Father Frank Pavone from Priests for Life was on the program today and encouraged everyone to already start contacting your local representatives to tell them you do not want them supporting FOCA. The louder people are against this bill before it is even introduced, the better the chance it’ll show up D.O.A.
If you don’t know how to find your local representatives, check out the Priests For Life website here.
And yesterday Joe Campo from Grassroots Films stopped by. Be sure to check out the trailer for their new film, The Human Experience, as well as their other films!
My sense is that FOCA is already D.O.A. The Democrats would be very foolish indeed to ignite another round of culture wars, given the serious problems that face us as a nation.
I also personally believe that the bill is largely symbolic – that its provisions would change very little in terms of lives lost or saved, and that much of the discussion amongst Catholics on the issue is alarmist and counterproductive to the cause of life. We should certainly stand firmly against FOCA, but I’d like to see us stick to the facts when we do. It undercuts our credibility when we make unfounded claims about the speculated catastrophic effects of the legislation.
That being said, this issue will be an indicator of President Elect Obama’s commitment to uniting the nation, and his ability to keep his own party in line. If it is brought to the floor of either house of Congress it will be a sad day indeed.
Thanks for the great information and inspiration you present on the show. It always provokes much thought and prayer in our home.
Brian,
Not to compare apples to oranges, but I personally have little faith when people make largely symbolic measures. For some reason your comment made me think of the Council of Lambeth in 1930 when it was decided that in extreme circumstances, contraception MIGHT be permitted.
It took less than 80 years to make it an extreme circumstance when contraception MIGHT be denied.
If every restriction (and this is not alarmist, this is fact) to abortion is removed, I simply can’t understand how that will not increase abortions. If you make it easier for abortions, why would would fewer people use that service? It just seems odd to think that a bill would be considered symbolic when that same bill would make partial ban abortions fully legal (where they literally partially deliver a baby and then jab a needle in his/her neck to kill the him/her), where they will allow my tax dollars to be used to fund the creation and destruction of embryos (which I believe have souls), where girls as young as 13 can walk in and get an abortion without their parent ever being notified, all these things and more, I just don’t see the good in a bill supporting these things, even if they are “symbolic,” which I personally think would not be the case.
I will say that, knowing your affiliation, I do appreciate your view that it would be foolish to ignite another round of culture wars. But that video of Obama giving that speech to Planned Parenthood on July 17 continues to haunt me. Especially when he said, “On this I will not yield, and Planned Parenthood will not yield.”
You’re also right that this will be an indicator of his commitment to uniting the nation. But saying you want to reduce the need for abortions and then wanting to remove all restrictions to abortions just seems hypocritical on Obama’s part. And lastly, given that there are 1.4 million babies aborted in the U.S. each year, even if he somehow reduced the number by 1 million, that’s still 400,000 babies that will be murdered. To me, that’s still unacceptable.
When this country stops treating babies as commodities and property, that’s when we’ll start seeing some genuine “change.”
Thanks for the feedback, though. It is good to hear from you!
Greg,
Thank you for your response, it is what I would have wanted to say also. You are Jennifer and so good in explaining and expressing our Catholic faith; you two should be on the radio! 😉
Pax vobiscum
The new Obama reality:
Gift Certificates for an Abortion?
December 03, 2008 10:07 AM
Indiana’s Planned Parenthood is offering a unique option this winter. $25-$100 gift certificates that can be used for anything at the clinics from contraception to abortions. The Chicago Tribune reports today on the effort which is available in 35 clinics throughout the state. The CEO of the state’s Planned Parenthood is quoted by the paper as saying the reception has been “pretty robust, and generally favorable” and that the vast majority of those visiting Planned Parenthood are coming for basic health issues, not an abortion. The move has set off anger. Here’s an excerpt from the Chicago Tribune:
“PPIN’s move has enraged various anti-abortion organizations—Indiana Right to Life and the Indiana Family Institute among them. Jim Sedlak, vice president of the American Life League and executive director of Stop Planned Parenthood, an anti-abortion group based in Stafford, Va., condemns the certificates as a continuation of Planned Parenthood’s “annual attacks on the Christian community at Christmastime.”
“We are talking about what can be done,” Sedlak said. “Look, they [Planned Parenthood] could easily have said, ‘these certificates are not to be used for abortions.’ But they intentionally chose not to do that.”
Those who criticize the gift certificates, said PPIN’s Cockrum, are missing the forest for the trees. “We see 92,000 patients each year at Planned Parenthood of Indiana, and 5,000 of them opt for abortions,” Cockrum said. “Ninety-five percent of what we do is provide basic health care.”
from URL: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2008/12/gift-certificat.html
And how about the international version of FOCA? Pro- abortion groups are pushing for the UN to pass a resolution proclaiming abortion to be a universal “human right” on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this Wednesday, December 10. There’s an online petition , or a PDF can be printed out to collect signatures. We only have a couple of days to make a difference……