LifeNet

From ZENIT: The birth dearth

Economic and Social Impact of Aging Societies

By Father John Flynn, L.C.

ROME, SEPT. 30, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Decades of declining birthrates are causing a rapid aging of many nation's populations.

Romanian President Traian Basescu recently warned that his country's population was declining and that more needs to be done to support women who have children, the Associated Press reported Sept. 18.

"Romania urgently needs to revise its demographic policies," he told participants at a conference on population and development in the city of Sibiu. The nation has 4 million people in the work force, while retirees number 6 million, according to the Associated Press.

Germany is another country feeling the pinch of a declining and older population, the New York Times reported Sept. 23. The population started declining in 2003, with a drop of 5,000 that year. By 2006 the decrease reached 130,000.

The German population is experiencing "exponential negative growth," Reiner Klingholz, director of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, told the New York Times.

The situation in Japan is also causing widespread concern, reported the British newspaper the Telegraph in a June 1 article. The population peaked at 128 million in 2005 and some forecasts expect it to drop below 100 million by 2050.

These demographic changes are not only a problem for rich countries, noted an Associated Press report on April 11. Some countries "'will grow older before they grow richer," said Somnath Chatterji, team leader of the World Health Organization's Multi-country Studies Unit, at a U.N. conference earlier this year.

Lethal injection now becoming the norm in late term abortions

Here is an article (full of the usual euphemisms) of what abortionists are doing to shield themselves from partial birth abortion charges.

Note that the lethal injection approach is one of the favored abortion approaches of Tiller, in Wichita Kansas.

Shots assist in aborting fetuses - The Boston Globe

... others, although they do not perform the banned procedure, feel compelled to do all they can to protect themselves and their staff from the possibility of being accused. Upheld in April, the federal ban is broadly written, does not specify an age for the fetus, and carries a two-year prison sentence.

In Boston, three major Harvard-affiliated hospitals -- Massachusetts General, Brigham and Women's, and Beth Israel Deaconess -- have responded to the ban by making the injections the new standard operating procedure for abortions beginning at around 20 weeks' gestation, said Dr. Michael F. Greene, director of obstetrics at Mass. General.

_ _ _ _ _ _

The injections are generally done in abortions after 18 or 20 weeks gestation. (Massachusetts bans virtually all abortions at and beyond the 24th week, except to protect the life or health of the mother.) Medical staff inject either the heart drug digoxin or potassium chloride, a potentially poisonous salt also used in state executions.

_ _ _ _ _ _

... concern is so great in his clinic, he said, that the ban is having an impact on medical education: Medical students and nursing students are no longer invited to watch later-term abortions, for fear one might misinterpret the procedure and lodge a criminal complaint.

Abortions are performed at a wide range of facilities, from major hospitals to small, tightknit family planning clinics, and the setting can greatly influence the decision about injections, said Dr. Laurent Delli-Bovi, medical director of Women's Health Services, a private family planning facility in Chestnut Hill.

In large hospitals, she said, there is likely to be a range of feeling for and against abortion and so more need for providers to act defensively.

Silent No More Speaks Out in NYC!

"You're in the wrong city!" shouted one woman. BUT, many people had a positive response.

New York City hardly notices a handful or two of visitors, except when they are the brave, post-abortive women and men who took to the sidewalks between 6th and 49th Streets near Radio City on Tuesday, September 18, at Noon. The orderly Silent No More demonstration, scheduled in advance, was there with microphones and button-wearing supporters holding signs that said, "Women Do Regret Abortion," and "I Regret Lost Fatherhood." It was a day with glorious sunshine and summer temperatures. But even the best weather could not make it easy for this growing and courageous group who have lost children to abortion and who choose to share - right in the heart of Manhattan's lunchtime crowds - their personal stories of grief and loss, hope and healing. All with the hope that the truth will help keep others from an abortion they will regret the rest of their lives. Colleen Berry, Theresa Bonopartis, and Janet Morana were primary organizers and participants who shared their painfully personal stories of abortion and its aftermath in their lives. The presence of post-abortive fathers lent especially poignant, often ignored, emotion to the witness.

There was a young French documentary filmmaker who stayed the entire time, asking in-depth questions to participants in line about abortion, why they came today, and what they hoped to accomplish politically. One woman holding a sign told him she could not interview right now. He said how can you expect to get political change if we do not talk about the politics. "I want to help you, he said, why won't you talk?"

A representative from the Hudson Valley Coalition for Life who was standing nearby overheard the exchange and told him that this is the witness part of the day. "What they are saying right now is important for you to hear - for everyone to hear," she said. "Look, they're glad you're here, but you want to talk about the politics of abortion. What is being said here, right now, is what you should be listening to and reporting on as well. It is what is never reported. This is a funeral of sorts, and we are being asked to listen to eulogies being spoken for their dead, aborted children. You'll get your other questions answered, just not right now. It's about respect for a life."

 

"You're delusional - what you need to get is a brain," a large, hulking man said in passing to the diminutive Brigid Faranda, shown here with one of the several policeman on hand to keep order.

Rockefeller Center's Atlas thinks he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. With 47 million abortions in this country and with New York in the top three states leading in the number of abortions performed, it would seem the real heavy lifting, physically and emotionally, is being done by formerly lost-in-the-crowd post abortive men and women. Thankfully, they are "Silent No More!"

Oh, we are in the right city, alright. We are in the right city.

"The Infant in My Womb Leaped for Joy" is theme of this year's Catholic Respect Life Sunday

Bishops Urge Truth on Respect Life Sunday

Note Prevailing Contradictions in American Society

WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 26, 2007 (Zenit.org).- As U.S. dioceses prepare for Respect Life Sunday, Cardinal Justin Rigali urged Catholics to seek and spread the truth.

On Oct. 7, Catholics in the United States will mark the annual day dedicated to praying for and promoting a culture of life. It is held the first Sunday of October.

Cardinal Rigali, chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. bishops' conference, issued a statement, saying: "We will not see the day when all human life is respected and defended unless we address a deeper problem.

"As Pope Benedict XVI has said: 'If truth does not exist for man, then neither can he ultimately distinguish between good and evil. And then the great and wonderful discoveries of science become double-edged: They can open up significant possibilities for good, for the benefit of mankind, but also, as we see only too clearly, they can pose a terrible threat, involving the destruction of man and the world. We need truth.'"

Cardinal Rigali, who is also archbishop of Philadelphia, mentioned the theme of this year's Respect Life Sunday: "The Infant in My Womb Leaped for Joy."

He said: "The moment Mary's greeting reaches Elizabeth's ears and John's, the tiny prophet announces to his mother the Messiah's arrival, as if his entire being were exclaiming: Behold! The Lamb of God!

"There was no confusion as to what and who were nestled under their mothers' hearts. Yet 2,000 years later, many well-educated people do not know -- or claim they do not know -- the truth about human life before birth."

Confusion

The cardinal noted recent public contradictions in American society regarding life issues.

He mentioned that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in April a ban on partial-birth abortion, recognizing the humanity of unborn children. Yet, a New Jersey Supreme Court decision in September said there is no way to know when human life begins.

U.S. President George Bush vetoed a bill to fund stem cell research requiring the destruction of human embryos. Yet, the cardinal noted, "supporters of embryonic stem cell research continue to dismiss concerns about destroying human embryos, because they are 'no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence.'"

The 72-year-old prelate continued: "Some ethicists suggest that patients who apparently lack conscious awareness -- although otherwise healthy and not imminently dying -- can be dehydrated and starved to death because their lives are not fully human but 'vegetative.'

"This ignores the insight expressed in 2004 by Pope John Paul II and recently reaffirmed by the Holy See under Pope Benedict XVI, that 'the intrinsic value and personal dignity of every human being do not change, no matter what the concrete circumstances of his or her life. A man, even if seriously ill or disabled in the exercise of his highest functions, is and always will be a man, and he will never become a "vegetable" or an "animal."'"

Cardinal Rigali reiterated a call for truth in a culture marked by such widespread confusion.

"On this Respect Life Sunday, we ask Catholics and all people of good will to witness to the truth about the incomparable dignity and right to life of every human being," he said. "This is no sectarian creed. The 'recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.' And that is the truth."

Governor Eliot Spitzer Added to 'Choose Life' Federal Lawsuit

MEDIA ADVISORY, Sept. 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- In an unusual twist, Governor Eliot Spitzer -- in his official capacity as Governor of the State of New York-- has been added as a defendant in a case that he once oversaw as Attorney General of New York State. Spitzer's newly appointed DMV Commissioner David Swarts has been also been added as a defendant. An important federal court procedural hearing took place yesterday in Syracuse as this high profile case continues its battle to be heard in court.

In August 2004, the DMV rejected the New York "Choose Life" License Plate sponsored by The Children First Foundation and issued a moratorium to block the approval of all new custom plates for non- profit organizations and causes. On July 26, 2006, the moratorium was further expanded when Governor Pataki cited First Amendment "legal concerns" and unexpectedly vetoed 15 legislatively approved custom plates, including the "9/11 Remembrance" Plate, the "Cure Childhood Cancer" Plate, the "Survivor of the Bravest" Plate" and many others.

Governor Spitzer already has two strikes against him. As New York's former Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer was the official attorney for Defendants George Pataki (former Governor), Raymond Martinez (former DMV Commissioner), and Jill Dunn (Deputy Commissioner and DMV Counsel) when the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) failed in its efforts to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed against the defendants by The Children First Foundation. Spitzer's OAG appealed the decision to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals where they struck out a second time.

As CFF's federal lawsuit now heads to trial, CFF's legal team at the Alliance Defense Fund is holding both Governors and both DMV Commissioners responsible for unconstitutionally rejecting CFF's pro- adoption "Choose Life" License Plate in New York.

"The DMV's moratorium is a textbook example of blatant and unconstitutional government censorship and government discrimination in New York," said CFF's President, Dr. Elizabeth Rex. "It is time for Governor Spitzer and Commissioner Swarts to lift the moratorium, approve our plate and protect free speech, due process and equal treatment under the law at the DMV."

Since 2001, The Children First Foundation has granted over $58,000 to Pregnancy Centers, Maternity Homes and Safe Haven efforts throughout the Tri- State Area to help promote and support Adoption as a positive choice for unwanted pregnancies and unwanted newborns.

Christian Newswire

Iowa School Cancels Pro-Life Talk With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Niece

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 25, 2007

Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) -- A public high school in Iowa is drawing criticism from the pro-life community after it canceled a scheduled talk with pro-life advocate Alveda King. The former Georgia legislator and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been invited by officials at Roosevelt High School to speak.

The former principal invited Dr. King to address students there but the new principal, Kathie Danielson, canceled the event.

LifeNews.com called the school and left a message as well as an email for Danielson but they were not returned by press time.

Kim Lehman, the director of Iowa Right to Life, called the cancellation a "civil rights shockwave" in comments she sent to LifeNews.com.

"Dr. King is an exceptional speaker with outstanding credentials, and yet they are not enough," Lehman said.

"Dr. King's speech is being censored and the students at Roosevelt High will not hear her speak on civil rights, abstinence and abortion because the new principal says that a few parents complained," Lehman added.

Lehman told LifeNews.com King is also scheduled to speak on Wednesday at Iowa State University and on Thursday at Drake University.

King has explained that the new civil rights struggle has to do with abortion and how black Americans are becoming victims of abortion at higher rates than their white counterparts.

"In the last forty-plus years, 15 million black people have been denied their most basic civil right, the right to life," King noticed.

"Roughly one quarter of the black population is now missing," she reflected. "This hasn't happened because of lynch mobs, but because of abortionists who plant their killing centers in minority neighborhoods and prey upon women who think they have no hope."

King said abortion is a "great irony" because it has decimated the African-American population in ways the Klu Klux Klan never could.

"It's time that we remember the sacrifices of men like my father and my uncle who worked and died so that our children could live," King concluded. "It's time to stop killing the future and keep their dream alive."

ACTION: Contact Roosevelt High School and Principal Kathie Danielson with your thoughts. Call 515.242.7272 or email Mrs. Danielson at [email protected].



Printed from: http://www.lifenews.com/state2515.html

Catholic League to NYS Senators: Undo Ban on Abstinence Programs

September 21, 2007

Here is an excerpt of Catholic League president Bill Donohue’s letter to New York State Senators regarding abstinence programs:

I am appealing to you to introduce legislation that would reinstate the right of New York State to receive federal funding for abstinence-only sex education. This is needed because of the unilateral decision made by New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard F. Daines to reject $3.5 million a year in federal grants for such programs. His decision is not only without merit (he provided absolutely no evidence for his position), it would, if not overturned, have an adverse impact on Catholic institutions.

It may be a matter of coincidence—or it may not be—that the very same day Dr. Daines rendered his ruling, September 20, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) just happened to have come to the same conclusion. In its report, “Financing Ignorance: A Report on Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding in New York,” the NYCLU maintains, on the basis of pure conjecture, that federal funding to schools that promote abstinence smacks of religious bias. Its reasoning: 53 percent of the schools that receive public monies for abstinence programs are religious.

On p. 37 of its report, the NYCLU lists 17 religious-affiliated organizations that receive federal grants for abstinence programs. Fourteen of them, or 82 percent, are Roman Catholic institutions. Thus, it is evident that such entities would bear an undue burden if Dr. Daines’ decision were to go unchallenged. While his motive may be without religious bias, the effect of his ruling surely would not be. 

If legislation is not passed restoring the status quo ante, Catholic institutions will be presented with a Hobson’s choice: either they violate their doctrinal prerogatives and accept the money, or they stick to principle and be punished for doing so. That is why I am urging you to do what you can to see to it that Catholic institutions are not penalized for being Catholic.

HLI head: The Vindification of Terri Schiavo

Here is Fr. Tom Euteneuer on the recent CDF document on end-of-life care. We previously posted about the document here: LifeNet: Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) just-released statement on "end-of-life care"

This from Fr. Euteneuer:

The Vindication of Terri Schiavo

Since the election of Pope Benedict, the Church has been renewed by an abundance of blessings flowing from the Vatican. In case you did not hear, the Pope's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has just released its answer to the question of providing nutrition and hydration (i.e., food and water) to persons in so-called vegetative states. Even though a child can figure out that it's not right to starve people to death, the Vatican set the issue to rest this week. In its technically-precise language, the CDF vindicated our beloved Terri Schiavo by saying that no one can dare to commit or justify such an atrocity as her killing by any interpretation of Catholic teachings. Period.

The CDF responded to a question from the US Catholic bishops who asked whether it was morally obligatory to give food and water to a patient in such a state. The response was unambiguous: "Yes. The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented."

That was not all. The bishops further asked whether food and water could be withdrawn from the patient if there was no chance of recovery. Again, the CDF was unambiguous: "No. A patient in a 'permanent vegetative state' is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means." And just to be sure that no stone was left unturned, the accompanying note said that this is always and everywhere true "in principle" even if there are truly exceptional circumstances where it is not morally obligatory to provide food and water. Such a case would be, for example, when the person's body is in such a state that it is physically unable to assimilate food and water. There would be no moral obligation to try and force nutrition into the person in that case, but clearly this is an exceptional circumstance which does not in any way undermine the principle of absolute respect for life in its most vulnerable moments.

How many of us, at the time of Terri Schiavo's death, actually heard even so-called "good Catholics" say that they should just let her die because "no one should have to live that way" and other nonsense like that? The real message of this declaration is that no one should have to think that murderous way any more. The Vatican has spoken with the clear voice of conscience and has also vindicated all of us who fought for Terri's life and dignity, not because we were pro-life activists, but because we are Catholics. Anyone who advocated her death in 2005, whether by sloppy reasoning or culpable agreement with the atrocity, needs to seriously repent and re-evaluate his consciences in light of the Church's teaching. After this declaration, there is no excuse for not getting it right.

Most culpable of all were the so-called "Catholic" theologians, false priests, such as Richard McBrien and John Paris, who shamelessly advocated Terri's death when she was being sold to her killers for thirty pieces of silver. Now that the CDF has made clear what any child knows, this would be the time for them to take a refresher course on actual Catholic teachings.

Yonkers Life Chain on Sunday October 7th

The first Sunday of October is designated as the day for the National Life Chain.  The Advocates of Life are inviting pro-life people, of all faiths, to join together in Yonkers on that day to peacefully and legally witness to the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception until the time of natural death.  The signs used are provided by Life Chain such as "Abortion kills children" and "Abortion hurts women." No graphic signs will be used for this event. Please join us to make this year's Yonkers Life Chain the largest one to date! RAIN OR SHINE!

WHEN:  SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2007

WHERE:  CENTRAL AVENUE NEAR FORT HILL ROAD (on the Central Park Ave. side walk in front of Kohl's Department Store)

TIME:  2 P.M. UNTIL 3:30 P.M.

Call 914-815-3009 if you need more information.

Senator Casey of PA. votes for abortion funding abroad.

It is disheartening that Robert Casey, who defeated Rick Santorum in the Pennsylvania senate race last year, and who has always said he is pro-life, has cast a major pro-abortion vote.

Pro-Life Democrat Bob Casey Casts Strange Votes for Abortion Funding

He said that, on the pro-life Brownback amendment, “it was my intention to vote ‘nay.’ Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the outcome of that vote.”

LifeNews.com asked Casey staff members for comment for this story but have not yet received a response.

However, Casey spokesman Larry Smar talked with NR's Freddoso and claimed the senator has not changed his position on abortion or funding it.

“He does not support public funding of abortion,” Smar said. “The amendment he voted for would not allow public funding of abortion, which is illegal” under another provision.

Freddoso calls this answer "disingenuous."

"The Boxer amendment does not put money directly into grants for providing abortions, but it funds groups that perform and refer them. Since money is fungible — that is, it can be used for anything — there is really no difference," he writes.

"That is why this amendment was so controversial, and why other pro-life senators — including Sen. Ben Nelson (a Nebraska Democrat) — voted against it, and have voted against it in all of its many incarnations over the years," he added.

Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for National Right to Life, told LifeNews.com he agreed.

"Before the adoption of the Mexico City Policy, the U.S. government was the major funder of organizations that campaigned to legalize abortion in Latin America, Africa, and elsewhere," he said.

"If the Boxer Amendment, which Sen. Casey regrettably supported, was enacted, it would force the removal of family planning funds from private organizations that stick to non-abortive methods, in order to give those funds to organizations that are committed to the promotion of abortion," Johnson explained.

Freddoso says that pro-life advocates must ask whether they can consider Casey one of their own after he voted to send taxpayer funds to groups that do abortions in other nations and lobby to topple their pro-life laws.

Here is a recent posting relevant to this vote:

LifeNet: Recent Senate votes remind us of the stakes in the 2008 Presidential election

Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) just-released statement on "end-of-life care"

Very important. Complete refutation of certain theologians who held that withdrawing food and water from Terri Schiavo was acceptable. It is posted on Amy Welborn's new weblog and we supply the link and the entire posting below. The "cc Bishop Lynch" she put on at the end refers to the Florida Bishop who declined to speak out during the Schiavo ordeal.

Responses to certain questions « Charlotte was Both

Today, the CDF released a few “responses to certain questions” related to end-of-life care.

Here

First question: Is the administration of food and water (whether by natural or artificial means) to a patient in a “vegetative state” morally obligatory except when they cannot be assimilated by the patient’s body or cannot be administered to the patient without causing significant physical discomfort?

Response: Yes. The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented.

Second question: When nutrition and hydration are being supplied by artificial means to a patient in a “permanent vegetative state”, may they be discontinued when competent physicians judge with moral certainty that the patient will never recover consciousness?

Response: No. A patient in a “permanent vegetative state” is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means.

* * *

The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved these Responses, adopted in the Ordinary Session of the Congregation, and ordered their publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, August 1, 2007.

The “Nota” accompanying it:

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has formulated responses to questions presented by His Excellency the Most Reverend William S. Skylstad, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a letter of July 11, 2005, regarding the nutrition and hydration of patients in the condition commonly called a “vegetative state”. The object of the questions was whether the nutrition and hydration of such patients, especially if provided by artificial means, would constitute an excessively heavy burden for the patients, for their relatives, or for the health-care system, to the point where it could be considered, also in the light of the moral teaching of the Church, a means that is extraordinary or disproportionate and therefore not morally obligatory.

snip

Therefore, the Responses now given by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continue the direction of the documents of the Holy See cited above, and in particular the Address of John Paul II of March 20, 2004. The basic points are two. It is stated, first of all, that the provision of water and food, even by artificial means, is in principle an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life for patients in a “vegetative state”: “It is therefore obligatory, to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient”. It is made clear, secondly, that this ordinary means of sustaining life is to be provided also to those in a “permanent vegetative state”, since these are persons with their fundamental human dignity.

When stating that the administration of food and water is morally obligatory in principle, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith does not exclude the possibility that, in very remote places or in situations of extreme poverty, the artificial provision of food and water may be physically impossible, and then ad impossibilia nemo tenetur. However, the obligation to offer the minimal treatments that are available remains in place, as well as that of obtaining, if possible, the means necessary for an adequate support of life. Nor is the possibility excluded that, due to emerging complications, a patient may be unable to assimilate food and liquids, so that their provision becomes altogether useless. Finally, the possibility is not absolutely excluded that, in some rare cases, artificial nourishment and hydration may be excessively burdensome for the patient or may cause significant physical discomfort, for example resulting from complications in the use of the means employed.

These exceptional cases, however, take nothing away from the general ethical criterion, according to which the provision of water and food, even by artificial means, always represents a natural means for preserving life, and is not a therapeutic treatment. Its use should therefore be considered ordinary and proportionate, even when the “vegetative state” is prolonged.

cc: Bishop Lynch

Women's Equality Day Reformed Redux

With Hillary running for President and Planned Parenthood coming under attack

for its unscrupulous tactics in and out of their clinics (PP's website for teens,

www.teenwire.com is offering "back to school" coupons for teen contraceptives,

abortions, etc.!), this is a good time to recall women's voices speaking for the
good.
For those of you who may have missed our earlier posts on Women's Equality Day in

White Plains on August 10, Judith Anderson's closing comments for the day follow.

Check LifeNet's August archives for full transcripts and more pictures.

"Thank you, Gabrielle and Nora, for an inspiring afternoon. Thanks to the
Committee and all its helpers that made today happen. So it is for 'women
helping women'.

Today we looked to the past, to the suffragettes for wisdom. We looked
with life-affirming vision towards the future and learned a bit more about
natural and humane approaches to advancing medical technologies. But
one sad fact still shapes life today: the abortion industry is one very
stained, very lucrative rug under which the lies, fears, disappointments
and mistakes of life are being swept, human life be damned. Even faced
with the hard facts spoken by women themselves, some still cling to this
hollow symbol of false freedom.

The early feminists understood the struggle for truth. They spoke
forcefully against slavery, for equality in the voting booth, and against
taking the life of the unborn. In their own words: for the total
'enfranchisement of women'. What did this mean? We believe it was and
is a call to the elevation of women in their essence. It meant recognition
of a woman's full citizenship and rights under the Constitution, with no
compromise to her self-worth. It meant respect for a woman's dignity
and her children's dignity as human beings, not property to be abused
or discarded.

Yet some men and women in some weird, strained sense of self-serving
camaraderie, still tell women that in order to fully participate, to have
a good life or a 'seat at the table, they must relinquish their womanhood -
their fertility and motherhood - and all that they imply. What falsehoods!
Our womanhood is the power we bring to the table! Mott, Stanton, and
Anthony knew it! Many decry feminism unfairly today based on this very
falsehood. Let all of us look instead to the truth.

The elevation, health and safety of women will never be found at the end
of an abortionist's suction scalpel. The very act, legal or not, demeans
women and destroys human lives because the back alley has never been
replaced, only whitewashed. Women do deserve better; and better
alternatives exist.

At the least women need to be fully informed and clinics held to account,
but to which voices will women and men listen? Our Committee hopes it
will be voices of justice, healing and hope. I believe all women can be those
voices. Today is a start."

L to R: Judith Anderson, Gabrielle Long Wright, CNM,

2007 WEDR Honoree, and Mrs. Dorothea Muccigrosso,

2004 Honoree.
 

Recent Senate votes remind us of the stakes in the 2008 Presidential election

The Senate's vote to end the "Mexico City" policy is a reminder that right now only a pro-life President's veto stops death for hundreds of thousands millions of unborn children in the Third World in upcoming years. See the article below.

It is a tragedy that the election of any Democratic candidate as well as of Republican Rudy Giuliani will result in groups like the International Planned Parenthood Federation receiving additional funds to eliminate poverty by eliminating the poor, but that's the reality.

U.S. Bishops: Senate Takes 1 Step Forward, 1 Back

Assess Votes on Abortion and Foreign Policy

WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 11, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A spokeswoman for the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee welcomed one Senate vote while lamenting another.

Deirdre McQuade welcomed Monday's decision to maintain a longstanding federal law against any involvement in coercive abortion programs overseas.

But she expressed disappointment at last Thursday's vote to overturn the so-called Mexico City policy, which denies U.S. funds to organizations that perform and promote abortion as a method of family planning.

Both votes took place during debate on the State Department/Foreign Operations appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008.

On Sept. 6, the Senate voted 48-45 to approve an amendment by Senator Sam Brownback to restore the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, deleted from the bill in committee.

Since 1985, this provision has denied U.S. funds to any organization or program that "supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization."

But by a vote of 53-41, the Senate passed an amendment by Senator Barbara Boxer to overturn the Mexico City policy. An amendment offered by Senator Brownback to reinstate the policy was defeated.

McQuade said, "After witnessing their good sense on the Kemp-Kasten provision, I am extremely disheartened to see our Senators reject the Mexico City policy."

Veto

In a letter sent to senators before the votes, Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia and chairman of the U.S. bishops' committee for pro-life activities, had urged senators to preserve both the Mexico City and Kemp-Kasten policies.

Without the Mexico City policy, the cardinal said, "abortion-promoting organizations will exploit their status as the conduits for U.S. aid to promote abortion to vulnerable women in the Third World."

Also before the votes, President George Bush reaffirmed his pledge to veto any appropriations bill that "weakens current federal policies and laws on abortion."

McQuade expressed her appreciation for the president's veto pledge: "We are very grateful to the president for his commitment to these basic, long-standing policies protecting both mother and child."

"We hope and expect," she concluded, "that due to his pledge, and the pledge by many members of Congress to uphold such a veto, the Mexico City Policy will be preserved in law this year."

Planned Parenthood offering "Back to School" coupon

And it's not for notebooks or crayons. To quote Tony Felicissimo of Advocates for Life and a co-director of the Hudson Valley Coalition for Life "We have our work cut out for us."

Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, Inc

and

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/hudsonpeconic/images/Hudson Peconic/_5_coupon.pdf

Support Forty Days for Life!

You may already have heard about this direct action initiative, which began in College Station, Texas in the fall of 2004 and has gradually spread across the country. There will be simultaneous campaigns nationwide from September 26 until November 4^th.

And 40 Days for Life is coming to our area - Rockland County, the Bronx, and Queens

Here’s the email sent around to Rockland County prolifers:

We are going to partake in 40 days of prayer outside Planned Parenthood in Spring Valley, New York.  We will need many people to commit to one hour of prayer.

You will find all the information you need at http://www.40daysforlife.com/about.cfm

Please forward this to any one you believe would be a part of this prayerful intercession to stop the killing and wounding of so many sisters and brothers in Christ.

From September 26 until November 4th, with God's help, we will have a twenty four hour prayer presence outside of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic Inc., 25 Perlman Drive, Spring Valley, N.Y.

(right off the Thruway exit)

The Forty Days for Life plan is to have a presence at the selected abortion chambers around the clock, 24/7 for forty days. A big undertaking! Can you help?

Here are some contact phone numbers:

Eileen Peterson (Rockland County)   845-429-2077, with organizational meeting on Wednesday Sept. 5^th, 7:30PM at Care Net, 2 Perlman Drive, Spring Valley.

Chris Slattery (Bronx and Queens)  914-224-5773

Forty Days for Life is an opportunity to strike back against this:

In June Planned Parenthood reported that it raked in record amounts of taxpayer funding in the last year - over 305,000,000 - forcing you,and all people of faith and conscience, to underwrite the organization which aborts a quarter million children every year.