President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday aimed at protecting abortion access in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion in 1973.
“President Biden has made clear that the only way to secure a woman’s right to choose is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law,” a July 8 White House fact sheet reads. “Until then, he has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion.”
To accomplish this, he will sign an “Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services.”
The order will focus on four general areas: access to “reproductive health care services,” including abortion and contraception; patients’ privacy and access to information; the security of patients, providers, and clinics; and the coordination of federal efforts to protect “reproductive rights and access to health care.”
National pro-life leaders expressed concern about the order, particularly its impact on abortion drugs.
“It is tragic that this administration is using its power to push for more and more painful abortions which harm women and take innocent lives,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini said in a statement. “Of particular concern is the administration’s effort to push chemical abortion which carries significant health risks to women, even more than surgical abortion.”
Likewise, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenefelser, stressed that “President Biden has once again caved to the extreme abortion lobby, determined to put the full weight of the federal government behind promoting abortion.”
“Democrats will stop at nothing to promote their agenda of abortion on demand, up until the moment of birth, paid for by the taxpayers – including dangerous mail-order abortion drugs — even if it means gutting the long-standing filibuster, increasing the size of the Supreme Court, or putting abortionists in tents in national parks,” she said in a statement.
Under safeguarding “access to reproductive health,” Biden directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to protect “medication” abortion and contraception, ensure emergency medical care particularly for pregnant woman, launch public education efforts, and convene public lawyers.
“Such representation could include protecting the right to travel out of state to seek medical care,” the fact sheet reads.
Under protecting patient privacy, the order promises to protection consumers against privacy violations and deceptive practices as well as protect sensitive health information.
The administration also will protect patients seeking abortion as well as providers and clinics providing abortion, including “mobile clinics, which have been deployed to borders to offer care for out-of-state patients,” according to the fact sheet.
Under coordinating federal efforts, the order will establish an “Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Health Care Access,” to organize federal interagency policymaking and program development.
Biden, a Catholic, has repeatedly supported abortion in contrast with the Catholic Church’s teaching that human life must be respected and protected from the moment of conception.
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Washington D.C., Mar 11, 2017 / 04:02 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- Despite being victims of harassment and violence, Egypt’s Coptic Christians have set a standard of forgiveness that everyone should imitate, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in… […]
Topeka, Kansas, Nov 10, 2018 / 04:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The incoming governor of Kansas is looking for a way to avoid enforcing a religious freedom law protecting adoption agencies that place children only in homes with a mother and a father.
Leon is a baby boy cared for and loved at Mary’s Shelter, a pro-life maternity home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. / Courtesy of Mary’s Shelter
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 24, 2022 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
Amid a shortage of baby formula in the U.S., experts recommend parents scour smaller drug stores, check online, and join social media groups sharing information.
But here’s another, perhaps lesser-known, option they can also turn to for help: pregnancy resource centers.
Nearly 3,000 pro-life pregnancy centers serve millions of people each year in the United States. They offer women and parents in need everything from health care and material assistance to educational classes and job support — at little to no cost. Right now, for many of these centers, their work also includes connecting struggling families to baby formula.
One center in Michigan, an affiliate of Heartbeat International, a pro-life pregnancy resource center network, revealed to CNA that it has a surplus of formula.
“At this time, we haven’t heard of formula shortages at the pregnancy centers,” Andrea Trudden, vice president of communications and marketing at Heartbeat International, told CNA. “Quite the contrary, actually!”
Trudden recommended families turn to their local pregnancy help organizations for assistance and use OptionLine.org as a tool to find the center closest to them.
“Since pregnancy centers are equipped to help pregnant women and new families with practical resources such as diapers and formula,” Trudden said, “they have been able to step into that gap during this time.”
Some pro-life maternity homes in states such as Virginia and North Carolina said mothers are in desperate need and exploring all of their options, including feeding their babies with formula samples. But, these homes tell CNA, they are walking with mothers in their search, every step of the way.
What is this shortage about?
The nationwide baby formula shortage was caused, and then exacerbated, by a series of factors: supply-chain issues, recalls, the closure of a major production plant in February, and even U.S. trade policy. The result, data-firm company Datasembly found, is that more than 40 percent of baby formulas were out of stock in early May.
Babies with special needs and allergies rely on formula, along with babies in general. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 63.3% of infants were exclusively breastfeeding seven days after birth in 2018. Three months after birth, only 46.3% of infants exclusively breastfed. Six months after birth, that percentage changed to 25.8%
The trouble with formula began partially with the Covid-19 pandemic. Parents stockpiled baby formula at the beginning, which increased production, only to later discover that they had a surplus to use up, which decreased production.
After consuming formula from an Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, four babies became sick, including two who died, from bacterial infections. This led to a recall and the plant shutting down in February.
These incidents exposed the formula market as one not structurally prepared for emergencies, with just four companies largely in control of supply in the United States. U.S. and regulatory trade policy only added to the problem, restricting the exchange of formula internationally, The Atlantic reported.
Months into the shortage, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reached an agreement with Abbott, one of the largest U.S. baby formula manufacturers, to reopen its Sturgis plant in the coming weeks. President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to prioritize the production of formula. And, in the meantime, the U.S. military has begun importing formula from Europe.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have called for action. Senate Democrats are pushing a bill that would send $28 million in emergency funding to the FDA. Congress passed, and Biden signed into law, a bill to expand access to formula for lower-income families during emergencies.
In the meantime, before the shelves are fully stocked once more, pregnancy centers and maternity homes around the country are helping parents in need.
“I have never seen this much formula. We have an overflow!” Lois Stoll, a volunteer who manages the formula supply at the center, said in a press release. The center, one of Heartbeat International’s 1,857 affiliate locations, accumulated its surplus over the last two years, during the pandemic.
“It really is the result of an unexpected set of circumstances,” Bryce Asberg, the executive director, added in the release. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of clients fell but donations continued to come in.”
Asberg told CNA that the center has been running a material assistance program for several years where it provides mothers and families with baby clothes, diapers, wipes, and baby food or formula.
“We still offer all those items to clients who come in, but recently we have noticed a surge of interest in formula,” he said. “God has been building our supply of formula for many months, and we didn’t know why we had so much. Now we do!”
Washington, D.C.
In Washington, D.C., Janet Durig, the executive director of Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, said that her center also has baby formula on hand.
“We’ve had some phone calls seeking help and we’ve had formula to give them,” she told CNA. But, she emphasized, the supply is limited because they rely on donations.
“We have it to help people on a limited basis and are helping people on a limited basis,” she said, adding that the center welcomes donations of unopened bottles or cans of formula as long as they have not expired.
Connecticut
Leticia Velasquez, executive director and co-founder of Pathways Pregnancy in Norwich, Connecticut, encouraged moms and families to reach out if they need formula.
She told CNA that the three-year-old center is there for any woman or mom in need.
“We just say, ‘How can we fill the need? That’s what we’re here for,’” she said. “We definitely stand with them in any crisis, whether it be a formula shortage or an unplanned pregnancy.”
Parents in eastern Connecticut looking for baby formula can text the center at (860) 222-4505.
North Carolina
Debbie Capen, the executive director of MiraVia, said that the baby formula shortage is affecting her group’s work in supporting and providing resources to new moms in need. The Catholic nonprofit runs an outreach center in Charlotte and a free college residence at nearby Belmont Abbey College where a pregnant student — from any university or college — can stay until her child turns two years old.
“Yes, the mothers we serve are very concerned about the baby formula shortage,” Capen told CNA. “We always encourage breastfeeding for our expectant mothers, but for those who cannot breastfeed, they usually rely on vouchers for baby formula through the USDA’s WIC program.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s WIC program, also known as the “Special Supplementation Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children,” offers federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant and postpartum women, and young children at nutritional risk.
Capen highlighted that WIC only covers one specific brand of formula, which means that moms must pay full price for any other label. Formula is at a premium price right now, she added, which only puts more stress on their limited resources.
In each state, baby formula manufacturers bid for exclusive rights to provide formula to WIC participants in that state. In return, they offer the state discounts, or rebates. For those who rely on WIC, this means that they face limited options.
In response to the scarcity, the mothers at MiraVia are turning to alternatives: food pantries and the MiraVia community.
“They communicate with our staff and each other when they find formula at a certain location, as well as contact stores to find out when shipments are expected,” Capen said. “They substitute with generic brands when possible and reach out to their pediatricians for recommendations and even free samples.”
Capen listed some ways that people can help during this shortage, beginning with communication and the sharing of resources.
“For example, you can help by searching posts on social media and community apps like NextDoor or OfferUp to find those with formula and suggest where it can be donated,” she said. “Remind friends and family not to stockpile so that the supply of formula can flow to those in most urgent need. If you are pregnant and have received free samples of formula, donate what you won’t use to food pantries or programs for new mothers.”
Virginia
Kathleen Wilson, the executive director of Mary’s Shelter, a faith-centered maternity home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, agreed that “our moms have had many difficulties.”
She told CNA about one of their mothers who gave birth to her fourth baby three months ago. At first, she used a formula brand called Enfamil Reguline. After it became unavailable, she began switching between brands and using whatever she can find, Wilson said. The mother has also tried ordering on Amazon and turned to her pediatrician for samples.
“This is a mom who is trying to hold down a job, with an infant and other children to tend to,” Wilson stressed the “very difficult” situation.
Wilson said that two of the other mothers spent days driving around at one point to try to find formula for their babies. When necessary, they are also turning to sample packets of baby formula.
“Our staff and volunteers have been assisting with this and picking up and delivering formula when they can get their hands on it,” Wilson said, adding that donors have also pitched in.
“We are blessed with wonderful donors,” she said. “A friend just stopped in this morning with two cans of formula that he was able to find.”
“If donors are willing and can find formula, we would be thrilled to take their donation,” she said, concluding that she is “praying this comes to an end soon.”
The party of death will not rest until every sweet, innocent little child is disposed of before he or she (yes, you heard me; *he* or *she*) has the chance to draw a breath.
Analogically we may compare Heinrich Himmler, former Catholic, chicken farmer who espoused the Gottgläubig movement [indeterminate belief in god] and driving force of the Holocaust, the murder of undesirables, thought a threat to German purity and burden to the economy, to Joseph ‘Joe’ Biden former Catholic, car salesman who espouses nominal Catholicism and the driving force of America’s Abortion industry for the murder undesirables, predominantly pre natal infants, but including post partum survivors who pose a threat to the economy [as argued by Party Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin] and an inconvenience to mothers, now in Party terminology called birthers.
Analogy is never a perfect comparison, but there are similarities. Would the reader not agree?
In terms of essence, yes, Fr. Peter, but not in terms of volume.
Himmler, the chicken farmer, and his quotidian murderers were responsible for the deaths of a mere 50 or 60 million civilians and combatants.
That’s approximately as many deaths as are recorded each *year* around the world now.
So Himmler, as thoroughly despicable as he was, wouldn’t be worthy to loose the sandal strap of chickens*** Biden or Pelosi — or Obama or Schumer or any of the rest of the murder-glutted Democratic ilk — when it comes to slaughtering innocent people.
And, needless to say, there’s enough blood guilt to spill over onto all the Catholics who have voted for the great Democratic holocaust, the most horrific scourge to beset humanity in all of our sordid history.
Bidencalls himself Catholic?He is committing Mortal sin by going to Communion while by agreeing on abortion!He dosn’t seem to care one iota about this and keeps going to Holy Mass!He is in mortal sin and I guess, agrees with it.He needs prayers.
It won’t stop with the unborn; imagine three or four orderlies who have been given their instructions regarding your future; you struggle in your aged and/or diseased ridden state but you cannot overpower against them as they hold down your limbs and insert the pill under your tongue.
I pray for this man since he is closing in on the eventual day when his natural life here on earth will be over. I pray that he will meet a most merciful God but I know that this same God is all Just as well. I suspect that God will ask him, “Where was your mercy toward those lives I had created?”.
What more does Biden have to do before Rome says enough!. There is no point in the pope condemning abortion in an obscure speech but then publicly support Biden and Pelosi. Actions speek louder than words.
Why is it that, when the Biden White House gives us a “photo op” of his signing an executive order to kill the unborn, there never are any children in the picture to witness this historic event? Just asking.
The almost complete lack of any meaningful response, even rhetorical, from the hierarchy of the Church to this all-out war on Christian morality, led partly by self-professed Catholics, does not merely indict, but convicts those who have completely abdicated their responsibility. The judgement of history will be justifiably severe. It will pale in comparison to judgement of God. Perhaps the best thing we can do is to remind the incredibly complacent bureaucrats who hold positions of authority in the Church that they will soon have to give an account for what they did and did not do during their lives. Perhaps, some are for all practical purposes out of reach, but others could be jolted out of their slumber.
Good points, and this absence of appropriate leadership and response exposes the deep rot of corruption in the hierarchy. I honestly don’t know how the church will move forward in the faith with leaders who have no spiritual insight into themselves or the great issues of the day. Is there hope for renewal and restoration or will we need to abandon ship and salvage what we can?
All that you say is true. Reflect for a moment on what consequences that entails. The “lack of any meaningful response” from the “hierarchy of the Church” over the past 50 years renders them guilty of formal cooperation in the horrendous mortal sin and crime of the murder of 60 million innocent babies in the United States alone by their silence and refusal to act. Their sin and crime invokes their latae sententiae excommunication from the Church, including loss of their episcopal offices. On what basis, therefore, can they be obeyed since they are no longer members of the Church?
Friday July 8 – “Biden to sign abortion executive order in response to Dobbs.”
And on Sunday, July 10, if he’s in D.C., he will receive Holy Communion with the blessing of Cardinal Gregory (and the Pope) – WHEREVER he is he will go to Communion.
Meanwhile – efforts to abolish the Latin Mass are ongoing from Rome with the blessing of the Pope, the Pope grants a public audience to one of the must virulent American ‘catholic’ supporters of abortion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Pope has a very public sit-down with fellow Jesuit Fr. James Martin, patron saint of the lgbtq folks,
yada yada yada.
And at some point when we regular Catholics – including us ‘restorationists’ go to Sunday Mass, there will be a 2nd collection for ‘Peter’s Pence’, aka the Pope.
Speaking for JUST MYSELF – Forget it.
I will continue to go to Holy Mass either at the Novus Ordo Service in Augusta or the Latin Mass in Lewiston every week and Holy days, and hopefully a few extra days per week, I will be as generous as I can be in the weekly collection, I will give to ‘Wounded Warriors’ and to the Edmundites in Selma Alabama, where they have been since 1937, but to ‘Peter’s Pence’ – forget it.
History teaches us that reform in the Catholic Church starts at the very lowest level – us common every-day church goers, and we start with fasting and prayer.
There’s your “man of character,” Cardinal Tobin; the one you “can really talk with,” Cardinal Gregory; the one who “is seamlessly pro-life,” Cardinal Cupich. Nice job, Cardinals. Well done, your eminences. Way to go, you who wear red to signify that you are willing to suffer martyrdom for the faith.
The party of death will not rest until every sweet, innocent little child is disposed of before he or she (yes, you heard me; *he* or *she*) has the chance to draw a breath.
Analogically we may compare Heinrich Himmler, former Catholic, chicken farmer who espoused the Gottgläubig movement [indeterminate belief in god] and driving force of the Holocaust, the murder of undesirables, thought a threat to German purity and burden to the economy, to Joseph ‘Joe’ Biden former Catholic, car salesman who espouses nominal Catholicism and the driving force of America’s Abortion industry for the murder undesirables, predominantly pre natal infants, but including post partum survivors who pose a threat to the economy [as argued by Party Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin] and an inconvenience to mothers, now in Party terminology called birthers.
Analogy is never a perfect comparison, but there are similarities. Would the reader not agree?
In terms of essence, yes, Fr. Peter, but not in terms of volume.
Himmler, the chicken farmer, and his quotidian murderers were responsible for the deaths of a mere 50 or 60 million civilians and combatants.
That’s approximately as many deaths as are recorded each *year* around the world now.
So Himmler, as thoroughly despicable as he was, wouldn’t be worthy to loose the sandal strap of chickens*** Biden or Pelosi — or Obama or Schumer or any of the rest of the murder-glutted Democratic ilk — when it comes to slaughtering innocent people.
And, needless to say, there’s enough blood guilt to spill over onto all the Catholics who have voted for the great Democratic holocaust, the most horrific scourge to beset humanity in all of our sordid history.
Bidencalls himself Catholic?He is committing Mortal sin by going to Communion while by agreeing on abortion!He dosn’t seem to care one iota about this and keeps going to Holy Mass!He is in mortal sin and I guess, agrees with it.He needs prayers.
It won’t stop with the unborn; imagine three or four orderlies who have been given their instructions regarding your future; you struggle in your aged and/or diseased ridden state but you cannot overpower against them as they hold down your limbs and insert the pill under your tongue.
The state has decided.
I agree with Fr. Morello’s statement.
I pray for this man since he is closing in on the eventual day when his natural life here on earth will be over. I pray that he will meet a most merciful God but I know that this same God is all Just as well. I suspect that God will ask him, “Where was your mercy toward those lives I had created?”.
What more does Biden have to do before Rome says enough!. There is no point in the pope condemning abortion in an obscure speech but then publicly support Biden and Pelosi. Actions speek louder than words.
Why is it that, when the Biden White House gives us a “photo op” of his signing an executive order to kill the unborn, there never are any children in the picture to witness this historic event? Just asking.
Right on!!!
The almost complete lack of any meaningful response, even rhetorical, from the hierarchy of the Church to this all-out war on Christian morality, led partly by self-professed Catholics, does not merely indict, but convicts those who have completely abdicated their responsibility. The judgement of history will be justifiably severe. It will pale in comparison to judgement of God. Perhaps the best thing we can do is to remind the incredibly complacent bureaucrats who hold positions of authority in the Church that they will soon have to give an account for what they did and did not do during their lives. Perhaps, some are for all practical purposes out of reach, but others could be jolted out of their slumber.
Good points, and this absence of appropriate leadership and response exposes the deep rot of corruption in the hierarchy. I honestly don’t know how the church will move forward in the faith with leaders who have no spiritual insight into themselves or the great issues of the day. Is there hope for renewal and restoration or will we need to abandon ship and salvage what we can?
Tony W. – your 7/9/22 @6:17 – well said.
All that you say is true. Reflect for a moment on what consequences that entails. The “lack of any meaningful response” from the “hierarchy of the Church” over the past 50 years renders them guilty of formal cooperation in the horrendous mortal sin and crime of the murder of 60 million innocent babies in the United States alone by their silence and refusal to act. Their sin and crime invokes their latae sententiae excommunication from the Church, including loss of their episcopal offices. On what basis, therefore, can they be obeyed since they are no longer members of the Church?
Friday July 8 – “Biden to sign abortion executive order in response to Dobbs.”
And on Sunday, July 10, if he’s in D.C., he will receive Holy Communion with the blessing of Cardinal Gregory (and the Pope) – WHEREVER he is he will go to Communion.
Meanwhile – efforts to abolish the Latin Mass are ongoing from Rome with the blessing of the Pope, the Pope grants a public audience to one of the must virulent American ‘catholic’ supporters of abortion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Pope has a very public sit-down with fellow Jesuit Fr. James Martin, patron saint of the lgbtq folks,
yada yada yada.
And at some point when we regular Catholics – including us ‘restorationists’ go to Sunday Mass, there will be a 2nd collection for ‘Peter’s Pence’, aka the Pope.
Speaking for JUST MYSELF – Forget it.
I will continue to go to Holy Mass either at the Novus Ordo Service in Augusta or the Latin Mass in Lewiston every week and Holy days, and hopefully a few extra days per week, I will be as generous as I can be in the weekly collection, I will give to ‘Wounded Warriors’ and to the Edmundites in Selma Alabama, where they have been since 1937, but to ‘Peter’s Pence’ – forget it.
History teaches us that reform in the Catholic Church starts at the very lowest level – us common every-day church goers, and we start with fasting and prayer.
At what point does Biden’s archbishop in DC create scandal by not cracking down on him?
“Biden, a self-proclaimed catholic……”.
Reads better CWR, no?
There’s your “man of character,” Cardinal Tobin; the one you “can really talk with,” Cardinal Gregory; the one who “is seamlessly pro-life,” Cardinal Cupich. Nice job, Cardinals. Well done, your eminences. Way to go, you who wear red to signify that you are willing to suffer martyrdom for the faith.