Silver linings
The loss on health care was very discouraging. However, there are always silver linings to be found. Here are a few:
- Some pseudo-Catholics came out from the woodwork, and took a stand directly against the voice of the American bishops. Will the bishops now have the courage to take official sanctions against these groups? Let us pray that they will.
- We found out that many of the “pro-life” Democrats are pro-life in name only. With some of the comments Bart Stupak has made lately, it’s pretty unclear whether he is actually pro-life at all. People will now think twice before voting for a Democrat who claims to be pro-life. For that matter, we need to investigate more thoroughly the pro-life credentials of any candidate for office, not just see whether they identify themselves as pro-life on a questionnaire.
- The health care reform (and the abortion coverage within it) was very unpopular, leading to hope that the Democratic majority in the House will be erased after this year’s elections.
What do we do now? We continue to fight even harder and keep the real goal in mind. Make no mistake; our goal is that abortion will be illegal, and that we will create a civilization of love such that abortion will not be even considered as an option. If we do that, the concerns about the health care plan will fade away. America is becoming more pro-life. The outcome this time does not change that.
One thing we need to get into the public consciousness is that the “no federal funding of abortion” claim in regards to the health care reform is a farce. It’s no more than an accounting gimmick. The important thing is that people know that the bill DOES specify that the government plan covers abortion.
In the short term, this was a failure, but that we even came close to derailing it with sizable Demoncratic majorities throughout the government is somewhat encouraging. There is still hope that this can be repealed or at least heavily modified before it begins to drain the lifeblood out of our country.
The Last Battle
The next couple weeks, one way or another, will mark the end of the long process of the national health care debate. Obama and the Democrat leaders will try to find enough votes in the House to pass the Senate version of the legislation, which was passed before Scott Brown took office.
The important things to know are in this article by Abp. Chaput. Besides the points that Abp. Chaput mentions, I would also add that the plan violates the Catholic social principle of subsidiarity.
There are three things we all must do:
1) Fast and pray this week! At least one diocese has declared a day of prayer and fasting today.
2) Contact your House representative.
3) Go to the StandWithStupak site to sign a petition and send a note to several key Democratic House members who have stood with Stupak in resisting this bill so far. It also has the phone numbers of several of the Representatives so you can call them directly.
Understanding our “enemy”
In order to defeat one’s enemy, one must understand them. In order to heal a disease, we must understand what that disease is. To most of us pro-lifers, it is nearly impossible for us to fathom what is going on in the head of someone who is “pro-choice”.
That is why this article is so very important. The article is written by Jennifer Fulwiler, who I have mentioned before in this blog, and explains the reasons why she was pro-choice before her conversion. To sum up a great article into three words, the reason was: the contraceptive mentality. This insidious mentality is behind nearly all of our sexual and family problems in the Western world today, and during Lent, I will be posting a series on how each problem is traceable back to contraception as the root.
If we are going to heal our society and once again instill a reverence for life, it will have to start with rooting out the contraceptive mentality. As people are starting to realize the harmful effects of non-natural foods, lotions, etc., this task may not be as overwhelmingly difficult as it seems.
Mourning today; hope for tomorrow
Today is a day of mourning for all loving people across the United States of America. 37 years and over 50 million lives have been snuffed out in the womb, and that doesn’t even include contraception-induced early abortions.
Pray the Rosary today that God will end this scourge. National opinion on the abortion issue seems to be trending in the right direction, and even the Democrats, with full control of our government, has thus far been mostly thwarted in their attempts to expand access to abortion. I attribute this to the 130,000+ Rosaries that have been pledged here, and the many millions of Rosaries that have surely been said throughout our land for pro-life intentions in the last 15 months or so.
It is unclear how Roe v. Wade will be overturned at this point, but with God and with unceasing prayer, all things are possible. Please recruit others to join the Rosaries for Life cause, and watch for exciting news over the next few months about the expansion of our apostolate.
Crunch Time to defeat Obamacare
Well, the latest is that the Senate version of Obamacare will be voted on this week or next by both the Senate and the House. If this is true, then the pro-life victory in the House which prohibited abortion coverage has been wiped out, and the version that will come to a final vote DOES contain coverage for abortion. Don’t be confused by claims that the bill is abortion-neutral or does not contain funding of abortion. The Senate bill, as currently stands, definitely DOES allow for abortions to be covered in the health care plan, and the most likely scenario is that the House will simply be voting on the Senate version without any chance to reinsert the pro-life Stupak amendment.
Public opinion is against this bill because of abortion, as well as other reasons. NOW is the time to make your voice heard to your Senators and Congressmen. For those of you that have Senators or Congressmen that will not be convinced by arguments about abortion (such as is the case with the Senators here in Minnesota), try using other reasons to make the case, such as the angle that the health care bill is a major expense at a time when our country can’t afford another money pit.
The best chance to defeat the bill is still in the House, so focus on your Congressmen, especially those of you who live in districts with more moderate Democrats who voted for the original Stupak amendment. Move your cursor over the Contact header on the main Rosaries for Life site to contact your Senators and Congressmen!
Don’t forget to fast and pray the Rosary for our nation in this critical time! If you have not already pledged your prayers, please do so!
Update: At US News and World Report, there is this informative report about the current abortion related issues in the health care bill.
Saddle up to stop Obamacare - beware deception!
I originally posted this last month, but it needs to be brought to the forefront again. This bill is going to pass within the next month, and WITH abortion coverage, unless there is a deluge of phone calls and E-mails to your senators and representatives in Congress. The latest is that Pelosi is going to try to ram through a version of the bill containing abortion before people can react to it. Let’s not let that happen.
Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. Even the left-leaning factcheck.org comes to the conclusion that the health care bill currently being proposed WOULD have coverage of abortion.
Don’t be fooled by Obama’s misleading statement in his speech to Congress that “no federal funds will pay for abortions” either. Many seem to have been fooled by this, including some elements within the USCCB. This DOES NOT mean that the plan does not COVER abortions (though that’s what he would like you to believe). It simply means (again from the factcheck.org article linked above):
The Capps amendment does contain a statement…that prohibits the use of public money to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. That would still allow the public plan to cover all abortions, so long as the plans took in enough private money in the form of premiums paid by individuals or their employers.
In other words, abortions ARE covered by the plan, but they are paid for using the premium revenues rather than the money that the government chips in. Very deceptive indeed, and probably an outright lie, since premiums, once received, are also federal funds. With this, any tiny bit of good will and honesty that I’d have liked to presume that this Administration had is gone. Go here for more details about this deception.
PLEASE get involved and let your senators and congressmen know how you feel. The “Contact” tab on our main site will get you to the right place. It is vitally important to the future of our country that we derail this plan.
For the best Catholic perspective I’ve seen on this health care bill, and health care issues in general as they relate to Catholic teaching, I HIGHLY recommend that you read the statement of Bishops Finn and Naumann of Kansas City. It is quite debatable whether this plan is the right plan for our country even if the legislation did not provide coverage for abortion, but as long as it does include abortion, we Catholics MUST oppose this with all of our might!
Keep your wallet closed for the CCHD
This story has been out for a few weeks, but hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which has an annual 2nd collection in Catholic parishes across the U.S., has been funding groups which support and promote abortion, contraception, same-sex marriage, and legalized prostitution.
Thanks to some whistleblowers, the problems are starting to be addressed, but the question remains as to how this went on for so many years in the first place! I want to see a good track record from the CCHD for a good long time, before any of my $$$$ will go to them.
Check out this report from LifeSiteNews for more details.
Cardinal O’Malley and Sen. Kennedy’s funeral
It has been an interesting week in the Catholic world. Many are debating the rectitude of Sen. Kennedy receiving a Church funeral. Personally, I don’t have a problem with Sen. Kennedy receiving a Church funeral…he does seem to have offered SOME evidence of repentance before his death, and perhaps there is more we do not know about.
However, the scandal of the matter is that while Sen. Kennedy’s sins are quite public (in his matter of supporting abortion rights), his repentance (if any) was quite private. For a public sin, the repentance should have also been public. That would have removed the scandal, but it didn’t happen. Also, Sen. Kennedy’s Democratic colleagues were permitted to partially turn the funeral into a canonization and a political circus. THAT should never have happened.
At any rate, give Cardinal O’Malley credit. He has forthrightly met his critics and explained why he attended the funeral. Among other things he says:
We are for the precious gift of life, and our task is to build a civilization of love. We must show those who do not share our belief about life that we care about them. We will stop the practice of abortion by changing the law, and we will be successful in changing the law if we change people’s hearts. We will not change hearts by turning away from people in their time of need and when they are experiencing grief and loss.
These are words worth considering. Love and mercy, not shunning, are more likely to change hearts. However, there is still the issue of scandal - seemingly giving approval and the veneer of acceptability to Sen. Kennedy and those who share his beliefs.
I posted the following on the Cardinal’s blog:
Thank you for giving an explanation – that helps! I agree with most of what you said, especially about showing mercy and love to all.
However, the Mass was overly politicized, and turned into a spectacle canonizing Sen. Kennedy and implying that his actions were generally in accord with Catholic principles.
I guess the question is: is abortion just another issue? Sen. Kennedy has (partial) responsibility for 50 million unborn babies on his soul. If he had maintained a principled pro-life position, things might be very different in America today. To take such a barbaric public position as he did over 35+ years, should have demanded also a public repentance and repudiation of that position.
Also, while we might commend Sen. Kennedy for his compassion for underprivileged Americans (at least for the fraction who survived to be born), let’s be clear that wanting to help the underprivileged does not ipso facto equate to big government programs. Jesus asked individuals to help the poor with personal interaction and love; He didn’t tell us all to band together to create a big government program that efficiently issues checks. Catholic Social teaching is thus not necessarily of a piece with the Democratic party agenda – this is a matter of prudential judgment, and indeed, arguably violates the Catholic principle of subsidiarity.
Your comments do help in alleviating the scandal that this funeral caused in the minds of many. Please continue to make it clear that it was an act of mercy and love to a soul that God created in His own image, and who showed at least SOME sign of repentance, and not in any way an endorsement of his tragic and barbaric support of abortion.
Personhood
Personhood is a dangerous word. It is a legal term, and any time it is used, it is usually used to EXCLUDE a given group of human beings from the group of “persons”. This enables them to be considered property, or to not have the very right to live. Recent examples, of course, include slavery, the Jews and others under Hitler, and now abortion throughout the world.
With advances in science, we should have progressed to the point where all human beings have the right to life and freedom just by virtue of being human beings. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case.
Fortunately, there’s a group called Personhood USA doing some good work in attempting to define the unborn as persons. This approach has already had success in North Dakota, Montana, and Mississippi. Given that it shifts the focus onto the unborn child, it would seem to be a promising strategy. Please check them out, and get involved if you feel so called.
The Myth of Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a myth which is used to push the use of contraception and abortion, especially in the Third World. The good folks at the Population Research Institute have created a short YouTube presentation (below) to expose the overpopulation school of thought as false.
Fast Tube by Casper
More information can be found at this site.
