Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), pictured in 1938-1939. / Public Domain.
Boston, Mass., Aug 9, 2023 / 02:00 am (CNA).
When Edith Stein entered the order of Discalced Carmelite nuns in 1933, she assumed the name of Teresa Blessed by … […]
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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 8, 2023 / 20:13 pm (CNA).
Ohio voters rejected a proposed initiative that would have made it more difficult to adopt constitutional amendments via citizen-led ballot initiatives, which will mak… […]
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ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 8, 2023 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
The father of Jimena, the 16-year-old Spanish World Youth Day pilgrim who reported she recovered her sight during a Mass in Fátima, provided ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-l… […]
Mary Stegmueller and country singer Luke Bryan backstage before his concert at Ball Arena in Denver on July 29, 2023. / Photo credit: Kristin Stegmueller
Denver, Colo., Aug 8, 2023 / 13:10 pm (CNA).
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A sonogram picture of a fetus in the second trimester of a woman’s pregnancy. / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 8, 2023 / 12:35 pm (CNA).
A group of abortion-rights activists is working to enshrine the right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution, hoping to get the measure on the state’s ballot ahead of the 2024 elections.
The political action committee Arizona for Abortion Access on Tuesday filed the Arizona Abortion Access Act, a “proposed constitutional amendment that will enshrine the fundamental right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution for generations to come,” the group said in a press release.
The group claimed that Arizona’s current 15-week ban constitutes “a significant barrier between patients and essential care,” one that allegedly “deprives pregnant [women] of their liberty and autonomy to make choices about their own health care.”
The proposed amendment, a copy of which was obtained by CNA, would forbid any abortion regulations from being imposed prior to “fetal viability,” or the ability of the unborn child to survive outside of its mother’s womb. At current levels of technology and health care, viability is usually at about 22-24 weeks.
Among the groups supporting the effort are Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, NARAL Arizona, and Healthcare Rising Arizona.
These groups, the PAC says on its website, have partnered “to begin collecting signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2024 ballot.” Arizona requires nearly 400,000 signatures for an amendment to appear on a ballot.
Group chair Candace Lew said in the press release that the coalition “will power this grassroots effort to not only pose this question to voters but ensure it passes next November.”
The pro-abortion effort in Arizona comes after over a year of GOP-led legislatures passing major abortion restrictions around the country in the wake of the repeal of Roe v. Wade.
The landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision stipulated that states could not outlaw abortion at all in the first three months of pregnancy and only minimally thereafter. The ruling was binding on all 50 states.
The overturning of Roe returned the power of abortion regulation to individual state legislatures, leading many state houses to enact significant restrictions on abortion, with some outlawing the procedure after as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, meanwhile, signed an executive order in June directing the state “not to assist in any investigations” related to legal abortion services there; Hobbs said the state would also “decline extradition requests from other states seeking to prosecute individuals who [obtain abortions]” in Arizona.
St. Josemaria Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei / Flick Torreciudad Sanctuary (CC BY 2.0)
Rome Newsroom, Aug 8, 2023 / 10:00 am (CNA).
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Rome Newsroom, Aug 8, 2023 / 08:30 am (CNA).
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Approximately 525 women, a mix of all ages from every state in the country, attended the Knights of Columbus 141st Supreme Convention “Ladies Program” Aug. 1, 2023. / Photo courtesy of the Knights of Columbus
Orlando, Fla., Aug 8, 2023 / 08:00 … […]
Niger’s National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane (center), General Mohamed Toumba (center-left), and Colonel Ousmane Abarchi (right) are greeted upon their arrival at the Stade General Seyni Kountche in Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 6, 2023. / Credit: AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 8, 2023 / 07:25 am (CNA).
Nigerian Catholic bishops are discouraging the leaders of Western African nations from using military intervention in the neighboring country of Niger after the government’s military ousted its president and installed a general as the new head of state.
Less than two weeks ago, senior military officials deposed Niger President Mohamed Bazoum and presidential guard commander Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani announced himself as leader.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened military intervention if Niger’s military refused to restore democracy within one week. The deadline passed on Sunday, but the coup leaders remain in power.
In response to the threat, some Nigerian groups are discouraging Western African countries from using military intervention and are encouraging diplomacy instead. Nigeria is positioned just north of Niger and shares a nearly 1,000-mile border with the country.
The president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, is urging Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to dissuade Western African countries from using military intervention despite the deadline passing.
“At the end of their meeting, [ECOWAS] gave the coup plotters one week to restore democratic leadership in Niger or risk military intervention,” Ugorji said during a pastoral visit to Mary Mother of God Catholic Parish, according to the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard.
“This marching order [expired Sunday],” Ugorji added. “They reasoned that it is wrong to change government by force. They are correct, but we also believe that shedding precious human blood is equally wrong. Two wrongs can never make a right.”
“We are begging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to dissuade ECOWAS heads of states to resist the temptation of going to war against the coup plotters,” Ugorji said. “We beg them to stop the imminent bloodshed that will trail the military intervention. We have wasted a lot of human blood in Africa. We have also wasted precious human lives in Nigeria and we cannot continue in this ugly fashion, for whatever reason,” the archbishop said.
Ugorji noted that some countries are supporting the coup and suggested ECOWAS “think of what should be the fate of the organization” if Western African countries intervene.
“The media is awash with the news of some countries that have already declared their full support for the country and their military strongmen,” the archbishop continued. “Russia may also be there, without our knowing. While we say no to coup d’etat, we also say no to war, for whatever reason. We say no manipulation of election results because it is also another shade of coup d’etat.”
The United States government, which had strong relations with the country’s ousted president, condemned the coup and paused some foreign assistance programs in Niger.
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