Washington D.C., Dec 14, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- In its 2019 roundup of the biggest lies of the year (dubbed the biggest ‘Pinocchios’), the Washington Post included a false but oft-repeated claim that “thousands” of women died while undergoing illegal abortions before the legalization of abortion in the United States.
This statistic was frequentlycited this year by Dr. Leana Wen, who was fired from her position as president of Planned Parenthood in July, just eight months after accepting the job.
“We dug through the statistics and it turns out she was citing numbers from the 1930s, before the advent of antibiotics,” Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post said in his 2019 Pinocchio list. “In 1972, the number of deaths in the United States from legal abortions was 24 and from illegal abortions 39, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Wen was “repeatedly” told by her staff that the statistic she was citing was false, but continued to use it anyway, the New York Times reported. Insiders at Planned Parenthood told the New York Times that Wen was ultimately let go because the organization wanted someone at the helm with a more aggressive focus on political advocacy, while Wen had worked to reframe Planned Parenthood primarily as a healthcare organization.
In May of this year, Kessler fact-checked the “thousands of women” claim that Wen had also repeated in interviews. He noted that before abortion became legal, official statistics on the number of women who died from abortions were dicey at best due to the illegality of the procedure and the shame surrounding it.
“Still, by the time Roe was issued, 17 states had liberalized their abortion laws, and the Centers for Disease Control was collecting solid data on abortion mortality,” Kessler noted.
Estimates on the number of abortions performed before Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that allowed for legal abortion in the United States, vary widely – from 200,000 to 1,200,000 per year, according to one 1958 study examined by The Washington Post.
“That’s quite a range for the number of illegal abortions, indicating how fuzzy the numbers are,” Kessler noted in May.
Another study cited in a NARAL document from 1936 used liberal estimates from a gynecologist named Frederick Taussig who used data from just 13 states and guessed at the rest to approximate the annual number of deaths from abortion at roughly 10,000.
But by 1948, researcher Christopher Tietze noted in a paper that deaths from abortion were swiftly decreasing due to the advent of penicillin and other antibiotics, as well as improved medical practices and an increase in available contraceptive methods.
In 1959, the medical director of Planned Parenthood reported that there had only been 260 deaths in the U.S. from illegal abortion, and that the procedure could be considered as safe as any other surgical procedure at the time, Kessler reported.
In 1969, a report in Scientific American magazine by Tietze and Sarah Lewit cited in The Washington Post stated that annually, the “Total mortality from illegal abortions was undoubtedly larger than (235), but in all likelihood it was under 1,000.”
“Even given the fuzzy nature of the data and estimates, there is no evidence that in the years immediately preceding the Supreme Court’s decision, thousands of women died every year in the United States from illegal abortions,” Kessler wrote.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Washington D.C., May 2, 2017 / 05:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At a Mass on Tuesday, the archbishop of Washington, D.C. thanked law enforcement officers and first responders for putting themselves in harm’s way for the betterment of society.
“This Mass,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl said, “should call forth from all of us enormous gratitude.” He thanked officials in attendance, their fallen comrades who died in the line of duty, and the families of the deceased.
Cardinal Wuerl was the celebrant and homilist at the 23rd annual Blue Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Washington, D.C. The Mass is said for law enforcement and fire safety officials, and for those who have died in the line of duty.
According to the Archdiocese of Washington, the tradition of the Blue Mass dates back to 1934 but it has only been an annual tradition beginning with 1994.
In 2016, there were 144 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in the U.S., according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
In attendance at the Mass were various federal and local law enforcement honor guards and families of slain law enforcement officials. At the end of the liturgy, two trumpeters played Taps after the names of the slain officials from the past year were read.
“Recognizing that not every law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency responder or medical personnel returns home at the end of their shift, we pray especially for the fallen and their families,” the cardinal wrote later on his blog.
“Reflecting our faith in the Resurrection, our prayers are directed to our loving and ever-merciful God, whom we ask to receive into his kingdom of new and eternal life those who have paid the last full measure so that others might live, prosper and be free,” he continued.
Those officers fallen in the line of duty show us that “violence” is around us, the cardinal admitted in his homily. “We recognize unfortunately that violence is also a part of life,” he said, yet “we must never let it change us.”
He reflected on the first reading of the martyrdom account of St. Stephen, insisting that there was “more to the story” than an unjust death.
The officers who “stand in harm’s way” in defense of human dignity witness to “the great hope that there is a better way,” he added. “Your lives and your service are a great witness to that hope,” he told the officials in attendance at the Mass.
Ultimately, these officers are motivated by love, the cardinal stressed: “their love of their families to be sure, and also their love for the community, their selfless love for those they do not even know, for those who may not even like or appreciate them, but for whom they are willing to risk their own lives.”
“This love is reflected in all of the routine day in and day out challenges they face all the time.”
More from DC’s Blue Mass honoring law enforcement & 1st responders: bagpipers in the preliminary procession playing “Minstrel Boy” pic.twitter.com/NRAdIq0kwA
A memorial Mass for the late Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was held at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights, California, on March 1, 2023. / Credit: YouTube/St. John Vianney Hacienda Heights
Boston, Mass., Mar 2, 2023 / 13:27 pm (CNA).
As three days of memorial services began Wednesday for the late Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, who was murdered in his Hacienda Heights home on Feb. 18, Pope Francis and President Joe Biden commended the man known as a “peacemaker.”
News of O’Connell’s murder and the subsequent arrest of his housekeeper’s husband in connection with the killing came as a shock to Catholics across the nation. Among those mourning the late bishop was Pope Francis, whose message was read at Wednesday’s memorial Mass at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights, California.
Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez was the main celebrant of a 7 p.m. memorial Mass in which O’Connell’s younger brother attended and shared memories of growing up together in Ireland.
Pope Francis: O’Connell had ‘profound concern for the poor’
In a message from Pope Francis read aloud at the beginning of Mass by Gomez, the Holy Father commended O’Connell, 69, for his efforts to uphold the sanctity of life and his profound concern for the poor.
The pope sent his “heartfelt condolences and the assurance of his spiritual closeness” to all the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles after the bishop’s “untimely and tragic death.”
Pope Francis remembered the bishop for his “profound concern for the poor, immigrants, and those in need; his efforts to uphold the sanctity and dignity of God’s gift of life; and his zeal for fostering solidarity, cooperation, and peace within the local community.”
“In commending the late bishop’s soul to the love and mercy of Christ the Good Shepherd, His Holiness prays that all who honor his memory will be confirmed in the resolve to reject the ways of violence and overcome evil with good,” said the message, which was signed by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
“To those gathered for the Mass of Christian burial and to all who mourn Bishop O’Connell’s loss in the sure hope of the resurrection, the Holy Father cordially imparts his blessing as a pledge of peace and consolation in the Lord.”
‘Dave got us through tough times’
O’Connell’s younger brother, Kieran O’Connell, thanked the local Catholic community for the outpouring of support and said that his brother had a strong belief in the power of prayer.
“I know he has been a source of solace for myself and my family as well,” he said.
“As my older brother, he was an immense support to me during the passing of our parents and also my brothers and sister. Dave got us through these tough times. He always said it was God’s plan and thanked God for their wonderful lives,” O’Connell said.
Reflecting on his brother’s ordination, O’Connell said: “It was the proudest moment for our family and for the whole community when he said his first Mass in our local parish church.”
O’Connell noted the many “great memories” he had of visiting his brother in Los Angeles and the active role that the bishop played in the raising of his children.
“He was present at every milestone in our lives, baptism, holy Communion, graduation, weddings,” he said. “We forever cherish those memories.”
“Just thank you most sincerely for taking care of Dave for these 45 years and know that he was happiest here among his people,” he said, fighting back tears.
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell’s brother, Kieran O’Connell, speaks at the bishop’s memorial Mass on March 1, 2023. Credit: YouTube/St. John Vianney Hacienda Heights
‘Christ was looking Dave right in the eyes’
Monsignor Timothy Dyer, pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Los Angeles, gave the homily and opened his remarks by recalling Archbishop Gomez’s presence at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Feb. 22 press conference following the arrest of O’Connell’s alleged murderer, Carlos Medina.
The archbishop had fought back tears as he struggled to get through his brief comments during that press conference.
“Before we begin to reflect on the Scripture readings I would like think that I represent each of you when I say to the archbishop that on the day he spoke in the news conference with the officials from the city and the state and the county around him, his inability to put into words his feelings, was the best way to speak for all of us,” Dyer said.
Dyer said that the Catholic community has been “overwhelmed” at the “pouring out of praise and gratitude” and sympathy from both the Catholic community and the secular community for O’Connell.
“If ever there was a man of prayer that I’ve known it was Dave,” he said. O’Connell would often begin meetings with the prayer method of lectio divina, he said, joking that “and he didn’t worry about how much time it took.”
O’Connell was passionate about standing up for immigrants, standing against racism, and standing up for the unborn and women, Dyer said.
“You could not pigeonhole him. If you wanted to put him up on your banner and let him be your patron for your particular cause, you could only do it if you embraced all of the things that he embraced, and all of the places he fished because it was an ethic of life from beginning to end,” he said.
Dyer’s recommendation that “it would be wise” for the seminary to hold an annual seminar to study O’Connell’s spirituality and ministry, was received with applause from those gathered at the church.
Dyer said that O’Connell had a “great devotion to Mary” that was “reflected in his respect and his admiration for women in religious life.”
Speaking briefly abuse the clergy sex abuse crisis, Dyer said that O’Connell would say to his fellow priests: “Wear it like a hairshirt. Let it irritate you so that it will never happen again.”
For O’Connell, becoming a bishop was a cross rather than a promotion, Dyer said, adding that “it almost broke his heart.”
O’Connell did not want to leave the flock that he pastored, Dyer said. “We need to take care of our bishops. It is not an easy life,” he said.
Fighting back tears, Dyer reflected on the last moments of O’Connell’s life.
“When the bullets were being fired, Christ was looking Dave right in the eyes, and he said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You may lay down the nets now Dave. I’ve prepared a place for you in the Father’s house,’” he said.
Dyer continued: “And there’s someone there who’s waiting too, the one you’ve always called the Blessed Mother, as well as your own mother, waiting to fold you in her arms. And Dave, you don’t have to be a bishop anymore. But in front of your dwelling place, there’s a great big lake. And we have a lot of fishing to do on behalf of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles still,” he said.
Biden White House statement
In response to a question from EWTN White House Correspondent Owen Jensen, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said March 1 that “the president and the first lady join Archbishop Gomez, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and the entire Catholic community in the mourning of Bishop David O’Connell.”
“We also express our sympathy and prayers for the family and friends of the bishop, who will certainly remember his legacy of service to those on the margins of society. And so, again, we offer up our condolences to the community.”
The White House responds to the murder of Bishop David O’Connell from Los Angeles and to the leaked FBI document comparing Catholics to violent extremists.
— EWTN News Nightly (@EWTNNewsNightly) March 1, 2023
There will be a public viewing on Thursday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. The viewing will take place from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
A vigil Mass will be held following the public viewing at 7 p.m. and will be livestreamed both here and here.
O’Connell’s funeral Mass will be held on Friday, March 3, at the same Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels at 11 a.m. local time. The funeral Mass will be livestreamed both here and here.
Leave a Reply