4/30/2009
Obama skirts questions on Notre Dame, FOCA at 100 Days press conference
Colleen Raezler from NewsBusters.org talked about this on her blog today. I think it solidifies the message to the pro-life community that Obama has no intention of slowing down his pro-abortion agenda.

CNN Reporter Ed Henry asked this question to President Barack Obama at last night’s press conference:

Henry: Mr. President. In a couple of weeks, you're going to be giving the commencement at Notre Dame. And, as you know, this has caused a lot of controversy among Catholics who are opposed to your position on abortion.

As a candidate, you vowed that one of the very things you wanted to do was sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which, as you know, would eliminate federal, state and local restrictions on abortion. And at one point in the campaign when asked about abortion and life, you said that it was above - quote, above my pay grade.

Now that you've been president for 100 days, obviously, your pay grade is a little higher than when you were a senator.

Do you still hope that Congress quickly sends you the Freedom of Choice Act so you can sign it?

Watch this, and see if you can pick out a straight answer to Henry’s question.

4/29/2009
Homeland Security document targets pro-lifers as potential terrorists
If you’re reading this blog entry, you might be a rightwing extremist.

In case you haven’t heard, the CPLC and everyone who supports the rights of life from conception to natural death is fair game for law enforcement officers around the country, according to a Department of Homeland Security report leaked in early April. The 10-page document, called Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, is the product of Janet Napolitano, our newly appointed pro-abortion U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS).

They should have called it “Obama’s REAL Vision: My plan to silence all the voices that don’t agree with my own.”

It’s shorter than the real title, and it’s not laced with bureaucratic jargon that hides the true intention of the report. The document also cites veterans, immigrants and evangelical Christians as possible terrorist threats. Click here to read for yourself

This is such a slap in the face to Catholics everywhere who are following the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI to use our God-given right to protect the dignity of life. It also violates our rights as United States citizens to freedom of speech and religious expression. We’re supposed to be protected under the Constitution against this very thing. Then, why are we being targeted as potential terrorist threats by the same government who is supposed to protect those rights?

Fighting Back
On April 15, the Thomas More Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against Napolitano, claiming the intelligence report “violates the civil liberties of combat veterans as well as American citizens by targeting them for disfavored treatment on account of their political beliefs.” Twenty-two groups, including the American Family Association and the Religious Freedom Coalition, are fighting back in their own way. They ran a full-page color ad in today’s Washington Times demanding Napolitano's removal, a retraction of the DHS report, and an apology from President Barack Obama.

Obama says he didn't know about the report until it was leaked, but we’ll talk about that later this week…

(Left: Janet Napolitano, DHS Secretary)


4/23/2009
CPLC talks truth about Ultrasound bill and Morning After Pill on CBS 11 and CW33
Karen Garnett, CPLC Executive Director, was interviewed in three different newscasts this week about the status of the Ultrasound bill and the Morning After Pill relaxed restrictions by the FDA.

"FDA's Plan B: Allow 17 Year Olds Access To Morning After Pill"





"Anti-Abortion Legislation Debate Continues"
Texas "Heartbeat" Bill Draws Debate From All Sides
Click below to watch video
4/21/2009
Memphis Planned Parenthood Breaks Federal Law
Planned Parenthood in Memphis, Tennessee is the latest abortion site to get caught breaking federal law. Watch the footage below from Live Action.

4/16/2009
Archbishop Dolan of New York
The New Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, had this to say in his installation homily about the most important issues of our time:

"The Resurrection of Jesus goes on in our apostolate for the struggling, searching, and marginalized, as thousands of those closest to Christ’s Sacred Heart—the hungry, homeless, sick, troubled, and immigrants--find solace and help in our Catholic charities and healthcare.

. . . the Resurrection goes on, as His Church continues to embrace and protect the dignity of every human person, the sanctity of human life, from the tiny baby in the womb to the last moment of natural passing into eternal life.

As the Servant of God Terrence Cardinal Cooke wrote, “Human life is no less sacred or worthy of respect because it is tiny, pre-born, poor, sick, fragile, or handicapped.” Yes, the Church is a loving mother who has a zest for life and serves life everywhere, but she can become a protective “mamma bear” when the life of her innocent, helpless cubs is threatened.

Everyone in this mega-community is a somebody with an extraordinary destiny. Everyone is a somebody in whom God has invested an infinite love. That is why the Church reaches out to the unborn, the suffering, the poor, our elders, the physically and emotionally challenged, those caught in the web of addictions."

Picture from Whispers in the Loggia
4/15/2009
Reality of the Conscience Clause: Doctor says “I’ll go to jail before I perform an abortion.”
The medical community is speaking out against Obama’s desire to repeal the Conscience Clause.



Need more clarification?



The time for calling the White House to let them know what you think has expired. If you didn’t get to call or send a letter, don’t be discouraged. Remember, the final battle has already been won for us.

Keep those prayers coming because we have the direct line to the highest authority!
4/14/2009
China feels 1.1 million worth of hurt over selective abortion
China is feeling the affects of killing its female population in the womb.

According to a
study from BMJ, a London-based peer reviewed medical journal, males under the age of 20 exceed females by more than 32 million in China. Also, more than 1.1 million excess births of boys occurred during 2005, the year of the study.

"China’s one-child policy is one of the most controversial social policies ever implemented. The policy reduced the fertility rate and has helped raise living standards for most people in China, but it has been heavily criticised for violating human rights and having many negative social consequences, one of which is an excess number of male births.

China, like other East Asian countries, has a cultural tradition of a preference for sons. In these countries, people think that only sons can continue the family line, and sons—rather than daughters—are responsible for their parents in illness and old age."
(Click here to read more)

Report: Boy-heavy China faces impending crime spike

"The report paints a grim picture for a modernizing China. ‘If you’ve got highly sexed young men, there is a concern that they will all get together and, with high levels of testosterone, there may be a real risk, that they will go out and commit crimes,’ lecturer Therese Hesketh told the Associated Press."

No, duh. Anyone who has ever been in a room full of boys can see this as a possibility. My cousin, whom I love like a brother, brought his four boys aged 8 months-6 years over on Sunday for Easter and a birthday party. They were only there for an hour, but they came in like a tornado and left only a flurry of confetti and candy wrappers in their wake.

This is what happens when we think we know better than the way God planned us biologically and physiologically. Things get out of whack and out of control.

I don’t know what’s going to happen with China, but the rest of the world - take notice. Here there,
Hong Kong, India and Vietnam, I’m talking to you.
4/13/2009
400-500 Prayed and Hoped at Fairmount Abortion Clinic on Good Friday
Here at the Catholic Pro-Life Committee, we had the day off last Friday in honor of Good Friday. I had planned on getting an early start in driving home to San Marcos for the weekend to visit my parents. Instead, I decided to stay and take part in praying at Fairmount Abortion Clinic on Friday morning.

It was worth the traffic.

Fairmount Abortion Clinic is tucked away on a small street at the edge of uptown, just a few blocks away from the Cathedral Guadalupe where we had the Pro-Life rally in January. It was fitting that we were there on Good Friday, the day our Lord died. So many children are ripped from their mother’s wombs there, so many mothers have unknowingly committed their greatest regret there.

So, it was there that Fr. Paul from Cistercian Abbey led about 400-500 people in praying the Pro-Life Stations of the Cross, the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The sun was out, but it was still chillier than most people expected for early April in Texas. Despite that, parents, babies, families, single people (like myself), older couples, and high school, junior high, college students on break from school lined both sides of the street across the block.

Father’s voice could not extend to all of us, so he spoke through a headset microphone while we huddled around walkie-talkies waiting to be led.

We weren’t the only ones out there. The “Clinic Support” wearing t-shirts of the same name, some volunteers, some paid, all with the intention to make sure our presence didn’t interfere with the day’s business over at Fairmount Abortion Center. Just because it was a holiday weekend didn’t mean the killings stopped. That’s not good for revenue, after all.

We prayed and sung and prayed some more in hopes that one day there won’t be a need to stand in front of buildings like Fairmount Abortion Center. We pray that one day, there won’t be anymore abortion centers to stand in front of because they will all be shut down.

But until that day, we go and we stand and we pray with our Rosaries, and we hope. That’s what we can do.
4/09/2009
Adult stem cells cure Dallas boy of sickle cell anemia
The adult stem cells taken from his little brother’s umbilical cord saved Joseph Davis Jr.’s life.

The Davis family testified in front of the Texas legislature in 2008, advocating House Bill 709, which required that a brochure be provided to pregnant women with educational information concerning the collection, donation, processing and storage of umbilical cord blood – a rich source of adult stem cells. The bill passed and is now a state law in Texas.

Video Courtesy of Texas Alliance for Life

Read more about the Davis Family in the April 2009 issue of Dallas Child magazine.
4/08/2009
Hey Oprah -- “The stem cell debate is over.”
Dr. Oz tells Michael J. Fox, Oprah and an audience of millions that embryonic stem cells don’t work when it comes to curing diseases.


Pope Benedict XVI officially endorsed adult stem-cell research in September 2006. (read more)

The Catholic Church is against embryonic stem cell research because of the live-destroying way the stem cells are gathered. Based on science, embryonic stem cell tests have shown to not only not cure diseases, but subjects have grown cancerous tumors from the experiments.

Just a few of the hundreds of non-embryonic stem cell medical breakthroughs:

Cord Blood Can Be Used To Treat Adult Leukemia
08/21/2008

Cord Blood Stem Cells May Help Repair Babies' Heart Defects
10/10/2008

Stem Cell Hope for Bone Fractures
02/18/2008

Can child's umbilical-cord blood be used to treat his own cerebral palsy?
04/07/2008

Researchers find ‘exciting’ umbilical stem cell breakthrough
08/19/2005
4/07/2009
Another disappointing appointment by President Obama
Obama Names Pope-Basher to Faith-Based Initiative Board

President Barack Obama has named Harry Knox as director of the "religion and faith program," the federal government’s new faith-based initiative. Last month, Knox described Pope Benedict XVI and certain Catholic bishops as “discredited leaders” because of their opposition to same-sex marriage.



Here's a good blog that also discusses this unfortunate and dissapointing appointment on President Obama's part. Read posts from earlier this week to learn more about Obama's other appointments.

Abortion: "Some truths are absolute"
When will President Obama connect the dots?

Last chance to protect the rights of health care workers
From our friends at Americans United for Life

Dear Friend,

Imagine if the only doctor you could find to deliver your baby was also an abortionist.

That's Planned Parenthood's new goal -- to run every pro-life healthcare provider out of the medical profession. According to David Stevens of the Christian Medical Association, a Planned Parenthood lawyer told him in a recent debate on National Public Radio (NPR), "If you are unwilling to provide a legal healthcare procedure, you have no business being a doctor."

In other words, if you're a doctor who is not willing to perform an abortion, get another job.

Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented an important rule that forbids hospitals and other healthcare programs who receive American tax dollars from discriminating against pro-life doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers.

Now President Obama wants to overturn it.

This radical agenda of Planned Parenthood will cause thousands of healthcare workers to be targeted with discrimination claims by allies of the pro-abortion lobby.

Is your obstetrician pro-life? Planned Parenthood would prefer that you have no doctor at all than for your doctor to be pro-life. Shortages in doctors already exist -- one-third of rural woman live in counties with no OB/GYN.

U.S. Senator and practicing obstetrician Dr. Tom Coburn told CNSNews.com that he was willing to defy the law if President Obama tries to force pro-life doctors into doing abortions:

"I think a lot of us will go to jail. Let’s see them prosecute the first one of us for not doing that."

AUL and AUL Action joined with allied groups to create the Freedom2Care coalition and fight back.

Right now, HHS is accepting comments from you about whether they should keep or rescind these important regulations protecting pro-life healthcare professionals. Whether you're a patient or healthcare professional, I need you to send your message to HHS through the Freedom2Care.org website and tell them to keep the rules in place and prevent discrimination against pro-life doctors.

Patients -- Comment Here
Healthcare Professionals -- Comment Here
Deadline: Midnight, Thursday April 9

In addition, please contact your Members of Congress and ask them to support conscience protections for pro-life healthcare providers.

Patients Contact Congress Here
Healthcare Professionals Contact Congress Here

We can't allow Planned Parenthood and their pro-abortion allies to force pro-life professionals out of medicine. Please stand with me today in defending their right to keep caring for us.

For life,
Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.
President & CEO AUL Action
4/06/2009
Gianna Jessen: Abortion was my beginning...
There are many ways we are touched by abortion. Maybe we know a friend or relative who has made the painful mistake of killing their child or we’ve seen the young girls climb the steps of the abortion clinics on a Saturday morning. Gianna Jessen has been uniquely touched. A botched abortion brought her into the world. And by a chance occurrence (that was not so chance), she was taken to a hospital instead of left to die in the room where she was accidently born.

Baby Gianna was diagnosed with cerebral palsy due to the lack of oxygen to her fragile system from when the abortionist was trying to kill her in her mother’s womb. Her mother placed her for adoption. Her father was no where to be seen.

Gianna has more reason than most people to hate the world and to hate life, but she doesn’t. She fights for it with love, humor, wit and charm. She perseveres to the point of pain in the hopes of spreading the message of courage that is the testimony of her life.

She was featured in the BornAliveTruth.org ads that were featured in last year’s presidential election campaign, and she was our speaker at this year’s 16th Annual Bishop’s Catholic Pro-Life Dinner on March 28.



We’ve gotten lots of phone calls and emails asking of people asking where they can see the talk from that night. We wanted you to know we’re working on how we can get this talk to you so that you can share with those who couldn’t make it to the sold-out event, and we’ll keep you posted.

Until then, here are some of my favorite quotes of her from the dinner.

“I pray for the unprecedented willingness to be hated. Because if I can love you while you hate me, then I win.”

“I think I have so much joy because I was schooled in the school of adversity.”

“Beautiful things take time.”

“Just because I limp, doesn’t mean I want to marry an ugly guy. I want him hot and Godly. Just being honest,” Jessen said to a packed room full of laughs and applause.


Google “Gianna Jessen youtube” to see more of Gianna at other events.
4/03/2009
In the News…
Sorry for the lack of blog posts. We’ve been in Bishop’s Pro-Life Dinner mode for the last couple of months. Here’s some of what's been going on around the country with abortion and human dignity.

Planned Parenthood
Arizona Congressman Calls for Investigation of Planned Parenthood After Alleged Rape Cover-Up
An Arizona congressman called on state officials to investigate Planned Parenthood after two new tapes surfaced allegedly catching clinics trying to hide statutory rape.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510797,00.html
Footage Showing Planned Parenthood of Arizona Covering Up Rape Sent to State Officials
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021106.html


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton receives Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s highest honor - the “Margaret Sanger Award” - on Friday, March 27.
Congressman Smith: Mrs. Clinton, choose either Our Lady of Guadalupe or Margaret Sanger
http://catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15575

Sanger Award a dubious one for Mrs. Clinton
At least one African-American pro-life leader is upset that Hillary Clinton has received Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger award.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=470726


President Barack Hussein Obama and Abortion
Obama Administration, Vatican Clash Over Abortion
Vatican officials said last weekend that they were disappointed by the president's decision to reverse the so-called Mexico City policy.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/28/obama-vatican-clash-abortion/

Obama Nominee Compares Being Pregnant To Slavery
The nominations of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (picured left) to be Health and Human Service Secretary and abortion rights attorney Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel have called in to doubt Mr. Obama’s credibility on abortion.
President Barack Obama Makes First Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick in David Hamilton
http://www.lifenews.com/nat4920.html

Pro-Abortion Groups Post ‘Wish List’ on Obama’s Web Site
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=41920

4/01/2009
ultrasound nonsense
The Texas Legislature is considering a bill that would give a woman the right to see an ultrasound of her baby before an abortion is performed on her.

The bill would mandate that abortionists make the ultrasound available for viewing, describe the medical condition of the fetus, the presence of internal and external organs, and the option to hear the heartbeat. There are no penalties for the abortionist or the woman if she refuses to hear or see any of this. The law would simply require that the abortionist make it available to her. If she turns away, then so be it.

Normally, one would think that those who are in favor of expansion of women's rights and the availability of the most accurate and up to date information would be in favor of this bill. After all, most abortionists already use ultrasound (they have to in order to know how far along the baby is) so there is not an additional burden placed on them, it would simply require them to turn the screen.

Abortion supporters though, don't think of it that way. I found 4 articles written by various supporters of abortion that talk about the ultrasound bill and in their own way, try to put fourth arguments as to why it is wrong.

The first one is a US News & World Report blog posting by Bonnie Erbe from March, 23rd of this year. The very title of her posting reveals problem # 1 with the reporting surrounding this bill: "Antiabortion Fanatics' New Invasive Attack: the Forced Ultrasound"

Really, a forced ultrasound? Actually, the text of the bill is clear that there is no force or compulsion used at all.

Let's see what the text of the bill actually says:

Sec. 171.0121. VIEWING PRINTED MATERIALS AND ULTRASOUND IMAGE. a) A pregnant woman may choose not to view the printed materials provided under Section 171.012(a)(3) after she has been provided the materials. (b) A pregnant woman may avert her eyes from the ultrasound images required to be provided to and reviewed with the pregnant woman under Section 171.012(a)(4). (c) The physician and the pregnant woman are not subject to a penalty under this chapter solely because the pregnant woman chooses not to view the printed materials or the ultrasound images as described by this section.

There is no place in the bill that talks about a woman being forced to view an ultrasound, hear a description of the baby's development or listen to the heartbeat. The bill says the exact opposite.

The rest of her blog post is spent attacking pro-lifers, calling us "fanatics," and the "überright" and she makes no attempt at justifying her position that viewing an ultrasound is the "most invasive type of moralistic lecture imaginable."

Another written piece is from the distinguished editorial board of the Austin-American Statesmen, a local newspaper in Austin. The editorial from March 2nd, 2009 is entitled "Ultrasound bill is an outrageous intrusion by the Texas Legislature: Sen. Patrick's bill to shame women seeking abortions is wrongheaded."

Here's the catch line in the first paragraph: "Now comes an intrusive bill mandating that pregnant women seeking an abortion be force-fed information designed to humiliate them."

Force-fed? Wow! Can someone show me where that is in the bill? I can't find it.

The third article comes from a local high school student, Erin Goldman a senior at Greenhill School in Dallas. Embarrassingly, Erins article presents the most logical arguments against the ultrasound bill than the other articles mentioned above, but even hers manages to get the facts wrong.

Here is an example of what I mean. Erin writes: "Abortion is an unbelievably difficult choice for any woman to make, and her decision should remain between her and her doctor. In Texas, it is legal to have an abortion before the third trimester; it is a woman's right to choose. Where's the choice in mandating that women view an ultrasound as a prerequisite to abortion? "

Erin, the choice is written in the text of the bill itself, which you would know if you had taken the time to read it! But it is clear you did not.

My advice for all three of these writers: Before you write a column blasting proposed legislation, make sure you actually read the legislation first. And, if the thinking above and the writing of the articles is the sum of the opposition, then I am more convinced than ever of the need to pass this bill.

And finally, for amusement reading only, take a peek at the testimony of a former NARAL Texas staffer about the ultrasound bill. I could find no coherent argument in her writing, she seemed to be writing only to insult as many people as possible. More amusing and incoherent writing about the Kansas ultrasound bill (just passed last week) can be found here.

Let's cut through the rhetoric and the propaganda and get to the heart of the matter. That's what ultrasounds do, so should we.

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Prominent Catholic College to honor Prominent World Leader
What is America's most prominent Catholic college? I think it's time to start calling Christendom College in Virginia our most prominent Catholic college.

Read this press release.