Issues We Face

Highlights from Fall 2022 issue of Human Life Review (www.humanlifereview.com):

• Vicki Thorn was the founder of Project Rachel in 1984 in her Milwaukee archdiocese to console and heal women mourning their aborted children, a process that could take years for some. Today, Project Rachel is a nationwide ministry of the Catholic Church. Vicki, who died in 2022, is a hero to countless women (and men) who have repaired abortion-damaged lives
• Christopher Reeve (film’s Superman) and Michael J. Fox both promoted embryonic stem cell research, which has had little to show for its promises. A Nobel Prize-winning
  discovery revealed that adult stem cells could be used in place of stem cells from human embryos that are killed. “Healing born bodies need not be done at the expense of unborn human lives.”
• Regarding gender reassignment surgery: “If our pet dog leaped from our second-story window under the delusion it was a bird, we would not benignly endorse its choice of identity … Why don’t we react to our fellow deluded humans with similar seriousness?”
• Murchison, in “Farewell Roe,” says: “We seem as a nation, as a people, to desire a little of this and a little of that: not wholesale permission to abort and not a wholesale prohibition either.” States can now each make their own policies. “But in a moral debate, you need moral premises.” A vote or referendum won’t get the job done. “A multitude of women, over the past half-century, have grown accustomed, thank you, to the opportunities of deciding this or that ….” But at the same time, “moral codes binding on persons of both sexes have eroded.” Hence, it is okay, even a “right,” to abort a developing human being. “The pro-life cause in the 21st century consists in continuing, against hardship and rebuke to proclaim the moral worthiness of life yet unborn. We are not there, when it comes to abortion, nor anyplace close. Not yet.”

That is what the pro-life movement is about. We are not simply anti-abortion as we are so often painted to be. We are pro-life, pro the mystery of life, pro the wonder of life, pro the joy of life. And we are impelled to share this message with everyone. We need to bring the Gospel of Life
to the heart of every man and women and to make it penetrate every part of society.
John Cardinal O’Connor (1920-2000)

Caregiving is Pro-Life

The encyclical Gospel of Life recognizes the full range
of threats against human life… war, poverty, life….
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you
welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and
you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”
Matthew 25:34-36

How do you feed the hungry? You shop for your mother and stock her cupboard with nutritious food, take her out to lunch, or cook for her. You visit her in the nursing home, sit with her and her friends in the dining room, assisting those who need help by cutting their meat or spoon-feeding the weak.

How do you help the thirsty? You take your father out for a cup of coffee at his favorite coffee shop or split a beer with him while you watch Sunday football together. You give him ice chips to relieve the awful dryness, and swab his mouth when he cannot swallow.

You welcome a stranger by visiting with your beloved aunt who has forgotten who she is and who you are, reintroducing yourself every time. You clothe the naked when you do your uncle’s laundry. You care for the sick every time you accompany your mom to visit the doctor, bathe her feverish head, hold her in your arms to comfort her, change her diaper, and in a hundred other
gentle ways. You visit the imprisoned when he is a shut-in, unable to go where he wants to go. You keep him company and play Rummy or Checkers to pass the long hours.

You may not be able to add days to the life of a loved one, but you can add life to their days. [The Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization (halovoice.org)]

Take a Pill, Kill a Baby

After consulting with a doctor who is not pro-life, a woman can be prescribed chemical abortion, that is, abortion by two pills, which now accounts for more than 50% of all abortions in the USA. New York is now an official “sanctuary state” for abortion, offering abortion pills free to anyone. New Jersey Governor Murphy is also pushing this, as are several other states. Walgreens, CVS & Rite Aide will provide them over the counter.

Such pills put a woman at serious risk as they force her body to go into labor and expel the baby. The abortion is done in her home, in her bathroom, and sadly she will witness all that happens there. These pills can only be taken within the first 10 weeks after conception but no ultrasound is required before they are given. Because women no longer have to take the first dose of the abortion pills in the presence of a physician, it is impossible to know no whether they actually take the drugs or not – or whether abortions are forced on them without their consent.

Imagine the fallout for women as they deliver their dead baby alone without any follow up. What about women who are past the 10-week period? Who will be there if they see the remains and how will they process that? What if there are complications? The Life Legal Defense Foundation is currently involved in two malpractice lawsuits involving young women who were seriously injured by abortion drugs. When taken in the second trimester, abortion pills can cause uterine rupture, excessive bleeding, and other life-threatening injuries.

Two studies have found that chemical abortions have four times the complication rate as surgical abortions. One study used comprehensive data from the California Medicaid program from 2009 to 2010. Another analyzed 42,000 Finnish women who obtained abortions between
2000 and 2006. Loosening the regulations on chemical abortions will only increase those risks. [Michael New, LifeNews.com, 1/13/23]

The 2023 label removes the requirements for pill dispensers to advise patients that, should they require emergency care after taking the drug, they ought to let the emergency department healthcare providers know that they are undergoing a medication abortion.

With the government’s elimination of common-sense restrictions on dispensing abortion drugs, data on abortion rates and complications are unreliable at best. According to the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute, only 28 states require abortionists to report post-abortion
complications. This is exactly what Planned Parenthood and other abortionists want: zero factual reporting, zero accountability. It is clear what the federal administration leadership really wants. Thankfully, a lawsuit has been filed against the FDA. One of the plaintiffs is the American Assoc. of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Motherhood must be treated as a great end and a great task
in itself. For with it is connected the mother’s work in giving
birth, in feeding, and in rearing. No one can take her place.
Nothing can take the place of the heart of a mother always
present. True respect for work brings with it a proper esteem
for motherhood. It cannot be otherwise. The moral health of
the whole of society depends on it.
Pope St. John Paul II

Actor Who Plays Jesus in The Chosen

“Today, we are under an assault on our sense of virtue, enduring an affront to the innate holiness that we are all called to, an attack on the family structure, and the sacredness of the gift of life.
As followers of Jesus, we are charged to be the standard bearers who defend & preserve
the dignity of every human, but especially the most vulnerable which begins with the initial
stages of life, and continues over life’s stages. You are here today for the noblest and worthiest of causes: to allow the unborn to enter into the world.” [March for Life 2023: speech of Jonathan
Roumie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYY2-wf-cl0]

Monetary Value of Marriage

Today, young Americans are delaying marriage while they wait for career success. Nearly 60% of them live together without the commitment of marriage. Yet cohabitating couples have only 25% of the net worth that married couples have in the same age group. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2019, for the ages 25-34.) It seems that the emotional commitment in the marriage vow is a driver of success. Marriage actually means “for richer for richer”; it is the unmarried couples who get the “for poorer” part. Plus, many other riches, in addition to money, come with marriage.

Those in successful marriages know that their bond with another person is far more important than any career goal. All of society suffers from instability when marriage rates drop. Maybe the hard reality of cold cash can reverse this troubling culture that undervalues the
beauty of marriage. [Anne Schlafly Cori, EagleForum.org, 11/13/22]

For High School Students

• Students who will be entering their senior year of high school in the fall of 2023 are invited to apply for the 2023 summer program sessions. This will mark the 25th year of this wildly popular program, “The Best Week Ever,” which boasts close to 4,000 alumni since 1999. Each year, hundreds of high school students spend a week on campus, described as one of the best weeks of their lives, ranking it on average 4.8 out of 5. Applicants can choose any one of five weeks offered. This is the most popular, well-attended, highly-ranked pre-college summer program of its kind. Attendance is competitive, and with a waiting list each year, students should not delay applying at www.christendom.edu
• Teens and college students displayed creative signs at January’s March for Life. “Human rights begin in the womb” was one; another quoted Dr. Seuss’s “Horton Hears a Who;” “Unborn Lives Matter” another. See all: https://www.lifenews.com/2023/01/20/28-of-the-best-m
  arch-for-life-signs/

Pornography Addiction

Plenty of bad stuff comes from our computer, smart phone or tablet. Any addiction to gambling, videogames or porn drives our brains to want more and with more intensity, causing us to ignore more important aspects of our lives such as work, family, school. Parents of students should be alert and make use of programs such as
Covenant Eyes (forwards screen shots to a designated accountability partner) or Accountable2You.

This free monthly newsletter is used by dozens of churches as a bulletin insert, and since 2013 has had over 30,000 readers. To receive each month’s issue in your inbox, email Frank Tinari, Ph.D. at tinarifr@shu.edu

The Justice Department has finally arrested and indicted abortion activists in connection with over 250 cases of violence against churches and pregnancy centers.

Two Florida residents were indicted by a federal grand jury for spray-painting threats on pro-life pregnancy centers that provide women with abortion alternatives. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Florida, alleges that Caleb Freestone, 27, (pictured) and Amber Smith-Stewart, 23, attacked multiple pro-life pregnancy centers in Florida.

Freestone and Smith-Stewart targeted pregnancy resource facilities and vandalized those facilities with spray-painted threats, including “If abortions aren’t safe than niether [sic] are you,” “YOUR TIME IS UP!!,” “WE’RE COMING for U,” and “We are everywhere,” on a reproductive health services facility in Winter Haven, Florida. The indictment further alleges that facilities in Hollywood, Florida, and Hialeah, Florida, were also targeted.

The incidents came after a creepy pro-abortion march by Antifa and other radical leftists.

The indictment also alleges that Freestone and Smith-Stewart violated the FACE Act by using threats of force to intimidate and interfere with the employees of a reproductive health services facility in Winter Haven because those employees were providing or seeking to provide reproductive health services. The indictment further alleges that Freestone and Smith-Stewart violated the FACE Act by intentionally damaging and destroying the facility’s property because the facility provides reproductive health services.

If convicted of the offenses, Freestone and Smith-Stewart each face up to a maximum of 12 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $350,000.

The attack is the latest in hundreds of crimes directed at pro-life advocates and churches in the past year. LifeNews, which kept track of the incidents, estimated an average of four per week in 2022.

SUPPORT LIFENEWS! If you want to help fight abortion, please donate to LifeNews.com!

Earlier this month, someone vandalized a pro-life billboard in Oregon, spray-painting the words “Kill them kids” across a baby’s face.

Another billboard was vandalized with a similar phrase last week, the words “Aborting children is cool” and “Kill babies” spray-painted in white across it, according to Prolife Across America.

After a leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling in May and then the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, Americans saw a massive crime wave by abortion activists. At least ten arson attacks were linked to pro-abortion extremism, including the firebombing of CompassCare in Buffalo, New York.

In November, FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted that most of the abortion-related attacks in the past year have targeted pro-life organizations. “Since the Dobbs decision, probably in the neighborhood of 70 percent of our abortion-related violence cases or threats cases are cases of violence or threats against … pro-life organizations,” he told a U.S. Senate committee.

Yet, there have been very few arrests. Last week, the FBI offered reward money for information leading to arrests in many of the attacks.

In total, LifeNews counted about 250 attacks in 2022, including the shooting of an elderly pro-life woman in Michigan and an abortion activist who allegedly tried to burn a police officer with a makeshift flamethrower during a protest in Los Angeles.

Many pro-life organizations are increasing security and Republican lawmakers are demanding action from the Biden administration to crack down on the growing pro-abortion domestic terrorism. But, while the Biden administration has been aggressively working to expand the killing of unborn babies in abortions, it has done little to stop the hostilities directed at pro-life advocates and churches.

Earlier this month, the U.S. House passed a resolution condemning the violence, but only three Democrats voted in favor of it.

LifeNews has been keeping track of abortion-related crimes targeting pro-lifers. In the past 12 months, they include:

1. Washington, D.C. – Police Remove 2 Abortion Activists for Trying to Disrupt March for Life (Ford Fischer/News2Share)
2. Oregon – “Kill Them Kids”: Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized in Portland
3. Georgia – FBI Offers Reward for Info on Pro-Abortion Vandalism of MLK’s Ebenezer Baptist Church
4. Illinois – Pro-Abortion Activist Charged with Battery for Allegedly Assaulting Pro-Lifer Outside New Abortion Facility in Rockford (more) (video)
5. Colorado – Bella Health and Wellness Pro-Life Ministry Vandalized in Englewood (Catholic News Agency)
6. Michigan – Another Pregnancy Center Vandalized in Eastpointe, Pro-Life Leader’s Home Also Vandalized with Threat
7. Virginia – Pro-Life Advocate Attacked, Injured at George Mason University (TFP Student Action)
8. Pennsylvania – Pro-Life Advocate Attacked while Holding Sign Saying “Smile! You Survived Abortion!” at Gettysburg College
9. California – Pro-Life Student Display Vandalized at University of California San Diego (Students for Life)
10. Nebraska – Church, Pro-Life Students Receive Violent Threats from Pro-Abortion Activists (Omaha World Herald); Governor Condemns as Domestic Terrorism
11. Washington, D.C. – Radical Abortion Activists Disrupt Pregnancy Center Banquet Just Months after It was Vandalized
12. Indiana – Another Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized with Red Paint in Greenfield, Indiana (Prolife Across America)
13. South Carolina – Clemson University Pro-Life Student Group Gets Violent Threats for Hosting Students for Life Chief (The College Fix)
14. Pennsylvania – Carnegie Mellon University Republican Club Competition Display Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Campus Reform)
15. Alaska – St. Andrew Catholic Church in Eagle River Vandalized Twice Since Supreme Court Abortion Leak (Alaska Watchman)
16. New York – Ulster County Sheriff’s Office Investigates Vandalism of Pro-Life Billboard in Esopus, Third Time This Year (Daily Freeman)
17. North Carolina – Campbell University Pro-Life Student Leader Receives Violent Threats, Display Vandalized (Campus Reform)
18. Michigan – Prayer rally to defeat Michigan abortion amendment is victim of ‘pro-choice cyber attack’ (Catholic News Agency)
19. Kentucky – Numerous Pro-Life Signs Supporting Amendment 2 Vandalized, Stolen at Homes and Churches (WDRB)
20. North Carolina – Attacker Shoots Up Home of Pro-Life Candidate, Bullet Barely Misses His Children
21. Washington state – St. Pius X Church Vandalized with Satanic Symbols, Window Smashed (Lynnwood Times)
22. Idaho – Police Investigating Death Threat, Vandalism of Pro-Life Republican Rep’s Billboard (Idaho State Journal)
23. USA – National Pro-Life Chalk Day Results in More Campus Vandalism (Campus Reform)
24. Washington, D.C. – Three Abortion Activists Arrested for Disrupting U.S. Supreme Court
25. California – Elderly Pro-Lifer Attacked Outside Planned Parenthood (Life Legal Defense Foundation)
26. Florida – Four Attackers Brutally Assault Marco Rubio Supporter (police report)
27. Alaska – Pregnancy Center, Church Targeted by Pro-Abortion Vandals in One Day
28. Pennsylvania – Police Search for Woman who Vandalized 5 Police Vehicles at Pro-Abortion Protest (Shore News Network) (video)
29. Michigan – Elderly Pro-Life Woman Shot by Abortion Supporter while Campaigning against Pro-Abortion Constitutional Amendment
30. Michigan – Abortion Activists Caught on Video Vandalizing Lansing Catholic Church with Pro-Abortion Graffiti
31. Connecticut – University of Connecticut Students for Life Materials Vandalized and Stolen (Students for Life)
32. Washington, D.C. – Police Arrest Abortion Activist for Allegedly Harassing Pro-Lifers at Women’s March (Students for Life)
33. Virginia – Students Vandalize Pro-Life Memorial at the College of William and Mary (Campus Reform)
34. USA – Liberty Counsel Website Hacked, Private Info Published after Dobbs Ruling (Christian Post) (more at CyberScoop)
35. Missouri – Pro-Life Students told to Kill Themselves, Display Vandalized and Materials Stolen at University of Missouri (Students for Life)
36. New Jersey – SFLA: Pro-Abortion Student Steals & Rips Head Off Fetal Model at Rider University (Students for Life)
37. West Virginia – Police Arrest 2 Abortion Activists at State Capitol during Debate on Pro-Life Legislation (12 WBOY)
38. Michigan – Mother and Unborn Baby Care Center Vandalized Twice Since June
39. North Dakota – Man Allegedly Kills Teenager With His Car Just Because Teen Was a Republican
40. Virginia – SFLA ‘Abortion Is Not Right’ Fall Tour Begins on College Campuses, Urine Allegedly Thrown at Pro-Life Students at College of William and Mary (Students for Life)
41. Maine – Abortion Activist Accused of Vandalism outside Conservative Leader’s Home in Mount Desert (Bangor Daily News)
42. California – Two Arrested at Pro-Abortion Rally in Hollywood (CBS News)
43. Virginia – George Mason University Students for Life Harassed, Materials Stolen from Table (Campus Reform)
44. Vermont – Jane’s Revenge brags about vandalizing PRC in Burlington (Live Action)
45. Iowa – Angry Leftist Smashes University of Iowa Pro-Life Club’s Table With Bike Helmet, Targets Other Pro-Life Groups
46. California – LACMA Pro-Abortion Protest Stops Traffic; Police Arrest 2 Women (Hey SOCAL)
47. New York – Alpha Pregnancy Care Center in Schenectady Vandalized with “Fake Clinic” and “Jane’s Revenge” (Catholic News Agency)
48. USA – Pro-Life Businesses Face Backlash, Harassment Since Dobbs Ruling (World Magazine)
49. South Carolina – Swastikas Painted on Spartanburg Church, Pastor Attributes to Pro-Life Stance (WBTW News 13)
50. Massachusetts – Pro-Abortion Extremists Vandalize Another Pro-Life Pregnancy Center, Bethlehem House Inc. Pregnancy Care Center in Easthampton, That Helps Women
51. Arkansas – Conservative Pro-Life Group Ammo-Can Coffee in Soldotna Is Vandalized, Locks Glued Shut (Peninsula Clarion)
52. Idaho – Compassion & Hope Pregnancy Center in Pocatello Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti, “Beware” (Idaho State Journal)
53. Pennsylvania – Another Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti in Pittsburgh (Prolife Across America)
54. Colorado – Catholic Church Shot Up as Wave of Pro-Abortion Violence Continues Nationwide
55. New York – Police Arrest 5 Pro-Abortion Demonstrators who Harangued Pro-Life Catholics at Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (Daily Mail)
56. Maine – Abortion Activist Arrested Outside Home of Federalist Society Leader, Allegedly Threatened 11-Year-Old Girl
57. Kansas – Calvary Temple Assembly of God Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti, “My Body, My Choice” (The Lawrence Times)
58. Kansas – Emporia Police Report Stolen, Damaged “Vote Yes” Signs Ahead of Pro-Life Vote (KVOE)
59. Kansas – Pro-Lifer with Students for Life Assaulted while Campaigning for Pro-Life Amendment in Kansas (more at Kansas City Star)
60. Kansas – Lawrence’s Victory Bible Church Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti after Supporting Pro-Life Amendment (Lawrence Journal-World)
61. Minnesota – Police: Abria Pregnancy Resources in St. Paul Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Threat (KSTP Eyewitness News)
62. California – Abortion Activists Vandalize Riverside Historic Courthouse, Five Arrested (The Press-Enterprise)
63. California – Los Angeles Police Arrest 3 after Urban Light Display Vandalized during Pro-Abortion Protest (KTLA 5)
64. Wisconsin – Pro-Life Sign Vandalized in Kewaunee County, Sheriff Looking for Info (WFRV)
65. Massachusetts – Your Options Medical Pregnancy Center in Revere Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Threat (Catholic News Agency)
66. Louisiana – Pro-Life Man Assaulted, Camera Smashed outside Abortion Facility in Baton Rouge (WAFB News 9)
67. Georgia – Vandals Attack St. Boniface Catholic Church’s Pro-Life Sign (Effingham Herald)
68. Illinois – Abortion Activists Terrorize Pro-Life Attorney, Throw Smoke Bombs and Firecrackers at His House (The Gateway Pundit) (more at The Daily Northwestern)
69. Wisconsin – Police Investigate Pro-Abortion Vandalism at Abundant Life Christian School, Bernard Catholic Church in Madison (WKOW 27)
70. California – Sacramento Pregnancy Center Had to Hire Security Guard When Abortion Activist Showed Up With Machete
71. Louisiana – Woman’s New Life Clinic in Baton Rouge Vandalized, “Abortion is a Right” (National Right to Life News) (more from 4WWL News)
72. Utah – Arches New Hope Pregnancy Center in Moab Vandalized, Black Paint Splattered Across Building (Moab Sun News)
73. Pennsylvania – Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia Had Windows Smashed, Office Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Philly Anti-Capitalist blog) (more from the Pro-Life Union)
74. Kansas – Derby Neighborhood Fence, Mural Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (KAKE)
75. Kansas – Overland Park Catholic Church Vandalized with “My Body My Choice” after Speaking Out for Life (Kansas City Star)
76. Ohio – Right to Life of Northeast Ohio in Akron Vandalized a Second Time, “If Abortions Aren’t Safe Neither RU” (RTL of Northeast Ohio)
77. Washington state – Care Net of Puget Sound in Kenmore Vandalized with Spraypaint, Windows Smashed (My Northwest)
78. Massachusetts – Two Worcester Pregnancy Centers Problem Pregnancy, Clearway Clinic Vandalized, Windows Smashed (MassLive) (more from Clearway Clinic website)
79. Washington state – Two Churches Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti in Sumner (My Northwest)
80. Washington state – Police Investigate Attempted Arson at Two Hearts Pregnancy Center in Everett (Live Action News)
81. Iowa – Vandals Deface Pro-Life Billboard at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Vinton (Vinton Today)
82. Kansas – Salina Police Cite Woman for Damaging Pro-Life “Vote Yes” Signs at 8 Locations (Salina Journal)
83. Wisconsin – Four Catholic Churches in Chippewa Falls, Tilden Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Spectrum News 1) (more from CNA)
84. Texas – Man Arrested for Allegedly Threatening to Shoot Supreme Court Justices with AK47 (Fox News)
85. Minnesota – Birthright Pregnancy Center Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Catholic News Agency) (more from The Globe)
86. Oregon – Radicals Smash Building, Attack Journalist at Pro-Abortion Riot in Portland (Andy Ngo)
87. Texas – Abortion Activists Block Traffic in Austin During Pro-Abortion Protest (Insider)
88. Michigan – Abortion Activists Block 4^th of July Parade in Lansing (Newsweek)
89. Florida – Pregnancy Help Medical Clinic in Hialeah Vandalized: “If Abortions Aren’t Safe, Neither Are You” (Martha Avila/Heartbeat of Miami) (more from Local 10 News)
90. Wisconsin – St. Bernard Catholic Church in Madison Vandalized with “Anti-‘Pro-Life’” Graffiti (National Review)
91. Ohio – Right to Life of Northeast Ohio Office Vandalized Hours after Roe Overturned (Right to Life of Northeast Ohio)
92. Washington, D.C. – Police Arrest Abortion Activists for Blocking Roadway near U.S. Supreme Court (Bloomberg)
93. New Hampshire – Pathways Pregnancy Care Center in Littleton Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Message, “Fund Abortion, Abort God” (WMUR News 9)
94. Kansas – Cowley County GOP Office in Winfield Vandalized, Pro-Life Materials Lit on Fire (Fox News)
95. Utah – Pregnancy Resource Center of Salt Lake City Vandalized Hours after Supreme Court Overturns Roe (Catholic News Agency)
96. California – Abortion Activists Vandalize Mobile Clinic of Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Options Health in Concord (Catholic News Agency)
97. Pennsylvania – St. Patrick Catholic Church in Philadelphia Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Catholic News Agency)
98. Tennessee – Pro-Life Hope Clinic for Women in Nashville Vandalized, Molotov Cocktail Found (Tennessee Lookout)
99. California – A Woman’s Friend Pregnancy Center in Yuba City Vandalized, Window Smashed (CBS 13 Sacramento)
100. Washington state – St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Renton Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti, Windows Smashed (KIRO 7)
101. Indiana – Monroe County Courthouse Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Fox 59 News)
102. Colorado – Heart to Heart Pregnancy Center in Cortez Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Catholic News Agency)
103. Indiana – Memorial for Aborted Babies Vandalized at St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church (Catholic News Agency)
104. Florida – LifeChoice Pregnancy Center in Winter Haven Defaced with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Catholic News Agency)
105. Oregon – First Image Pregnancy Center Vandalized Again in Portland, Photojournalist Assaulted for Reporting the Crime (Andy Ngo)
106. Washington state – Video: Man Smashes Bellevue Church Doors, Throws Rock at Employee (Fox 13 Seattle)
107. Texas – 3 Statues Vandalized at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Harlingen (Valley Central 4)
108. New York – Ascension Roman Catholic Church in Upper West Side Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Threat (Newsweek)
109. Florida – Methodist Church in Tallahassee Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Newsweek)
110. USA – Hackers Attack Pro-Life States and Organizations, Steal Data (The Byte)
111. Louisiana – Tombstones for Unborn Babies Vandalized at Holy Name of Mary Church in Algiers (Live Action News)
112. Iowa – Informed Choices Pro-Life Center Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Live Action News)
113. Oregon– All Saints Catholic Church in Northeast Portland Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Catholic Sentinel)
114. North Carolina – NC GOP Responds to Abortion Graffiti at Raleigh Headquarters (News Observer)
115. Rhode Island – Police Arrest Two at Pro-Abortion Protest in Providence (The Providence Journal)
116. Virginia – St. John Catholic Church Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti after Supreme Court Ruling (NBC Washington 4) Vandals Allegedly Tried to Set Garden on Fire (MRC-TV)
117. South Carolina – Police Arrest 6 Abortion Activists at Pro-Abortion Protest in Greenville (The Daily Wire)
118. Virginia – Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center Vandalized after Supreme Court Abortion Ruling (CNN) (more from 10 News WSLS)
119. Vermont – Windows Smashed, Pro-Abortion Graffiti Found on Vermont Statehouse after Roe Overturned (VT Digger)
120. California – Paso Robles Tree of Life Pregnancy Center Vandalized after Roe Overturned (KSBY News 6) (more from The Tribune)
121. Colorado – Abortion Activists Burn, Vandalize Pro-Life Pregnancy Center after Supreme Court Overturns Roe
122. California – Abortion Activist Charged with Attempting to Murder Police During Pro-Abortion Protest (more)
123. Washington, D.C. – MAGA hat swatted off pro-life protester’s head in front of SCOTUS (Richie McGinnis/Daily Caller)
124. Washington state – Pro-Abortion Radicals Destroy Street Preacher’s Bible during Seattle Protest (Jonathan Choe/Discovery Institute)
125. Washington state – Security Guard Hit with Metal Pipe during Pro-Abortion Protest in Seattle (Jonathan Choe/Discovery Institute)
126. Washington state – Antifa attack and pepper spray pro-life woman in Seattle (The Post Millennial)
127. Iowa – Pro-Abortion Protesters Hit, Try to Block Vehicle at Protest in Cedar Rapids (Andy Ngo)
128. California – Pro-Abortion Protesters in Sacramento Surround Car, Block Driver from Leaving (Fox 40)
129. Oregon – Pro-Abortion Protesters Smash Mall Windows, Start Fire Near Federal Courthouse in Portland (Andy Ngo)
130. Oregon – Eugene Police Arrest 10 during Pro-Abortion ‘Night of Rage’ (The Hill)
131. California – Los Angeles Pro-Abortion Protesters Shut Down Street, Hit Drivers with Sticks (El American/Andy Ngo)
132. New York – Fox News Studios Vandalized in New York City at Pro-Abortion Protest (more)
133. Arizona – Police Disburse Pro-Abortion Protesters for Kicking Doors, Trying to Break Senate Building Windows, Interrupting Session (Arizona Family)
134. New York – Entrance to Expectant Mother Care Frontline in Brooklyn Vandalized (Religion Unplugged)
135. Minnesota – Northfield Women’s Center Vandalized, Window Broken (Northfield News)
136. California – Abortion Activist Rips Bible, Disrupts Church Service at Nesting Place Home for Mothers and Children in Long Beach (Catholic Vote) (video)
137. Maine – First Step Pregnancy Resource Center in Bangor Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Christianity Today)
138. Virginia – Bullet Hole Found in Virginia Attorney General’s Office after He Condemns Pro-Abortion Violence (Daily Wire)
139. Washington, D.C. – Wall near U.S. Supreme Court Vandalized: “Abort the Court, Keep Abortions Safe & Legal” (Live Action News)
140. Michigan – Family Life Services Pregnancy Center Vandalized Twice in One Week in Ypsilanti (Pregnancy Help News) (more at Live Action News)
141. Indiana – Video: Abortion Activist Grabs, Restrains Pro-Life Student Activist at Indianapolis Protest (Students for Life/SBA Pro-Life America)
142. Washington state – Options 360 Pregnancy Center Vandalized in Vancouver (SBA Pro-Life America) (more at The Post Millennial)
143. New York – Two Pro-Life Billboards Vandalized in Esopus (Daily Freeman)
144. Iowa – Republican Office in Cedar Rapids Vandalized (The Gazette)
145. Kansas – Pro-Life Yard Signs Ripped Apart, Stolen at Multiple Homes Ahead of Pro-Life Amendment Vote (Value Them Both) (more at KSNT)
146. Michigan – Two More Sites Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti, Including Pro-Life Group and Congressman’s Office (Right to Life of Michigan)
147. Michigan – Pro-Abortion Domestic Terrorists Destroy Pro-Life Pregnancy Center in Redford, Smashing Doors and Windows
148. Ohio – Pro-Life Billboard in Columbus Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Right to Life of Northeast Ohio)
149. Michigan – Windows Smashed, Threat Spray-Painted on Dearborn Heights Pregnancy Center
150. Wisconsin – Leftists Target Pro-Life Congressional Candidate With Vandalism: “F— Charity Barry”
151. Minnesota – Minnesota Pro-Life Organization MCCL Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti, Windows Smashed; Second Vandalism in Weeks
152. Pennsylvania – Abortion Activists Attack Pro-Life Pregnancy Center in Philadelphia, Smash Windows
153. Washington state – Pro-life Republican Lawmaker’s Office Hit with Arson Attempt, Vandalism
154. Michigan – Naked Protester Disrupts Catholic Mass to Promote Killing Babies in Abortions
155. Iowa – Abortion Activists Brag About Vandalizing Another Pregnancy Center
156. Alaska – Pregnancy Center Vandalized with Nails, Pro-Abortion Graffiti (EWTN Ireland)
157. Oregon – Abortion Activists Firebomb Another Pro-Life Pregnancy Center, Fourth Bombing in Weeks
158. New York – Topless Abortion Rights Protesters Storm Court At New York Liberty WNBA Game (Huffington Post)
159. New York – Statues of Lúcia dos Santos and Jacinta Marto smashed and decapitated at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church (ABC 7 New York)
160. New York – Tabernacle stolen, Holy Eucharist thrown on floor, statues of angels on the altar decapitated and destroyed at St. Augustine Catholic Church, Brooklyn (Catholic News Agency)
161. Michigan – Police Arrest Abortion Activist for Allegedly Disrupting Michigan House Session (Bridge Michigan)
162. California – Abortion Activist Arrested Trying to Approach Joe Biden to Urge Him to Promote Abortion
163. Maryland – Police Arrest Man with Weapon outside Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s Home, Allegedly Threatened to Murder Him (Washington Post)
164. North Carolina – Asheville Pregnancy Center Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Lauren Muzyka/Sidewalk Advocates for Life) (more at FOX Carolina)
165. New York – Abortion Activists Firebomb Pro-Life Pregnancy Center, Third Bombing in Weeks
166. New York – Pro-Abortion Protesters Mob Catholic Pro-Life Procession (National Review)
167. Texas – Radical Abortion Activists Invade Church Service to Promote Killing Babies
168. Florida – Pro-Abortion Violence Continues as Abortion Activists Vandalize Catholic Pro-Life Office
169. Washington, D.C. – Abortion Activists Trash Pregnancy Center: Dump Paint on Door, Egg Windows, Write “Revenge” on Wall
170. Pennsylvania – Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized in Pittsburgh (ProLife Across America)
171. Oregon – Mother and Child center vandalized; Address was publicized by group that favors abortion rights (Catholic Sentinel)
172. Oregon – Eugene Pregnancy Center Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Andy Ngo)
173. New Jersey – Catholic Pro-Life Student Attacked at Public School, 7 Pro-Abortion Students Suspended (CNA) (video)
174. Washington state – Radical Abortion Activists Vandalize Pro-Life Center, Smash 5 Windows and Leave Threats
175. Michigan – Grand Rapids Meeting Adjourned after Unruly Protesters Shout Down Anti-Abortion Activist (MLive)
176. Mississippi – Rural Black Church Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti
177. Oregon – Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized in Portland: “Abort the Supreme Court” (Andy Ngo)
178. Washington state – Four Churches Vandalized by Pro-Abortion Radicals in Olympia (more from the Washington Free Beacon)
179. Alabama – Vicar, Parishioners Respond to Vandalism at Pro-Life Women’s Clinic in Auburn (Opelika-Auburn News)
180. Kansas – Supports of Pro-Life “Value The Both” Amendment Report Yard Signs Stolen (KAKE)
181. Arizona – Planned Parenthood Chair Brags How Her Husband Assaulted Man in “Blacks for Trump” Shirt
182. USA – Abortion Activists Threaten to Burn Down Supreme Court, Kill Justices When Roe is Overturned (more at CBS News)
183. Arizona – Watch: Pro-Abortion Demonstrators Attack, Spit on ‘Students for Kari’ Volunteers (College Fix)
184. Missouri – Pro-life Student Group at University of Missouri Calls for Dialogue after its Memorial Was Vandalized (Campus Reform)
185. Indiana – Pro-Life Student Advocates Shoved, Grabbed from Behind at Pro-Abortion Rally (Students for Life)
186. Idaho – Two Arrested at Pro-Abortion Rally, Protester Allegedly Kicked Police Officer (KTVB 7)
187. Maryland – Birthright of Frederick Vandalized: “F— Fake Clinics”
188. Maryland – Alpha Pregnancy Center in Reisterstown Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Andy Ngo) (more at WBAL-TV 11)
189. USA – Video: Pro-Life Student Activists Kicked, Shoved by Pro-Abortion Protesters (Students for Life)
190. Michigan – Michigan Catholic Church Vandalized with Satanic Symbols after Roe Leak (more at The Tennessee Star)
191. New York City – Abortion Activists Threaten to Bomb, Burn Down St. Patrick’s Catholic Church
192. Maine – Republican Senator Receives Threats after Voting No on Radical Pro-Abortion Bill (Boston Globe)
193. Texas – Another Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Vandalized in Denton (NRL News)
194. Virginia – Pro-Life Organization Office Vandalized; Man Exposes Himself, Urinates on Front Door (Concerned Women for America)
195. California – Pro-Life Billboard Vandalized in Sebastopol (SBA Pro-Life America)
196. Colorado – Parish church in Fort Collins tagged with pro-abortion graffiti; police investigating (Catholic News Agency)
197. Oregon – Oregon Right to Life Firebombed With Molotov Cocktail
198. Texas – Catholic Church Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti
199. Virginia – Pregnancy Center Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti in Northern Virginia (National Review) (more from Human Coalition)
200. USA – Pro-Abortion Feminist Calls for Violence against Pro-Life Americans, Celebrates Arson
201. Wisconsin – Abortion Activists Light Fire in Pro-Life Group’s Office, Throw Molotov Cocktails
202. Texas – Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Vandalized in Denton, Texas (more from Students for Life)
203. Oregon, Maryland – Radical Abortion Activists Vandalize Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers That Help Pregnant Women
204. Washington, D.C. – Two Pro-Life Leaders Say Abortion Activists Punched Them at D.C. Protest (Stand True)
205. Texas – Pro-Abortion Group Brags about Vandalizing Trotter House Pregnancy Center in Austin (Stop the Sweeps ATX) (more at Pregnancy Help News)
206. Texas – Pro-Life University of North Texas Student Says Antifa Vandalized Door, Issued Threats (Fox News)
207. Washington state – Antifa Assault News Crew during Pro-Abortion Rally in Seattle (Andy Ngo)
208. Colorado – Catholic Church in Boulder Defiled Following Roe v. Wade Draft Opinion Leak (Denver Gazette)
209. Oregon – Pro-Abortion Protesters Damage Property In Portland Following SCOTUS Leak On Abortion (KXL 101 FM News) (more at KOIN 6)
210. California – Two Police Officers Injured at Pro-Abortion Protest in Los Angeles (more at CBS News)
211. Malta – Pro-life Leader’s Office Vandalized in Malta as She Fights Radical Pro-Abortion Bill
212. Spain – Sant Vicenç de Sarriá Church in Barcelona Vandalized with Pro-Abortion Graffiti (Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe)
213. Northern Ireland – Man Bites Pro-Life Advocate at Rally in Belfast, Arrested by Police (Precious Life)
214. Mexico – Pro-Abortion Feminist Groups Vandalize Monuments in Mérida, Yucatán (The Yucatan Times)
215. Colombia – Abortion Activists Try to Set Fire to Cathedral in Botoga during International Safe Abortion Day Protest (The City Paper Botoga)
216. Switzerland – Zurich Church Vandalized with Satanic Symbols, “Burn” in Red Paint to Protest March for Life (FSSPX News)
217. Switzerland – Police Arrest 8 Abortion Activists at Swiss March for Life (Evangelical Focus)
218. Northern Ireland – Abortion Advocates Assault Pro-Life City Councilman
219. Canada – Windsor, Ontario Church Vandalized with ‘Hate-Motivated’ Message: “Abort Christ” (CTV News)
220. Canada – Video: Man Assaults Pro-Life Woman, Threatens to Put “Bullet in Your Head” in Hamilton, Ontario (Campaign Life Coalition)
221. Canada – Cambridge Right to Life Building in Ontario Vandalized after Roe Overturned (Cambridge Today)
222. South Carolina – Abortion Activists Attempt to Intimidate Pro-Life Student at Home, Vandalize Sign (Live Action News)
223. Czechia – Abortion Activists Block March for Life in Prague (Expats CZ)
224. New York – Pro-Life Advocate Shoved, Smacked by Pro-Abortion Couple on New York City Sidewalk (Created Equal)
225. Michigan – ‘I Love Abortion,’ Dead Baby Drawn on Vandalized Pro-Life Display at Eastern Michigan University (Campus Reform)
226. Massachusetts – Abortion Activists Rip Sign Out of Pro-Lifers’ Hands, Scream Expletives (Students for Life)
227. Washington, D.C. – Abortion Activists Push and Shove Pro-Life Students at Supreme Court During Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearing
228. Ontario – Judge Issues Injunction Against Abortion Activists for Alleged Sabotage of 40 Days for Life (40 Days for Life) (more at Pregnancy Help News)
229. Connecticut – Leftist Students Threaten Conservative Legal Group: I’ll “Literally Fight You, B—-,” Block Exit at Yale Law School Event (Washington Free Beacon)
230. California – Cal Poly Investigates Alleged Vandalism against Pro-Life Display (The College Fix)
231. California – WATCH: Pro-Abortion Handmaiden Attacks Pro-Life Advocate, Tries to Destroy Her Sign
232. California – Pro-Life Display Vandalized at Clovis Community College (Young America’s Foundation)
233. Florida – Police Arrest Planned Parenthood Leader for Disrupting Vote on Pro-Life Bill
234. Arkansas – Abortion Clinic Owner Faces Assault Charges After Allegedly Trying to Hit Pro-Life People With Her Car
235. California – Pro-Abortion Students Vandalize Pro-Life Flag Display at Cal Poly (Mustang News)
236. Ohio — Video: Abortion Facility Worker Shoves Pro-Lifer, Says ‘Kill Yourself’ (PAAU on Twitter)
237. Poland – WATCH: Abortion Activist Attacks Man Because He’s Driving a Truck With Pro-Life Signs
238. Mississippi – Abortion Activists Vandalize Pro-Life Billboard, Celebrate Its Destruction Online
239. New York – NYC pro-abortion activists curse at churchgoers, beam ‘God loves abortion’ onto St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Catholic News Agency)
240. Texas – Pro-Abortion Rioters Attack Pro-Life Conference, Throw Bombs at Pro-Life Students
241. Nebraska – Police: Man Charged with Threatening Pro-Life Woman Outside Planned Parenthood Abortion Facility (Lincoln Journal-Star)
242. Nebraska – Pro-Life Legislator Gets Death Threats and Rape Threats After Introducing Bill to Ban Abortions
243. Illinois – Antifa Radicals Harass Pro-Lifers at March for Life in Chicago, Shouting at Pro-Life People and Calling Them Fascists

The hysterical queens going after Ivan Provorov did accomplish at least one good thing: His jerseys promptly sold out at the NHL shop.

(LifeSiteNews) — As a lifelong, passionate ignorer of professional sports, I do not know much about the National Hockey League beyond what has been inflicted on me against my will. But as it turns out, I do know more than many sports commentators. The latest NHL controversy has nothing to do with fights, or a bad ref call, or anything else related to, you know, the sport. It is about Ivan Provorov, a defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers declining to wear a rainbow jersey during a warmup “Pride Night” game against the Anaheim Ducks on January 17.  

Asked about it by reporters, he cited his Russian Orthodox faith. “I respect everybody’s choices,” Provorov told reporters after the game. “My choice is to stay true to my religion, that’s all I’m gonna say. That’s all I’m gonna comment on that. If you have any hockey questions, I would answer those.” Hockey, of course, is far less interesting than the sexual politics that are now somehow part of it, and so a reporter pressed him. “Did you not hear what I just said? Can you respect that?” he responded politely. 

As it turns out, there are plenty of journalists who cannot, in fact, respect that. The most notable example was Sid Seixeiro, a Canadian TV broadcaster with Breakfast Television on CityTV who was utterly apoplectic (although unfortunately not speechless) that Provorov refused to physically wear a shirt that signaled support for Seixeiro’s preferred worldview: 

Seixeiro called on the NHL to “fine the Flyers a million dollars for this … I’m not kidding. Figure this out and stop offending people on nights when it’s not about that, it’s supposed to be about inclusivity.” In order to model this sort of inclusivity, he went on to say, “Nothing scares me more than any human being who says ‘I’m not doing this because of my religious beliefs’ because when you look at people’s lives who normally say that publicly you’d throw up at what you saw. I’ve seen that a million times in a lot of different ways, so don’t give me that … don’t feed me the religious beliefs line.” 

Let’s lay this out clearly here for a moment: In the name of inclusivity, this fellow wants a hockey player who has politely declined to wear a shirt with the ideological symbol of a movement he respectfully disagrees with to be punished to the greatest professional extreme possible and says that this man likely lives a life that would make you “throw up.” His version of “inclusivity” is someone actually wearing clothes on their physical person that signals support for what he believes. I presume, of course, that he wouldn’t be a fan of wearing a jersey with, say, a cross on it for “diversity night”—because this garbage only runs one way.  

Seixeiro was the most egregious example of intentional stupidity in response to this non-story (“hockey player declines gift of political shirt”), but certainly not the only one. Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star tweeted, “John Tortorella once said he would bench any player who didn’t stand for the US anthem. So what have we learned here.” Well, what we’ve learned is that the anthem of the country is not the same thing as the Pride flag, no matter how hard activists attempt to pretend that it is. This isn’t difficult stuff, although Canada’s media drones are sure trying to make it seem like it is. Sports reporter Marc Dumont chimed into say that Jesus would also be calling out Provorov, proving that he should really, really stick to sports writing rather than exegesis. 

Pierre LeBrun of TSN was also angry about Provorov’s wardrobe, claiming, “But Provorov obviously does not respect ‘everyone.’ If he did respect everyone, he would have taken part in warm-up and worn the Pride Night jersey. Don’t hide behind religion.” Because to respect people, one apparently has to not only agree with them ideologically and support every aspect of their lifestyle, but wear clothing that signals this fact. Also at TSN (these guys are sports commentators?), Gord Miller opined that Provorov should not have been allowed to play due to his refusal “to participate in the Pride Night activities.”  

These people are pathetic. The fact that they pull a salary to spout this nonsense is an indictment on the entire media. Sid Seixeiro’s crybullying is a joke — the idea that a group so powerful it is considered standard in professional sports to wear a shirt supporting their agenda is also so persecuted that people should be persecuted for not showing overt support is beyond ridiculous. Tortorella, fortunately, has stuck by Provorov. “He’s being true to himself and to his religion,” he told the press. And the hysterical queens going after the player did accomplish at least one good thing: His jerseys promptly sold out at the NHL shop. It turns out that when people support something, they choose to wear the shirts — voluntarily.  

New Year & New Start To Promote the Dignity of Human Life

Rally for Life – in D.C. or Home State?

Many supporters of human life again will be attending the national March for Life in Washington, DC, on Friday, January 20th. Especially positive are the ever-increasing numbers of high school and college students who enliven the whole day with their singing, praying and enthusiasm for the goal of respecting life from conception to natural death. Others arrive the day before and attend programs, galas and evening church services.

One notable program, Life Fest, is being sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life who invite everyone to attend a morning rally featuring dynamic speakers, music, Holy Mass, and more. Held at the D.C. Entertainment and Sports Arena, the program runs 7:30-10:30 am on Jan. 20th, right before the March for Life.. LifeFest2023.com asks: Why Life Fest? The answer: Because Every Human Person Is Made in God’s Image; Because Our World Is Crying out for Healing; Because Love Is the Answer.

Some state respect life groups are planning rallies for later in the year. For example, New Jersey is planning a Rally for Life on Saturday, June 24, 2023, 11 am – 1 pm, outside the State House Annex in Trenton to celebrate the anniversary of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

What Do Love & Marriage Mean Today?

For most people today, “marriage is about love.” The precise meaning of the word “love” is never spelled out too clearly, but most people seem to simply agree with President Barack Obama, who said that “love is love.” But this rejects thousands of years of wisdom about male-female relationships. Until very recently marriage was identified not as a sexual-romantic union dissolvable at will but as an subordination of feeling and “personal happiness” to the goal of a stable family for the raising of children. Today, both in no-fault divorce and in universal cohabitation, our society has clearly embraced the “love” union model, except ironically we now call it … marriage, out of cultural nostalgia or for the sake of respectability.

Our culture rejects that “marriage is between a man and a woman” when the dominant understanding rejects
as essential the possible bearing and raising of children (and thus sexual difference). But research indicates that both male and female parents serve best the welfare of children.

Today’s views reflect an inadequate understanding even of love itself. Ultimately, if one reflects deeply about the experience of love, one discovers what Servant of God Luigi Giussani called “the law of life”: Life is fulfilled only in making a complete, unconditional gift of self. This is what people really, though confusedly, seek in affective relationship. A love that can end is not a completely true love, because a gift that can be revoked is not a true gift.

This is the deeper reason why the bearing of children (at least as a possibility) is intrinsically part of the
definition of marriage, making it a “natural” institution rather than a mere legal fiction. The birth of a child can-
not be undone & literally “incarnates” the parents’ love.

Catholics need to keep advocating for public policies that support childbearing and reward parents who live with their children. But the more fundamental task is to give witness (in a society that has largely forgotten it) to the “great mystery” of the natural coming together of man and woman in a fruitful, indissoluble union. [excerpt from Carlo Lancellotti, Commentaries, 12/9/22]

Marriage & Divorce Declined in 2020

How did the pandemic affect existing marriages and relationships. While both marriage and divorce rates fell by double digits in 2020, a few more years of data are needed to determine the longer-term impact. 74% of married couples surveyed in late 2020 felt the pandemic strengthened their marriage, and 82% said it made them feel more committed.

Among singles, 74% are now looking to find a partner who wants to marry. This is the second year in a row where far more singles are eager for a committed long-term relationship compared with the prepandemic survey of 2019. Young people are much more inclined to focus on attributes that increase the odds of long-term relationship success. For years “physical attractiveness” has ranked among one of the topmost desirable attributes in a potential partner. This year, it has been knocked out of the top five most-desired traits. Instead, 92% of singles now rank “emotional maturity” & “comfortably communicating their needs & wants” among the most important traits. And the top attribute most singles are looking for is someone they can trust and confide in. This bodes well for longer, healthier relationships.

An important factor keeping marriages together is a strong desire to want the relationship to succeed. Just like most things in life, even in a relationship, if you really want it to work, you will pick the right priorities and make the right trade-offs to increase the odds of success. Also important are kindness and generosity—to yourself and your partner. [excerpted from Shar Dubey, Wall St. Journal, 12/15/22]

Adoption Fills a Mother’s Waiting Arms

As I hold my youngest baby in my arms, I am grateful for the choices his birth mother made that led him to
become a part of our family. I’m thankful for the radical hospitality she showed by carrying him for nine months and doing all she could to keep him healthy and safe. I’m thankful for the hours she spent poring over the profiles of waiting families and discerning which one she wanted her son to join. I’m especially thankful she chose us!

I’m thankful for the brave love shown by all my sons’ birth mothers and for all those women who choose life for their children. Being asked to be the mother of another woman’s child is the greatest gift I have ever received. If we can promote adoption as a good and empowering choice for mothers to make when they’re unable or unwilling to welcome a child, adoptions will certainly rise.

I pray that when faced with an unplanned, unwanted or crisis pregnancy, women will choose life for their babies
and see adoption as an empowering choice. I pray, too, that a waiting mother’s empty arms will soon be holding
a baby of her own.
[Excerpts from Leigh Snead, “Brave Love,” 12/18/22, © 2022 EWTN News, Inc. Reprinted with permission from the National Catholic Register – www.ncregister.com]

Hiding Truth Through Euphemism

For more than 50 years, pro-abortion activists have used euphemisms to hide the various horrible aspects of abortion. The Associated Press Stylebook sets the usage and grammatical format for hundreds of news agencies, laying out style and terms in an alphabetized book several hundred pages long. “Do not use the term ‘late-term abortion,’” the stylebook said in a December post on Twitter. “The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [ACOG] defines late term as 41 weeks through 41 weeks and 6 days of gestation, and abortion does not happen in this period.”

“This is absurd,” said LifeNews, a pro-life group. “When SCOTUS came up with three trimesters in 1973, late-term was understood to be post viability or the 3rd trimester. Redefining it to be the 6 days before term is not medicine; it’s propaganda designed to gloss over late-term abortions.” Another on Twitter said: “Is ‘Late-term abortion’ too aggressive a way to describe stabbing a viable unborn baby in the heart with a needle containing potassium chloride & delivering its lifeless corpse? The ghouls populating our elite class traffic in euphemism because they have nothing else.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote: “Partial-birth abortion is the term Congress has used to describe a procedure that crosses the line from abortion to infanticide. The doctor delivers a substantial portion of the living child outside his mother’s body — the entire head in a head-first delivery or the trunk past the navel in a feet-first delivery — then kills the child by crushing his skull or removing his brain by suction.”
[excerpt from Joseph Curl, DailyWire.com, 12/8/22]

I was staring at my phone, weeping.

[This is what Kate Bachelder Odell wrote in the Wall St. Journal (12/14/22) in reviewing a book on motherhood by Jessica Grose.]

“My second son, then 7 days old, had flunked his hearing screening at the hospital, and since then I’d been harassed via emails, texts and phone calls that he needed more testing and might be deaf. It would ultimately prove a false alarm, but I couldn’t know that as I stared down at my baby. My husband corralled everyone in this mass meltdown into bed. It would be unwise, he told me, to continue reading about cochlear implants on the internet.”

The demands, uncertainties and complex emotions that accompany the arrival of children can be intense and
overwhelming. Ms. Grose concedes that raising children is easier now than in the past. She also says today’s parenting is “uniquely difficult in the amount of information we get about what we’re supposed to be doing.” A clinical psychologist reports many of her clients cite social media as a source of their “anxiety, jealousy, shame, guilt.”

In a revealing remark, one psychology professor tells Ms. Grose that “being forced to stop or reduce working” during the pandemic “took an emotional toll on moms.” But women often divert time or attention away from paid labor when they have kids. For most, the relationship will be far more valuable later in life than the few years of marginal retirement contributions they’d gain from working while paying for expensive child care. Overwhelming moments arrive, then pass. What you can handle will expand; what overwhelms you now will soon be routine. Life will be suffused with far more focus, substance and meaning and less self- absorption. Children will prevent you from pursuing personal ambitions at all costs—and thank God for that guard rail.

Aside from just having a ministerial preference for the unborn,
we also serve the poor, the imprisoned, the marginalized, the
oppressed, the sick and the aged. Whatever we need to do to
uphold the image and likeness of God in humanity is what we
do. Deacon Kevin Cummings, Archdiocese of Kansas City,
KS, on the pro-life apostolate, Deacons of Hope, that he
started with Deacon Doug Hemke, Kansas City-St. Joseph
Diocese, Missouri.

This free monthly newsletter is used by dozens of churches as a bulletin insert, and since 2013 has had over 30,000 readers. To receive each month’s issue in your inbox, email Frank Tinari, Ph.D. at tinarifr@shu.edu

by Frank Tinari, Ph.D., Life Education Council Board of Trustees

Human Life Begins at…

Life: “This is rudimentary biology”

•  “With the fusion of the sperm and the egg, a new human life begins. This is rudimentary biology — it has been settled science since the early 19th century. (Dr. Michael R. Egnor, prof. of neurosurgery & pediatrics, State Univ. of NY, Stony Brook, Evolution News, 2022)
•  “At fertilization, the human being emerges as a whole genetically distinct, individuated zygotic living human organism, a member of the species Homo sapiens, needing only the proper environment in order to grow and develop. The difference between the individual in its adult stage and in its zygotic stage is one of form, not nature.” (American College of Pediatricians)
•  “Although it is customary to divide human development into prenatal and postnatal periods, it is important to realize that birth is merely a dramatic event during development resulting in a change in environment.” (The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 5th ed., Moore & Persaud, 1993, Saunders, p. 1)
•  “The new cell is a new combination of genetic material, resulting in an individual different from either parent and from anyone else in the world.” (Obstetric Nursing, 1980, p. 136, Sally B Olds)
•  “Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed. … The combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in the zygote.” (Human Embryology & Teratology, 2nd ed., 1996, pp. 8, 29, Ronan O’Rahilly & Fabiola Miller)
•  “Each human begins life as a combination of two cells, a female ovum and a much smaller male sperm. This tiny unit, no bigger than a period on this page, contains all the information needed to enable it to grow into the complex structure of the human body. The mother has only to provide nutrition and protection.” (Clark, J., ed., The Nervous System: Circuits of Communication in the Human Body, Torstar Books Inc., Toronto, 1985, p. 99) [excerpts from: 44 Quotes From Medical Textbooks Prove Human Life Begins at Conception, LifeNews.com, 11/1/22]

“Aside from just having a ministerial preference for the unborn, we also serve the poor, the imprisoned, the marginalized, the oppressed, the sick and the aged. Whatever we need to do to uphold the image and likeness of God in humanity is what we do.” Deacon Kevin Cummings, Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas

Former Abortion Director is Now Pro-Life

Reflecting upon his time with MSI, an abortion mill, Kevin Duffy describes how he “always knew that abortion involved taking a human life but I felt, at the time, confident in the belief that women would undergo abortions regardless, so it was better for these to take place in hygienic and safe conditions.” But when MSI began to promote self-managed DIY drugs, Mr Duffy felt deep concerns regarding the safety and well being of women. “Increasing numbers of women are presenting with incomplete abortions at facilities after self- administering abortion pills which they had bought in local drug shops.”

Mr. Duffy left MSI in March 2019. In 2020, the announcement that women in the UK could get abortion drugs through the mail prompted him to conduct a project which exposed the lack of safeguards and recklessness of the UK’s DIY home abortion scheme. 26 sets of calls were made, resulting in 26 packets of abortion drugs being sent out to women who essentially did not exist. Duffy said: “To think that after just two phone calls taking no more than an hour in total, a woman who doesn’t exist, is not pregnant, is not registered at the recorded GP surgery, who misleads the service provider about her medical history and her gestational age, even changes her gestational age mid-process, is able to obtain the abortion pills, a service for which the abortion provider is paid by the government. And they called this a fantastic advance in women’s healthcare.”

“Women are not being well served and are missing out on essential clinical assessments. They are left to manage the expulsions on their own at home—and with no follow-up care afterwards. This is a long, long way from the comprehensive, safe abortion care that the abortion industry claims to provide.” Mr Duffy became the
Executive Director of the largest UK pro-life group, saying: “I decided to put my knowledge and experience at the service of the pro-life movement. I am certain that the false narratives of the abortion industry which claim to ‘care about women’ can be defeated and a culture of life which truly cares about the well-being of women and safeguarding of human rights can be restored, so that one-day abortion will be rendered unthinkable.” [The
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, UK, 11/25/22]

Abortion Rate Drops 20% Since 2010

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released abortion data for the year 2020. Even though there was an overall reduction in the incidence of abortion, abortions increased in 29 of the 47 states that reported data. Of concern is the large increase in chemical abortions. From 2019 to 2020, the number of chemical abortions increased by 17.9%. Overall, the share of all abortions that were chemical abortions rose from 43.7% to 53.4% during that period. Under the current federal administration, the FDA allows women to get a chemical-abortion drug with no personal medical exam. The U.S. abortion rate fell by more than 20% since 2010. Overall, pro-lifers have succeeded in reducing the abortion rate by approximately 50% since 1980. The long-term decline in the U.S. abortion rate is very solid evidence of the positive impact of pro-life service, educational and legislative activities. [Michael New, Ph.D., LifeNews.com, 11/28/22]

The problem with “the wise and the learned” is not that they’re educated but that they are trying to govern and run their own lives on their own terms rather than living in obedience to God, with an attitude of receptivity like a child.
Bishop Robert Barron, Daily Gospel Reflection, 11/29/2022

A French Pro-Marriage Campaign

The U.S. could learn from one French organization that promotes marriage. “Based on the father/mother/child relationship, the family structure favors the renewal of ages and the stability of society,” states the website of La Manif Pour Tous (Demonstration for
All). It argues that children are not commodities to be traded and that mothers and fathers contribute to the public good by the raising of their children. “The family is the fundamental foundation of any society: the source of its human, cultural and economic wealth; an eminent place of solidarity, dignity, freedom and love.”

Children are the future of a society. They are also society’s most vulnerable members. La Manif argues: “Because it requires parents to provide for the moral & material direction of the family as well as the education of the children and the preparation of their future, marriage also protects the fruit of their love.” Civil marriage, then, protects the defenseless, whether spouse or child. [Fr. Patrick Briscoe, Our Sunday Visitor, 12/4/22]

A Woman’s Value

Drawing on her experience on America’s Next Top Model and her work as a fashion model, Leah Darrow exposes the lies we are told about our worth being tied to our appearance. She invites us to look again at the real meaning of beauty. In her book, The Other Side of Beauty: Embracing God’s Vision for Love and True Worth, she shows how we can reclaim true and lasting beauty–the kind that doesn’t depend on self-doubt, exploitation, or comparison–when we reflect God’s glory and embrace our value as he made us to be: strong, brave, and free. She says: “Only when we learn to see ourselves as God does can we leave behind our culture’s definitions and demands and find lasting joy.” [https://www.leahdarrow.com/home]

LGBTQ + CNM?

LGBT activists privately hope to break having only two partners in a marriage, “to infect the straight world” with polyamory, and to “radically alter” or abolish marriage altogether. The practice, and advocacy, of non- monogamous “marriage” is one of the secrets buried in the LGBT movement’s closet. Kimberly Rhoten of the Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition announced that non-monogamy is “as large as the LGBTQ population in the United States.” The LGBTQIA2S+ movement has announced the latest addition to its ever-growing acronym: CNM, which stands for Consensual Non-Monogamy, or open relationships of the variety common in the LGBT community.

LGBT extremists view same-sex marriage & polygamy as ways to redefine, and ultimately abolish, marriage. Activist Masha Gessen admitted that “It’s a no-brainer that the institution of marriage should not exist.” Similarly, LGBT activist and journalist Michelangelo Signorile encouraged the LGBT movement to undermine “society’s moral codes” and “radically alter an archaic institution.” Christians’ argument that same-sex marriage will degrade the institution is coming to fruition.

Experts have long known two things: monogamous couples report higher levels of sexual and relationship satisfaction, due precisely to their exclusivity. “On a scale from 1 to 10 rating how crucial fidelity is to a successful marriage, young women’s average score was 9.8 and young men’s average was 9.7,” wrote Alan J. Hawkins of the National Marriage Project. Surveys consistently show that nine out of 10 Americans believe extramarital sexual relations are immoral. So how can social engineers break down widespread moral rejection of promiscuity? The same way they broke down public opposition to homo-sexuality: by declaring it is an inborn trait.

A stream of propaganda defining sexual preference fetishes as immutable traits has changed American morality. In 1972, 74% said “sexual relations between two adults of the same sex” is “always wrong.” In 2018, 58% said such relations were “not wrong at all.” Similarly, the few Americans who view polygamy as “morally acceptable” has nearly quadrupled since 2006.

“The concept of sexual freedom is promotion of the acceptance of deviant sex” said Peter LaBarbera, founder of Americans for Truth. Adopting an anything-goes sexual standard, and equating all relationships by labeling them “marriage,” is the next step toward abolishing the institution altogether, as same-sex marriage and polygamy advocates admit. [Ben Johnson, Same-Sex Marriage Advocates: Polygamy Is Next, The Washington Stand, 11/28/22]

This free monthly newsletter is used by dozens of churches as a bulletin insert, and since 2013 has had over 30,000 readers. To receive each month’s issue in your
inbox, email Frank Tinari, Ph.D. at tinarifr@shu.edu

by Frank Tinari, Ph.D., Life Education Council Board of Trustees

This Month: Vote and Give Thanksgiving to God

Bishops Cite Life as Critical Voter Issue

Protection of human life from conception to natural death is stated by U.S. bishops as the pre-eminent issue of our time. Here is what they wrote: “The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed.” (USCCB, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 28, www.faithfulcitizenship.org)

For us voters, we must set aside party labels when we vote. Instead, vote for candidates who promote respect for the dignity of each person, the core of Catholic social and moral teaching. “A candidate’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support.” (FCFC, 42)

As individual citizens, voting with a moral conscience helps to promote the common good. We thank God for the privilege of voting in a democracy.

Thankful for Quality Films

• The documentary, Mother Teresa: No Greater Love, had such great success in early October that it’s coming back with encore showings in early November.
• The Chosen, Season 3, Episodes 1 and 2, will be shown only in theaters, Nov.18. A crowd-funded project, the first two seasons have attracted more than 380 million views, depicting a personal side of Jesus and imagined conversations with his Apostles and others. The actresses shown here have all been touched by the dramatization, and many viewers say they have been deeply affected by the show.
• Blonde (Netflix’s Marilyn Monroe drama) – Debuted on September 28, the film is a fictionalized version of Monroe’s life, based on a book by Joyce Carol Oates. Unlike in the film, Monroe’s three  pregnancies ended either in miscarriage or were ectopic. What is accurate, however, is a CGI depiction of what an unborn child looks like when Marilyn discovers she’s pregnant, including the baby’s beating heart. Visiting her mother, she talks about how her unwed mother bravely chose
  life. The language becomes powerfully pro-life as she points out there would be no Marilyn if her mother had chosen abortion. After becoming pregnant again, she imagines her baby talking to her from the womb, asking her not to hurt him/her. (Dawn Slusher, Planned Parenthood Outraged by Powerful Pro-Life Scenes in Netflix’s Marilyn Monroe Drama, www.LifeNews.com, 10/3/22)

Why Continue a March for Life in DC?

(Jeanne Mancini, President, https://marchforlife.org)
With the wonderful blessing of Roe v. Wade being overturned, a goal we have marched for since 1974, some say there is no longer a need for the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. But the fall of Roe means the battle for life must be fought on two fronts now: state and federal. At the March on January 20, 2023, we will present the strategic plan for building a culture of life in this moment in time. We will now march to the steps of
the United States Capitol. And we plan to be in all 50 states soon because we understand the power of unified, joyful masses of pro-life marchers who send a loud and clear message to legislators: Protect life!

We must tirelessly build a culture of life on Capitol Hill, and advocate for the advancement of federal pro-life policies. And we must also march in our state capitols, urging our state legislators to pass life-saving protections for the unborn. Last, we must continue to increase the safety net for moms and babies, especially by supporting pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes that provide love, compassion, and resources to women, children, and families.

Already, pro-abortion politicians in the U.S. House and Senate have voted in favor of the most radical expansion of abortion in American history, a bill deceptively named the Women’s Health Protection Act. If passed, this extreme bill would nullify existing pro-life state laws, prevent the passage of future state laws that protect the unborn, eliminate parental-consent laws, and force taxpayers to pay for abortions nationwide up until birth. Neither can we leave hard-fought victories like the Hyde Amendment vulnerable to attack. This longstanding policy limits government funding for abortion in appropriation bills, protects taxpayers and saves lives.

Pro-life pregnancy centers provide assistance such as education, support services and essential medical care to over 2 million people every year, offering millions of dollars-worth in medical, education and support resources. Maternity homes provide shelter and support for the first several years of the baby’s life. Pregnancy resource centers have saved more than 800,000 lives since 2016 and are favored by the vast majority of Americans. Everything they do is driven by love for the women who walk through their doors and a deep desire to see them realize their dreams without sacrificing their children.

Thanks to the incredible dedication and passion that you, our marchers, have shown throughout the years, we are emboldened to take these next steps in carrying out our mission to promote the beauty and dignity of every
human life by working for an end to abortion.

Aaron Judge Thanks His Adoptive Parents After Hitting Home Run #62

“Some kids grow in their mom’s stomach; I grew in my mom’s heart,” Judge said. “She’s always showed me love and compassion ever since I was a little baby. I’ve never needed to think differently or wonder about
anything.”

In early October, the 30-year-old Yankees slugger, who was adopted as a newborn, broke a six-decades-old record when he hit his 62nd home run. After the game, he told reporters that his family was at the front of his mind as he ran around the bases. A Christian, he has been open about being adopted as a baby and the incredible blessing that his parents, Wayne and Patty Judge, have been throughout his life. “The guidance my mom gave me as a kid growing up, knowing the difference from right and wrong, how to treat people and how to go the extra mile and put in extra work, all that kind of stuff. She’s molded me into the person that I am today. I was about 10 or 11 and we really didn’t look alike, so I started asking questions and they told me I was adopted and answered all my questions, and that was that. I was fine with it. It really didn’t bother me because they’re the only parents I’ve known.”

Judge said he knows that God brought them together  — his parents say their son has been a huge blessing in their lives. (Micaiah Bilger, www.LifeNews.com, 10/5/22)

Dear Frank, your newsletter continues to be among the best I receive. Thank God for your faithfulness. Judie Brown, American Life League

Teen Fights to Stop Transgender Surgery

At a moment in which most politicians and media outlets lack the courage to speak out, 18-yr-old Chloe
Cole, a self-described “former trans kid” who de-transitioned after undergoing years of puberty blockers and an irreversible double mastectomy at the age of 15, is leading the fight. Traveling across the nation, she shares her story to raise the alarm about gender transition procedures on children, a growing trend she calls “child abuse” and “medical experimentation.”

Cole was just 11 yrs. old when she was first exposed to gender ideology through online platforms. It didn’t take long before medical professionals fast-tracked her into medically transitioning from a girl to a boy, a trend she says has exploded among children. Cole was put on puberty blockers and testosterone at age 13. She continues to experience joint pain from weakened bone density, a known side effect of puberty blockers, as well as certain allergies and ongoing urinary tract infections. But this pales in comparison to the double mastectomy she underwent at age 15. “I wasn’t really thinking. I was a kid, just trying to fit in, not thinking
about the possibility of becoming a parent.”
(excerpt from Edie Heipel, Meet Chloe Cole, www.CatholicNewsAgency.com, 9/24/22)

Some “Experts”: Marriage is an outdated institution, a relic of a patriarchal past

A 2019 article in the Atlantic sought to inform readers of “What you gain when you lose a spouse,” while the
New York Times explored an America “Beyond Marriage.” A recent story in Bloomberg assured us that “women who stay single and don’t have kids are getting richer” than their peers who are married with children.

There’s just one problem with such anti-nuptial and anti-natalist reporting: It’s completely false. In fact, the Bloomberg story uses data only from single Americans, meaning there is no basis for comparison with married women. Married mothers ages 18-55 have a mean household income of $133,000, compared to $79,000 for childless, single woman 18-55, according to data from the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey.

Thirty-three percent of married mothers ages 18-55 say they are “completely satisfied” with their lives, compared to 15 percent of childless women 18-55, according to the American Family Survey. Single, childless women are about 60% more likely to report feelings of loneliness compared to married mothers. Living for ourselves & our jobs is a dead end for most of us, whether we are a man or a woman, something that’s pretty obvious to most people.

Meanwhile, giving of ourselves to others, especially to our spouse, kids, and community, is the path most
conducive to a meaningful and generally happy life. And because marriage allows couples to pool income and assets, it also leads to a heck of lot more prosperity for the average Joe and Jane.

The happiest women in America today are those least likely to be following the profoundly self-centered and anti-family catechism of our ruling class. To be a happy and prosperous woman, be open to the gifts of marriage and children and look for opportunities to embrace family life as a key part of a rich and meaningful life. (Brad Wilcox and Alysse ElHage, Newsweek, 10/4/22)

OB-GYN Dr. William Lile Speaks Out

“It’s now possible to operate on babies while they are still in the womb. The umbilical cord of a baby can be transfused with donated blood as early as 18 weeks gestation to treat severe anemia in babies. Babies are patients and deserve legal protection like the rest of us.” Nicknamed the Pro-Life Doc, he says: “All patients, including preborn babies, have rights. It’s time to stand up and fight for the rights of the Pre-Born.” (https://www.prolifedoc.org)

This free monthly newsletter is used by dozens of churches as a bulletin insert, and since 2013 has had over 30,000 readers. To receive each month’s issue in your inbox, email Frank Tinari, Ph.D. at tinarifr@shu.edu