40 Days for Life

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Today also starts the beginning of the 40 days for life campaign. For devotionals, go to this site:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/getinvolved.cfm?selected=spring2009day01

Pro-life marchers turn Obama's call for change against him at march

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MARCH-SPEAKERS (UPDATED) Jan-22-2009 (850 words) With photos. xxxn

By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Barack Obama and his vocal support of abortion came under fire from members of Congress, clergy and pro-life activists during the opening rally of the 36th annual March for Life.

For nearly two hours Jan. 22, a crowd estimated at 100,000 listened to three dozen speakers pledge to fight efforts to expand the availability of abortion and to oppose any increases in federal funding for agencies that perform abortions.

The crowd's disdain for Obama's views on abortion offered a sharp contrast to the exuberance that nearly 2 million people showered on the 44th president at his inauguration on the very same grounds 48 hours earlier.

Speakers took an almost defiant stand against the new president in pledging to reverse the 1970s era Supreme Court decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton that recognized abortion as a constitutional right and overturned state laws against abortion.

Rarely mentioning Obama by name and referring to him repeatedly as "Mr. President," Nellie Gray, president of the March for Life Fund which annually sponsors the march, invited the nation's first African-American leader to discuss "important changes" in his stance "and we want to discuss that today."

To become a president of all people, as he has pledged, Gray urged the president to take steps to end legal abortion during his presidency.

"Mr. President, you are a great orator, and we appreciate the great words ... but you must also be a great doer of the deeds to overturn the illicit Roe v. Wade and fulfill your responsibility to make right and proper changes as president of the United States and president of all the people," she said.

Obama issued a statement Jan. 22 saying the Roe decision stands for the broad principle that "government should not intrude on our most private family matters."

The president reiterated his position that he is "committed to protecting a women's right to choose" and called for both sides to work toward common ground to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make.

More than two dozen Republican members of Congress also were on hand, speaking a total of 45 minutes about their plans to introduce legislation to limit funding to agencies performing abortions, overturn Roe v. Wade or to fund programs that support pregnant women, giving them a better chance of carrying their children to term.

Several of the elected officials called abortion a civil rights issue, drew parallels with slavery and urged the crowd to maintain their courageous stance opposing abortion.

Rev. Luke J. Robinson of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church in Frederick, Md., an African-American, recalled the celebration during the week leading up to the March for Life, including the Jan. 19 holiday marking the 80th anniversary of the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Obama's inauguration Jan. 20.

He said having Obama as president marks a partial fulfillment of Rev. King's dream of equality for all and a more just society.

As the jubilation of the week subsided, Rev. Quinn called for a change in the nation's abortion policies and urged Obama to be that agent of change.

"I am praying that God's hand will lead him in righteousness and justice," he said. "Today, Thursday, Jan. 22, we come here to deal with some unfinished business as it relates to the dream. We need change now more than ever.

"We are calling on the president of change to be an agent of change as it relates to the lives of more than 1 million children who will be slaughtered in his first year as president of the United States by a horrible injustice called abortion," he said.

Former Rep. Bob Dornan of California delivered a caustic assessment of Obama's comments from his inaugural address.

Paraphrasing the president's speech, Dornan said, "We will not apologize for our way of life -- I add our love of life -- nor will we waiver in its defense. And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror -- the terror of abortion -- and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us and we will defeat you."

"I add we will defeat you," Dornan said, the pitch of his gravelly voice rising, "and defeat the culture of death or we will perish as a nation."

Near the rally's end Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia introduced to loud applause 23 Catholic prelates representing both the Latin and Eastern rites, including Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston and Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington.

"All of the Catholic bishops are in solidarity with this wonderful group," he said.

In his closing prayer, Auxiliary Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Washington prayed for world peace, a solution to the economic crisis gripping the globe, and the continued commitment of the marchers as well as policymakers and elected officials so that they work to support all life.

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National Sanctity of Human Life Day

+JMJ+ WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 /Christian Newswire/ — The following text is A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America: National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2009: All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

Respect Life Sunday

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Cardinal Rigali's Statement for Respect Life Sunday
10/3/2008
Zenit News Agency (www.zenit.org)

We face the threat of a federal bill that, if enacted, would obliterate virtually all the gains of the past 35 years and cause the abortion rate to skyrocket. The "Freedom of Choice Act."


"In this Respect Life Month, let us rededicate ourselves to defending the basic rights of those who are weakest and most marginalized: the poor, the homeless, the innocent unborn, and the frail and elderly who need our respect and our assistance. In this and in so many ways we will truly build a culture of life."
VATICAN CITY (Zenit) - Here is the statement ofCardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia,Chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities for this weekend's Respect Life Sunday. The theme for this year is "Hope and Trust in Life."

"On October 5, 2008, Catholics across the United States will again celebrate Respect Life Sunday. Throughout the month of October, Catholic parishes and organizations will sponsor hundreds of educational conferences, prayer services, and opportunities for public witness, as well as events to raise funds for programs assisting those in need. Such initiatives are integral to the Church's ongoing effort to help build a culture in which every human life without exception is respected and defended.

Education and advocacy during Respect Life Month address a broad range of moral and public policy issues. Among these, the care of persons with disabilities and those nearing the end of life is an enduring concern. Some medical ethicists wrongly promote ending the lives of patients with serious physical and mental disabilities by withdrawing their food and water, even though -- or in some cases precisely because -- they are not imminently dying. This November, the citizens of Washington State will vote on a ballot initiative to legalize doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. In neighboring Oregon, where assisted suicide is already legal, the state has refused to cover the cost of life-sustaining treatments for some patients facing terminal illness, while callously informing them that Oregon will pay for suicide pills. Such policies betray the ideal of America as a compassionate society honoring the inherent worth of every human
being.

Embryonic stem cell research also presents grave ethical concerns. The Catholic Church strongly supports promising and ethically sound stem cell research -- and strongly opposes killing week-old human embryos, or human beings at any stage, to extract their stem cells. We applaud the remarkable therapeutic successes that have been achieved using stem cells from cord blood and adult tissues. We vigorously oppose initiatives, like the one confronting Michigan voters in November, that would endorse the deliberate destruction of developing human beings for embryonic stem cell research.

Turning to abortion, we note that most Americans favor banning all abortion or permitting it only in very rare cases (danger to the mother's life or cases of rape or incest). Also encouraging is the finding of a recent Guttmacher Institute study that the U.S. abortion rate declined 26% between 1989 and 2004. The decline was steepest, 58%, among girls under 18. An important factor in this trend is that teens increasingly are choosing to remain abstinent until their late teens or early 20s. Regrettably, when they do become sexually active prior to marrying, many become pregnant and choose abortion -- the abortion rate increased among women aged 20 and older between 1974 and 2004, although the rate is now gradually declining.

Today, however, we face the threat of a federal bill that, if enacted, would obliterate virtually all the gains of the past 35 years and cause the abortion rate to skyrocket. The "Freedom of Choice Act" ("FOCA") has many Congressional sponsors, some of whom have pledged to act swiftly to help enact this proposed legislation when Congress reconvenes in January.FOCA establishes abortion as a "fundamental right" throughout the nine months of pregnancy, and forbids any law or policy that could "interfere" with that right or "discriminate" against it in public funding and programs. If FOCA became law, hundreds of reasonable, widely supported, and constitutionally sound abortion regulations now in place would be invalidated. Gone would be laws providing for informed consent, and parental consent or notification in the case of minors. Laws protecting women from unsafe abortion clinics and from abortion practitioners who are not physicians would be overridden.

Restrictions on partial-birth and other late-term abortions would be eliminated. FOCA would knock down laws protecting the conscience rights of nurses, doctors, and hospitals with moral objections to abortion, and force taxpayers to fund abortions throughout the United States. We cannot allow this to happen. We cannot tolerate an even greater loss of innocent human lives. We cannot subject more women and men to the post-abortion grief and suffering that our counselors and priests encounter daily in Project Rachel programs across America.

For twenty-four years, the Catholic Church has provided free, confidential counseling to individuals seeking emotional and spiritual healing after an abortion, whether their own or a loved one's. We look forward to the day when these counseling services are no longer needed, when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law. If FOCA is enacted, however, that day may recede into the very distant future.

In this Respect Life Month, let us rededicate ourselves to defending the basic rights of those who are weakest and most marginalized: the poor, the homeless, the innocent unborn, and the frail and elderly who need our respect and our assistance. In this and in so many ways we will truly build a culture of life.

40 Days for Life

+JMJ+

Today starts the 40 Days for Life prayers. These prayers are specifically aimed at praying for the pro-life cause/end to abortion in our nation. As we all know, in 40 days, Americans will go to the polls to determine the next president. His agenda will either save or kill the unborn; consequently, we need to "storm heaven with our prayers" between now and then. Fasting is an additional practice could undertake for this cause. The link is here.

The Catholic Vote

This video says it all:

Remebering Terri Schiavo

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NEW YORK, Dec. 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation and Priests for Life have jointly announced the establishment of the "International Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Terri Schindler Schiavo, and All of Our Vulnerable Brothers and Sisters" ("Terri's Day"), to be observed each year on March 31, the date of Terri's death.

The purpose of the day, the groups explained, is to foster education, prayer, and activism regarding discrimination against the disabled, and advocacy for people in situations similar to what Terri and her family faced

Fr. Frank Pavone said, "Those of us who were with Terri will never forget her life and her death. For the sake of all the vulnerable, it is critically important that those who never knew Terri likewise remember the lessons that God taught us through her."

Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri's sister, adds "No family should ever have to witness what my family witnessed, watching a loved one slowly dehydrate to death. We want Terri's day to remind us all that persons with disabilities are never burdens and should be treated with nothing but our unconditional love and compassion."

In the early weeks of 2008, educational and prayer materials will be released that can be used by parishes, disability and pro-life groups and all communities to observe Terri's Day.

Priests for Life is the largest Catholic organization exclusively dedicated to fighting abortion and euthanasia.

Terri's Foundation is dedicated to promoting the Culture of Life, embracing the true meaning of compassion by opposing the practice of euthanasia.
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Sancta Familia notes that today is the first day this annual rememberence has been observed.