LifeNet

House Committee Passes Bill to Repeal FACE!

This is great news but hard to see how it will get 60 votes in the Senate. Or even get out of the House. But still, YAY, YAY, YAY!!

Hit the link for the whole story. 

The House Judiciary Committee voted 13-10 on June 10, 2025, to advance a bill to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. That’s the 1994 law Joe Biden’s administration used to put pro-life Americans in prison for peacefully protesting abortion.

The FACE law was weaponized by the Biden administration to target and imprison peaceful pro-life activists, including elderly women. The legislation, led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, aims to prevent future administrations from using the law to punish pro-lifers for exercising free speech and religious freedoms outside abortion clinics.

The FACE Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, prohibits the use of force, threats, or physical obstruction to interfere with abortion businesses and pro-life pregnancy centers. However, pro-life groups argue it has been disproportionately enforced against their advocates.

Data cited by Roy’s office shows that 97% of FACE Act prosecutions from 1994 to 2024 targeted pro-life activists, including cases against elderly women like 89-year-old Eva Edl, a wheelchair-bound Soviet concentration camp survivor convicted for praying and singing hymns outside a Michigan abortion clinic in 2020.

“This vote is a victory for the unborn and for the free speech of Americans who stand for life,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, which has championed the repeal effort. “The FACE Act was twisted into a tool to jail grandmas and peaceful protesters while ignoring attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers. It’s time to end this injustice.”

 

"Pope Affirms Marriage Between Man and Woman, Dignity of Unborn Children"

As it turns out, Pope Leo XIV is Catholic.

The U.S.-born pontiff delivered an address Friday to the Vatican diplomatic corps where he affirmed that marriage is between a man and a woman, and emphasized the dignity of unborn children and the elderly.

“It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman, ‘a small but genuine society, and prior to all civil society,'” Pope Leo XIV said, with a reference to Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum encyclical.

“In addition, no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike,” the Holy Father added, echoing his predecessor, the late Pope Francis. He also noted his own personal story as a descendant of immigrants who chose to emigrate to the U.S.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In his speech to over 100 Vatican diplomats, Pope Leo XIV asserted that peace, justice, and truth are the “three essential words” for understanding the Catholic Church’s global missionary activity and diplomatic approach. He cited his own experience in North America, South America, and Europe in articulating his aspirational diplomatic vision for reaching people across all corners of the globe.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“It allows me to renew the Church’s aspiration — and my own — to reach out and embrace all individuals and peoples on the Earth, who need and yearn for truth, justice and peace! In a certain sense, my own life experience, which has spanned North America, South America and Europe, has been marked by this aspiration to transcend borders in order to encounter different peoples and cultures.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

When discussing peace, Leo XIV expressed the need for religious freedom worldwide and the value of inter-religious dialogue in fostering peace. He described how peace begins internally with the heart, requiring us to work on ourselves and eliminate pride and vindictiveness.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“From a Christian perspective – but also in other religious traditions – peace is first and foremost a gift. It is the first gift of Christ: ‘My peace I give to you’ (Jn 14:27). Yet it is an active and demanding gift,” Pope Leo XIV said, referring to Christ’s words to His disciples as chronicled by the Gospel of John.

“In this regard, I believe that religions and interreligious dialogue can make a fundamental contribution to fostering a climate of peace. This naturally requires full respect for religious freedom in every country, since religious experience is an essential dimension of the human person.”

 

Take action against NY suicide bill - and very easy to do

This needs doing as soon as possible. And it can be done easily through the NY State Catholic Conference website. It takes five minutes. 

https://www.nyscatholic.org/action-center

Hit the assisted suicide box.

After you've located your own state senator using the "Compose Your Message" box (by entering your address and zip code), here are two more to do if you can find there zip codes  - 

Andrea Stewart-Cousins (says she's Catholic) is the Senate Majority leader,

Gustavo Rivera is the Health Committee Chairman

You still need to put in your own street address for the system to work for Stewart-Cousins and Rivera, BUT their zip Codes go in.

The Conference has a pre-written message or you can put this one in -

I strongly urge you to vote NO on Senate Bill 138. As you know this seeks to legalize  suicide under the euphemism of "medical aid-in-dying." This promoting of suicide is a further despicable attack on human life. It is especially a threat to the those of any age with mental health issues, the elderly, the disabled, and those facing serious illness. This opens the door to coercion, abuse, and the devaluation of human life. I am a constituent and strongly urge you to stand for life affirming aid and oppose Senate Bill 138.

 

 

Prolife leader Frank Pavone

Of course Pavone was laicized. He is still trying to get back to priestly ministry; let's hope and pray the new leadership will restore him to active ministry.

Comments from prolife leaders on the death of Pope Francis, Part one

We will post other comments as we receive them.

From Judy Brown, President of the American life League

Pope Francis loved life. He began this new year with a message urging, “May we learn to care for every child born of a woman, above all by protecting, like Mary, the precious gift of life: life in the womb, the lives of children, the lives of the suffering, the poor, the elderly, the lonely and the dying.”

His commitment to the nurturing aspects of motherhood was a fundamental characteristic of his papacy.

Pope Francis once told an audience that we are called to counter the current “culture of indifference” that afflicts many societies with a “culture of providence.”

This was his consistent theme as he strove to embrace the preborn, the poor, the downtrodden, and those who thought all hope was lost. In his words of hope and affirmation, he reflected the attitude of Saint Francis of Assisi.

From lifenews.com

Pope Francis likened abortion to “hiring a hitman” to kill unborn babies.

“Is it right to hire a hitman to solve a problem? You cannot, it is not right to kill a human being, regardless of how small it is, to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hitman to solve a problem,” the pope said.

In the past, Pope Francis often has condemned abortion, describing aborted babies as victims of a “throwaway culture.”

In March, he conveyed a heartfelt message to participants of a pilgrimage organized by the Italian Movement for Life.

In his address, read by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, he said that unborn children are like so many other people who need advocates. The Pope identified the unborn child as the epitome of voiceless individuals, representing all who lack a platform to defend their rights.

“The unborn child represents, in the fullest sense, every man and woman who does not count, who has no voice,” he said. “Taking their side means standing in solidarity with all the discarded of the world.”

Pope Francis called on Christians to foster a “civilization of love,” which frees women “from the pressures that push them not to give birth to their child”.

He said it takes a “gaze of the heart” to recognize unborn children as “one of us.”

Pennsylvania Pro-life Federation via National Right to Life

When Pope Francis first became head of the Church, I did some research on him.

I learned that, as a Cardinal in Argentina, he was quoted as saying, “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you.”

Strong words from a man who valued the sacredness of life from the moment of conception to the instant of natural death. The late Holy Father was a champion of the marginalized—and no one is more marginalized in our society than the unborn child.

The pontiff also preached a “revolution of tenderness” which the pro-life movement lives out each day. Through its outreach to pregnant women in difficult circumstances, the movement offers mothers the hope and strength they need to carry on amidst trying times.

From Catholicvote.org

CatholicVote Vice President Joshua Mercer stated following the death of the pope: "CatholicVote joins the world in marking the death of Pope Francis, the 266th successor of St. Peter. Pope Francis was the first Jesuit pope, the first from Latin America, and the first to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi."

"Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis asked Catholics to reflect on the mercy of Christ, called all people to encounter the love of God, especially the poor and marginalized, and urged the Church to embrace its missionary identity," Mercer continued. "We give thanks to God for the gift of the pope, his brother bishops, and our Holy Mother Church. The days following a pope’s death also call for intense prayer and fasting for the future of the Church as the cardinals gather to elect his successor."

 

January 8th - Pope Francis spoke - again - on the right to life from conception to natural death

This from his January 8th address "To Members of the Diplomatic Corp. Accredited to the Holy See"

"This is a mentality that, by claiming to leave behind what are considered to be “the dark pages of history”, opens the door to the “cancel culture”. It tolerates no differences and focuses on individual rights, to the detriment of duties towards others, especially the weakest and most vulnerable. [2] In this regard, it is unacceptable, for example, to speak of an alleged “right to abortion” that contradicts human rights, particularly the right to life. All life must be protected, at every moment, from conception to natural death, because no child is a mistake or guilty of existing, just as no elderly or sick person may be deprived of hope and discarded."

 

JD Vance full talk at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

Fine reflections with a lovely discussion of Pope Francis at the end. To skip directly to his speech without the preliminaries go to 4:24 on the video.

 

NY Times: "Planned Parenthood in Crisis"

This is a very long (extremely sympathetic of course) article which anyone should be able to access for free. So just some short excerpts below the link. We highlighted a couple of the excerpts. The Times describes an incredible number of errors. And the so-called "medical assistants" have no real professional training. 

We deliberately excerpted about PP of Greater NY and Upper Hudson PP.

"Botched Care and Tired Staff: Planned Parenthood in Crisis. The health care provider ​of last resort is working to shore up affiliate clinics that are in dire financial straits. Patients report failed abortions, misplaced IUDs and inadequately trained staff".

Ms. Alston filed a malpractice suit against Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, one of several complaints about patient care at the New York clinic that women have brought to her lawyer, Louis B. Oliver. “Planned Parenthood provides a very important area of medical care,” Mr. Oliver said. “But I speak out and have sued them because even disadvantaged people deserve good care.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The lack of resources is startling: Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Planned Parenthood has enjoyed a fund-raising boom, with $498 million in donations that year. But little of it goes to the state affiliates to provide health care at clinics. Instead, under the national bylaws, the majority of the money is spent on the legal and political fight to maintain abortion rights.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Last year, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York — one of the few places where abortion is still legal up to 24 weeks — said that a budget shortfall would force it to restrict later term abortion services, effectively implementing a 20-week abortion ban. It closed four clinics.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Employees said there has been constant pressure to more than double the number of patients seen from the present 2.1 million, to help bring in more revenues.

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York expects clinics to see more than four patients an hour, and for appointments to last about 10 minutes, according to an email sent by management to clinic staff obtained by The Times.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Planned Parenthood of New York City was one of the strongest affiliates. It had wealthy donors, celebrity-filled fund-raisers and a State Legislature that supported abortion rights and paid some of the highest state Medicaid reimbursement rates in the country. But clinics in the rest of the state had fewer donors.

In 2019, New York City agreed to become part of a new entity called Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which included affiliates in Nassau County, the mid-Hudson Valley, Southern Finger Lakes and Mohawk Hudson.

But some of the chief executives of the five affiliates, who made a combined $1.5 million a year before the merger, balked at taking pay cuts. Two of them left not long after the transaction closed in January 2020.

 

"Trump Names Task Force on Anti-Christian Bias"

A Press Release from the Catholic League -

February 6, 2025

 

President Donald Trump announced today that he is forming a new Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty. To accomplish this goal, he appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi to chair a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.”

 

“The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government,” Trump said. He specifically cited the Department of Justice, the FBI and the IRS, but he also said the probe will extend to other agencies.

 

More than any other organization in the nation, the Catholic League has documented anti-Christian prejudice and discrimination. To cite one example, we have a very detailed list of abuses that took place under the Biden administration. We will be happy to share our work with Attorney General Pam Bondi.

 

The scourge of Christian bashing, which Catholics, in particular, have had to endure is astounding. While some Republicans have contributed to this plague, the overwhelming attacks on Christians have come from members of the Democratic Party. We have the evidence and we will make sure the Trump administration has it as well.

 

Bethany Hamilton - lost her arm to a shark in 2003 - speaks at the March for Life about children and family

She is still a professional surfer as well as an author and motivational speaker. Bethany and her husband have four children. The story of the attack and her return to surfing (just 26 days later!) is here - shark attack and recovery. She last her arm all the way to the shoulder.