Stop the Abortion Mandate in Healthcare Reform

Change is here, but not the kind of change we need when our tax dollars will be used to kill children in-utero. The proposal for health care reform currently includes abortion, disguised as "reproductive health," as part of a national plan. We as Americans would be forced into funding the so-called "choice" of abortion.

No matter how they want to spin it in Washington, abortion is not health. It is not healthy for the mother, it is not healthy for the child in the womb, and it is not healthy for our country. It does not belong as part of a national health care plan, and it is not "Pro-Choice" to force every American to pay to kill our children and our future.

Mothers in difficult situations need to be supported and encouraged. If anything, that money should go to support adoption centers and to help single mothers.

Please go to http://www.stoptheabortionmandate.com/ to see how you can have an impact.

Ex-Vatican Ambassador Rejects Award From Notre Dame

Mary Ann Glendon, 2007-2009 ambassador to the Vatican, has turned down an award from Notre Dame and an invitation to speak at their commencement ceremony.  Her decision is based on Notre Dame president's disregard of the position of the USCCB and the confusion introduced by being invited to share this platform with President Obama, who is severely at odds with the church on critical issues  of morality and justice.

Her letter:

Dear Father Jenkins,

When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty.

Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you that I would have to rewrite my speech. Over the ensuing weeks, the task that once seemed so delightful has been complicated by a number of factors.
First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops’ express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and that such persons “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution’s freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.

Then I learned that “talking points” issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:

*  “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal.

* “We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about.”

A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.

Finally, with recent news reports that other Catholic schools are similarly choosing to disregard the bishops’ guidelines, I am concerned that Notre Dame’s example could have an unfortunate ripple effect.

It is with great sadness, therefore, that I have concluded that I cannot accept the Laetare Medal or participate in the May 17 graduation ceremony.

In order to avoid the inevitable speculation about the reasons for my decision, I will release this letter to the press, but I do not plan to make any further comment on the matter at this time.
Yours Very Truly,

Mary Ann Glendon

Plea to Notre Dame President

As some of you may or may not know, Notre Dame is planning to welcome and honor President Obama as the commencement speaker this May.  I encourage all Christians to voice their disappointment at this action.  To do so, go to: www.NotreDameScandal.com. Below is the email I sent to the President of Notre Dame.

Dear Fr. Jenkins,

While I have not attended Notre Dame, I have always had great respect for the University.  However, I am very disappointed to hear that Notre Dame will host President Barack Obama as its commencement speaker this May.  While President Obama's election as the first African American President is a great milestone in overcoming race barriers, his pro-death initiatives are an outrage and a scandal.  In his first month of office and in the midst of an economic crisis, President Obama has redirected taxpayer money out of our country to fund the murder of foreign babies in the womb.  He continues his emphatic support for abortion, the Freedom of Choice Act and Planned Parenthood, which promotes promiscuity among youth, and makes money off this behavior through abortion.

 

For a Catholic University to honor and him is a direct offense to the teachings that Christ, and this would be a terrible scandal in a world that is in desperate need of moral courage and conviction, amidst the plague of moral relativism.

 

A decision to honor President Obama would be the final confirmation to me, and a large body of faithful Catholics, that Notre Dame is no longer a Catholic University, but a fully secularized, liberal institution, that has lost sight of its mission and commitment to the most important facet of true education and wisdom:  The teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

I trust that with prayer and meditation on the will of Christ, you will rescind the offer, and recommit to serving Christ as the foundation of the university.

 

I can only imagine how hard it will be to reject the opportunity for a sitting president to speak at your university. Criticism and ridicule will result from such an action.  But what an opportunity during Lent to walk with Christ who endured that verbal abuse and mocking on the way to the Cross.  I will pray for you to have that courage.

 

May God bless you, may the Holy Spirit give you strength. and may the Mother of God, "Notre Dame", obtain for you wisdom and peace,

Evangelization in the Digital World

Pope Benedict XVI has entered the digital world in this year of St. Paul. Use of the internet, as with everything, must be in moderation... yet it does offer

a powerful means to share the message of Christ in the modern age.

Check out the successor of Peter in one of his first on-line videos, speaking on this topic in English by clicking here

Tell Obama to say NO to FOCA!

I added the following comment to the our incoming president's sounding board on his very misguided views on "reproductive rights":

I encourage you to speak out against FOCA here, and anywhere your voice will be heard.  

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It is both shocking and disappointing that Mr. Obama is backing an organization like Planned Parenthood, which was born out of the eugenics movement, supported by its founder, Margaret Sanger.  an attempt to use contraceptive methods and abortion to eliminate non-whites: See http://www.blackgenocide.org/sanger.html

I was adopted, and fortunately my birthmother was both selfless and respectful of the fact that I was a life in her from the moment of conception.  Now,  I will not be silenced... and I will fight for my fellow Americans being slaughtered in the womb daily.  FOCA takes this barbaric act one step further.  How hypocritical is it to be anti-torture, but supportive of sticking a needle in a baby's head to have it's brain sucked out?  

Neither abortion nor contraception are matters of "health." They both exist to break something that is working: fertility.  Do not support FOCA

Abortion is torturous and cruel... Partial-Birth abortion is probably the most hideous crime against innocent human beings.  And we defend it by claiming we need to protect the health of a mother?  Nothing could be more damaging to a mother's mental, emotional and spiritual health than abortion!