This weekend, my family attended church in Illinois while visiting my in-laws to celebrate my wife's birthday. At the time, I was feeling rather uncharitable, particularly when a young girl stepped up to deliver a portion of the homily.
"What," I arrogantly thought to myself, "can a nine-year-old girl possibly teach ME about the faith?"
I was quickly humbled by this young lady. Indeed, she had plenty to teach me.
She discussed how every other weekend, she helps look after very young children in the church. She particularly described the challenges she's faced in helping take care of a girl with Down Syndrome.
"I have learned how to be patient and to be caring," she said while emphasizing how important it is for her to share her time and energy with this cognitively disabled girl. "She is my friend."
In the United States, approximately 90 percent of children with Down Syndrome are killed before they see the light of day--their lives considered unworthy of society's care and compassion. This right to put these children to death is fought for by doctors, lawyers, and many other folks with advanced degrees. But here, a little child stood before the crowded church and gave a stirring witness to what love is and how it is done.
Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life has said, “In giving His Body, Christ teaches the meaning of love: I sacrifice myself for the good of the other person. Abortion teaches the opposite of love: I sacrifice the other person for the good of myself.”
It's unlikely that the young girl speaking at church this weekend has ever heard those words. It's undeniable that she lives them. In giving of herself, she enriched her new friend's life as well as her own.
My wife Laura is fond of saying that if kids ran the world, abortion would be unthinkable. "You can't hurt a baby!" they would cry. "Why would you hurt a baby?"
May our nation be so blessed as to see the world through the eyes of a child.
"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." --Matthew 18:3
Week in Review
Bill in Congress would eliminate all restrictions on abortion
Woman chooses life for Down Syndrome baby
Pro-Life doctors and pharmacists under attack
40 Days for Life helps Planned Parenthood employee exit abortion industry
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Pray for America Part 2
Recently, we critiqued the Freedom of Choice Act, a bill supported by many prominent members of Congress and a nominee for the presidency. The bill would eliminate all restrictions on abortion.
As we mentioned then, we do this not to promote a political party or ideology, but because some politicians are taking drastic measures to kill pre-born children any way possible.
Sadly, some politicians won't even stop at killing only pre-born children. Today, we will take a look at a video regarding another law: the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. While as many as 500 babies a year survive late term abortions, the abortionists have been known to abandon or murder the surviving children outside the womb.
This act was signed into law at a federal level; however, the Democrat Party's nominee for president infamously opposed it numerous times at the state level.
VIEWER DISCRETION is advised when watching this video. It includes disturbing images.
As we mentioned then, we do this not to promote a political party or ideology, but because some politicians are taking drastic measures to kill pre-born children any way possible.
Sadly, some politicians won't even stop at killing only pre-born children. Today, we will take a look at a video regarding another law: the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. While as many as 500 babies a year survive late term abortions, the abortionists have been known to abandon or murder the surviving children outside the womb.
This act was signed into law at a federal level; however, the Democrat Party's nominee for president infamously opposed it numerous times at the state level.
VIEWER DISCRETION is advised when watching this video. It includes disturbing images.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Spiritual Warfare: Battling the Prince of Darkness at Planned Parenthood
The Bible is filled with many incredible stories of battles between good and evil. Moses and Pharaoh. David and Goliath. Jesus and Satan in the desert. Angels and demons. These mystical stories of the supernatural world interacting with the natural world are central to the Christian faith, and many of us grew up learning them as children.
Yet in our very secular age, I’m often tempted to believe that the supernatural is reserved for different times and far-off places. While I have no problem accepting that miracles occurred in Egypt and Israel thousands of years ago, how willing am I to acknowledge the same sort of spiritual warfare occurs both in the modern world and in my own life?
Standing outside of Planned Parenthood this past week, it became clear to me: Not only does the supernatural war between good and evil continue in the modern world, but we in 40 Days for Life play a central role in it.
For example, some of you have reported that in the last couple weeks the animosity from the pro-abortion crowd has intensified. Lately, we’ve seen more insults and more middle fingers. And if you had the opportunity to attend the midpoint prayer service Thursday night, you might have noticed a troubled individual who appeared to come out of nowhere, spewing vitriol and hate. Continuing to shout at us, she disappeared into the night as mysteriously as she appeared. Just hours later, another woman drove by the vigil site, delivering a similarly incoherent stream of insults.
These women were so frenzied and unhinged, that I became acutely aware that this anger was not merely human in origin. Forty Days for Life is working, my friends, and Satan is mad. In Madison and across the continent, our lives and souls are being saved. Wounds are being healed. Faith is being strengthened.
As a result, the enemy is unleashing the fury of Hell in the hopes that we might get discouraged, and his steady stream of infant sacrifice may resume unhindered.
The devil’s attacks may force us to our knees, but that’s exactly where the victory is to be won. Like God’s holy men and women in the Sacred Scripture, we will rely on the grace of God to stand strong in the midst of our evil oppressors in this fallen world. We will not back down. We will not be deterred. We will note accept the slaughter of the next generation.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” –Matthew 5:10
Week in Review
40 Days for Life Midpoint Prayer Service draws enthusiastic crowd
Father Jim Heyd of Priests for Life visits 40 Days for Life
Human Life International Father Thomas Euteneuer headlines Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Annual Auction Dinner
New poll shows more than 9 in 10 Americans want restrictions on abortion
First half of 40 Days for Life saves a confirmed 268 babies nationwide
Yet in our very secular age, I’m often tempted to believe that the supernatural is reserved for different times and far-off places. While I have no problem accepting that miracles occurred in Egypt and Israel thousands of years ago, how willing am I to acknowledge the same sort of spiritual warfare occurs both in the modern world and in my own life?
Standing outside of Planned Parenthood this past week, it became clear to me: Not only does the supernatural war between good and evil continue in the modern world, but we in 40 Days for Life play a central role in it.
For example, some of you have reported that in the last couple weeks the animosity from the pro-abortion crowd has intensified. Lately, we’ve seen more insults and more middle fingers. And if you had the opportunity to attend the midpoint prayer service Thursday night, you might have noticed a troubled individual who appeared to come out of nowhere, spewing vitriol and hate. Continuing to shout at us, she disappeared into the night as mysteriously as she appeared. Just hours later, another woman drove by the vigil site, delivering a similarly incoherent stream of insults.
These women were so frenzied and unhinged, that I became acutely aware that this anger was not merely human in origin. Forty Days for Life is working, my friends, and Satan is mad. In Madison and across the continent, our lives and souls are being saved. Wounds are being healed. Faith is being strengthened.
As a result, the enemy is unleashing the fury of Hell in the hopes that we might get discouraged, and his steady stream of infant sacrifice may resume unhindered.
The devil’s attacks may force us to our knees, but that’s exactly where the victory is to be won. Like God’s holy men and women in the Sacred Scripture, we will rely on the grace of God to stand strong in the midst of our evil oppressors in this fallen world. We will not back down. We will not be deterred. We will note accept the slaughter of the next generation.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” –Matthew 5:10
Week in Review
40 Days for Life Midpoint Prayer Service draws enthusiastic crowd
Father Jim Heyd of Priests for Life visits 40 Days for Life
Human Life International Father Thomas Euteneuer headlines Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Annual Auction Dinner
New poll shows more than 9 in 10 Americans want restrictions on abortion
First half of 40 Days for Life saves a confirmed 268 babies nationwide
Father John Corapi on the culture of death
Father John Corapi has an excellent reflection of our nation's culture of death. Below is an excerpt.
The clock is ticking. Midnight is approaching. Time is running out for our nation, a nation that once was great, and could be great again if enough of us wake up and renounce this curse of a death wish. Will God turn his friends over to His enemies as He has done multiple times in the past? Will radical Islam overrun us? Will the planet cook? Will one too many natural disasters grind us into dust? Will we collapse economically? All of the above? Perhaps these are all merely effects of the underlying cause—a death wish that chokes the life out of us.
In the end, it is likely that President Lincoln had it right: "Intoxicated with unbroked success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us." Thus forgetting that we are one nation under God, we become a nation gone under (President Ronald Reagan).And indeed, "If destruction be our lot, we ourselves will be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
May God grant us the grace to awake from this deadly moral slumber, renounce the death wish, and live like truly free men and women--in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Pray for America
Dear Friends,
The purpose and aim of 40 Days for Life is to pray for an end to abortion and other violence toward God's beautiful gift of life. While we are explicitly not an organization that deals with politics, sadly, the political realm cannot be overlooked. This is particularly true when civil authorities attempt to infringe on natural law and the right to life for all human beings. As Jesus told us, render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.
As prayer warriors for the poorest of the poor, there is a bill in the United States Congress right now that you need to know about. The Freedom of Choice Act is sponsored by numerous high-profile legislators, and Presidential Nominee Barack Obama has pledged that it is the first bill he will sign into law if elected president.
In short, the bill would wipe away any legal restrictions on abortion. Any restrictions whatsoever. While a 17-year old still needs a signed permission slip to participate on a class field trip to a museum, the Freedom of Choice Act would allow 12-year-olds to receive abortions, without parental consent. The absurdity and depravity of this potential law is beyond words. The nation desperately needs your continued prayers.
We have dug up the text of this legislation for your information. Red text is our comment.
The Freedom of Choice Act
To prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference by the government with a woman's right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes. Note the subtle language used here: "Bear a child or terminate a pregnancy." The sponsors clearly recognize that a child is the victim of abortion here. However, when this child is unwanted it's a "pregnancy" that is terminated. It's a blatant bit of verbal engineering.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Freedom of Choice Act'. Father John Corapi has an excellent commentary on the use of the word "choice." He notes that it's the only time we don't finish the sentence. For example, we have the choice to go to a movie or get a dog. But the pro-abortion crowd won't elaborate on the type of choice they are promoting because it's clearly evil.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States was founded on the principles of individual liberty, personal privacy, and equality. Such principles ensure that each individual is free to make the most intimate decisions free from governmental interference and discrimination. We have always been under the impression that the United State was founded on the principles of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. It goes without saying that all of these rights depend on the right to life.
(2) A woman's decision to commence, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy is one of the most intimate decisions an individual ever faces. As such, reproductive health decisions are best made by the woman, in consultation with her medical provider or loved ones, without governmental interference. We've got another bit of rhetorical engineering with the use of the phrase "reproductive health." There is nothing reproductive nor healthy about killing a pre-born child. When a woman becomes pregnant, it means the reproductive system IS working. This bill treats pregnancy as a disease.
(3) In 1965, in Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479), and in 1973, in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113) and Doe v. Bolton (410 U.S. 179), the Supreme Court recognized the right to privacy protected by the Constitution and that such right encompassed the right of every woman to weigh the personal, moral, and religious considerations involved in deciding whether to commence, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy. Despite these court decisions, the so-called right to privacy does not exist anywhere in the Constitution. Would we as a society be willing to allow any other atrocities as long as they were conducted in private?
(4) The Roe v. Wade decision carefully balanced the rights of women to make important reproductive (Again, there is nothing reproductive about abortion.) decisions with the state's interest in potential life. (Are pre-born babies only potential lives? Let's see. They possess a beating heart, brainwaves, an entirely unique set of 46 chromosomes worth of DNA. They carry out each and every life process recognized by biologists. Scientifically and medically, a pre-born child is a life. The use of the word potential is dishonest.) Under Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy is absolute only prior to fetal viability, with the state permitted to ban abortion after fetal viability except when necessary to protect the life or health of a woman. Note that "health of the mother" has been used to cover nearly any excuse for an abortion, such as financial health.
(5) These decisions have protected the health and lives of women in the United States. Prior to the Roe v. Wade decision, an estimated 1,200,000 women each year were forced (Forced?! In addition to being untrue, this is an insult to women who actually are forced to undergo abortion by oppressive governments.) to resort to illegal abortions, despite the known hazards that included unsanitary conditions, incompetent treatment, infection, hemorrhage, disfiguration, and death. This number was announced by form abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson. Nathanson has since joined the pro-life movement and admitted that he fabricated this number. The real number of illegal abortions was less than 10 percent of this figure.
(6) According to one estimate, prior to 1973, as many as 5,000 women died each year in the United States as a result of having an illegal abortion. Another fabricated number. According to Dr. Nathanson, the real number was approximately 200-250.
(7) In countries where abortion remains illegal, the risk of complications and maternal mortality is high. According to the World Health Organization, of the approximately 600,000 pregnancy-related deaths occurring annually around the world, 80,000 are associated with unsafe abortions. The World Health Organization sadly continues to impose a radical pro-abortion campaign on the Third World.
(8) The Roe v. Wade decision expanded the opportunities for women to participate equally in society. In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (505 U.S. 833), the Supreme Court observed that, `[t]he ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.'. Unbelievable. Feminists should be outraged at any suggestion that women can only achieve equality by destroying what makes them feminine: their fertility.
(9) Even though the Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed a constitutional right to choose whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy, threats to that right remain, including possible reversal or further erosion by the Supreme Court of the right, and legislative and administrative policies at all levels of government that make abortion more difficult and dangerous to obtain.
(10) 87 percent of the counties in the United States have no abortion provider. Thanks be to God!
(11) Legal barriers to the full range of reproductive services endanger the health and lives of women.
(12) Women should have meaningful access to reproductive health services to prevent unintended pregnancies, thereby reducing the need for abortions. Study after study confirms that increased use of birth control leads to more abortions.
(13) To ensure that a woman's right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy is available to all women in the United States, Federal protection for that right is necessary. Basically, the government will impose abortion upon us whether we like it or not.
(14) Although Congress may not create constitutional rights without amending the Constitution, Congress may, where authorized by its enumerated powers and not prohibited by the Constitution, enact legislation to create and secure statutory rights in areas of legitimate national concern.
(15) Congress has the affirmative power under section 8 of article I of the Constitution and section 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution to enact legislation to facilitate interstate commerce and to prevent State interference with interstate commerce, liberty, or equal protection of the laws.
(16) Federal protection of a woman's right to choose to prevent or terminate a pregnancy falls within this affirmative power of Congress, in part, because--
(A) many women cross State lines to obtain abortions and many more would be forced (Again the use of the word "force" is insulting.) to do so absent a constitutional right or Federal protection;
(B) reproductive health clinics are commercial actors that regularly purchase medicine, medical equipment, and other necessary supplies from out-of-State suppliers; and
(C) reproductive health clinics employ doctors, nurses, and other personnel who travel across State lines in order to provide reproductive health services to patients.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Government- The term `government' includes a branch, department, agency, instrumentality, or official (or other individual acting under color of law) of the United States, a State, or a subdivision of a State.
(2) State- The term `State' means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory or possession of the United States.
(3) Viability- The term `viability' means that stage of pregnancy when, in the best medical judgment of the attending physician based on the particular medical facts of the case before the physician, there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the woman. Of course, as medicine improves, viability becomes earlier and earlier. This proves that viability as an absolutely arbitrary guideline. If a fetus is a human being after viability, do medical advances really change when human life begins?
SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE WITH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROHIBITED.
(a) Statement of Policy- It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. Again, we hear about choice and choosing. When our politicians talk about choice, we must ask "Is this what you mean?"
(b) Prohibition of Interference- A government may not--
(1) deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose--
(A) to bear a child;
(B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or
(C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or
(2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information. In other words, a government official making a pro-life speech could be vulnerable to a lawsuit for "discriminating" against the universal right to abortion.
(c) Civil Action- An individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (including relief against a government) in a civil action.
Let's consider the sort of laws that would be wiped off the books.
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which the provision is held to be unconstitutional, shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. 6. RETROACTIVE EFFECT.
This Act applies to every Federal, State, and local statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or implemented before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
The purpose and aim of 40 Days for Life is to pray for an end to abortion and other violence toward God's beautiful gift of life. While we are explicitly not an organization that deals with politics, sadly, the political realm cannot be overlooked. This is particularly true when civil authorities attempt to infringe on natural law and the right to life for all human beings. As Jesus told us, render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.
As prayer warriors for the poorest of the poor, there is a bill in the United States Congress right now that you need to know about. The Freedom of Choice Act is sponsored by numerous high-profile legislators, and Presidential Nominee Barack Obama has pledged that it is the first bill he will sign into law if elected president.
In short, the bill would wipe away any legal restrictions on abortion. Any restrictions whatsoever. While a 17-year old still needs a signed permission slip to participate on a class field trip to a museum, the Freedom of Choice Act would allow 12-year-olds to receive abortions, without parental consent. The absurdity and depravity of this potential law is beyond words. The nation desperately needs your continued prayers.
We have dug up the text of this legislation for your information. Red text is our comment.
The Freedom of Choice Act
To prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference by the government with a woman's right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes. Note the subtle language used here: "Bear a child or terminate a pregnancy." The sponsors clearly recognize that a child is the victim of abortion here. However, when this child is unwanted it's a "pregnancy" that is terminated. It's a blatant bit of verbal engineering.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Freedom of Choice Act'. Father John Corapi has an excellent commentary on the use of the word "choice." He notes that it's the only time we don't finish the sentence. For example, we have the choice to go to a movie or get a dog. But the pro-abortion crowd won't elaborate on the type of choice they are promoting because it's clearly evil.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States was founded on the principles of individual liberty, personal privacy, and equality. Such principles ensure that each individual is free to make the most intimate decisions free from governmental interference and discrimination. We have always been under the impression that the United State was founded on the principles of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. It goes without saying that all of these rights depend on the right to life.
(2) A woman's decision to commence, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy is one of the most intimate decisions an individual ever faces. As such, reproductive health decisions are best made by the woman, in consultation with her medical provider or loved ones, without governmental interference. We've got another bit of rhetorical engineering with the use of the phrase "reproductive health." There is nothing reproductive nor healthy about killing a pre-born child. When a woman becomes pregnant, it means the reproductive system IS working. This bill treats pregnancy as a disease.
(3) In 1965, in Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479), and in 1973, in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113) and Doe v. Bolton (410 U.S. 179), the Supreme Court recognized the right to privacy protected by the Constitution and that such right encompassed the right of every woman to weigh the personal, moral, and religious considerations involved in deciding whether to commence, prevent, continue, or terminate a pregnancy. Despite these court decisions, the so-called right to privacy does not exist anywhere in the Constitution. Would we as a society be willing to allow any other atrocities as long as they were conducted in private?
(4) The Roe v. Wade decision carefully balanced the rights of women to make important reproductive (Again, there is nothing reproductive about abortion.) decisions with the state's interest in potential life. (Are pre-born babies only potential lives? Let's see. They possess a beating heart, brainwaves, an entirely unique set of 46 chromosomes worth of DNA. They carry out each and every life process recognized by biologists. Scientifically and medically, a pre-born child is a life. The use of the word potential is dishonest.) Under Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy is absolute only prior to fetal viability, with the state permitted to ban abortion after fetal viability except when necessary to protect the life or health of a woman. Note that "health of the mother" has been used to cover nearly any excuse for an abortion, such as financial health.
(5) These decisions have protected the health and lives of women in the United States. Prior to the Roe v. Wade decision, an estimated 1,200,000 women each year were forced (Forced?! In addition to being untrue, this is an insult to women who actually are forced to undergo abortion by oppressive governments.) to resort to illegal abortions, despite the known hazards that included unsanitary conditions, incompetent treatment, infection, hemorrhage, disfiguration, and death. This number was announced by form abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson. Nathanson has since joined the pro-life movement and admitted that he fabricated this number. The real number of illegal abortions was less than 10 percent of this figure.
(6) According to one estimate, prior to 1973, as many as 5,000 women died each year in the United States as a result of having an illegal abortion. Another fabricated number. According to Dr. Nathanson, the real number was approximately 200-250.
(7) In countries where abortion remains illegal, the risk of complications and maternal mortality is high. According to the World Health Organization, of the approximately 600,000 pregnancy-related deaths occurring annually around the world, 80,000 are associated with unsafe abortions. The World Health Organization sadly continues to impose a radical pro-abortion campaign on the Third World.
(8) The Roe v. Wade decision expanded the opportunities for women to participate equally in society. In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (505 U.S. 833), the Supreme Court observed that, `[t]he ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.'. Unbelievable. Feminists should be outraged at any suggestion that women can only achieve equality by destroying what makes them feminine: their fertility.
(9) Even though the Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed a constitutional right to choose whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy, threats to that right remain, including possible reversal or further erosion by the Supreme Court of the right, and legislative and administrative policies at all levels of government that make abortion more difficult and dangerous to obtain.
(10) 87 percent of the counties in the United States have no abortion provider. Thanks be to God!
(11) Legal barriers to the full range of reproductive services endanger the health and lives of women.
(12) Women should have meaningful access to reproductive health services to prevent unintended pregnancies, thereby reducing the need for abortions. Study after study confirms that increased use of birth control leads to more abortions.
(13) To ensure that a woman's right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy is available to all women in the United States, Federal protection for that right is necessary. Basically, the government will impose abortion upon us whether we like it or not.
(14) Although Congress may not create constitutional rights without amending the Constitution, Congress may, where authorized by its enumerated powers and not prohibited by the Constitution, enact legislation to create and secure statutory rights in areas of legitimate national concern.
(15) Congress has the affirmative power under section 8 of article I of the Constitution and section 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution to enact legislation to facilitate interstate commerce and to prevent State interference with interstate commerce, liberty, or equal protection of the laws.
(16) Federal protection of a woman's right to choose to prevent or terminate a pregnancy falls within this affirmative power of Congress, in part, because--
(A) many women cross State lines to obtain abortions and many more would be forced (Again the use of the word "force" is insulting.) to do so absent a constitutional right or Federal protection;
(B) reproductive health clinics are commercial actors that regularly purchase medicine, medical equipment, and other necessary supplies from out-of-State suppliers; and
(C) reproductive health clinics employ doctors, nurses, and other personnel who travel across State lines in order to provide reproductive health services to patients.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Government- The term `government' includes a branch, department, agency, instrumentality, or official (or other individual acting under color of law) of the United States, a State, or a subdivision of a State.
(2) State- The term `State' means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory or possession of the United States.
(3) Viability- The term `viability' means that stage of pregnancy when, in the best medical judgment of the attending physician based on the particular medical facts of the case before the physician, there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the woman. Of course, as medicine improves, viability becomes earlier and earlier. This proves that viability as an absolutely arbitrary guideline. If a fetus is a human being after viability, do medical advances really change when human life begins?
SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE WITH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROHIBITED.
(a) Statement of Policy- It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. Again, we hear about choice and choosing. When our politicians talk about choice, we must ask "Is this what you mean?"
(b) Prohibition of Interference- A government may not--
(1) deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose--
(A) to bear a child;
(B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or
(C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or
(2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information. In other words, a government official making a pro-life speech could be vulnerable to a lawsuit for "discriminating" against the universal right to abortion.
(c) Civil Action- An individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (including relief against a government) in a civil action.
Let's consider the sort of laws that would be wiped off the books.
- Parental consent. Children could receive abortions without their parents consent. If you are a parent, this should send chills up your spine.
- Waiting periods. Abortion waiting period laws require patients to be provided with a certain number of days before they can procure an abortion. If the sponsors of this law were really concerned with choice, wouldn't they want to afford women the necessary time to choose correctly?
- Conscience clauses. Pro-life doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other medical professionals would not be allowed to refrain from participating in abortions. Pro-life hospitals would be required to offer them. Why don't these individuals and institutions get "freedom of choice."
- Partial-birth abortion ban. Yes, this grisly procedure in which a living baby is delivered breech up to the head before being stabbed to death would be once again legally protected.
- The Hyde Amendment. Currently, the Medicaid is not allowed to cover abortions. This would change as your tax dollars would immediately be funnelled to kill the preborn.
- Laws requiring that abortion patients receive information on fetal development. Again, why doesn't the pro-abortion movement want women to be able to make an informed choice?
- Doctor-0nly laws. Most states require licensed doctors to perform abortions. The Freedom of Choice Act would not require an abortion provider to have a medical license.
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which the provision is held to be unconstitutional, shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. 6. RETROACTIVE EFFECT.
This Act applies to every Federal, State, and local statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or implemented before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Fr. Jim Heyd visits 40 Days for Life Madison, Milwaukee
Father Jim Heyd of Priests for Life led 40 Days for Life Madison in prayer at the East Side Planned Parenthood on Saturday, October 18.
At 1:00, Father Heyd led vigil attendees in saying the Rosary. He then celebrated the Saturday evening Vigil Mass at St. Peter's Catholic Church. Father Heyd also celebrated four Sunday morning Masses at St. Peter's before heading to the 40 Days for Life Milwaukee vigil.
At 1:00, Father Heyd led vigil attendees in saying the Rosary. He then celebrated the Saturday evening Vigil Mass at St. Peter's Catholic Church. Father Heyd also celebrated four Sunday morning Masses at St. Peter's before heading to the 40 Days for Life Milwaukee vigil.
40 Days for Life Midpoint Prayer Services draws enthusiastic crowd
Pastors Keith M. Doyle and Ross Martin of Cornerstone Church in Waterloo, WI led 40 Days for Life Madison in prayer and song during the group's midpoint prayer service held on Thursday, October 16.
With the last rays of sunlight cast shadows in front of Planned Parenthood, Tom Lang welcomed the crowd of more than 30 Christians gathered to pray for an end to abortion. Martin then led the group in singing "Amazing Grace." Following another spirited hymn, Doyle offered an inspiring reflection on Psalm 139.
Lang provided closing remarks on the vitality and importance of the pro-life movement, and Martin complied as the crowd requested him to lead it in additional praise and worship songs.
Prayer service attendees were slow to disperse. Nearly a dozen remained praying in front of the abortion center several hours after the event ended.
An excerpt from Psalm 139
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
With the last rays of sunlight cast shadows in front of Planned Parenthood, Tom Lang welcomed the crowd of more than 30 Christians gathered to pray for an end to abortion. Martin then led the group in singing "Amazing Grace." Following another spirited hymn, Doyle offered an inspiring reflection on Psalm 139.
Lang provided closing remarks on the vitality and importance of the pro-life movement, and Martin complied as the crowd requested him to lead it in additional praise and worship songs.
Prayer service attendees were slow to disperse. Nearly a dozen remained praying in front of the abortion center several hours after the event ended.
An excerpt from Psalm 139
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
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