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N.J. Governor Chris Christie Proposes Elimination of Funding for Family Planning

New Jersey (MetroCatholic) –  Since the 1970’s, NJ family planning agencies run by Planned Parenthood, have been receiving millions of taxpayer dollars from the state budget. The amount of funding these groups received had nearly doubled since 2002. During this same period, the state of New Jersey was assigned the notable distinction of being named one of the top three states in the nation with the highest teen abortion rates. The Alan Guttmacher Institute’s most recent statistics from 2005, released in early February, demonstrate that NJ has once again failed its young women. These statistics illustrate that New Jersey has the second highest rate of teen abortions in the nation. The previous Guttmacher statistics from 2001 reported that NJ had the highest rate of black teen abortions in the nation, but race and ethnicity for NJ were conspicuously omitted from the 2005 statistics. It is most likely that these statistics were just as high in 2005. We know that NJ can do better. In all their literature, family planning agencies actually claim that their clinics reduce the number of abortions performed, but these statistics show they have failed miserably.

Yesterday, NJ’s newly elected Governor Chris Christie delivered his budget address and submitted a proposed budget. In his proposal, he took the necessary and decisive steps to try to address an $11B deficit and reduce state spending and reform state government. One of the programs he proposed eliminating was funding for family planning in the FY ‘11 state budget.

Last year, former Governor Jon Corzine allocated $7.6M in the state budget for family planning agencies. These agencies proudly advertise they perform “confidential” services for minors which include promoting abortion and referring for abortion without parental notification or consent. Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey, which performs abortions and was the lead plaintiff in the 1999 parental notification case, has been one of the long- time recipients of this money.

NJRTL has repeatedly urged defunding of Planned Parenthood. On February 2, 2010, NJRTL testified at a bipartisan legislative committee hearing to tell legislative leaders that it was time to end the absurdity of funding an industry that has failed miserably and has a financial self interest in keeping the status quo. We thank Governor Christie for wisely proposing the elimination of funding family planning as part of a solution to reduce state spending and reform government. We urge him to stand firm and line item veto any funding for family planning from the budget when it reaches his desk if Democrat leaders try to restore it back into the budget.

President of U.S. Bishops says cost is too high, loss is too great for Health Care Bill not to be revised

WASHINGTON DC (MetroCatholic) – Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued the following statement on the state of health care reform:

Statement by Cardinal Francis George, OMI

The Cost is too High; the Loss is too Great

The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long and consistently advocated for the reform of the American health care system. Their experience in health care and in Catholic parishes has acquainted them with the anguish of mothers who are unable to afford prenatal care, of families unable to ensure quality care for their children, and of those who cannot obtain insurance because of preexisting conditions.

Throughout the discussion on health care over the last year, the bishops have advocated a bipartisan approach to solving our national health care needs. They have urged that all who are sick, injured or in need receive necessary and appropriate medical assistance, and that no one be deliberately killed through an expansion of federal funding of abortion itself or of insurance plans that cover abortion. These are the provisions of the long standing Hyde amendment, passed annually in every federal bill appropriating funds for health care; and surveys show that this legislation reflects the will of the majority of our fellow citizens. The American people and the Catholic bishops have been promised that, in any final bill, no federal funds would be used for abortion and that the legal status quo would be respected.

However, the bishops were left disappointed and puzzled to learn that the basis for any vote on health care will be the Senate bill passed on Christmas Eve. Notwithstanding the denials and explanations of its supporters, and unlike the bill approved by the House of Representatives in November, the Senate bill deliberately excludes the language of the Hyde amendment. It expands federal funding and the role of the federal government in the provision of abortion procedures. In so doing, it forces all of us to become involved in an act that profoundly violates the conscience of many, the deliberate destruction of unwanted members of the human family still waiting to be born.

What do the bishops find so deeply disturbing about the Senate bill? The points at issue can be summarized briefly.  The status quo in federal abortion policy, as reflected in the Hyde Amendment, excludes abortion from all health insurance plans receiving federal subsidies. In the Senate bill, there is the provision that only one of the proposed multi-state plans will not cover elective abortions – all other plans (including other multi-state plans) can do so, and receive federal tax credits. This means that individuals or families in complex medical circumstances will likely be forced to choose and contribute to an insurance plan that funds abortions in order to meet their particular health needs.

Further, the Senate bill authorizes and appropriates billions of dollars in new funding outside the scope of the appropriations bills covered by the Hyde amendment and similar provisions. As the bill is written, the new funds it appropriates over the next five years, for Community Health Centers for example (Sec. 10503), will be available by statute for elective abortions, even though the present regulations do conform to the Hyde amendment. Regulations, however, can be changed at will, unless they are governed by statute.

Additionally, no provision in the Senate bill incorporates the longstanding and widely supported protection for conscience regarding abortion as found in the Hyde/Weldon amendment. Moreover, neither the House nor Senate bill contains meaningful conscience protection outside the abortion context. Any final bill, to be fair to all, must retain the accommodation of the full range of religious and moral objections in the provision of health insurance and services that are contained in current law, for both individuals and institutions.

This analysis of the flaws in the legislation is not completely shared by the leaders of the Catholic Health Association. They believe, moreover, that the defects that they do recognize can be corrected after the passage of the final bill. The bishops, however, judge that the flaws are so fundamental that they vitiate the good that the bill intends to promote. Assurances that the moral objections to the legislation can be met only after the bill is passed seem a little like asking us, in Midwestern parlance, to buy a pig in a poke.

What is tragic about this turn of events is that it needn’t have happened. The status quo that has served our national consensus and respected the consciences of all with regard to abortion is the Hyde amendment. The House courageously included an amendment applying the Hyde policy to its Health Care bill passed in November. Its absence in the Senate bill and the resulting impasse are not an accident. Those in the Senate who wanted to purge the Hyde amendment from this national legislation are obstructing the reform of health care.

This is not quibbling over technicalities. The deliberate omission in the Senate Bill of the necessary language that could have taken this moral question off the table and out of play leaves us still looking for a way to meet the President’s and our concern to provide health care for those millions whose primary care physician is now an emergency room doctor. As Pope Benedict told Ambassador to the Holy See Miguel H. Diaz when he presented his credentials as the United States government’s representative to the Holy See, there is “an indissoluble bond between an ethic of life and every other aspect of social ethics.”

Two basic principles, therefore, continue to shape the concerns of the Catholic bishops: health care means taking care of the health needs of all, across the human life span; and the expansion of health care should not involve the expansion of abortion funding and of polices forcing everyone to pay for abortions. Because these principles have not been respected, despite the good that the bill under consideration intends or might achieve, the Catholic bishops regretfully hold that it must be opposed unless and until these serious moral problems are addressed.

‘Abortion Changes You’ Ads Reach St. Louis Commuters

ST. LOUIS, MO (MetroCatholic) – St. Louis commuters will view five billboards stating ‘abortion changes you’ over the next few weeks. The billboards are part of the same outreach appearing this month in New York City subways. The billboards echo some of the experiences of men and women after an abortion. A woman shares, “I thought my life would be the way it was before”, while another says, “We made the decision together but I’ve never felt so alone”. An ad featuring a male shares, “I thought I was helping my girlfriend”.

The billboards refer viewers to AbortionChangesYou.com. The Web site is a safe place separate from politics, labels, and debate. The site includes an interactive grief and loss healing model developed with the help of psychologists. Men, women, and family members can begin the healing process by journaling, exploring emotions, posting artwork and more. Visitors can also connect with support groups and counseling in their local area through the ‘Find Help’ section.

“One in three women will have an abortion in the United States – and many women and men feel isolated and alone after their experience,” says Michaelene Fredenburg, creator of the ads and author of Changed: Making Sense of Your Own or a Loved One’s Abortion Experience, “When I had my abortion I kept it a secret for a long time because I was afraid of how people would react. Few people know how to talk about abortion in a safe way.”

Individuals can experience a range of emotions after their own abortion or the abortion of someone close to them – from feelings of relief, to confusion, to profound grief. The grief associated with reproductive losses (such as abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth) is often minimized, denied, and considered to be outside the normal “grieving rules” of society – especially when it comes to abortion.

“I believe that women, men, and family need a safe place to experience their own range of emotions apart from controversy and debate. That is why I started the Abortion Changes You outreach,” says Fredenburg.

The Abortion Changes You outreach images will remain on billboards on the I-207, Highway 367, I-270, US 40, and I-64 through the first week of April.

http://www.abortionchangesyou.com/

Fr. Pavone Mobilizes Clergy to Oppose Obamacare

Physicians Oppose Healthcare Bill on Abortion, Conscience

Washington, DC (MetroCatholic) – The 17,000 members of the Christian Medical Association [www.cmda.org] today urged Members of the House of Representatives to vote against the controversial healthcare overhaul bill approved by the Senate, H.R. 3590.

In a letter [www.cmda.org/hr3590letter] to all Members of the House, CMA CEO David Stevens, MD noted that “The CMA strongly opposes this legislation because it fails to provide strong conscience protections for healthcare professionals, allows direct federal funding of elective abortions in community health centers and allows federal funds to subsidize health plans covering abortions.”

CMA has led a national coalition of 50 organizations, Freedom2Care [www.Freedom2Care.org], to fight for conscience rights for healthcare professionals.

Dr. Stevens noted in the letter, “A national survey of faith-based physicians shows that the failure to protect the rights of healthcare professionals to decline to participate not only in abortion but also in other morally controversial procedures and prescriptions, may cause up to 95 percent of faith-based physicians to leave medicine. Since faith-based physicians provide much of the care for poor patients and those in medically underserved areas, their exodus would lead to a national crisis of access to care of catastrophic proportion.”

Dr. Stevens also wrote, “The CMA strongly supports funding for community health centers, and many of our physicians work full-time, part-time and on a volunteer basis caring for the poor. But we cannot support federal funding for abortions that will result in yet more abortions while violating the clear will of the American people who do not want their tax dollars used to pay for them.”

On the issue of federal subsidy of abortions, Dr. Stevens wrote, “Such funding, however cleverly designed to obscure the result, clearly violates the longstanding Hyde amendment and related laws. Such funding also violates the President’s oft-repeated pledge to maintain the status quo on abortion funding. Besides the obvious moral wrong of funding abortions, this policy will also have negative economic consequences. Incentivized by new insurance subsidies, abortionists will simply raise prices and increase their profits. Increased abortions will rob the country of much of the younger generation that otherwise would help avert the financial strain of a top-heavy older population.”

The letter also noted “government intrusion into physician-patient decision making and the allocation of medical resources, the absence of meaningful tort reform that is desperately needed to prevent the loss of some of our best physicians—especially obstetricians and gynecologists, and the lack of bipartisan and public support that should undergird any legislation of this magnitude.”

Dr. Stevens urged Members to “pursue a new bipartisan, measured and focused approach to true healthcare reform. Seven key principles our members look for in healthcare reform include cost containment, quality assurance, access for the poor, economic fairness, ethical protection, prevention focus and personal responsibility.”

CHA spent over $1 million lobbying for Obamacare

I don’t think anyone will be too surprised, but it’s good to know the actual amount.   CatholicCulture.org has reported that the Catholic Health Association has spent over $1 million lobbying in favor of Obamacare.  But since Sr. Carol Keehan is compensated at over $850,000 per year, perhaps she paid for most of that effort, in her ongoing dedication to social justice causes. 

The Catholic Hospital’s Association is a trade organization.  They ostensibly represent the interests of over 600 Church affiliated hospitals in the United States.  Some of the members of CHA, like Catholic Health West, are very profitable, even though they are designated, and taxed, as non-profits.   Irrespective, the problem with CHA’s endorsement of Obamacare, or whatever you want to call the current health insurance takeover effort in Washington, is that they are constantly being quoted in the press as some official arm of the USCCB, and hence seem to give the approval of the Church to this very bad legislation.  At the very least, they cause scandal and confusion among the faithful in their open opposition to the bishops, who have denounced this legislation as being inimical to Catholic moral doctrine on a number of levels (and this, in spite of many of the bishops having a great desire to see some form of health care legislation enacted).   CHA is, as an independent organization, free to lobby as it wishes, but as an organization that trades on its affiliation with the Church, and which claims to uphold all the doctrine of the Church, it is beyond unfortunate that they have chosen to strongly endorse legislation that the USCCB, many individual bishops, and all legitimate pro-life organizations have opposed to the utmost of their ability. 

One additional interesting factor: Michael Rodgers, the CHA senior vice president for public policy and the head of their lobbying effort, in 2008 contributed $2000 to the campaign of Judy Feder, a pro-abort candidate for Congress, who was running against a candidate with a 100% pro-life voting record.  As I said, in the seamless garment, some threads are more important than others.

h/t www.culturewarenotes.com

Archbishop Chaput: health care bill doesn’t meet minimum moral standards

Denver, Colo., Mar 15, 2010 / 06:18 am (CNA).- In his weekly column on the Denver Catholic Register, the Archbishop of Denver, Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., says the health-care bill does not meet minimum moral standards and therefore, doesn’t have the support of the Catholic bishops.

“The Senate version of health-care reform currently being forced ahead by congressional leaders and the White House is a bad bill that will result in bad law,”  says the Archbishop in his column  titled “Catholics, health care  and the Senate’s bad bill,” published this Monday in the Archdiocese’s  website

“As I write this column on March 14, the Senate bill remains gravely flawed.  It does not meet minimum moral standards in at least three important areas: the exclusion of abortion funding and services; adequate conscience protections for health-care professionals and institutions; and the inclusion of immigrants,” Chaput writes.

In reference to pro-Obama Catholic organizations who have been claiming that the bill is “sufficiently” pro-life, the Archbishop of Denver argues that “groups, trade associations and publications describing themselves as ‘Catholic’ or ‘prolife’ that endorse the Senate version – whatever their intentions – are doing a serious disservice to the nation and to the Church, undermining the witness of the Catholic community; and ensuring the failure of genuine, ethical health-care reform.” 

Such groups, Archbishop Chaput explains “create confusion at exactly the moment Catholics need to think clearly about the remaining issues in the health-care debate.  They also provide the illusion of moral cover for an unethical piece of legislation.”

The Archbishop then reminds “a few simple facts.”

First, the Catholic bishops of the United States began pressing for real national health-care reform “long before either political party or the public media found it convenient.”  Second, the bishops have tried earnestly to craft a consensus “that would serve all Americans;” but the failure of their effort has one source:  “It comes entirely from the stubbornness and evasions of certain key congressional leaders, and the unwillingness of the White House to honor promises made by the president last September.”

Third, “the health-care reform debate has never been merely a matter of party politics.  Nor is it now.” In this regard, Archbishop Chaput praises  Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak and “a number of his Democratic colleagues” for showing  “extraordinary character in pushing for good health-care reform while resisting attempts to poison it with abortion-related entitlements and other bad ideas that have nothing to do with real health care.” 

“To put it another way,” the Archbishop explains, “few persons seriously oppose making adequate health services available for all Americans.  But God, or the devil, is in the details — and by that measure, the current Senate version of health-care reform is not merely defective, but also a dangerous mistake.”

Nevertheless, Archbishop Chaput says that the “most painful feature” in the last weeks of the debate, “has been those ‘Catholic’ groups that by their eagerness for some kind of deal undercut the witness of the Catholic community and help advance a bad bill into a bad law. Their flawed judgment could now have damaging consequences for all of us.”

The Archbishop of Denver reminds that the bill “does not deserve, nor does it have, the support of the Catholic bishops in our country, who speak for the believing Catholic community.” 

“Catholics and other persons of good will concerned about the foundations of human dignity should oppose it,” he says on ending.

Planned Parenthood distributes sexually explicit brochures at Girl Scout meeting

New York City, N.Y., Mar 14, 2010 / 05:47 pm (CNA).- Early this week, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts hosted a panel in which Planned Parenthood was allowed to distribute brochures containing sexually explicit material to the young girls. The panel served as part of the annual U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

According to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), the brochures titled, “Happy, Healthy and Hot,” are aimed at young people with HIV and give graphic details on sex, encouraging a casual approach to sexual experimentation. The brightly colored pamphlets feature silhouettes of  young people and state, “Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse… But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!”

The pamphlet continues by encouraging adolescents to “Improve your sex life by getting to know your own body. Play with yourself! Masturbation is a great way to find out more about your body and what you find sexually stimulating. Mix things up by using different kinds of touch from very soft to hard. Talk about or act out your fantasies. Talk dirty to (your sexual partner).”

C-FAM also reports that the CSW event also held a young women’s caucus that was co-moderated by the Girl Scouts and the YMCA. Part of the caucus included an “Intergenerational conversation” that addressed “reproductive health” as well as a recent Girl Scout project aimed “at securing the right of women, men and adolescents aged between ten and twenty-five, to better reproductive and sexual health.”??

Several leaders of U.N. organizations also released a joint statement at the CSW this week called the “U.N. Adolescent Girls Task Force” which encourages U.N. agencies to support initiatives “that empower … adolescent girls, particularly those aged 10 to 14 years.”  One aspect of this “empowerment” is providing these young girls with “life-skills based sexuality education, HIV prevention, and sexual and reproductive health.”

According to C-FAM’s Friday Fax, Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women of America argued that Planned Parenthood’s initiatives are motivated with the intent of increasing their revenue. “Governments and NGOs should be aware of Planned Parenthood’s insidious plan to work with U.N. agencies and girls’ organizations in order to profit from encouraging kids to be sexually active,” Wright stated.

Project Rachel Founder to speak in Fond du Lac about The Biochemistry of Attraction

FOND du LAC, WI (MetroCatholic) – Vicki Thorn, the Executive Director of the National office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing in Milwaukee, comes to Fond du Lac April 18 and 19 at 7pm for two evenings of provacative discussion on “The Biochemistry of Attraction”, and “Healing our Wounds”, at Holy Family Church, 271 Fourth Street Way, Fond du Lac.

The first evening Vicki will speak about the biochemistry of sex, the problems of the sexual revolution and the fascinating science of attraction. Through scientific studies, Vicki shows how men and women are inherently different, yet built to complement each other. Speaking from a medical perspective, Vicki emphasizes that Church teaching on sexual morality is not outdated, but has significant benefits for physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

The theme of night two is “Healing Our Wounds” where Vicki will unfold the sociological changes that have happened since the 1960s that have left indelible marks on the hearts and souls of many born since then. This night will also include a talk by Gina Loehr, author of “Real Women, Real Saints: Friends for Your Spiritual Journey.” Gina will introduce Natural Family Planning (NFP) – Take Time Out for Your Marriage.

“As a mom, I was impressed by Vicki Thorn’s talk. She is every mother’s dream come true. She has the information we as parents in today’s society need to teach and educate our kids about valuing their sexuality as creatures of God. I wish I would have learned this when I was young.” – Mary Moul, mother of 9, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

“Vicki Thorn is widely recognized and respected for her postabortion healing ministry. She raises intriguing questions and concerns about the potential effects of oral contraceptives on sexual attraction which deserve further study.” Christine Zainer, M.D. Milwaukee

“It would have been so helpful if I had access to this kind of information as I taught and watched kids growing into their puberty back in the 70’s and 80’s. I believe it would have helped me to understand them. Maybe it’s not too late if teachers get this valuable information.” – Gail Welter, junior high teacher of religion and science for 30 years, Johnsburg, Wisconsin

The event at Holy Family Catholic Church is appropriate for young and old, singles, and couples. Teens welcome if accompanied by parent. In lieu of admission, attendees are asked to bring a baby item to be donated to New Beginnings Pregnancy Care Center, Christ Child Society, Family Resource Center, and Solutions Center. To learn more about Project Rachel and the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing visit http://www.noparh.org/ .

Attorney General Now Claims Illinois Constitution Contains Right to Abortion, Thomas More Society Responds by Seeking Leave of Court to Defend Parental Notice

CHICAGO, IL (MetroCatholic) –  Reacting to the recent claim by the Attorney General that the Illinois Constitution contains a right to abortion, attorneys from the Thomas More Society will appear in Cook County court on Monday, March 15, again seeking to intervene in the latest American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit, challenging the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995.

In Hope Clinic, et al., v. Brent Adams et al. (No. 09 CH 38661), Thomas More Society attorneys are representing Illinois State’s Attorneys Stu Umholtz (R-Tazewell), Ed Deters (D-Effingham) and Ray Cavanaugh (R-Henderson), and maintain that because there is no right to abortion in the Illinois Constitution, the ACLU’s latest challenge to parental notice is baseless. The Attorney General, representing various Illinois officials who are named as defendants, has moved to dismiss the case on other grounds.

“Because the ACLU has already lost in federal court, its lawyers must prove in state court that the Illinois Constitution of 1970 guaranteed a right to abortion that was even stronger than the federal abortion right upheld in Roe v. Wade, handed down in 1973. This is an utter falsehood plainly belied by the historical record. Yet, instead of defending the Illinois Constitution, whose Framers clearly left the issue of abortion to the legislature, the Attorney General has tossed the Constitution aside and conceded to the ACLU on this key issue,” stated Thomas Brejcha, President & Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society. “Illinois parents have a right to know before their kids are taken for abortions. If the Attorney General won’t defend the parental notice law vigorously, we will do so, until the day when there are no more secret abortions performed on Illinois children.”

The Parental Notice of Abortion Act requires a child under age 18 to notify a parent, grandparent or step-parent in the home, or to go before a judge to get a waiver, prior to undergoing an abortion. The Act was prevented from going into effect in June 1995, by an injunction issued by the federal district court in Chicago. Fourteen years later, in August of 2009, the federal appeals court lifted the injunction. However, before the Act could go into effect, the Illinois Medical Disciplinary Board imposed a 90-day grace period on enforcement. On the day that grace period ended, November 4, the law was in effect for only a few hours before Judge Daniel Riley of the Cook County circuit court granted a temporary restraining order, again halting enforcement of the Act.

Judge Riley has granted Thomas More Society attorneys a special setting for their motion to intervene, at 10 a.m. on Monday. At 10:30 a.m., the court will hear the Attorney General’s motion to dismiss the ACLU’s case. Thomas More Society attorneys will be available for comment following the hearing.

About the Thomas More Society
Founded in 1997, the Thomas More Society is a not-for-profit, public interest law firm based in Chicago and dedicated to fighting for the rights and dignity of all human beings, from conception until natural death. The Society vigorously defends clients in state and federal courtrooms around the country, addressing vital issues across the pro-life spectrum, including pregnancy discrimination, end-of-life health care, the right of conscientious objection for medical workers, freedom of speech, free exercise of religion, and peaceable nonviolent protest.

As a public interest law firm, the Thomas More Society is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, supported solely by private donations. Visit www.thomasmoresociety.org for more information.

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