Vatican City, Dec 5, 2018 / 10:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Growing up next door to Daytona Beach in Florida, Rich Varano spent a lot of time making things out of sand with his dad. He never imagined it could turn into his full-time gig – but 30 years… […]
Vatican City, Dec 5, 2018 / 03:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Learning to pray well is a continual process, but should always start from a place of humility, as Jesus demonstrated in the Gospels, Pope Francis said Wednesday.
“Even if we have been prayi… […]
Lima, Peru, Dec 5, 2018 / 12:58 am (ACI Prensa).- The Salesian founder of Operation Mato Grosso, a ministry of service and job training for low-income people in South America, died December 3 at the age of 94.
Fr. Ugo de Censi had been bedridden for s… […]
Columbia, S.C., Dec 4, 2018 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- Several lawmakers in South Carolina have announced they will introduce pro-life bills in the state’s upcoming legislative session, set to begin next month.
Three anti-abortion laws are expected to b… […]
Washington D.C., Dec 4, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Pro-life legislators and organizations remain optimistic about ongoing efforts to ban abortion in the United States, despite an incoming House of Representatives, led by a Democratic majority committed to the practice.
Although leadership elections have not yet taken place, former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is widely expected to replace outgoing speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who has retired from Congress. Pelosi is in favor of abortion rights, and once defended her refusal to support a bill banning late-term abortion by saying “As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me.”
With a Pelosi-led Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, pro-life advocates predict it will be much harder, if not impossible, to pass further protections for the unborn. At the same time, they remain confident that their work will continue to be effective.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), told CNA that he and other pro-life legislators would have to be “as persuasive as we possibly can to bring up the negative aspects” of abortion and try to change minds on the issue.
Wenstrup added that while it will certainly be a challenge to do anything legislatively with a new majority in the House, he said that there are other issues the pro-life movement can pursue that might garner support from members of the Democratic Party, such as legislation addressing assisted suicide or limiting the use of fetal tissue in experiments.
In addition to being a congressman, Wenstrup is also a physician, which he partially credits for his values, along with his Catholic faith. He said that it was essential that pro-lifers continue to “make the case for what is ethical, what is right” but conceded that there is no practical chance of further legislation to curb abortion during the current lame duck session of Congress.
Pro-life leaders say that there will be significant challenges ahead now with a new party in control of the House of Representatives.
“Well, I think our biggest challenge in the coming two years with a Democratic, pro-abortion Democratic control of the House will be to protect the Hyde Amendment,” National Right to Life Committee President Carol Tobias told CNA. Tobias said that she believes that the repeal of the Hyde Amendment will be a “top priority” for the new House leadership.
“We know that the American public strongly opposes using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion, but I still expect the Democrats to try very hard to repeal the Hyde Amendment and try to force taxpayer funding on America,” said Tobias.
Tobias was, however, confident that the Senate would be able to continue to confirm pro-life judges to the federal bench. She told CNA that Trump and the Senate have done a “fantastic job” at this over the last two years.
“We are thrilled that pro-life members have actually increased in the Senate after the election, so we will be expecting that to continue,” she explained.
“Which is great news for the future.”
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, met with President Donald Trump last week and urged him to take action during the “lame duck” session of Congress, before the new members officially begin their terms.
Hawkins said she asked the president to refuse to sign any budget that includes funding for the abortion provider Planned Parenthood, and that she hopes Trump will formalize new pro-life protections in Title X regulations “as soon as possible.”
She also encouraged the president to “continue to appoint judges who respect life in law” and to cease the funding of fetal tissue research through the Department of Health and Human Services.
Additionally, Hawkins told Trump that she hopes that the government is able to “sever the connection between sex education and abortion vendors.”
This could be done through new restrictions on federal grants. Currently, Planned Parenthood recieves grants to teach sexual education in schools, Hawkins said.
Hawkins compared the use of the grants to “their own personal marketing slush fund” through which teens are taught to acquire contraceptives from the organization, and then to go back for an abortion “when their advice and products fail.”
In a statement to CNA, Students for Life said that pro-life advocates have to “hold the line” on issues such as the Hyde Amendment and the defunding of Planned Parenthood.
“There is growing momentum across the country for commonsense limits on abortion and state laws such as protecting women’s lives and health with safety regulations,” Students for Life told CNA.
“People are ready to vote on human rights issue of our time, and that is what will happen when Roe v. Wade becomes an historical footnote.”
Another pro-life leader had a different approach to the upcoming legislative session.
Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood clinic director who now leads the pro-life ministry And Then There Were None, told CNA that she hopes “those legislators that pro-lifers elected to Congress should keep their promises to defund Planned Parenthood.”
“However, that’s not where And Then There Were None focuses our energy – if there are no more workers at abortion clinics, they will close and taxpayers will no longer need to worry about their money going to support these clinics,” said Johnson.
Denver, Colo., Dec 4, 2018 / 04:48 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Bible is full of prophecies regarding future events, that typically come from God through angels or prophets.
In the book of Isaiah, the prophet predicts the coming of Christ when he tells Ah… […]
Columbus, Ohio, Dec 4, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Ohio Senate is expected to pass legislation banning abortion on an unborn baby after he or she has a heartbeat, and there could be enough votes to override Gov. John Kasich’s promised v… […]
Katowice, Poland, Dec 4, 2018 / 03:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At a UN climate change summit in Poland Monday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin underlined the Holy See’s view that climate change is a moral issue and has an effect on… […]
Washington D.C., Dec 4, 2018 / 02:05 pm (CNA).- Women have spoken about their personal and near experiences of abortion and the lack of resources and support which led them to the tragic decision.
A recurring theme in the responses to a surve… […]
Harrisburg, Pa., Dec 4, 2018 / 12:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Citing due process, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday wrote that the names of 11 former and current priests in a grand jury report on allegations of clerical sexual abuse of minors are to remain permanently redacted.
The 11 names will be kept redacted as “the only viable due process remedy … to protect their constitutional rights to reputation,” Justice Debra Todd wrote in the court’s Dec. 3 majority opinion.
More than 300 priests were named in the report.
“We acknowledge that this outcome may be unsatisfying to the public and to the victims of the abuse detailed in the report. While we understand and empathize with these perspectives, constitutional rights are of the highest order, and even alleged sexual abusers, or those abetting them, are guaranteed by our Commonwealth’s Constitution the right of due process.”
Article 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution enshrines a person’s right to possess and protect their good reputation, placing it on the same footing as life and liberty.
Six of court’s justices were joined in the majority opinion, while Chief Justice Thomas Saylor filed a dissenting opinion.
Several individuals named in the report, including some priests, have objected to being included in the document. They argued that the grand jury report links their names to terrible crimes or cover-up efforts, but that they had not been afforded the chance to respond to allegations made against them, or given the benefit of due process of law.
A redacted version of the report was released Aug. 14. It detailed sexual abuse allegations in six of Pennsylvania’s eight Latin-rite dioceses, following an 18-month investigation into thousands of alleged instances of abuse spanning several decades.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro responded to the Supreme Court’s decision saying it “allows predator priests to remain in the shadows and permits the Church to continue concealing their identities,” and that “the public will not relent in its demand that anyone involved in this widespread abuse and cover up be named.”
The grand jury report was adopted and issued by the grand jury, but its text was drafted by Shapiro’s office.
In his dissent, Saylor argued that the petitioners’ due process concerns could be remedied by having a judge conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether disputed matters in the report were supported by the evidence.
This suggestion was rejected by the majority of the court because they held it is not authorized by the statute governing Pennsylvania’s grand juries, and because the supervising judge would be evaluating diverging types of evidence.
© Catholic World Report