Category Archives: Uncategorized

Covid Vaccines, Easter and Life (Apr. 2021 Newsletter)

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

COVID-19 Ethics are Complicated

Amidst continuing controversy and differences of opinion, Bishop Thomas Daly (Spokane, WA) summarized three guiding principles of decades-long Church teaching on vaccines:

  1. We may morally receive the currently available Covid-19 vaccines
  2. We’re not morally obliged to take a Covid vaccine
  3. We should advocate for more ethical research & pharmaceutical development

The first principle takes into account that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was produced with tainted aborted fetal cell lines, and that Catholics are encouraged to get a different vaccine. The second principle reflects the concerns that some have about the new vaccines and that one’s conscience must be used in a morally responsible way. The third principle urges all Catholics to communicate their ethical concerns to vaccine producers. For example, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone (San Francisco) plans to launch a letter-writing campaign to urge pharmaceutical giants to produce ethical vaccines. [COVID-19 Vaccine Ethics, National Catholic Register, 3/28/21]

Are Catholics “Hung Up” on Abortion?

[by Timothy Cardinal Dolan]

Actually, we’re obsessed with the dignity of the human person, the sacredness of all human life including the helpless life of the baby in the womb, the death row prisoner, the immigrant, the fragile elderly, the poor & sick. Concern over an abortion culture is not a uniquely Catholic issue but one of human rights. We didn’t learn that abortion was horrible from religion class but in biology and, regarding inalienable rights, in American history.

How can we sustain a culture that recoils at violence, exclusion, suicide, racism, injustice and callousness toward those in need, if we applaud, allow, pay for, and promote the destruction of the most helpless, the baby in the womb? As Pope Francis observes: “We defend and promote all legitimate human rights. But what use are they if the right of the baby to be born is violated?”

Yes, we’re still ‘hung up’ about human life and pray that a respect for the sacredness of all life & the dignity of the human person will be revived, and that the sanctuary of the womb will be off-limits to violent invasion.[1/13/21, www.cny.org]

The use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person. Pope St. John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (65).

Easter Is Life

“Christianity … is peace; it is joy; it is love; it is life that is always renewed, like the secret pulsing of nature at the beginning of spring. The source of this joy is in the Risen Christ, who frees men from the slavery of sin, and invites them to be with him a new creature, waiting for blessed eternity.” (St. John XXIII, 1959)

Easter is the “Feast of feasts” because it is the single greatest feast of the entire liturgical year and “fills the year with its brilliance.” (Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 1168) The 50 days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one great Easter season.

Catechumens receive three sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation) as they enter the Church during the Easter vigil, but all the faithful have the opportunity to strengthen their own sacramental life by renewing their baptismal promises during the Easter liturgy.

“In Western history it was the arrival of Christianity that brought the notion of the sacredness of each person into the world. In pre-Christian Rome, if for any reason a newborn baby was rejected by his or her father (this happened much more often with female babies), out the baby went to the forest for a quick end …. The whole crazy notion that each human life has inherent value – that human lives matter – was what inspired early Christians to set up orphanages, hospitals, and other institutions for the needy, the impaired, and the others who had always been treated with contempt by society.” [George McKenna, On Physical and Moral Plagues,
Human Life Review, Winter 2021]

Recommended New Movie

Starting April 2, the movie Roe v. Wade is available for streaming on both Amazon Prime and Apple TV. The film tells the untold conspiracy that led to one of the most famous and controversial court cases in history. Catholic League President Bill Donohue, an associate producer of the
movie, said: “As assaults on the right to life continue to mount across the country, it is important to understand how we got here.” In May, the film will be made available on DVD.

Big Tech Censors Religion

So far this year, religious groups and figures have been silenced by tech companies at a rate of about one a week. In February, the YouTube channel of LifeSiteNews, a popular religious news website, was permanently banned by Google which delisted all of its videos. The tech giant flagged LSN for a video of an American Catholic bishop criticizing vaccines developed with fetal cells. LSN’s editor said “our best guess is that the channel was taken down for our frank and factual discussion of the controversy around abortion-tainted medicines and vaccines.”

In December, Twitter blocked a post from the Daily Citizen, run by Focus on the Family, an evangelical Christian non-profit. It suspended its account for a tweet that respectfully challenged the underlying premise of transgenderism. Twitter made a similar move against Catholic World Report, though it later recanted. Ryan T. Anderson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center saw Amazon ban his book criticizing transgenderism, When Harry Became Sally.

Facebook banned Paul Kangor’s anticommunist tract, The Devil and Karl Marx, and Carrie Gress’s book on rescuing the culture from toxic femininity. Facebook also banned ads for Kimberly Cook’s
book, Motherhood Redeemed, that challenges feminism in the modern world.

Religious groups and individuals likely will face mounting threats from tech companies. Their views on marriage, sexuality, life and other moral issues are unpopular with tech elites. Some religious groups have fought back and have been reinstated. Religious groups should refuse to silence themselves or otherwise back down. Censorship is a symptom of a national collapse in civic culture. Curing the deeper disease will take all the courage and conviction we can muster. [Josh Holdenried, VP & Exec. Director, Napa Legal Institute, Wall Street Journal, 3/29/21]

Teen Brains Affected by Drugs &Alcohol

According to Jessica Lahey, author of The Addiction Inoculation, adolescence is the second of two incredible periods of growth and maturation of the brain. From birth to age two and then puberty to the early to mid-20s. [Ed. Note: past issues of this newsletter have highlighted research regarding the benefits of moms staying home with their newborns for the first two years of life.] The environment has for better or worse a really big impact on the brain.

So teen use of stimulants really needs to be delayed. You not only protect their brain, you also lower a kid’s risk that they will develop a lifetime substance-use disorder. Ninety percent of those people report they started using drugs and alcohol before they were 18. Parents who are strict and say “Just say no” end up with healthier kids.

Risk factors that make it more likely that a teen will abuse alcohol or drugs include genetics (50% to 60% of the risk) plus: childhood violence in the home, death of a parent, separation and divorce. These affect a teen’s overall mental and physical health, including academic failure.

Parents are urged to model healthy behaviors themselves. If your 8th-grader says that everybody is drinking, tell them the truth: only 24% of young kids are doing so. But don’t wait for middle school. Have conversations about drugs and alcohol with your young children and repeat as they get older. [Andrea Petersen, Wall Street Journal, 3/23/21]

For Married Couples Facing Difficulties

The Retrouvaille Program is for married couples facing difficult challenges in their relationship. The marriage program helps couples restore their marriage and rebuild a loving relationship. It is a Christian marriage program, Catholic in origin, where couples of all faiths or no faith background are encouraged to attend. Its major focus is to improve communication & help couples reconnect. Presenters are couples sharing their personal stories of marital struggles and the tools they used to rediscover their love. More information is available at its website. [www.helpourmarriage.org]

Treatment of Impaired People

How do we view physically and cognitively challenged individuals? Hitler adopted a forced-sterilization program in the 1930s that morphed into euthanasia. More than 200,000 people deemed mentally & physically unfit to live were systematically murdered. To defend their actions, some Nazis at the Nuremberg trials quoted Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ statement justifying sterilization, “three generations of imbeciles are enough,” & the American government’s own sterilization programs. So, today, whom do we think is not fit to live? Our religious beliefs should be put forth to answer: everyone has human dignity that should be respected until natural death.

Life is Precious

In 1994 my aunt had unsuccessful brain surgery and became terminally ill. My parents appreciated the compassionate hospice care provided to her by a local hospital. After several months, my aunt slipped into a coma. Our parish assistant pastor told us that because she had an irreversible condition, that she could be allowed to die. [Tim Donovan, letter to Our Sunday Visitor, 3/21/21]

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

Silence is Consent (Mar. 2021 Newsletter)

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

Phooey on the Hype

American voters seem to be able to see through the hype and euphemisms used by pro-abortion advocates and many in the news media. “Despite being vastly outspent by pro-abortion organizations such as Planned Parenthood and Emily’s List, pro-life candidates in November won by significant margins. There were 58 races in which a candidate supported by National Right to Life was running against a candidate supported by the pro-abortion PAC Emily’s List. Forty-one (or 71%) of the NRLC-supported candidates won.” [NRLC, The State of Abortion in the U.S., Jan. 2021]

Speaking Out Against The So-Called
‘Equality Act’

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops recently said the proposed Equality Act “would discriminate against people of faith.” The Catholic League and many other civil rights and religious organizations have also sounded the alarm. The Act’s two goals are: amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the definition of sex; override the existing Religious Freedom Restoration Act by allowing gay rights to trump religious rights.

The expansion of rights to transgender women, really biological males who identify as female, has come at the expense of rights for biological females. Boys and men would be allowed to compete in sports with girls and women, thus unfairly altering women’s athletics. Females would also lose their privacy rights. These biological males could use the locker rooms, restrooms and shower facilities that have always been reserved for females.

This bill would grant men the right to sue if they were denied equal access to women’s private spaces such as showers, bathrooms, and nursing rooms. These men could also have access to women’s prisons and shelters. Mothers would have no say in their child’s healthcare decisions if that child asks for hormone treatments or sex-reassignment surgery. Even a woman choosing a female doctor because of religious or personal preference would be considered discriminatory. None of this has anything to do with why the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed. [William Donohue, Catholic League, 2/22/21; and Eagle Forum Engage, 2/22/21]

If the Equality Act were passed, Catholic foster care programs would be shut down. They would either have to agree to allow two men to adopt children—a clear violation of Church teachings—or lose federal funding. Currently, Catholic hospitals can legally refuse to perform abortions. Under the Equality Act, they would either lose federal funding or be forced to get into the abortion business. That is because refusing abortion services would be declared “pregnancy” discrimination.

The “abortion as health care” campaign advanced by the Equality Act effectively defines the unborn child out of existence. It treats the child as merely a “physical condition” of the mother that health professionals are called on to address through corrective treatment. It also defines Americans who object to such taking of innocent human life as bigots who must be forced to comply. The Act does not promote equality: it further demeans vulnerable human beings who already have few rights, and denies the right of pro-life Americans, who make up about half the U.S. population, to live by their fundamental convictions. In no way should its enactment be the goal of a “presidency for all Americans.” [Richard Doerflinger, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Feb. 2021]

Ed. note: Contact your elected representatives if the bill is still under consideration when you read this.

“Disability should never be a ground or justification to end someone’s life directly or indirectly.” United Nations human rights experts’ joint statement, 1/25/21

Lent and Life

During Lent we try to walk with Jesus in prayer, charity to others, and self-denial, just as He did. Thomas a Kempis wrote: “Jesus has many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He finds many companions of His table, but few of His fasting, Many are astonished at His miracles, few follow after the shame of His Cross.”

We know that there is no way we can outdo God’s generosity; the least we can do during this Lenten season is to give to the One who gave everything for us. There is so much suffering and injustice in the world. Let’s try to make a difference where we live.

One way of doing your share in Lent is to participate a few hours a week in the 40 Days for Life project. This international campaign with 567 locations offers us the opportunity to sacrifice some of our time in reparation for the sin of abortion, by praying outside an abortion mill in our own area. Go to www.40DaysforLife.com and click on “Find a Vigil” which takes you to the locations and contact information near you.

Ed. Note: Your editor & his wife devote two hours weekly to our local vigil where we pray the rosary & hold Love Life signs in front of a Planned Parenthood facility. It’s not much, but it is something. We encourage readers to do your share.

“Silence is Consent”

Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s new book, The Black Church, argues that religious appeals gave slaves “the moral authority to turn the mirror of religion back on their masters and to indict the nation for its original sin of allowing their enslavement….”

Pro-lifers believe that our contemporary concern for human rights can serve the same purpose in indicting our nation’s support of abortion and a culture of death.

Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry told Gates: “The teachings of Jesus are just as clear that Christian folk and Christian leaders cannot abide or countenance anybody’s supremacy over anybody else, white or anything, and cannot remain silent. Silence is consent.” We would hope that the Bishop would speak out against abortion’s legal supremacy over unborn black and white babies.

Just as the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision was rightly condemned in the 19th century for not recognizing a class of human beings, black people, so we condemn the Roe v Wade decision of the 20th century for not recognizing a class of human beings, unborn developing people. We continue to speak out and pray for changed hearts in our country.

Costco Chickens? How About Humans?

Recently, Nicholas Kristof wrote in the New York Times (The Ugly Secrets Behind the Costco Chicken, 2/7/21) about the terrible treatment of chickens that Costco buys for their delicious rotisserie chickens. “Future generations will look back at our mistreatment of livestock and poultry with pain and bafflement. They will wonder how we in the early 21st century could have been so oblivious to the cruelties….”

Has Kristof ever said how future generations will look at us and our horrific treatment of preborn developing human beings who have been killed? He says he agrees with Jeremy Bentham’s 1789 statement on the treatment of animals: “The question is not, Can they reason?, nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?” Mr. Kristof, many preborn babies feel pain during an abortion. Are you sympathetic to them, too? If so, we want to hear about it from you.

Policy Debate on Family Support

Should parents be provided direct financial support for raising children? Or should parents be given child-care vouchers so they can go out and work? Or should Congress expand the Child Tax Credit? How will all of these benefits be funded? The debate was started recently by the introduction of Senator Mitt Romney’s family plan that would include monthly payments to families of up to $350 per child. Your editor encourages a close watch on these developments, and looks forward to Christian commentary on the matter.

“Catholic View for Women” Program

Though Covid delayed taping, co-hosts of this EWTN program recently kicked off the show’s 13th season. Viewers have gotten used to the show tackling hot-button issues and this new season is no exception. The hosts will address the dangers to women of the resurgent Equal Rights Amendment, gender dysphoria and the transgender craze, the physical and spiritual benefits of fasting, so-called same-sex marriage, how social media harms teens, domestic violence, and the dangers of in vitro fertilization. The shows should begin airing in late spring 2021.

“Not only is the number of Christians rapidly declining in this country, the number of ‘religiously unaffiliated’ is on the rise. This abandonment of Christ has led to a free-fall from objective truth to the point where we can no longer agree even that humans are either biologically male or female. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly dangerous simply to write those words, lest we be accused of hate speech.” [Editorial, Our Sunday Visitor, 2/14/21]

Your Taxpayer Funds for Abortion

The new administration in Washington DC recently canceled the “Protect Life Rule” that banned taxpayer funds from being used to promote or provide abortion in family planning programs. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, responded: “By rescinding this rule, the administration will be forcing abortion into a pre-pregnancy program specifically designed to exclude abortion, a move which is immoral, impractical and may also be unlawful.” Days earlier, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, president of the USCCB, wrote that while he looked forward to working with our new president, “he has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity.” [Our Sunday Visitor, 2/7 & 2/14/21]

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

“We Have Not Nor Will We Ever Give Up” (Feb. 2021 Newsletter)

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

Full-Page Display in Wall Street Journ.

Under a sonogram photo of a developing baby, on Jan. 22nd National Right to Life wrote:

“We don’t see a potential life….
We see a life with potential”

The full-page display was placed by the group because: “An unborn baby’s heart is beating until she dies from abortion. Her brain waves can be recorded as early as six weeks. If you believe a life with the potential to laugh, to love, and to do great things is worth saving, please join with us.” [www.facts.nrlc.org]

Guess the Leadership’s Religion

1. Force the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraceptives & abortifacients to their employees
2. Have taxpayer money fund abortion in the U.S. and in our foreign aid to other nations
3. Promote euthanasia & physician-assisted suicide
4. Eliminate federal regulations that protect the conscience rights of Catholic doctors, nurses and health-care workers

In other words, deliberately facilitate what the Gospel & the Church teach are grave moral evils & injustices. [George Weigel, The Beacon, 1/21/21]

Until Every Unborn Child is Protected

On the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade decision, we recall the late great Fr. Richard John
Neuhaus. “We shall not weary, we shall not rest,” he declared at the 2008 National Right to Life Convention, “until every unborn child is protected in law and welcomed in life.”

We are called to be faithful to this mission, no matter how daunting. And, though Roe still reigns, the cause for the unborn has nevertheless made & continues to make great strides saving precious lives every day. Forty-eight years into this, there are millions of good people working at every level to protect the unborn, from the dedicated volunteers at pregnancy centers to pro-life educators, journalists, clergy, lawyers, & legislators, including 18 pro-life women who were elected to Congress in Nov. We have not nor will we ever give up.

A recent article features a fresh look at the Roe travesty. “A Case for the Revocation of Roe v. Wade,” says Editor Anne Conlon, is by Lyle Strathman, an 85-year-old retired electronics engineer. His multi-faceted argument, that legalized abortion under the guise of Roe is an aberration of human reason, of biological science, of philosophical analysis, & the U.S. Constitution, is presented with the kind of elegant economy and interlocking logic even Steve Jobs could have admired.”[https://humanlifereview.com/issue/fall-2020/]

Who Are the Sisters of Life & Why Did
Eight More Young Women Just Join?

The Catholic religious order is one of the fastest growing orders in the U.S. The photo shows the most recent group of young women who joined as postulants. Here is the order’s mission statement: “Like other Catholic religious Sisters, we’vemade a decision to leave behind what the world offers to give our whole lives to God by professing vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. What does that mean? It means we don’t personally own anything – Jesus is our treasure. We don’t get married – Jesus is our one love. And we freely surrender to lives of obedience – Jesus is our one will.

This sets us free to love in a universal way, and commit wholeheartedly to the mission Jesus entrusts as we live in community with one another.

And, as Sisters in love with life, we’ve also made another decision: We vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of every human life. Why? Because we want to uphold the dignity and worth of each person, created from and for God’s great love. Entrusting ourselves completely to the Lord of Life, we commit our lives to the protection of human life and to the promotion of new life in Christ, acknowledging the goodness of every person, and sharing the gift of God’s abundant mercy with all those we meet. In this way, we seek to help reveal to each person their own innate goodness, the particular love God has for them, and invite them to something greater: a life of truth, joy, and hope.” [https://SistersofLife.org]

Are You a Man or a Woman?

According to a new federal order, school restrooms, locker rooms, & sports can now no longer be organized on the basis of sex—or “sex-based stereotypes,” to use the current administration’s favored terminology. There has been an understandable outcry about the consequences of this, most obviously for women’s sports, where physical differences exert rather a significant influence. For example, women’s running, from the 100m to the marathon, will easily be dominated by men who identify as female. Worryingly, contact sports such
as women’s rugby will become very dangerous.

I am the faculty advisor to the women’s rugby team at Grove City College. Will it become illegal for me to refuse to allow the women to play opposite a team containing biological males who have rejected “sex-based stereotypes”? Whatever might be the legal case, I would consider it criminally irresponsible to allow such a match to take place.

What constitutes a person is now apparently nothing more than your feelings, your psychology. You feel you are a woman, despite what your body tells you? Then understand that your body has no authority here; go with your gut. Transgenderism is really just the latest, most radical expression of the notion that humans are just matter, the biology of which has no moral significance. The body has no intrinsic purpose, for it can be manipulated to serve those feelings in which we have come to invest decisive authority.

Any form of social organization that denies or challenges the identity of transgender people is by definition discriminating against them. It is not just women’s sports. It is anything that can be categorized as oppressive—be they religious organizations, traditional moral convictions, or previously unexceptionable pronouns.

Traditionally, the legitimate and the illegitimate could be distinguished on the basis of agreed-upon human ends, which all humans share and which transcend the individual. Once those ends have been abandoned in favor of personalized forms of individual happiness, an odd thing happens. With no consensus on what human beings are for, someone still has to make choices about which identities are legitimate and which are not. And thus the freedom of radical individualism ironically requires the authoritarianism of governmental decrees, with appropriate penalties
attached. [Carl R. Trueman, First Things, 1/26/21]

UN Reneges on Key Principles

The UN Declaration of Human Rights recognizes that “all members of the human family” have “inherent dignity.” The UN also claims in Article 3: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security
of person.” In 1959 the UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and in 1989 reaffirmed it at its Convention on the Rights of the Child, declaring: “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.

Since then the UN has reneged on these basic principles. “Worldwide, there were 73.3 million abortions each year between 2015-2019 according to [a] Lancet study. The injustice is beyond words! In our nation, there are 862,230 precious children—with what the UN once called “inherent dignity”—that are killed by the social injustice of abortion annually.” [Ryan Bomberger, Remember When the UN Declared Unborn Babies Should be Protected?, LifeNews.com, 11/20/20]

“The right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture, is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.” Saint John Paul II, Christi Laici #38

Studies Show Girls Prefer Dolls

The toys provided by parents deliver some of the earliest gender-based messages by encouraging children to engage in activities associated with, for example, dolls and trucks.

In the current study, we measured the influence of parental socialization by assessing 5-month-old and 12 1⁄2-month-old infants’ exposure to dolls and trucks and by experimentally manipulating parents’ encouragement to play with these toys. We found that infants displayed gender-typical toy preferences at 12 1⁄2 but not 5 months, a pattern characteristic of previous studies. Further, encouragement by a parent to play with toys from each category was ineffective in altering infants’ preferences. [John L.
Boe, Rebecca J. Woods, Parents’ Influence on Infants’ Gender-Typed Toy Preferences, Springer Science-Bus. Media, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0858-4]

“I’ve Been Kicked Out of My Home”

[Ed.’s Note: There are literally tens of thousands of support agencies and homes to help pregnant women who have been rejected by their families. This is a brief report on one of them.]

Kelly, pregnant and 19, was abandoned by the father of her child & her entire family. She searched online for “homeless programs New York New Jersey” & Good Counsel Homes popped up. That evening she was in one of its four homes, welcomed by the manager with open arms and a warm smile.

“Good Counsel, homes for mothers and babies, started by the late Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, and me back in 1985, is here to help any pregnant and parenting mothers ‘take the next good step’ as Fr. Benedict would say. That usually means going back to school or working or both. Good Counsel offers free babysitting for a mom during the year she is in the home in order for her to take those next good steps.”

“Good Counsel has served more than 7,800 mothers and children. Last year 30 babies were born from moms living in our homes as we kept the doors open in spite of the lockdowns.” [Christopher Bell,
www.GoodCounselHomes.org]

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

Getting Accurate Information Is Crucial (Jan. 2021 Newsletter)

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

Pastors: “Shocking, Callous” Proposal

The pro-abortion governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker has vetoed a radical pro-abortion bill after the legislature rejected his amendments.  Without them, the “ROE Act” bill would allow unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth, end parental consent for young girls seeking abortions, weaken the state anti-infant side law, & allow non-doctors to abort the unborn.

The Mass. legislature has indicated an intent to override the veto. Doing so requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the state House and Senate.  Recently, more than 400 pastors across the state wrote to Baker slamming the bill as a “shocking and callous disregard for human life and the importance of parental involvement in the lives of children.” Another pro-abortion bill narrowly failed in New Mexico because of strong public opposition. But similar legislation did pass in New York, Illinois, Vermont and Rhode Island last year, prompting massive outrage.

A recent poll by Susan B. Anthony List found that 62% of Mass. voters oppose late-term abortions, including 49% of Democrat & 66% of independent voters. The same number, 62%, also supports the current state law requiring parental consent before a girl under 18 has an abortion. [S. Ertelt, M. Bilger, LifeNews.com, 12/23/20]

Ed.’s Note: New Jersey’s governor and legislators are hoping to push through a similar shocking bill. State residents are urged to contact their elected representatives to vote against it. 

Film: “CHOICE: Who Decides?

Inspired by the courageous efforts of people on both sides of the reproductive justice movement committed to advancing the rights of women and the unborn, this timely film explores the convictions of people fighting for reproductive freedom versus the right to life, which exposes the fears and struggles that divide our nation.

CHOICE aims to educate & inspire viewers to explore women’s rights & how our society, medical science, culture, religion & politics are shaping that conversation. No matter where you stand on the position of reproductive rights, we can all agree it is THE issue at the forefront of our emotional divide. How did we get here? What does our future of challenges look like?

Film-makers spoke to hundreds of individuals who shared their personal, professional & eye opening stories, many for the first time, making the film an unexpected investigative journey.  [https://www.choicethedocumentary.com]

Male-Female Differences 

A 2017 review reported that women outperformed men in memory and learning, while men performed better in spatial & motor tasks. Women were more likely to have a higher rate of cerebral blood flow, a higher percent of gray matter, and more connections between left and right brain hemispheres; men had a higher percentage of white matter and more connections within the left brain hemisphere. [Marri: Faith & Family, www.marripedia.org]

“We may add that it is an act of foolish injustice to pretend the sexes are the same. Justice is exercised in respectfully providing for the due needs of each.” J. Budziszewski, Prof., Univ. of Texas at Austin, author of What We Can’t Not Know: A Guide.

Super Bowl Champ Slams Abortion

Former NFL star Ben Watson criticized Georgia senate candidate Raphael Warnock last week for describing the killing of unborn babies in abortions as “reproductive justice.” Watson, a former New England Patriots tight end & Super Bowl champion, told pastor Warnock that there is nothing just about killing a son or daughter in an abortion: “JUSTICE is the equitable distribution of punishment AND protection. JUSTICE is rooted in the dignity of every human endowed by their Creator.”

Watson and his wife, Kirsten, parents of seven & passionate advocates for life, recently produced a film, “Divided Hearts of America,” to “challenge and also educate America when it comes to the issue of abortion.” They run the nonprofit One More Foundation that focuses on hunger, poverty, prison reform & other matters. [M. Bilger, www.LifeNews.com, 11/23/20]

Doctors said: “Institutionalize her”

Karen Killilea was born 3 months premature. Her parents later discovered she had cerebral palsy.  They finally found a doctor who saw that she was aware of her surroundings. With tireless medication, her family spent at least two hours every day for the next 10 years helping Karen move her limbs. By her early teens, she was walking with crutches, swimming, typing and going to school.  And she lived to be 80, dying in October 2020.

Marie Killilea told the world about her daughter in two best-selling books, which were among the first to detail the challenges of living with a severe physical disability and were an inspiration to many families in similar circumstances. Karen worked for four decades as the receptionist at the Trinity Retreat House in Larchmont NY & traveled to Italy twice, meeting semi-privately both times with Pope Paul VI. She never considered herself “handicapped” but called herself “permanently inconvenienced.”

After the books appeared, Karen & her mother answered at least 15,000 letters from around the world. Some were addressed simply to “Karen, USA” & still arrived. Many wrote to thank the family for telling their story & to say it had inspired them to become nurses, physical or occupational therapists.  Her parents began lobbying for the rights of the disabled, meeting many other parents of children with disabilities. This led to the formation of what is now Cerebral Palsy of Westchester, and eventually led to the founding of the United Cerebral Palsy Association. All this as a result of rejecting doctors’ advice to institutionalize her. [NY Times, D/20/20]

Decline a Covid Vaccine? 

Relying on cell lines from abortions to manu facture a COVID-19 vaccine provokes strong moral objections, so some will refuse the vaccines. The Church, for her part, does not require us to decline it when there is a serious reason such as an elderly person or someone with multiple health issues who faces significant risks if they were to contract the disease.

Any time we decide to receive an unethically produced vaccine, we should push back. We can do our part to apply pressure on the manufacturer, perhaps by sending an email objecting to its methods, and requesting that it reformulate the vaccine using alternative, non-abortion-related cell sources. We could write a letter to our local paper pointing out the injustice of being morally coerced to rely on these cell sources.

The chart compares different vaccine candi dates that are or may become available in the U.S., collated by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. [Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, The Beacon, 12/17/20]

“The greatest destroyer of peace today is the cry of the innocent unborn child. For if a mother can murder her own child, what is left for you and me but to kill each other?” St. Theresa of Calcutta

Euthanasia for Children? 

Legalizing euthanasia transforms healers into killers. The expansion of euthanasia laws to permit killing sick children by lethal injection is yet another symptom of the culture of death’s profound influence on law & medicine throughout the world.

Belgium extended euthanasia to children by eliminating the age limit for lethal injection. In the Netherlands, in October the Dutch government approved euthanasia for terminally ill children aged 1 to 12. Currently it is legal for babies up to a year old to be killed with parental consent.

The culture of death is spreading rapidly. Could killing people, even children, by lethal injection be legalized in the USA? When will people of every nation raise their voices and demand, “Stop! Enough!”? [Nov. 2020, https://halovoice.org]

Just for Girls/Just for Guys 2020-21

A new edition of HLA’s teen abstinence magazine completely transitions its style to engage Gen Z’rs. New articles share a positive approach to Sexual Risk Avoidance strategies that focus on how waiting to have sex fits into a successful, healthy life. Teens will read both sides of this 16-page appealing flip-magazine! Send for a copy. [https://humanlifealliance.org]

Rally for Life: Friday, January 29th

Although the Exposition of vendors is cancelled because of the pandemic, March for Life organizers are going ahead with the annual Rally & March in Washington DC, the largest pro-life event in the world. A number of well-known guest speakers have been scheduled.

As in past years, many will participate in their local state rallies. For example, the St. Augustine March is scheduled for Jan. 16th. If you live in Florida or southern Georgia, you are encouraged to take a stand for life in the nation’s oldest city.

The Oakland, CA, StandUp4Life rally will be held on Friday, Jan. 22nd. “We walk because abortion in the Black community is a form of genocide, the Civil Rights issue of our day. We walk because abortion does violence, both physically & emotionally, to men and women, to their children, and to their families.”

For Texans, “Join thousands at the Texas Rally for Life on Saturday, January 23, at the Capitol in Austin, starting at 1 pm.”

Perhaps the most unusual & ambitious event is being held throughout January by the March for Life Chicago. “This year, we know many of you can’t travel to Chicago by bus. So we’re bringing it to you in five lead-up events in a city near you!”

Information about all rallies and marches for life may be found at https://marchforlife.org.

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

Pro-Lifers Hopeful… and Determined in Public Policy

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

In the Culture

1. Many programs are expanding. For example, 40 Days for Life is now active in hundreds of U.S. cities and is going on right now through Nov. 1st.  People stand vigil, praying outside of abortion clinics. Also, the nationwide one-day Life Chain brings out thousands of people to give silent witness to our concern for a culture of life. And for those who have taken part in an abortion, the Church offers hope through Rachel’s Vineyard, a program of forgiveness and healing. 

Another example: the Archdiocese of Miami’s Respect Life Ministry has been offering a monthly webinar as part of the U.S. Bishops theme of “Walking with Moms: A Year of Service.” September’s webinar was How to Be a Pregnancy Center Volunteer. A number of churches have been installing Love Life and other lawn banners. And other churches have erected memorial plaques for the unborn such as this one from Holy Family Church, Florham Park, NJ. 

2. More people are becoming informed. The fast growing Relevant Radio network is also available anytime through its app, and folks who like to read are accessing papers like the National Catholic Register and Our Sunday Visitor, not to mention worthy websites such as www.lifesitenews.com, www.lifenews.com and www.priestsforlife.org.

3. Inroads made by culture of death policies have  re-invigorated culture of life proponents. More Christians are getting involved and taking action.  For example, in recent years the Knights of Columbus have funded thousands of sonogram machines used by pregnancy centers to help pregnant moms see that they are carrying a growing, developing person, not just a “blob of tissue.” Also, one of the fastest growing order of nuns is the Sisters of Life who work in inner cities helping pregnant girls deal with their crisis, and to help promote a true culture of love and life. More dramatically, one organization changes minds by visiting college campuses with a Jumbatron projector that shows actual grisly abortion procedures. (www.CreatedEqual.org)

In Public Policy

1. Political party platforms are focusing more than ever on life issues. The Libertarian platform states life and abortion issues are strictly private matters.  The Democrat platform says “every woman should have access to … safe and legal abortion.” The Republican platform states: “we assert the sanctity of human life and …the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.”

Respect life groups such as Priests for Life, & the Susan B. Anthony List and others are seeking election volunteers to get out the vote. Log onto their websites if you might like to help. 

On Sept. 20th a full page ad in the NYTimes was signed by hundreds of Democrat leaders urging the party to soften its stance towards abortion.

2. Even after 47 years of Roe v Wade, life issues like abortion are far from settled. U.S. Catholic Bishops have stated that the threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives it destroys.  

3. With an opening to be filled on the Supreme Court, a pro-life nominee could make the difference in pending court cases on religious freedom and abortion, even challenging the legitimacy of Roe v Wade

Respect Life Month 

Each October the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, & protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, & every point in between. During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life. (https://www.respectlife.org/)

“This year the Church celebrates the 25th anniversary of the landmark pro-life encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). Pope St. John Paul II’s prophetic document passionately reaffirms the Church’s constant teaching on the value and sacredness of every human life. It remains a foundational text for all our efforts to ensure that the life of every human person is protected & cherished.” Bishop Joseph F. Naumann

Archbishop Charles Chaput: “Nothing we do to defend the human person, no matter how small, is ever unfruitful. Our actions touch other lives, move other hearts in ways we can never fully understand. Don’t ever underestimate the beauty and power of the witness you give in your pro-life work.”

Marriage: Pursue Your Spouse

So many times the busyness of life can cause couples to lose their special connection and seem more like roommates than soulmates. Many couples say they find themselves in a place of schedules, finances and household management without real connection. You have to be intentional about pursuing those deeper places, the heart connections. This just doesn’t happen, you have to pursue each other. People feel this distancing due to busyness, exhaustion, neglect, living separate lives, sexless marriage, feeling unsafe, and not feeling a spiritual oneness. So, make time for each other, even a small amount without interruption, e.g., having a cup of coffee together, watching a show together, or reading the Bible together. Also, have conversations occasionally that don’t include the kids or the household. Talk about your wishes, passions and visions. And show a real interest in what is important to your spouse. (Dr. Greg & Erin Smalley, www.FocusOnTheFamily.com) 

We proclaim that human life is a precious gift from God; that each person who receives this gift has responsibilities toward God, self and others; and that society, through its laws and social institutions, must protect and nurture human life at every stage of its existence. (USCCB Pro-Life Committee) 

Rock ‘N’ Roller Dion: A Voter Guide

(Ed. Note: Dion was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989: “With one foot in the Fifties and one in the future, Dion blended R&B with doo-wop and helped ring in the age of rock and roll.” The excerpts here are taken from an Op-Ed piece he published in the Italian Tribune, 9/17/20.) 

“Catholics have a moral obligation to promote the common good. Vote in a conscientious manner. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops identified five current issues that are intrinsically evil and must never be promoted: 

  1. Abortion
  2. Euthanasia
  3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  4. Human Cloning  
  5. Homosexual “Marriage” 

 It can be a serious sin to deliberately endorse a candidate who supports and endorses evil actions. A well-formed conscience will never contradict Catholic moral teaching. If you are unsure of where your conscience is leading, read the unwavering Church teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church & vote in accordance with God’s law. May God Guide Your Voting. God Bless America.”

New Jersey Bishop Speaks Out

A year after NJ’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act took effect, Metuchen Bishop James F. Checchio reminded Catholics in the diocese that it is their shared responsibility to respect & defend all human life. During the first five months after the law passed on Aug. 1, 2019, 12 NJ residents ended their lives under its provisions. The law allows those with a terminal diagnosis and a life expectancy of 6 months or less to seek permission from two doctors to end their lives with lethal medicine. Our efforts to save lives amid the corona virus pandemic, Bishop Checchio said, are inconsis tent with this law. “Young or old, healthy or sick, all human life is precious.”(Our Sunday Visitor, 8/30/20)

Why the Hang-Up About Abortion?

Those who support pro-abortion candidates often point to the importance of other issues to justify that support. Some reference the “seamless garment” approach, which looks at a basket of issues that affect human life, and then argue that abortion is just one of those important issues. For example, sometimes Catholics will point to the resumption of the federal death penalty by the current administration as a sort of equivalence.

In the United States in 2020, moral equivalence  just does not hold up. For many years, the Catholic Church has increasingly condemned the death penalty. There were five federal convicts executed in 2020. In the same span, nearly 1 million children will be aborted. Immigration, hunger, poverty are all important, too, but none of them will result in any where near the loss of human life that abortion does. Little wonder the U.S. bishops have listed abortion as “our preeminent priority” on human life, and it should be treated as such when we vote.  Abortion is qualitatively different from other issues because it results in the death of the innocent. Blameless children are wiped out just for being conceived. Abortion denies their inherent, God-given dignity as human beings, and it brings violence & death into the family. It is quantitatively different, too, because of the staggering numbers of lives lost. And, it is completely preventable.

Perhaps a large segment of the population can look the other way because the unborn are so small and invisible. But there is something deeply wrong with us as a society if we look away from the nearly 1 million uniquely vulnerable lives taken in abortion each year, and do not vote for pro-life politicians and legislation as a peaceful way to bring this atrocity to an end. Catholic voters should understand the gravity of the situation and act accordingly when they vote — in races local and national. (Michael Warsaw, Nat. Cath. Register, 9/27/20)

This free monthly newsletter is used by dozens of churches as a bulletin insert, and has over 30,000 readers. To receive a copy in your inbox, email editor Frank Tinari, Ph.D. at tinarifr@shu.edu

Fighting for Life and Family

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

The Ghost of Margaret Sanger

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York announced that it would remove Margaret Sanger’s name from its Manhattan Health Center. This is an interesting shift from just a year ago, when Clarence Thomas was criticized for citing Sanger’s writings to suggest that abortion in America today reflects a kind of structural racism — an inherited tendency, which persists even without racist intent, for pro- abortion policies to reduce minority births more than white births.

Planned Parenthood had eugenic ideas close to its root, and while Sanger herself was pro- contraception rather than pro-abortion, her successors championed both abortion rights & global population control policies that were racist by any reasonable definition. Then when abortion was legalized in the United States, with Planned Parenthood’s strong support, its initial effect was a sharp decline in minority births. Fifty years later, the abortion rate is five times higher for African- Americans than for whites.

Further, Roe v. Wade and the sexual revolution changed family structure as well, as George Akerlof and (future Fed chair) Janet Yellen argued in a 1996 paper, by creating a wider space for men to expect sex without commitment and to behave irresponsibly toward pregnant woman. Like the abortion rate itself, this trend — the long rise of fatherlessness — has been steeper in poor & vulnerable communities. So it, too, has helped to sustain racial inequality, by reserving to the whiter upper classes the socioeconomic advantages that two-parent families enjoy. [excerpted from NY Times, Russ Douthat, 7/25/20] Ed. note: Despite this continuing discrimination by Planned Parenthood, our federal taxpayer monies still flow to the agency each year.

A Marriage-Based Culture

Modern social science research reveals clearly that intact marriage makes children (1) happier (mental health), (2) physically healthier and (3) better learners. They become much better citizens, better spouses, parents, workers, soldiers, savers, builders, and caretakers.

It is worth remembering that when Christ formed His first disciples most of the world — in matters sexual – lived polymorphously as Marx, Engels and Lenin envisaged and as we are now living again. Christians born in the West up until recent times have lived in the comfort of a Christian-molded legal order that protected women and children by expecting, and (where necessary) enforcing, monogamy. That day is gone. Welcome back to a hard and violent world of polymorphous sex, where the lifestyle of a Christian can be dangerous according to society’s new rules.

But as followers of Christ, for the good of the child, who from the moment of conception has the right to demand of its parents their lifelong monogamous marriage, we will continue to promote the value of monogamous marriage. [Pat Fagan, Ph.D., The Phenomenal Rise & Fall of a Marriage-Based Culture, www.marri.us/blog, 6/21/20]

Pro-Life Teen Wins Settlement

Covington Catholic High School teen Nicholas Sandman won a second defamation settlement against the Washington Post. The first was against CNN. The pro-life teen was the target of mislead ing, biased news coverage during his Kentucky high school’s trip to the March for Life. In the lawsuit, Sandmann accused the newspaper of “wrongfully targeting and bullying” him “because he was the white, Catholic student wearing a red ‘Make America Great Again’ souvenir cap on a school field trip to the January 2019 March for Life in Washington, D.C.”

Many news outlets implied Sandmann and other Covington students were racist based on a short video showing a brief confrontation between them and Native American protester Nathan Phillips near the Lincoln Memorial. The negative publicity led to death threats & temporary closure of his Catholic high school for several days due to security concerns. Later, however, longer video footage of the incident disproved many of the claims against Sandmann & other school students. A report by Greater Cincinnati Investigation, Inc. states that the pro-life teens did not initiate the confrontation or use any racial slurs against Native American Nathan Phillips or the Black Hebrew Israelites group. Lawsuits against other news outlets are still pending, including NBC, ABC, CBS, Rolling Stone, Gannett & the NY Times.

After the initial publicity, Sandmann said he was confused by the whole incident and he smiled only to let the other protesters know that he would not be intimidated. “I am a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic, and I always try to live up to the ideals my faith teaches me – to remain respectful of others, and to take no action that would lead to conflict or violence,” he said. [excerpted from www.LifeNews.com, M. Bilger, 7/24/20] 

Improving Catholic School Education

New standards to improve Catholic school education were issued by the Cardinal Newman Society. The Catholic Curriculum Standards take into account guidance from Church documents regarding Catholic education:

  • To involve the integral formation of the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, in light of his or her ultimate end and the good of society.
  • To seek to know and understand objective reality, including transcendent Truth, which is knowable by reason and faith and finds its origin, unity, and end in God.
  • To promote human virtues and the dignity of the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God and modeled on the person of Jesus Christ. [www.CardinalNewmanSociety.org ]

Ed. Note: Public schools also seek to achieve the first standard, and generally fall short on the other two.

Choose Life Banners Seen Everywhere

The Life Education Council makes available pro-life banners that are typically displayed on church lawns & buildings. Many women have been helped by calling the number shown on the banner. While there is no charge, a donation would be welcomed. Get one for your church today at www.LifeEducationCouncil.com

Teen Health

Psychiatry Research (May 2020) published an article on “Sexual behavior and suicide attempts among adolescents aged 12–15 years from 38 countries.” The authors studied adolescents using data from the Global School- based Student Health Survey 2009–2016. Their key finding was: Engaging in sexual intercourse in early adolescence was associated with increased risk of suicide attempt. And, having had multiple sexual partners may increase the risk of suicide attempts.”

Manifesto from Long-Time Pro-Lifer

The pro-life movement has proven capable of longsuffering in the fight to end abortion. Many of us have been in this fight for decades. I stand on the shoulders of giants who came before me and began their work long ago, & the next generation of pro-life activists is already rising up to carry on the mission. Our ability to adapt and evolve despite lost Supreme Court cases, the silence of religious leaders, and the betrayals of politicians is a testament to the trajectory of this movement toward victory. The pro-life movement will persist until abortion is rejected by both our laws and our culture.

The pro-life movement is outfunded by the abortion industry by orders of magnitude. Our political power is outflanked by pro-abortion super PACs, and tech giants and mainstream media outlets work to silence or mischaracterize us on a daily basis. Yet the truth that it is wrong to kill the innocent is written so deeply into the human conscience that our victory over Big Abortion is only a matter of time. We need only call out what humans know to be true: All of us are equal, and it is wrong to do fatal violence to our society’s youngest, most defenseless members.

America has always led the world in defending human rights. We can restore the paradigm of protection of the preborn child and the dignity of mothers for the rest of the world. What is required of us in these moments, when we feel we have lost a battle, is to recommit ourselves to waking up every morning and saying Yes to winning the war. [Lila Rose, Big abortion may win battles; The pro-life movement can win the war, Voices, 7/7/20]]

What’s Life All About Anyway?

Dr. Edward Sri, Imprint, Summer 2020

Author, Who Am I to Judge?

Jesus Christ said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6) He’s the fullness of Truth. The truth isn’t simply that abortion and pornography are wrong. That is true, but it’s not the whole gospel message. The whole truth is that God loves you.

Judy Heumann on Disabled People

I was 18 months old when my parents learned I had polio. It was 1949, and things that were typical for children were not so typical for me. I was denied the right to go to school because the staff did not know how to accommodate a student who could not walk. This discrimination continued when I eventually pursued my teaching career. Though I passed all my exams, I was denied a teaching license in 1970 because NYCity’s Board of Education thought I could not safely evacuate my students in case of a fire. Years later I worked to get the Americans with Disabilities Act passed. It opened building doors, allowed us to be educated & made it illegal to discriminate against a qualified person for employment.

But there is still work to do. The way society thinks about disability needs to evolve, as too many people view disability as something to loathe or fear. By changing this mentality, by recognizing how disabled people enrich our communities, we can all be empowered to make sure disabled people are included. [NYTimes, 7/26/20]

This free monthly newsletter is used by dozens of churches as a bulletin insert, and has over 30,000 readers. To receive a free copy in your inbox, email editor Frank Tinari, Ph.D. at tinarifr@shu.edu 

Our Banners were Vandalized

Recently, two of our pro-life banners (set up outside churches) were vandalized.

The first one, depicting drawings of a dead baby and X’s over the infant’s eyes:

The second one, with writing like “Pro-choice” and “abortion is a right”:

While the vandalism is disturbing, it shows that our message is being seen by many, and being heard. We are working to replace the banners that were vandalized to continue spreading the pro-life message.

Choose life.

Pro-Life Legal Victories … and Defeats

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

Supreme Court: No Discrimination Against Religious Schools!

In a 5-4 ruling upholding a Montana program to provide student scholarships for use at religious schools, the U.S. Supreme Court also in effect repudiated a 19th-century monument to anti- Catholic bigotry known as the Blaine Amendment.

The ruling reversed a 2018 Montana Court decision based on the state constitution’s Blaine provision barring aid to any school “controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect or denomination.” That provision is named for Senator James Blaine who in the 1870s argued for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to bar use of public funds at religious schools. Coming at a time when immigration was rapidly increasing the Catholic population and Catholic parochial schools were growing in number, the proposal was widely seen as a reflection of Protestant anxieties about rising Catholic numbers and influence. While Blaine never did become part of the federal Constitution, 37 states eventually adopted their own versions.

In a statement following the decision, Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop Michael C. Barber of Oakland, California, chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education, said: “This decision means that religious persons & organizations can, like everyone else, participate in government programs that are open to all. This is good news, not only for people of faith, but for our country. A strong civil society needs the full participation of religious institutions. By ensuring the rights of faith-based organizations’ freedom to serve, the court also promotes the common good.”

In his majority opinion, Roberts relied heavily on a 2017 Supreme Court decision (Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer) that held that a Lutheran church in Missouri that operated a day school was entitled to receive funds from a state program for upgrading playgrounds as a safety measure. That decision, Roberts said, held that “disqualifying otherwise eligible recipients from a public benefit ‘solely because of their religious character’ imposes a penalty” on religious free exercise. Thus Montana’s denial of scholarships for use at a religious school did not pass muster. [Russell Shaw, Our Sunday Visitor, 6/30/20]

Supreme Court Rejects Louisiana Abortion Restrictions

The Court struck down the law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of their practice. The opinion in June Medical Services v. Russo is quite fractured and legally technical. It does not bring the pro-life movement any closer to overthrowing Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey; but it does not likely move us further away from that end either. More litigation to that end is still required.

The narrow 5-to-4 ruling agreed that the burdens it imposed upon women were greater than its claimed health benefits. Yet Justice Gorsuch wrote of the dangers that abortionists in Louisiana pose to their patients. He noted the extraordinarily lax reviews the clinics conduct prior to hiring abortionists, reporting that abortion clinics had previously allowed ophthalmologists & radiologists to perform abortions! He also pointed to the many ethical and safety violations that Louisiana abortion clinics had committed in the past.

Employing detailed geographic & doctor-specific details (and even maps, printed in the opinion), the Court concluded that the vast majority of doctors and clinics would go out of business were the admitting-privileges law to stand, leaving many women without a sufficiently-close-by abortionist. But Gorsuch noted that one Louisiana doctor already had such privileges, that one hospital was already changing its admitting-privileges rules in order to make it easier for abortionists to succeed, and that privileges requirements applied to other types of ambulatory surgical centers (for example, colonoscopies, Lasik eye treatments) had not diminished the number of those centers able to continue operating. Also, Gorsuch highlighted the testimony of women abandoned by their abortionists to seek follow-up care, after the doctors had botched their abortion procedures.

Finally, only Justice Thomas took direct aim at Roe and Casey. In memorable language, he referred to the reading of the Constitution on which it is based as “legal fiction” and the “putative right to abortion [as] a creation that should be undone.” He wrote that it is “farcical” to imagine that the legislators who created the 14th Amendment’s “due process” language intended it to protect a procedure nearly completely banned in every state and territory in the U.S. at the time it was passed. He called Roe a “demonstrably erroneous” decision. [Helen Alvaré, Commentary, National Catholic Register, 6/29/20]

Risks of High-Tech Birth Control

In the 1960s, when birth control devices and chemicals became prominent, the only common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were syphilis and gonorrhea. Today, at least 25 STDs are known, some which are incurable, and at least eight new pathogens have been identified since 1980, including HIV. Many of these STDs, such as chlamydia and human papillomavirus (HPV), greatly increase a woman’s risk of cancer. None of the “contraceptives” listed in this brochure prevent or protect against STDs or AIDS. Yet organizations like International Planned Parent- hood Federation thrust these methods upon trusting teenage girls, much to the detriment of their future health. [Concerned Women for America brochure, compiled by Catherine Hurlburt cwfa.org]

National NFP Awareness Week

July 19-25, 2020, the dates of National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25), which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, married love and responsible parenthood. Very helpful information about the benefits of NFP, how it works and its effectiveness, is available at the www.usccb.org website.

Gerber Baby Photo Contest Winner

The original “Gerber baby” was Ann Turner Cook, now 93. A charcoal sketch of her cherubic face became the company’s official trademark. Since 2010, Gerber has held a photo contest to select a new baby brand ambassador each year. In 2018, the first Gerber baby with Down Syndrome was chosen.

This year, the contest winner is an adopted baby, another first. Magnolia Earl, age 1, charmed the judges “with her joyful expression, playful smile and warm, engaging gaze.” Her mother, Courtney, confirmed in a statement that Magnolia brings “joy to everyone she meets” and recalled speaking on the phone a year earlier with Magnolia’s birth mother, who was in labor. “The real heroes in this story are Magnolia’s birth parents,” she told the Today Show. “They chose her life and they sent her on an incredible journey.” It’s a story, and a photo, worth sharing – kudos for Gerber for recognizing it as much. [National Review, 6/1/20]

Rapper West Upsets Secularists

Kanye West announced last October that he has turned a corner in his life, converting to Christianity. In May GQ magazine interviewed him. “When you’re not in service to God, you can end up being in service to everything else,” he said. That is certainly true of many in the entertainment world. Tinseltown is known for alcoholism, drugs, promiscuity, and high rates of depression and suicide. Responding to a question that religion is a system of control, West said: “I see opportunity for creativity inside our faith.” Christianity may be restrictive, but it is a healthy tonic. It is not restraint that levels people–it is the abandonment of it.

Cultural elites who once embraced West are uneasy with his conversion. Some seem to have liked him better when he was offending people. The secular kings & queens who comprise the entertainment industry prefer raunch to the sacred. Kanye West should be welcomed, not disparaged, for going against the grain of the dominant culture. Given his huge following among young people, maybe he can help to transform it. [Catholic League, The Catalyst, 6/20]

Why Prolifers Resist “Legal” Abortion

A just law is a code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. One has a moral responsi- bility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Aug- ustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” [Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr., 4/16/1963]

Brief Clips

[Our Sunday Visitor, 5/17/20]

  • The number of new marriages is 6.5 to every 1,000 people in the U.S., the lowest in recent years, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics
  • “Modern society is in the process of formulating an anti-Christian creed, and resisting this creed is punished by social excommunication.” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, quoted in a new biography published in German on May 4.
  • Only 20% of Christian congregations in the U.S. hear sermons that mention abortion, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey that analyzed sermons shared online, April 7 to June 1, 2019.

HALO Helps Disabled & Elderly

The Healthcare Advocacy & Leadership Organiza- tion promotes, protects and advocates for the rights of the medically vulnerable through direct patient & family interactions, community education programs, & development of concrete “life-affirming health- care” alternatives for those facing healthcare rationing and unethical practices, especially those at risk of euthanasia and assisted suicide. [halovoice.org]

Troubled Times for Human Life

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

Diversity Marks Pro-Life Movement

It features prominent female leaders and black activists, and has far more support from non-religious Americans than abortion supporters admit. Late last year, the Church of God in Christ, the largest Pentecostal denomination and overwhelmingly African-American and Democrat, unveiled its “Resolution on the Sanctity of Human Life.”

The resolution stated: “Abortion is genocide. Abortion must end to protect the life of the unborn. This issue of personhood has haunted America since the Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson and Roe v. Wade decisions. Just as slavery was overturned in America, Jim Crow was defeated, and Nazi Germany was overthrown, we pray that the heinous industry of abortion will become morally reprehensible worldwide.”

Pro-life leaders often mention the deep ties between the earliest legal- abortion advocates and the eugenics movement, noting that Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, wanted to decrease what she saw as “unfit” populations including, in her view, blacks. She promoted birth control, though not abortion, to limit low-income & minority groups & proposed mandatory sterilization for those she deemed “feeble-minded.” Such views were widely shared among the earliest abortion advocates.

Secular Pro-Life, found in 2009 by Kelsey Hazzard, represents non-religious pro-lifers. She is assisted by Terrisa Bukovinac, a member of Democrats for Life and founder of Pro-Life San Francisco, which aims to galvanize West Coast young people. After seeing videos of abortion procedures, she became pro-life. “You can’t justify abortion any more than you can justify the killing of a born person. There is no consistent, objective distinction between an unborn person and a human being.” [Alexandra DeSanctis, The Pro-life Movement You’ve Never Heard Of, National Review, 4/6/20. Additional groups are highlighted in her article.]

Pandemic Being Exploited to Loosen Abortion Restrictions

Chemical abortion is a two-step process involving the ingestion of drugs, one to starve the unborn baby, the other to induce labor. U.S. government rules require the first drug to be dispensed in clinics or hospitals by doctors or other medical providers. Women doing this are vulnerable to four times as many adverse events as women undergoing surgical abortions.

Melanie Israel, a research associate at the DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation, said the abortion industry’s push to loosen restrictions on chemical abortion amid a pandemic is their move not to “let a good crisis go to waste.” She emphasized: “It’s unfortunate to see this pandemic being exploited to achieve lower restrictions, which for a long time has been on the wish list of abortion proponents, long before the coronavirus was on anyone’s radar.”

“If you’re suffering from severe blood loss or perhaps an incomplete abortion and you need to take another round of drugs to resolve it, that’s all going to require additional follow-up during a pandemic when people are needing to isolate, when hospitals in certain areas are being overwhelmed. It’s sad that the abortion industry is focused on expanding something that could actually com- pound those problems in the effort to fight the coronavirus.” [Lauretta Brown, National Catholic Register, 5/10/20]

Home-Schooling Challenges

According to John Clark who was home schooled as a child and who has home-schooled his own children: “For four decades, home-schooling has always had to prove itself by going over a bar that was higher than the one set for any other form of education – and home schooling has soared over it.” So he was very upset over a recent article in Harvard Magazine.

Home-school parents are called “extreme religious ideologues” who “question science,” “promote female subservience” and encourage “white supremacy.” Nothing could be further from the truth, based on the evidence of decades of home-schoolers throughout the nation. He asks why the writers didn’t do any meaningful field research such as visiting home-schooling families. These writers did not employ the basic tool of science, observation, yet dare to offer all sorts of unfounded criticisms. [John Clark, Commentary, National Catholic Register, 5/10/20]

Doing Evil to Obtain Worthy Ends?

Some things are, in the words of the Church, “intrinsically evil” such as slavery, adultery, abuse of children, and the direct killing of the innocent, Therefore, they can never be used to justify any other goal, no matter how worthy. Yet, many of us can find justification for our behavior by appealing to a good end that we were hoping to achieve.

Society often goes along with this faulty approach, thinking that the righting of a general wrong justifies morally irresponsible behavior in particular cases. This is supremely dangerous because the moment we say that evil can be done for the sake of the good, we have effectively denied that there are any intrinsic evil acts.

So, as we legitimately fight the great evils of our time, we must remember St. Paul’s simple principle: never do evil that good might come of it. [Bishop Robert Barron, Word on Fire Ministries.]

Two Must-Reads

Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons has authored Habits for a Healthy Marriage: A Handbook for Catholic Couples. It presents key habits that foster healing and growth in a marriage, helping couples identify and resolve major emotional conflicts that weaken relationships and hurt their marriages. A book designed to help those newly engaged, recently married, or married for many years.

Described as required reading for anyone interested in the 20th century history of feminism and its manipulation by powerful men, Sex and the Catholic Feminist: New Choices for a New Generation by former Cosmopolitan writer Sue Ellen Browder challenges the notion you can’t be a feminist and believe in God. She uncovers why the pro-life thread of feminism in America has been ignored by the media and left out of public conversation for fifty years. [Ignatius Press, Ft. Collins, CO, www.ignatius.com]

Is the SAT Really the Problem?

The Univ. of California announced it will stop using the SAT and ACT for admissions. “Requiring SAT scores, the argument goes, discriminates against low-income, black and Latino children who perform poorly on the tests because they lack advantages such as prep courses.” But seldom is any recognition given to what research indicates is the most important factor in test performance: living with one’s biological parents under the same roof.

“Family structure is about as important as family income in predicting who graduates from college today,” says W. Bradford Wilcox, sociology professor at the Univ. of Virginia. The data are pretty conclusive. The more intact the family, the better the education outcomes. [William McGurn, Wall Street Journal, 5/25/20]

NY Times Magazine Pandemic Issue

The May 24, 2020, issue included this painting titled “Beneath an Unforgiving Sun.” The painter intended to show that the “trauma that these women are conveying is one that can exist in the context of the 1960s or in the context of Covid-19.”

But the painting could also dramatize the loss of minority children through abortion. Catherine Davis of the National Black Pro-Life Coalition says that 20 million black lives have already been lost to abortion since 1973, more than the entire black population in 1960s America.

Is Faith-Based Foster Care Legitimate?

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and Catholic Charities agencies have joined more than 30 other religious groups, states and a group of Congress members urging the Supreme Court to protect Philadelphia’s faith-based foster care. Becket, a religious liberty law firm, represents the foster women defending the Catholic Social Services policy.

The groups filed friend-of-the court briefs in early June in Fulton v. Philadelphia, which the court will hear next term to determine if Philadelphia can exclude a Catholic social services agency from the city’s foster care program because the agency does not accept same-sex couples as foster parents. Instead, it refers those couples to other agencies. The briefs argued that the court should allow the city’s Catholic social service agency to continue its foster care role and protect faith-based ministries nationwide to ensure they maintain their First Amendment religious exercise rights.

A brief by the Catholic Association Foundation, a group which defends the church and religious liberty, said severing ties with Catholic-run foster care and adoption programs, “under the guise of enforcing ‘neutral’ anti-discrimination laws, is the equivalent of hanging a ‘Catholics Need Not Apply’ sign outside of every state and local health and human services department. Such a precedent is odious to the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech and the free exercise of religion, and should not stand.” [Carol Zimmermann, Our Sunday Visitor, 6/9/10]

Prayer Petitions for Father’s Day May expectant fathers lovingly support the mothers of their children in welcoming new life; For married couples longing for a child: May God grant them the grace and strength to place their faith in His loving plan.

This free monthly newsletter is used by dozens of churches as a single-sheet bulletin insert, and is now posted on four diocesan websites. To receive it free, email editor Frank Tinari, tinarifr@shu.edu 

Pregnant in a Pandemic

by Caroline Douglas, LEC Board of Trustees

Today, I’m 32 weeks pregnant—in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So what’s it like? It’s not as bad as the click-bait articles make it seem. Sure, there are downsides. I can’t make a midnight run to the store for a jar of pickles. I haven’t interacted with the outside world for two months, because even though pregnant women aren’t considered high risk for COVID-19, I don’t want to take any chances.

But, for the most part? I’m doing okay.

My prenatal appointments are held over the phone. I bought a blood pressure cuff, a blood sugar monitor, and urine reagent strips on Amazon for less than $100 combined. I measure my fundal height (the size of my uterus, which is an indicator of the baby’s growth) with a tape measure, do kick counts, and weigh myself. My mom, a retired doctor, checks my legs for edema (swelling).

These are the main tests that are carried out at each prenatal visit, and I’ve been doing them once a week at home. My pregnancy is low-risk, though; I’m sure it’s more of a trial for mothers who have a high-risk pregnancy or other complications.

But every pregnancy is difficult in its own way, and is coronavirus really making it so much worse? I don’t think so. Yet, some news outlets have reported higher abortion rates during the pandemic. Because fear is causing new mothers to panic.

This wasn’t how I planned it. This isn’t perfect. The timing isn’t right.

Sound familiar? They’re the words so often repeated to rationalize abortion.

In today’s culture, everything is supposed to be perfectly planned before a child is conceived. Enough money in the bank. Graduate degrees earned. A house bought, a college fund set up, and a nursery all set and ready.

But life doesn’t work that way. Randomness is always part of the equation. Couples who have been told they’re infertile, or who are using contraception, become pregnant all the time. And pregnancy is a long nine months—anything can happen between conception and birth! I planned this second baby, unlike my first. But I never could have predicted that five months later we’d be hit with a global pandemic.

Planning for the perfect pregnancy is impossible.

And resistance to this principle is one of the major factors pushing abortion. “I want to terminate my unplanned pregnancy.” “My baby has Downs Syndrome, which wasn’t expected, and I want to have an abortion.” Why do we chase after perfectly-planned pregnancies? And perfect babies?

When there is no such thing as “the perfect pregnancy”?

Why not instead rely on faith? I’m not talking about religious faith, but faith in the little lives growing inside of us. That they are worth the inconveniences, the complications, the risks. And faith in ourselves—that we’re strong enough to get through a difficult pregnancy, or a pregnancy in difficult times.

We can’t let fear—of coronavirus, or a pregnancy that is “unplanned”, or anything else—take our faith away from us.

We can do this.

And so can all the little unborn children, living and thriving in these uncertain times, waiting to come into the world.