, consistent, and up-to-date
message. These materials will help any pro-life organization
to bring their own educational efforts up to the cutting edge."
The Elliot Institute promotes
research and education on the effect s of abortion on women,
men, families, and society. The organization seeks to raise public
awareness of the impact of abortion and the need for post-abortion
healing, to encourage those struggling with past abortions, and
to promote a movement that is truly both pro-woman and pro-life.
More information, including this
news release, can be found at www.afterabortion.info/news
Posted February
4, 2004
Warehousing
the Disabled: the case of Ron Wilkison
A little over four years ago, on
September 30, 1999, Ron Wilkison's life changed forever. The
31-year-old New Castle, Pennsylvania, native was on the job about
an hour south of St. Louis, Missouri, driving for Midwest Delivery.
Unable to stop in time, Ron's vehicle skidded onto a four-lane
highway and collided with a tractor-trailer. The outlook for
Ron was grave: He survived, but suffered a severe brain injury.
Ultimately, what made Ron's future
so precarious was not his actual injury, but the warped way society
and many in the medical community increasingly view victims of
debilitating brain injuries....
NOTE:
to read the rest of this story, click on the link above.
Posted January
19, 2004
January 18,
2004 National Sanctity of
Human Life Day
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation - signed January 15, 2004
Link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040116-2.html
Posted January
17, 2004
U.S. HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
TO VOTE JANUARY 21 ON UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT
The Judiciary Committee of the
U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Wednesday, January
21, on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (H.R. 1997), also known
as "Laci and Conner's Law," sponsored by Congresswoman
Melissa Hart (R-Pa.). This bill would recognize as a legal victim
any "child in utero" who is injured or killed during
the commission of a federal crime of violence.
The bill defines "child
in utero" as "a member of the species homo sapiens,
at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb."
For further information on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act
or state fetal homicide laws, contact National Right to Life
Committee at 202-626-8820 or [email protected], or visit
the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/index.html
Posted January
14, 2004
New Research Shows
Dangers of Condoms in HIV Prevention
Availability of condoms statistically
increase promiscuity and risk of contracting HIV according to
medical experts who presented their findings on the "ABC"
approach to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Washington, DC last week.
The presentations, hosted by the Medical Institute for Sexual
Health, were critical of the insistence by some NGOs and policy
makers that the "C" (condom) approach will stem the
tide of the pandemic.
"20 years into the pandemic
there is no evidence that more condoms leads to less AIDS",
stated Dr. Edward C. Green of Harvard's' Center for Population
and Development Studies. Citing data on condom availability in
many African counties, Green went on to say that "we are
not seeing what we expected: that higher levels of condom availability
result in lower HIV prevalence." Dr. Norman Hearst of the
University of California-San Francisco supported this analysis
with statistics on Kenya, Botswana, and other countries, which
show an increasingly alarming pattern of increased condom sale
correlation with rising HIV prevalence by year.
Promotion of the "safe-sex" message has reportedly
increased numbers of sexual partners. The spread of HIV is a
behavioral problem, according to Green, who said that "having
multiple sexual partners drives AIDS epidemics. If people did
not have multiple sex partners, epidemics would not develop or,
once developed, be sustained." He continued, "over
a lifetime, it is the number of sexual partners [that matter].
Condom levels are found to be non-determining of HIV infection
levels."
Unfortunately, Hearst stated,
we are "raising a generation of young people in Africa that
believe that condoms will prevent HIV." This is concerning
because condoms are not 100% effective, even when used properly.
According to Hearst, "the most recent Met-analysis came
up with 80%. But even if it is 90%, over time it's the question
of when, not if. You don't want to give people a false sense
of security and A and B are better in the long term."
In other cases, often reported
by proponents of the safe-sex message, countries such as Thailand
saw incidence rates for HIV decrease after the government mandated
100% condom use in brothels. Unfortunately, according to Hearst
and Stoneburner, proponents rarely look closer at the data, and
in such instances behavior change had much more to do with the
decreased rates of transmission. "This is usually attributed
to 100% condom use, but visits to sex workers declined by 60%.
They did so out of fear and risk avoidance."
It is the behavior change advocated
by the "A" and "B" approach that is additionally
supported by data, such as in the famed Uganda case. According
to Dr. Rand Stoneburner (formerly of the WHO and an independent
advisor to USAID), "declines of HIV in Uganda are linked
to behavior change [and] include primary risk avoidance with
a 65% decline in casual sex." The Ugandan government, which
promoted abstinence and faithfulness, helped bring about a 75%
decline in HIV prevalence among 15-19 age group, 60% in the 20-24,
and a 54% decline overall by 1998.
Stoneburner and others believe
the change was due to different language used. In Uganda, President
Museveni reportedly repeated to Ugandans "you are going
to die if you don't stop this!" whereas in other countries,
there is little talk of death. Stoneburner pointed out "25%
of South Africans don't believe HIV causes AIDS" and in
many countries "they do not talk about death links to AIDS."
This information proves the unfortunate effectiveness of the
"safe sex" message that increasingly places individuals
at risk for HIV transmission and STDs worldwide.
(This story reprinted with permission from Culture & Cosmos,
a publication of the Culture of Life Foundation, www.colfi.org).
Posted January
12, 2004
Pastoral
Letter - On the Dignity of Human Life and Civic Responsibility
Bishop Raymond Burke
(Nov. 23, 2003).
Posted December
17, 2003
Bishops' Official Calls FDA
Ruling on "Plan B" Emergency Contraceptives a 'Reckless
Experiment' on Women
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2003/03-245.htm
WASHINGTON (December 17, 2003)
-- The federal Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the
Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs voted yesterday
to approve a proposal to make Plan B, a levonorgestrel-only
"morning after pill," available without a prescription.
The final decision rests with the Food and Drug Administration.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed
written comments against the proposal.
"A drug which destroys human
embryos and puts women at greater risk of ectopic pregnancy does
not belong on the shelves of a drug store," said Cathy Cleaver
Ruse, Director of Planning and Information for the USCCB Secretariat
for Pro-Life Activities. "American women and children do
not deserve this reckless experiment on their lives."
The petition for the switch in
status was filed by Women's Capital Corporation, a for-profit
drug company which has sold the Plan B distribution rights to
Barr Laboratories. "This is about a drug company that wants
to sell more drugs to women," said Ruse. "It is being
marketed and advertised as a contraceptive, but it works before
and after conception.
Women deserve to know what is being marketed to them."
Making this drug available without
a prescription also poses serious health risks to women, since
the drug is associated with an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy,
a potentially fatal complication.
Proponents of the proposal claim
that the drug does not terminate a pregnancy because pregnancy
is defined by some as beginning when the embryo implants in the
uterine wall. "This is an argument about rhetoric, not reality,"
said Ruse.
"There is a difference between
preventing new human life and destroying life that has already
begun," Ruse noted. "This drug company and its allies
may argue that this distinction makes no difference, but to many
women it is a very meaningful distinction," said Ruse. "Women
are being misled about this drug, and putting it on the shelves
of a drugstore would only exacerbate the problem."
Minor girls will have free access
to Plan B without their parents' knowledge if the proposal is
approved. "Parents deserve to know that if this proposal
is approved, their teenaged daughters will have free access to
a powerful abortion-inducing drug without their knowledge,"
Ruse said. "This is bad policy and bad medicine."
"The FDA must reject this
reckless experiment," she said.
Click HERE
for a summary of the USCCB comments against the proposal on WFF
web site.
Posted December
9, 2003
Pope John
Paul II's Prayer on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
After placing a crown at the feet of a statue of the Virgin Mary, yesterday, Pope John Paul II prayed, in psty, "Together we lift our confident and sorrowful petition to you, the first fruit of humanity redeemed by Christ, finally freed from the slavery of evil and sin: hear the cry of the pain of victims of war and so many forms of violence that bloody the earth." (See prayer on Immaculate Conception page.) (Source: Vatican
Information Service)
Posted December
5, 2003
Opposition to homosexual
marriage on rise
Poll: 63% back traditional definition, despite legalization efforts
Worldnet Daily - Thursday,
December 4, 2003 - (excerpt)
A new poll suggests Canadian lawmakers could be putting the cart
before the horse when it comes to legalizing homosexual marriage.
The survey by the National Post shows Canadians' opposition to
the idea has markedly increased in recent months, with a solid
majority now against same-sex marriage.
Conducted by COMPAS Inc. in October
and November, the poll found 63 percent of those surveyed want
to keep the traditional definition of marriage, or a union between
a man and a woman, while 31 percent favor including homosexuals.
That compares to an almost even split in other polls taken this
past summer and fall, reports the Post. The last major poll on
the issue, by Environics in September and October, found that
56 percent supported same-sex marriage and 42 percent opposed
it. An Ipsos-Reid survey in August found respondents were evenly
divided, 49-49, on the question.
Click to read complete story:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35957
Posted November
24, 2003
Interview
with Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo concerning condom
use
President of the Pontifical Council for the Family on Dutch
radio program - October
20, 2003
"We see that the only way to contain [the AIDS] pandemic
is precisely fidelity in marriage, respect for women, what we
call chastity, which is not impossible."
Posted November
17, 2003
14th Annual
- All Night Life Vigil
- Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament. Monday, December 8th, 9:00
PM through Tuesday, December 9th 1:00 AM National Night of Prayer for Life will
be once again uniting parishes in an effort to end abortion through
Eucharistic Adoration and prayers for reparation. The "Hour
of Unity" is from 12 midnight EST to 1:00 AM EST, so that
all the parishes in the four time zones can be linked in prayer
across the country. For more information contact:
All-Night Life Vigil
c/o Anne Murphy
365 Clift Street
Central Islip, NY 11722
Phone and Fax: 631-234-6921
Women for Faith & Family has Novenas for the Protection of
the Unborn (available in English and Spanish versions) and Adoremus
has Eucharistic Adoration booklets (to order see the Catalog page.)
Posted November
5, 2003
President
Bush Signs Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 [The President's Remarks]
President George W. Bush signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban
Act at the The Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.this
morning. (President Reagan had opposed abortion.) New York Cardinal
Egan attended the signing. Click title above to read the President's
remarks.
Posted October
20, 2003
Strong
Euthanasia Warning from Holland -- Florida's Terri Case Opens
the Door for Euthanasia in the USA
"Patients
are not sure if the doctor helps to kill or to cure. The Dutch
Euthanasia Law is a very dangerous example to follow".
Posted October
15, 2003
Cardinal Alfonso López
Trujillo of the Pontifical Council for the Family Explains Problems
with the Use of Condoms for AIDS Prevention Click
here for the complete interview.
Letter
to Governor George Bush requesting intervention for Terri Schiavo. (See
related stories below and on About
Medicine & Morality)
Posted September
30, 2003
Arlington Priests Sign Letter
Supporting Celibacy
Ninety priests of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, have sent
a letter in strong support of mandatory priestly celibacy to
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Illinois, President of
the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In the letter, dated September
27, the priests rejected a proposal advanced by Milwaukee priests
in August that called for the ordination of married men in order
to generate more vocations to the priesthood. The Arlington priests
wrote that "what will inspire more vocations is celibacy
lived well, not celibacy set aside".
Citing Vatican II, the Catechism
of the Catholic Church and the writings of Pope John Paul II,
which have all explicitly affirmed mandatory celibacy, the letter
also called for an end to further discussion of changing the
requirement, since it "only confuses the faithful and deprives
the Church of the clarity needed to inspire vocations".
The 90 signers were drawn from
the priests ordained to serve in Arlington, which includes 151
priests who are either currently serving the diocese or retired.
In an accompanying letter organizers indicated that "It
in no way represents a vote by the priests of Arlington"
but rather "the decision of 90 diocesan priests to declare
our support for mandatory celibacy".
To read the text of the letters,
click here.
Posted September
14, 2003
The DaVinci Code
We've received queries
from readers about The DaVinci Code, a novel that hit
the best-seller lists this summer, and reports that Catholic
women's groups are reading it. The book's fantastic thesis is
that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus and bore his child,
and out of jealousy (and mysogyny), Peter and Paul drove her
into hiding and suppressed her "gospel" and her leadership
of the Church. Ever since, the secret conspiracy to cover up
the "truth" has continued (for example, the Holy Grail
is "code" for Mary Magdalene, according to author,
Dan Green.)
See James
Hitchcock's column, Mary
Magdalen - Revised. For a thorough debunking of The
DaVinci Code, in Crisis magazine, click
here.
Posted September
12, 2003
WFF Stands up for Life Issues
at Missouri Capital
Thursday, September 11,
2003, the Missouri Senate added its votes to that of the House
in a successful joint effort to override Governor Holden's veto
of the Woman's Right-to-Know Law. The successful House vote (HB
156) took place on Wednesday.
This good news came as no surprise
to Women for Faith & Family staff Joan Maschmann, Jeanette
Maschmann and Phyllis Mees, all of whom manned a WFF table in
the Capitol building's legislative chambers during the House
vote Wednesday.
According to the WFF staff, security
was tight on the hot, sunny day in Jefferson City as Women for
Faith & Family joined 35 other Missouri pro-life organizations
in witnessing to and lobbying various representatives and aides.
Arriving just after 9:00 a.m.,
the WFF staff found themselves with a prime view of the House
doors and in near constant conversation with various visitors
to their table. Many women visiting the booth were hearing about
WFF for the first time; some of those visitors were Catholics.
"Well, that's something we need more of!" was an oft-repeated
response to learning the organization's name.
WFF's quarterly publication,
Voices, proved to be popular with the crowd, as was the
Francisco de Zurburán Agnus Dei
holy card. Mrs. Mees
said so many information sheets, pamphlets, holy cards and magazines
were distributed that she and the Maschmanns had only 1/6 of
the original material to take back to the WFF office.
One of the House staff fell into
conversation with Mrs. Mees, stressing that the representatives
voting pro-life need the names and addresses of constituents
who agree with them. Those names and addresses are needed
to discomfit and deter those abortion-supporting representatives
who have long lists of their own.
At noon a Pro-Life rally was
held on the Capitol lawn. WFF staff was pleased to find sympathetic
pro-lifers staying after the rally and returning to the Women
for Faith & Family information table, visiting and learning
about WFF until 3:00 p.m., the official end of the day.
For Missouri
residents:
To find your Legislators go to:
http://www.senate.state.mo.us/zipcode/leg_lookup.htm
The Directory
of Representatives can be found at:
http://www.house.state.mo.us/bills03/member/memmail.htm
The Directory of Senators can be found at:
http://www.senate.state.mo.us/senalpha.htm
Posted September
11, 2003
Confraternity of Catholic
Clergy Denounces Milwaukee Priests' Petition
In a
letter to Bishop Wilton Gregory, Father John Trigilio, President
of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy (CCC)
denounces the petition of the 163 priests of the Archdiocese
of Milwaukee seeking optional celibacy in the priesthood of the
Latin Rite.
Click here to read
the complete letter as found on the CCC web site, www.catholic-clergy.org
Posted September
11, 2003
Promote, Preserve, Protect
Marriage
The US Catholic bishops issued an important statement in defense
of marriage on September 9. Entitled, Promote, Preserve, Protect
Marriage, the statement affirms Catholic teaching on the
meaning of marriage, echoing the recent
Vatican statement decrying homosexual "unions", and
states that the bishops will affirm the truth about marriage,
not only in preaching and teaching, but "in our public policy
advocacy at the state and national levels and in the important
dialogue about how best to protect marriage and the common good
in the U.S. Constitution and in our society as a whole. We offer
general support for a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution as we continue to work to protect marriage in state
legislatures, the courts, the Congress and other appropriate
forums".
Click on following link for complete text: www.nccbuscc.org/comm/archives/2003/03-179.htm
Posted September
5, 2003
Modified MOMS Program to
Be Introduced in St. Louis
A "modified
version" of a study program for Catholic women, "Ministry
of Mothers Sharing" (MOMS) is to be offered to parishes
in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. We reported concerns about MOMS in the Pentecost 2002
issue of Voices. In August, WFF sent a letter on MOMS
to the director of the Office of Laity
& Family Life
and to the St. Louis Bishops. Go to letter on MOMS
for more details and a copy of the letter critical of the program.
See also: Suggestions for
local/parish group meetings
Posted September
4, 2003
Priests for Celibacy
"Priests
for Celibacy"
is an initiative to provide
an opportunity for priests to affirm their vocation to celibacy
-- a positive response to a recent widely publicized drive by
some priests (in Milwaukee and elsewhere) to pressure the Church
to change her teaching. The new web site provides an explanation
of the effort, the letter for priests, and a few related articles.
Go to: www.priestsforcelibacy.homestead.com
Priests for Celibacy - PO Box 770684, Memphis TN 38177 -
c/o Fr. John Pecoraro
Posted September
4, 2003
On September
10, 2003 a Veto Session Legislative Rally will be held on the
Front Lawn of the Missouri Capitol at noon. Please contact your
representatives and senators to ask them to override the Governor's
veto of HB 156. (Jefferson City, MO).
To find your Legislators go to
http://www.senate.state.mo.us/zipcode/leg_lookup.htmThe Directory of Representatives
can be found at http://www.house.state.mo.us/bills03/member/memmail.htm
The Directory of
Senators can be found at http://www.senate.state.mo.us/senalpha.htm
READ Women
for Faith & Family's letter to Gov. Bob Holden on Alternatives
to Abortion funding
Go
to Breaking News
Posted August
29, 2003
Breast
Cancer Doc Angela Lanfranchi Says Aboration Link Is Real
Angela Lanfranchi, MD testifies before the Massachusetts Joint
Health Care Committee regarding the link between Breast Cancer
and Aboration.
See LifeNews.com for the complete story -- http://www.lifenews.com/oped12.html
Posted August
28, 2003
SEE: Women
for Faith & Family's letter to Gov. Bob Holden on Alternatives
to Abortion funding
Posted August
8, 2003
Cardinal
Francis George
of Archbishop of Chicago responds to the Chicago Sun-Times
August 1, 2003, headline "Pope launches global campaign
against gays", concerning the Holy See's June 3 document
on homosexual unions.
Links to the homily and related stories are below:
Document: Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith -- Considerations
Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between
Homosexual Persons - June 3, 2003
Archdiocese of Chicago
Website Link to "Cardinal George's August 3rd Homily" -- http://www.archdiocese-chgo.org/cardinal/letter/letter_080403.shtm#top broken link 6/27/2005
Chicago Sun-Times link to August 1 Headline
"Pope Launches Global
Campaign Vs. Gays "
-- http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gay011.htm broken link 6/27/2005
Chicago Sun-Times link to August 4 Article "Cardinal
denounces same-sex headline" -- http://www.suntimes.com/output/religion/cst-nws-card04.html
Posted July
3, 2003
TALENT & AKIN ANNOUNCE
PROTECT THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE BILL
Wednesday, July 2, 2003
(ST. CHARLES, MO) U.S. Senator
Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and Congressman Todd Akin (R-Mo.) today announced
legislation they have introduced in the U.S. Congress to protect
the Pledge of Allegiance at a pro-Pledge rally in St. Charles.
Sen. Talent and Rep. Akin have
introduced the Protect the Pledge Act of 2003 (S. 1297/H.R. 2028),
which would regulate the jurisdiction of the lower federal courts,
such as San Francisco's Ninth Circuit Court, to hear cases that
challenge the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance.
"I believe it is the responsibility
of Congress to protect the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance",
Talent said. "The Senate voted unanimously to support the
use of 'under God' in the Pledge, but in my judgment we should
do more. The Protect the Pledge Act preserves and protects individual
rights to affirm their beliefs and pledge their allegiance to
the flag while making certain that no person would ever be forced
to say 'under God' when reciting the Pledge. I am optimistic
that we can rally Congress to defend the Constitution and protect
the Pledge by limiting the jurisdiction of the lower federal
courts.
Talent and Akin's legislation
removes the issue of the Pledge of Allegiance's constitutionality
from the jurisdiction of federal district and appeals courts,
while maintaining the jurisdiction of state courts and the US
Supreme Court over such cases.
Under Article III of the Constitution,
Congress has the power to regulate the jurisdiction of the lower
federal courts as a "check" in our government's system
of checks and balances. In the past, Congress has used this power
to prevent or overrule judicial abuse in administration of the
environmental, immigration, and labor laws.
The effect of Talent and Akin's
legislation would be to overrule the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
in San Francisco, which ruled, in what is now an infamous case,
that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional because it
uses the phrase "one nation under God".
Source: http://talent.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=205732
Go
to Breaking News
Posted June 24,
2003
Pledge
of Allegiance News
Update
from the June 21, 2003 Ventura County Star - California
Governor Gray Davis has asked the US Supreme Court
to review the decision banning the Pledge. The review is based
on "national cultural" and "social importance".
See Independence
Day Page
for history of the Pledge.
Posted June 4, 2003
Bishops'
Committee on Women - Women's Pastoral
At their June meeting in St Louis, the Bishops' Committee on
Women (BCOW) proposes another "pastoral" on "women's
concerns" -- this one on collaboration between women and
clergy.
Posted May 29, 2003
EU
opens office to counter US pro-life groups
FRIDAY FAX May 30, 2003 Volume
6, Number 23 - C-FAM Web site: http://www.c-fam.org
Posted May
24, 2003
Senator
Rick Santorum tells Christendom College Grads to Rebel -- Cardinal
Dulles receives honorary degree (includes text)
Posted May
23, 2003
Cardinal
Arinze's Georgetown Address (complete text)
Posted May
22, 2003
Cardinal
Arinze's pro-life, pro-family comments anger Georgetown faculty
members, spark protest
posted May
22, 2003
Worcester Bishop Will Not Attend Holy
Cross Commencement
Worcester Bishop Daniel Reilly
has backed out of tomorrow's commencement ceremony at the College
of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Bishop Reilly will not attend
the ceremony on May 23, because MSNBC commentator and abortion-rights
advocate Chris Matthews will give the commencement address
and receive an honorary degree. In his television commentary
and newspaper columns, Matthews has publicly declared "I'm
for abortion rights", even appearing to endorse partial-birth
abortion for severely handicapped babies.
"Holy Cross will confer an honorary degree on a Catholic
person who publicly espouses the view that, in some cases, people
have a right to terminate a life in the womb", Bishop Reilly
announced yesterday. "I cannot let my presence imply support
for anything less than the protection of all life at all its
stages."
Alumni have protested the selection of Matthews, led by the Holy
Cross Cardinal Newman Society (www.hccns.org)
and Charles Millard, who chaired the Holy Cross board
of trustees from 1977-1982 and served another 22 years as a trustee.
Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things
magazine and president of the Religion & Public Life Institute,
also weighed in last month with a statement critical of the college.
Holy Cross spokeswoman Kathy
McNamara said that Bishop Reilly, who attends the ceremony
every year and closes the commencement with a blessing, would
be missed. ''Bishop Reilly is a devoted friend of the college,
and we're sorry he won't attend our commencement this year','
she said. She also praised Matthews, saying he has a ''probing
intellect'' and sympathy for the poor and marginalized. She also
said Matthews doesn't depart from the church's views on the morality
of abortion, only on the government's role in regulating reproductive
rights.
Bishop Reilly also skipped the
1999 commencement at Worcester's Assumption College, which honored
then-Lt. Gov. Jane M. Swift, despite her support for legal abortion.
The Catholic Action League
has also criticized Stonehill College for inviting White
House Chief of Staff Andrew Card as commencement speaker,
saying he also supported legal abortion while a member of the
state Legislature.
SOURCES:
Cardinal Newman
Society News Alert 5-22-03 - Contact: [email protected]
posted May
21, 2003
Senator Rick Santorum
Tells Christendom College Grads to Rebel Against the Pop Culture
Senator Rick Santorum,
Cardinal Avery Dulles address graduates, receive honors at Christendom
College
Full story: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2003/5/prweb66633.php
FRONT ROYAL, Va. "We need
to summon the moral strength to create a civilization of peace
and justice, and of course, of love", said United States
Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) to Christendom College's
graduating class of 2003 on May 17. "This is where you come
in. I believe of all the great gifts God has given to the young,
the greatest of these are energy, idealism, and rebelliousness.
I want to challenge each and every one of you to be a radical,
to be a rebel, to rebel against the popular culture. Your task
will not be an easy one. You must overcome the temptation of
silence".
Prior to the Commencement Ceremonies, Avery Cardinal Dulles,
S.J., offered the Baccalaureate Mass in the Chapel of Christ
the King and delivered the homily.
"Treasure the fact that
you have been given a Catholic education in which the truth of
revelation was not severed from the truth of the human sciences",
exhorted Cardinal Dulles. "There are many rivers of truth,
but in the end they merge into one undivided stream. When the
perennial questions are seriously asked, Christ can be recognized
as the encompassing truth. Truth in the end turns out to be a
Person, a person whom we encounter both in the proclamation of
the Gospel and in the ministry of the sacraments".
Cardinal Dulles was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters
during Commencement Exercises. Christendom College conferred
73 Bachelor of Arts and three Associate of Arts degrees on its
graduating class, making the Class of 2003 the largest in the
College's 25-year history.
posted
May 21, 2003
NEWS ALERT from Cardinal Newman Society
Bishops Back Out of U. Scranton, Misericordia Commencements
Scranton Bishops Refuse to
Share Stage With Abortion-Rights Advocates
FALLS CHURCH, VA (May 21, 2003)
Scranton Bishop James Timlin and Auxiliary Bishop
John Dougherty have backed out of the commencement ceremonies
of two Catholic colleges in Pennsylvania, following protests
by Cardinal Newman Society, an organization dedicated to strengthening
Catholic identity at Catholic colleges and universities, Bishop
Timlin will not attend the University of Scranton's commencement
ceremony on May 25, citing a policy of refusing to share a stage
with public abortion-rights advocate, MSNBC commentator Chris
Matthews, invited to address graduates at both Scranton University
and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts,
because of his abortion-rights position. In his television commentary
and newspaper columns, Matthews has publicly declared "I'm
for abortion rights," even appearing to endorse partial-birth
abortion for severely handicapped babies.
Bishop Dougherty, an advisor to Cardinal Newman Society, did
not attend College Misericordia's ceremony on Saturday
because of concerns about the commencement speakers, journalists
Cokie and Steven Roberts.
Although Cokie has written in the couple's syndicated column
that she "tends to favor pro-life arguments", her husband,
"who is Jewish, is more sympathetic to the pro-choice side"
(May 25, 1997). Steve's writings portray both pro-life and radical
feminist activists as extreme, whereas the "middle"
or "moderate" position agrees "that a woman has
a right to choose abortion, but the right is not unlimited"
(U.S. News & World Report, April 12, 1993). The Roberts'
joint column also has repeatedly echoed Steve's call for "moderation"
on the abortion issue, endorsing restrictions on abortion but
espousing abortion rights. The Roberts have labeled those who
respect the dignity of all human life as extremists.
The Cardinal Newman Society protest is part of its annual survey
of commencement speakers whose public actions and statements
are opposed to Catholic teaching. See www.cardinalnewmansociety.org
for a complete list.
Said Patrick Reilly, president of Cardinal Newman Society.
"Support for abortion rights is not something that we should
encourage Catholic college students to emulate."
Contact:
Patrick J. Reilly, President
207 Park Ave., Suite B-2 _ Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 536-9585 _ Fax (703) 532-3094
posted May
21, 2003
From Cybercast News
Service.com.
High Court Steps
Into Dispute Over Religious Education Funding
By Robert B. Bluey
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
May 20, 2003
(CNSNews.com) - Less than a year
after affirming the use of vouchers for religious schools, the
U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a related case examining
a Washington law that prohibits state funding for religious instruction.
Even after last June's victory
at the Supreme Court, school choice advocates warned that other
challenges remain. The new case, which will be heard during the
court's term next fall, stems from a decision to strip a Northwest
College student of financial aid.
Joshua Davey was awarded $1,125 through a Washington
Promise Scholarship. But when the state's Higher Education Coordinating
Board discovered he chose a major in theology at the Kirkland,
Wash., evangelical Christian college, the agency revoked the
scholarship.
The state won the first round
before a federal district court, but the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 9th Circuit reversed the decision, setting the stage
for a battle before the nation's highest court.
Washington Attorney General Christine
O. Gregoire argued in her petition to the Supreme Court that
the state should have the right to decide if taxpayer money should
be spent to pay for religious instruction.
The Higher Education Coordinating
Board, a defendant along
with Democrat Gov. Gary Locke, cited a 1969 Washington
law that bans financial aid to students pursuing divinity studies,
as well as a provision in the state Constitution that prohibits
the use of public money for religious instruction.
That provision, known as the
Blaine amendment, signifies the broader importance of
the case, said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice,
which is defending Davey.
Although the Supreme Court hasn't set a date for oral arguments
-- it is still hearing cases for its 2002 term -- Sekulow said
it's the most important religious free exercise case to come
before the court in a decade....
Full story: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200305\CUL20030520a.html
See also ACLJ story 5-19-03: http://www.aclj.org/news/pressreleases/030519_scholarship.asp broken link 6/27/2005
Go
to Breaking News
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