tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33853802518714094862024-03-13T10:24:26.832-05:00Pro-Life - Whole LifeA resource page and blog on life issues and the impact on both individuals and society.
Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-7592705430945013612020-10-18T13:43:00.004-05:002020-10-18T13:57:24.984-05:00AOC’s Reproductive Justice Is Untenable with Catholic Faith<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><u>https://wholelifedemocrat.com/2020/09/01/aocs-reproductive-justice-is-untenable-with-catholic-faith/#more-2076</u></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 / DFLA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">By Sophie Trist</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">In a recent article in the National Catholic Reporter, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) expressed her support for reproductive justice not in spite of, but because of, her Catholic faith, urging other Catholics to do the same. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s take on reproductive justice weaves reproductive issues with social justice and consists of four core principles: the right to have a child, the right not to have a child, the right to nurture children in a safe and healthy environment, and the right to bodily autonomy and gender expression. Ocasio-Cortez then contends that her version of reproductive justice overlaps with Catholic social teaching’s stress on a preferential option for the poor and marginalized, access to education and healthcare, and the right to human dignity and a life free from violence. Front and center in Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas is the right to terminate pregnancies. Because abortion is an essential part of reproductive justice, it can never be squared with Catholic social teaching. In fact, by supporting the violence of abortion and urging other Catholics to do likewise, Ocasio-Cortez is encouraging her fellow Catholics to commit a grave moral sin and leading others to scandal.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The right not to have a child is absent in Scripture. No Catholic text even hints at such a right. There is, of course, the choice not to have children by abstaining from sexual intercourse or using natural family planning methods to eliminate or reduce the chances of getting pregnant, but pregnancy is a natural potential consequence of sexual activity.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Additionally, the NCR article ignores the fact that abortion is an act of violence, the taking of a human life. That is not religion, but science. Ninety-five percent of biologists, including very pro-choice ones, agree that life begins at conception. Faith and morality tell us that every human life has infinite worth and significance, including unborn ones.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The Catholic Catechism states, “Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable… The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constituted element of a civil society and its legislation… These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents… They belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origins” (CC 2271, 2273).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Indeed, scholars and philosophers of the early church made their views on abortion clear: it’s included in the Fourth Commandment prohibition against killing. In the first century, Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Abortion is killing human life that is under God’s care, design, and providence.” In his 197 work The Apology, early Christian apologist Tertullian writes, “In our case, murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb… To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born or destroy one that is coming to the birth. That is a man which is going to be one. You have the fruit already in the seed.” In a later essay, Tertullian draws on biblical passages about John the Baptist and Jesus living fully in their mothers’ wombs, arguing that humans are ensouled from the moment of conception. The Bible also speaks with reverence of unborn life: “Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee” (Jeremiah 1:15).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">What Rep. Ocasio-Cortez misses is that the traditional Catholic position is one of a whole life ethic that is infinitely more just and progressive than her limited view. This ethic extends the right to a meaningful life to all humanity, born and unborn. There is no room for categories of humans who do not possess a right to live.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">St. Pope John Paul II repeatedly wrote about the sanctity of every human life. In his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae, or The Gospel of Life, he states, “Where life is involved, the service of charity must be profoundly consistent. It cannot tolerate bias and discrimination, for human life is sacred and inviolable at every stage and in every situation; it is an indivisible good… It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop. A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice, and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized” (No. 87, 101).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Abortion is an intrinsic evil, meaning that where the intention is to take a life, it can never be justified. The removal of an ectopic pregnancy, on the other hand, is morally permissible for Catholics because the intent is to save the mother, and the child dies as an unfortunate consequence. Opposition to abortion is such a key component of Catholic social teaching because it combines the Christian reverence for human life, made in the image and likeness of God, with the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable. Pope Francis also calls for a consistent ethic of life, saying, “The life we are called to promote and defend is not an abstract concept, but always manifests itself in a person in flesh and blood: a newly conceived child, a poor marginalized person, a sick person alone and discouraged or in a terminal state, one who has lost his job or is unable to find it, a rejected and ghettoized migrant.” Pope Francis has previously compared abortion to hiring a hit man to solve a problem and eliminate a more vulnerable person, and he stresses the current relevance of Evangelium Vitae.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">It is vital that children be nurtured in healthy, safe environments. It is vital that parents of all races, classes, and genders have the financial, educational, and community support to raise flourishing families. But we cannot uplift one group of vulnerable people while denying another vulnerable group its most fundamental right to life. For people of faith and goodwill, the key role of abortion in reproductive justice efforts mean that we must abandon this lens and instead use a seamless garment or consistent life ethic approach. Like reproductive justice, the consistent life ethic does not view any issue in a vacuum, but weaves together a profound respect for human life at every stage with efforts to eliminate discrimination and increase access to support and opportunities so that ALL humans, from the womb to the tomb, can live a life of dignity free from violence.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The consistent life ethic is not exclusively Catholic, though it originated from Catholic theology. Christians of all denominations, non-Christians, secularists, agnostics, and atheists have all been inspired to uphold the position that life from conception to natural death is worthy of protection and celebration. I do not doubt that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s Catholic background has instilled a passion for social justice. She can take a major step in promoting the radical justice implicit in her Catholic ideals by expanding her concern to the most vulnerable in our society: the unborn.</span></p><p></p>Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-63401680101884602032020-08-30T12:25:00.003-05:002020-08-30T12:31:53.894-05:00My Comments to the USCCB on Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship<p> I am in the process of reading Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. I hope that the bishops of this country speak and encourage parish priests to speak out on this, especially with the election following respect life month in October. </p><p>I have long held "The issue of human life and its preservation and development is one that begins with conception and ends only when God calls a person back to himself in death. If we are consistent, then, we must be concerned about life from beginning to end. It is like a seamless garment; either it all holds together or eventually it all falls apart." by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, At this present moment, I see ample evidence of our country falling apart, true to Cardinal Bernadin's words.</p><p>I see that the general pro-life movement has disconnected itself from other life issues, even though women have abortions due to other life issues, including abuse and lack of health care, thinking that abortion is their only choice. On the other hand those who champion those other life issues have listened to the screaming of the choice organizations and refuse to listen to those who work toward the elimination of abortion. Neither group respects the other because each sees the lack of respect for life shown by the other group's focus. (The only group that I see as a viable voice is Democrats for Life, #DFLA)</p><p>Also overtaking our country is the disrespect for life by racism, bullying, violence on the part of authorities toward ethnic groups, even the denigration of political opponents as almost daily demonstrated by our president. Add to that the ever present and increasing violence by gangs in the cities and para-military groups all over the country. </p><p>I do not advocate not lessening the focus on abortion, but I do advocate for more emphasis on the other life issues. This would quiet those who argue that pro-lifers are only concerned with a baby until it is born. This would also give the country a firm idea of what it means to respect life, and that is the only way that this country will survive the abyss it has descended into. </p><div><br /></div>Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-57683019438521391462020-08-30T11:25:00.007-05:002020-08-30T11:41:58.855-05:00Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States<p> <a href="https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship.pdf">https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship.pdf</a></p><p>Introductory Letter</p><p> As Catholics, we bring the richness of our faith to the public square. We draw from both faith and reason as we seek to affirm the dignity of the human person and the common good of all. With renewed hope, we, the Catholic Bishops of the United States, are re-issuing Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, our teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics, which provides guidance for all who seek to exercise their rights and duties as citizens.</p><p> Everyone living in this country is called to participate in public life and contribute to the common good. In Rejoice and Be Glad [Gaudete et Exsultate], Pope Francis writes:</p><p><span> </span>Your identification with Christ and his will involves a commitment to build with him that kingdom of love, justice and universal peace. . . .You cannot grow in holiness without committing yourself,<span> </span>body and soul, to giving your best to this endeavor.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> The call to holiness, he writes, requires a “firm and passionate” defense of “the innocent unborn.” “Equally sacred,” he further states, are “the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection.”</p></blockquote><p> Our Our approach to contemporary issues is first and foremost rooted in our identity as followers of Christ and as brothers and sisters to all who are made in God’s image. For all Catholics, including those seeking public office, our participation in political parties or other groups to which we may belong should be influenced by our faith, not the other way around.</p><p> Our 2015 statement, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,sought to help Catholics form their consciences, apply a consistent moral framework to issues facing the nation and world, and shape their choices in elections in the light of Catholic Social Teaching. In choosing to re-issue this statement, we recognize that the thrust of the document and the challenges it addresses remain relevant today.</p><p> At the same time, some challenges have become even more pronounced. Pope Francis has continued to draw attention to important issues such as migration, xenophobia, racism, abortion, global conflict, and care for creation. In the United States and around the world, many challenges demand our attention.</p><p> The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed. At the same time, we cannot dismiss or ignore other serious threats to human life and dignity such as racism, the environmental crisis, poverty and the death penalty.</p><p> Our efforts to protect the unborn remain as important as ever, for just as the Supreme Court may allow greater latitude for state laws restricting abortion, state legislators have passed statutes not only keeping abortion legal through all nine months of pregnancy but opening the door to infanticide. Additionally, abortion contaminates many other important issues by being inserted into legislation regarding immigration, care for the poor, and health care reform.</p><p> At our border, many arriving families endure separation, inhumane treatment, and lack of due process, while those fleeing persecution and violence face heightened barriers to seeking refuge and asylum. Within our borders, Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and mixed-status and undocumented families face continued fear and anxiety as political solutions fail to materialize. Lawmakers’ inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform which acknowledges the family as the basic unit of society has contributed to the deterioration of conditions at the border. As we seek solutions, we must ensure that we receive refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants in light of the teachings of Christ and the Church while assuring the security of our citizens.</p><p> The wound of racism continues to fester; the bishops of the United States drew attention to this important topic in the recent pastoral letter, Open Wide Our Hearts. Religious freedom problems continue to intensify abroad and in the United States have moved beyond the federal to state and local levels. As international conflicts proliferate, addressing poverty and building global peace remain pressing concerns, as does the need to assist persons and families in our own country who continue to struggle to make ends meet. We must work to address gun violence, xenophobia, capital punishment, and other issues that affect human life and dignity. It is also essential to affirm the nature of the human person as male and female, to protect the family based on marriage between a man and a woman, and to uphold the rights of children in that regard. Finally, we must urgently find ways to care better for God’s creation, especially those most impacted by climate change—the poor—and protect our common home. We must resist the throw-away culture and seek integral development for all.</p><p> With these and other serious challenges facing both the nation and the Church, we are called to walk with those who suffer and to work toward justice and healing.</p><p> At all levels of society, we are aware of a great need for leadership that models love for righteousness (Wisdom 1:1) as well as the virtues of justice, prudence, courage, and temperance. Our commitment as people of faith to imitate Christ’s love and compassion should challenge us to serve as models of civil dialogue, especially in a context where discourse is eroding at all levels of society. Where we live, work, and worship, we strive to understand before seeking to be understood, to treat with respect those with whom we disagree, to dismantle stereotypes, and to build productive conversation in place of vitriol.</p><p> Catholics from every walk of life can bring their faith and our consistent moral framework to contribute to important work in our communities, nation, and world on an ongoing basis, not just during election season. In this coming year and beyond, we urge leaders and all Catholics to respond in prayer and action to the call to faithful citizenship. In doing so, we live out the call to holiness and work with Christ as he builds his kingdom of love.</p><p>Merciful Father,</p><p>Thank you for inviting each of us to join in your work</p><p>of building the kingdom of love, justice, and peace.</p><p>Draw us close to you in prayer</p><p>as we discern your call in our families and communities.</p><p>Send us forth to encounter all whom you love:</p><p>those not yet born, those in poverty, those in need of welcome.</p><p>Inspire us to respond to the call to faithful citizenship,</p><p>during election season and beyond.</p><p>Help us to imitate your charity and compassion</p><p>and to serve as models of loving dialogue.</p><p>Teach us to treat others with respect, even when we disagree,</p><p>and seek to share your love and mercy.</p><p>We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you</p><p>in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen</p>Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-28431531512267777472020-08-26T18:35:00.006-05:002020-08-26T18:40:44.189-05:00Coerced or Forced Abortions in America<p> </p><p><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"<span style="font-weight: 700;">Over half of abortions in America are unwanted or coerced. Learn more."</span></span></p><p><a href="http://www.theunchoice.com/coerced.htm"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">http://www.theunchoice.com/coerced.htm</span></a></p><p mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 25px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;"><i style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></i></p><p><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="main">"Contrary to popular belief, a</span><span> growing body of evidence indicates that most abortions in America involve coercion.</span><span> Those in positions of power, authority or influence may apply pressure, blackmail, deceptive or negligent information, threats or even violence -- or all of the above -- to coerce or even </span>force<span> an unwanted abortion."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"<span class="main"><b>Research shows that most women don't want abortion. </b></span><span>Coercion often exploits or endangers women who want to have their babies, or works against individuals and families seeking answers, guidance and personal or practical help, yet not told of alternatives ... or falsely told that no practical or personal support or resources are available."</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 25px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 25px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Coercion may involve an abusive partner, family or authority figure; negligent or coercive professionals in the helping professions or elsewhere; a passive, coercive or even violent support network; deceptive, agenda- or profit-driven experts presenting false information as fact, etc.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 25px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 25px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">These things often happen when women, couples or families are seeking answers -- such as a pregnancy test -- guidance or a helping hand, often from trusted authorities or other professionals.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 25px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 25px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Employers and others have threatened or inflicted physical harm, loss of job or financial support, abandonment, or even death when women resisted an unwanted abortion.'"</span></p><p><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #420042; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">How Common Is Coercion?</span></b></p><p><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #420042; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="http://www.theunchoice.com/articles/howcommoniscoercion.htm">http://www.theunchoice.com/articles/howcommoniscoercion.htm</a></b></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="main"></span><span mce_style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span></p><p mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin: 0px 25px; text-align: center;"></p><div><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"In America and elsewhere, pressure or even forced abortion, deceptive</span></div><div><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">or negligent counseling, and direct or indirect forms of blackmail,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">assembly-line or profit-driven clinics, substandard medical practices and</span></div><div><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">other factors work in concert to funnel women toward unwanted abortions.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Coercion can escalate to violence or homicide, the leading killer of pregnant women.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"</i></span></span></div><h2 style="margin: 0px 25px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></h2><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px 25px;"><br /></p>Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-22745278464046434632020-07-14T22:24:00.000-05:002020-07-14T22:24:59.351-05:00Death penalty - a letter to the Democratic party<br />
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Last night was reportedly the first case of a federal
execution in any years. However, supported by the Democratic party,
federally funded executions are occurring by the thousands every day in
abortion clinics. Human life begins at conception, biology 101. Since Roe
v. Wade, there have been 62+ million executions of unborn human individuals in
the United States, all under the guise of health care. I am using the word
execution as abortion is the willful termination of the life of a unique human
individual.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once upon a time, the Democratic party did not think that
abortion was so wonderful. Remember legal, safe and RARE? Now, the DNC platform
only wants to keep abortion legal. States, that try to enact regulations
that require abortions clinics to maintain conditions required of other medical
facilities, such as dental offices and outpatient surgical centers, are
bombarded by so-called choice supporters with objections that women’s right to
abortion are being denied. But, it costs money to maintain sanitary
conditions or design a clinic so that EMT’s can safely and quickly transport a
woman who has had a complication to an ER. Listen to the objections and
follow the money.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, money trumps safe. What about rare? Despite the
denials of choice supporters, many women say that they did not think that they
had a choice other than an abortion. Where is the Democratic party’s concern
for these women? Women say that they felt pressured by others, by their
economic status, by their healthcare status, by the numbers in the family that
they were already caring for, by the choice between a baby, and getting and
education that would support them both. But these women can choose
abortion with no regrets, according to the so-called choice supporters. No
regrets? Many years ago, I read of a woman in her 70’s who found that the
underlying sadness in her life was the result of an abortion. Another
woman felt that she was unable to love her living children since she had ended
the life of her first child. Regret, depression and family problems have arisen
from abortions. Post-abortive programs would not exist if women did not
regret having abortions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Women are given options at the abortion clinics. Just how
true is that? Women, who were once abortion clinic counselors, have
related how they had a script which skewed the options toward abortions, like
putting the cost of raising a child versus the cost of an abortion. How
many clinics offer guidance to social programs that would enable women to raise
her baby? Oh, that would require a social worker. Abortion clinics
are not into social work. Adoption is mentioned, but so also the
life-long grief of giving the baby to another person. What of the grief of an
abortion? Oh, women are supposed to feel relief. Feeling grief from an abortion
means someone shamed them into feeling grief. Supposedly pro-choice
supporters rail against pro-life clinics that offer information on fetal
developments and ultrasounds of the baby. They say that it shames women into
not choosing an abortion. Since when is having all the information one can have
before undergoing a life-changing procedure be shameful? Would they say the
same if a woman was undergoing surgery for breast cancer? How many women have
said that if they only knew they were not aborting “just a clump of cells” they
would never have had the abortion? <o:p></o:p></div>
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What is the Democratic party, the party that is portraying
itself as caring for the people, going to do for the women who do not want an
abortion but think that because of their life circumstances they do not have
any choice? Will the Democratic party push for the regulation of abortion
clinics that will at least compare to standards of other clinics or even hair
salons? Will the Democratic party promote more programs for women, and
men, who want to care for their babies? (There are men who are willing to raise
their baby on their own, but then the women would be unwilling incubators,
according to the supposedly pro-choice people. How ‘it’s all about me’ have we
become to put one’s convenience over the life of another?) Will the
Democratic party promote adoption and fund adoption agencies as much as it
funds abortion clinics, under the guise of health care? (This would include
religious organizations with acceptance of their adoption parameters, if the
woman chooses them.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Or, will the Democratic party buckle to the so-called
pro-choice people? They say that they are for ‘my body, my choice’, but
their actions say that is a lie. Every baby kept or adopted is a loss for
an abortion clinic’s profits, or excess revenue over expenses if Planned
Parenthood. Hear the objections and follow the money. Is the
Democratic party really for the welfare of the people or a slave to the
abortion lobby and a minority of people, just as the Republican party is to the
NRA?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Time to put your policies where your mouth is. Give
women real choices. That will make abortion rare. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Want some ideas? Democrats for Life have ideas. <a href="https://www.democratsforlife.org/"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.democratsforlife.org/</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<strong><u><span style="color: #003366; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Proposed
Platform Language to Unites Democrats Around Historic Democratic Principles</span></u></strong><span style="color: #454a4d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<em><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">"</span></b></em><em><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">We respect the conscience of each American and recognize
that members of our party have deeply held and sometimes differing positions on
issues of personal conscience, such as abortion and the death penalty. We
recognize the diversity of views as a source of strength, and we welcome into
our ranks all Americans who may hold differing positions on these and other
issues.</span></em><span style="color: #454a4d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<em><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">However, we can find common ground.
We believe that we can reduce the number of abortions because we are
united in our support for policies that assist families who find themselves in
crisis or unplanned pregnancies</span></em><strong><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">. </span></i></strong><em><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">We
believe that women deserve to have a breadth of options available as they face
pregnancy – including, among others, support and resources needed to handle the
challenges of pregnancy, adoption, and parenthood; access to education,
healthcare, and childcare; and appropriate child support. We envision a
new day without financial or societal barriers to bringing a planned or
unplanned pregnancy to term."</span></em><span style="color: #454a4d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-25648396846266975632020-02-09T11:19:00.002-06:002020-02-09T11:22:58.090-06:00The Democratic party and Pro-Life<div dir="ltr">
Just what is keeping the Democratic party from even trying to woo millions of pro-life voters, who hold to the principles of the past, where every human individual's life has valued and ought to be cared for? Is it the power that NARAL and Planned Parenthood have over you, like the power that the NRA has over the Republican party? Make any move that supports a policy that hints of being just a little pro-life; and they jump all over you, screaming of a woman's right to choose, limiting access to health care and shaming women. Why did you give them such power? Being cynical, I would say the promise of votes. So, you pander to the pro-choice supporters just as the Republicans do to pro-life. </div>
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The words are all there, but really? Is it choice when the party does not PUBLICLY and STRONGLY <br />
push for meaningful options for women who want to choose life but think that abortion is the only option? Is it caring for women when the party doesn't support legislation that regulates abortion clinics to the sanitary standards of other health facilities, or even places like hair salons? Is it shaming women to let them know as much as possible about the unique human individuals that are living inside of them before abortion and sparing them the consequences when they realize they have ended a human life later? (Yes, women still do say that they were told that they are getting rid of a clump of cells. And, yes those pro-life facilities that do give women the knowledge of their fetus and other available choices are labeled as anti-choice.) Is the Democratic party saying in reality that women are too stupid to make their own choices when fully informed? (I have read how abortion counselors give out information with a bias towards how an abortion would be the best choice.)</div>
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The Democratic party is unrecognizable from the party that I knew as a teenager and young adult. That party fought for the civil rights and the dignity of ALL human individuals, regardless of the stage of life. That party held the promise of a better, greater nation, once we got out of the quagmire of the Vietnam war. </div>
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That party is gone, but not forgotten by those of us who knew it then. That party is gone, but wished for by the millions of pro-lifers of all ages. </div>
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The nation is changing, just as in the 1950's and 1960's when the civil rights movement challenged the party. The party moved to support civil rights and a lot of voters became and still are Republicans. The Democratic party was the better for it. </div>
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In its continuing move to the radical pro-choice position, the voters who were in the party in the 1960's and 1970's, like me, also turned to the Republican party. But that was also a false hope. There are millions of pro-life voters who see neither party as an option for this nation.</div>
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Now, there are people of all types declaring to be pro-life. It is not only Democrats for the Life of America. It is not only Catholics; I am one. There are Pro-Life Muslims, Jewish Pro-life Foundation, National Black Pro-life Union. It is Secular Pro-life. It is Feminists for Life. It is New Wave Feminists. It is Students for Life. It is Rehumanize International. </div>
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The Democratic party is going to be left behind if it doesn't recognize that this is not the 1980's anymore, or the 1990's. If you do not support a candidate who can manage to bring the two sides together on common concerns for women, then the Democratic party will not be able to beat Trump in November. </div>
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Your choice.</div>
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https://prolifewholelife.blogspot.com</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-71451690673962350922020-02-09T11:11:00.006-06:002020-02-09T11:12:57.818-06:00OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Times New Roman; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span class="size10 Helvetica10" style="font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , , "arial narrow"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: black; font-size: small;">National Black Pro-Life Union</span></span><b></b><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><i></i></span></div>
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<span class="size10 Helvetica10" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">http://www.nationalblackprolifeunion.com/OPEN-LETTER.html</span></div>
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<span class="size12 Helvetica12" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; min-height: 18px;"><b style="line-height: 19px; min-height: 19px;">OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP</b></span></div>
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<span class="size12 Helvetica12" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; min-height: 18px;"><b style="line-height: 19px; min-height: 19px;">January 2019</b></span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">President Donald J. Trump</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">The White House</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Attention: White House Public Liaison Office</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Washington, DC</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Dear President Trump,</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Thank you for your service to the people of America. Mindful of your compassion for the “soul of America,” we are writing with an urgent request.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">While we fully understand your concern for the safety and security of the American people, as well as compassionate consideration for innocent immigrants, we are requesting that you also consider addressing another American crisis by declaring that the abortion of a child - notably deemed by science and philosophy as a living human product - in the womb is a crime against humanity.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">While considering a barrier or a wall to protect the people of America and to assist the innocent immigrants who desire to come into our country, we pray that you will also remember the babies in the womb, according to science and philosophy, are human beings waiting to be born.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">The scourge of abortion of human beings in the womb is an American crisis. Please declare that abortion of pre-born human beings is a national crisis.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Just this week on January 22, 2019 the Governor of New York signed into law The Reproductive Health Act, an approval to kill even more of our American children, especially African American children. Already in New York more Black babies were being aborted than were born. Sir, we are asking you to declare that abortion is a crime against humanity.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Again, America is in a state of crisis, at our geographical borders and in the sanctuaries of the wombs of our mothers. America is besieged and beleaguered by serious crimes against humanity with abortion of human beings at the top of the list.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">We are very concerned that all of the candidates that announced their bid to run for president in 20/20 chose to rise on the anniversary of the celebration of the 90th birthday of the prophet Martin Luther King, Jr.; and did so being fully in league with America’s massive abortion industry while backed by Black faith-based leaders under the auspices of the the Negro Project; a genocide project with longstanding and deadly intent.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">They all remain in league to commit genocide and eugenics against African American babies. One third of the babies aborted in America are African American babies while we remain the least of these in numbers of population (about 12%).</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Mr. President, we salute you for addressing crimes against humanity, notably demonstrated yet again with your recent signing of the Frederick Douglass Anti-Human Trafficking Law. Thank you for recognizing the legacy of Frederick Douglass and his incredible efforts against slavery. Thank you for recognizing that human trafficking is today's modern slavery; all slavery is a crime against humanity. Abortion is another form of slavery; with the human child in the womb held hostage.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">A crime against humanity occurs when the government withdraws legal protection from a class of human beings as they did with African American slaves in our American past. There is very little if any protection for the unborn human baby. </span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">We also urge you to declare that abortion occurs in the human sex trafficking cycle; often these are forced abortions; all indicative of more crimes against humanity. </span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">We have denied legal protection to a class of human beings, children in the womb. As the Supreme Court has said in describing the contents of the woman's womb, "While we find no reliable data to measure the phenomenon, it seems unexceptionable to conclude some women come to regret their choice to abort the INFANT LIFE they once created and sustained." "Severe depression and loss of esteem can follow." (emphasis added) Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007).</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Mr. President, we the undersigned individuals urge you to make a public declaration to this effect; that abortion of a child in the womb is a crime against humanity; and to sanction The Moral Outcry Petition at www.themoraloutcry.com and other factual statements in support of the sanctity of life.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Again, Mr. president, thank you for your continuing leadership to promote human dignity and the sanctity of human life regardless of condition of servitude, color of skin, or length of days.</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">God bless you and God bless America. </span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Respectfully Submitted,</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Evangelist Alveda King</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Civil Rights for The Unborn</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Dr. Day Gardner</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">National Pro-Life Union on Capitol Hill</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Rev. Dean Nelson</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Human Coalition</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Bruce LeVell</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">National Diversity Coalition for Trump</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">Allan Parker, Esquire</span></div>
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<span class="size11 Helvetica11" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; min-height: 16px;">The Justice Foundation</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-88831580137210589062019-09-02T00:11:00.000-05:002019-09-02T00:11:55.426-05:00Abortionists misrepresent the facts.<a class="skip-link screen-reader-text" href="https://aaplog.org/fact-checking-the-fact-checkers-abortionists-misrepresent-the-facts/#content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip-path: inset(50%); clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); color: #912f24; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 14px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: color, background-color, border-color; transition-timing-function: linear; width: 1px; word-wrap: normal !important;">Skip to content</a><br />
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Fact checking the Fact checkers: Abortionists misrepresent the facts</h1>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Statement from Dr. Donna Harrison, Executive Director of AAPLOG: </span></div>
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“<a href="https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/lila-rose-claim-that-abortion-is-never-medically-necessary-is-inaccurate-it-is-necessary-in-certain-cases-to-preserve-mothers-life-young-america-foundation/?fbclid=IwAR08Mj8R4pXdtzQ0Xgd1WYOWctAy9UPYcmafcjh973w48kZGoJiz3ikrVO0" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #912f24; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: color, background-color, border-color; transition-timing-function: linear;">These fact-checkers need to be fact-checked</a>. They are in error to claim that elective abortion is medically necessary to save the life of the mother. They did not cite even one example where an abortion, the intentional killing of a living child in utero, would be superior to delivering that child. The two Live Action videos state that there will be cases when a child is delivered too early to survive outside of the womb in order to save a mother’s life. There is a very big difference between previable separations and elective abortion. In these situations where a mother and her fetus must be separated in order to save the life of the mother we would try to optimize the conditions of the separation so that the fetus has the best possibility to live. But there are cases when the baby will not survive the separation due to gestational age. We call these previable separations. These separations are done with the intent to save both if possible, but at least to save the life of one. Previable separations are not the same as elective abortions. The intent of an abortion was made very clear at the Supreme Court hearings over the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. The abortionists argued that the product the abortionist is paid to produce is a dead baby, and that is what distinguishes a delivery from an abortion. The intent of a delivery is to produce, if possible, both a live baby and live mom. The intent of an abortion is to produce a dead baby.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Medical Background from AAPLOG Chairman of the Board, Dr. Christina Francis: </span></div>
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“To address the claims of abortion needed for placenta previa and HELLP: Placenta previa is a condition in which the placenta covers the cervix, making a vaginal delivery impossible due to the possibility of life-threatening hemorrhage if labor occurs. These are frequently diagnosed in pregnancy on ultrasound around 20 weeks, however approximately 90% of these will resolve on their own before delivery. If significant hemorrhage occurs due to a placenta previa (which again is so rare prior to viability that no incidence is even reported), the patient should be taken for an emergency C-section which is the most expedient way to get her bleeding under control. It would be medically dangerous and irresponsible to try to do an abortion since any instrumentation through the cervix would pierce the placenta and cause immediate massive bleeding. An abortion would take significantly longer in this case and be much risker for the mother.</div>
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Secondly, the incidence of pre-eclampsia with severe features and/or HELLP syndrome prior to viability is exceedingly rare. Per the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine, the incidence of severe pre-eclampsia prior to 34 weeks is only 0.3% of all pregnancies (incidence of HELLP syndrome would be significantly lower). Prior to 22-24 weeks the incidence is significantly lower. It is not the common situation in the pre-viable period that Drs. Grossman and Shickler would like people to believe. When HELLP syndrome does occur, it necessitates early delivery – not an abortion. In this situation, separation of the mother and fetus can occur in a way that respects the dignity of both of their lives, and if possible, save both.”</div>
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<br />Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-41157955648534908042019-01-20T15:42:00.003-06:002019-01-20T15:42:30.467-06:00Consistent Life Ethic<div class="font_8" style="font-size: 27px; line-height: 1em; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #a6926f;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 27px;"><span style="line-height: 1em;"><span style="font-family: amatic sc,cursive;">I stand morally opposed to killing: war, executions, killing of the old and demented, the killing of children, unborn and born... I believe that all of life is sacred and must be protected, especially in the vulnerable stages at the beginning of life and its end.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-44800328343384790882017-07-27T15:26:00.001-05:002017-07-27T15:26:40.830-05:00Perinatal Hospice - what it is aboutFrom the Perinatal Hospice and Palliative Care Facebook page.<br />
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"This tender perinatal hospice video was created by Tammy Ruiz Ziegler RN CPLC, perinatal bereavement coordinator at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It has also been translated into Spanish, Italian, French, Czech, Japanese, Polish, and Ukrainian. Links to all translations here: www.perinatalhospice.org/resources-for-caregivers.html"<br />
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tY7mq1g9pGkMary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-33907025849013673662017-01-22T17:10:00.000-06:002017-01-22T17:10:41.865-06:00Life Matters: Forgiveness And Healing After Abortion<h1 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 30px 7px 0px;">
<span style="color: #008061; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps; text-transform: capitalize;">http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/2013/life-matters-forgiveness-and-healing-after-abortion.cfm</span></span></h1>
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Life Matters: Forgiveness And Healing After Abortion</h1>
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<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">My life is ruined. I have been depressed, suicidal, guilt-ridden for 24 years. … I beg every day for forgiveness. … I cannot believe God would forgive the life I have led.</em><br /><div align="center" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
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<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Over the years I continually went to confession. A priest once told me, “God has forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself. You are putting yourself through your own purgatory.” But I could not bring myself to accept forgiveness.</em></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I know God has forgiven me for this sin I have committed but it is so hard for me to forgive myself. Thirteen years later and I still haven’t forgiven myself. I live with this shame, guilt and disgust every day of my life.</em></div>
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<span class="callout-right1" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: rgb(0, 128, 97); border-left-style: solid; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 2px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important; float: right; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 20px; padding: 20px; width: 150px;">Thanks to Project Rachel I am me again. The retreat allowed me the opportunity to experience God’s love and forgiveness—something I had decided I was not worthy of. Little did I know that God was there, all along, offering me his love… I actually feel lighter. The power of forgiveness is life-altering. I am happy again and the people whom I love sense that.</span><br />These are but a few of the many thousands of messages sent to the website of Project Rachel Ministry (<a href="http://hopeafterabortion.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;">www.HopeAfterAbortion.org</a>), the postabortion ministry of the Catholic Church. They speak for many who struggle with forgiveness after abortion.<br /><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
A priest active in Project Rachel Ministry once spoke of the spiritual desolation experienced by post-abortive women: “Many feel they have committed ‘the unforgivable sin’ and are destined for hell, or that they deserve to be on death row. Most suffer this spiritual desolation in silence, too ashamed and feeling unworthy to seek reconciliation from God.” </div>
That a deeply remorseful woman does not trust in God’s desire—his <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">eagerness</em>—to forgive her, or that after receiving absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation she cannot accept that she has been forgiven or remains unable to forgive herself—these obstacles to healing and peace tell us nothing about who God is or how efficacious the Sacrament is. What they tell us is that such women are devastated by the loss of their children, aware of the seriousness of their sin, and that they have never encountered such merciful love in their relationships with others—love that might have allowed them to hope in God’s infinitely greater merciful love.<br /><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
Is the despair of forgiveness merely a product of “Catholic guilt” as some abortion supporters have suggested? Even nonbelievers recognize their need for God’s forgiveness and for the ability to forgive themselves. Another letter to <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">HopeAfterAbortion</em> reads in part: </div>
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<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I’m not religious but I’m scared that I’m going to be punished for what I’ve done, in the afterlife. Where do those who were raised atheist turn to? … I don’t want to hear people say that I have to forgive myself because after all these years I still can’t. I’m scared that I’ll never be able to because I know what I did was wrong.</em></div>
She can write “I know what I did was wrong” because God has written his law on every human heart (cf. Heb 8:10). But when becoming pregnant sets off a “crisis,” conscience can easily be drowned out by fears: fear of condemnation, of disappointing parents, of losing a boyfriend, of not being able to complete one’s education, fear of raising a child alone or fear of what it may be like to raise a child with severe disabilities.<br /><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
It may seem impossible for a post-abortive woman to find healing and peace, much less hope and joy, as long as she is convinced that God will not forgive her sin of abortion. If—as she believes—she will spend eternity in hell, forever separated from her child, how could she begin to forgive herself for casting aside her child, and forfeiting her present and future happiness?</div>
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God has provided the solution to this misery and asks us to be catalysts to the solution. It is to believe in one’s heart what Jesus has repeatedly said and shown—“I am love and mercy itself… Let no soul fear to draw near to me, even though its sins be as scarlet.”<sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">1</sup> “I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful heart.”<sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">2</sup> “The greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy.”<sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">3</sup></div>
Throughout salvation history, God has welcomed repentant sinners with special joy. Jesus concludes the parable of the lost sheep with these words: “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (Lk 15:7).<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
Jesus goes out of his way to speak privately with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. She is an outcast, scorned for having had five husbands and now living with one who is not her husband. In a conversation marked by gentleness, truth and love, Jesus reveals her inherent dignity to her and confides that his mission is to save <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">all </em>men and women. She becomes at once an apostle to her village. (Jn 4:4-26)</div>
When Simon and other Pharisees were scandalized that Jesus allowed a “sinful woman” to bathe his feet with her tears while dining at Simon’s house, Jesus holds her up as an example of humility, gratitude and love: “I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, hence she has shown great love” (Lk 7:36-50). Not even once does Jesus reject a humble contrite sinner.<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
Blessed John Paul II envisioned that post-aborted women who have approached Jesus with humility and sorrow and who then experienced his merciful love will also become Jesus’ most eloquent evangelizers: </div>
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<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life.<sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">4</sup></em></div>
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How can we be catalysts to the healing of women who’ve had abortions, to help all others believe in God’s merciful love so that they may find healing from any grave sin? Let us heed the advice of Pope Francis:<blockquote style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 15px; quotes: "" "";">
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<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Take up God’s offer …. For God, we are not numbers, we are … the most important thing to him; even if we are sinners, we are what is closest to his heart. … let us be enveloped in the mercy of God; let us trust in his patience, which always gives us more time. Let us find the courage to … [allow] ourselves [to] be loved by him and to encounter his mercy in the sacraments. We will feel his wonderful tenderness, we will feel his embrace, and we too will become more capable of mercy, patience, forgiveness and love.<sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">5</sup></em></div>
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Susan E. Wills, Esq. is Assistant Director for Education & Outreach, USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities. If you know of someone in need of confidential help to experience God’s forgiveness and healing, contact <a href="http://hopeafterabortion.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;">www.HopeAfterAbortion.org</a> or 888-456-HOPE (4673).<br /><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
<sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">1</sup> Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul(Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987), no. 699.<br style="font-size: 12px;" /><sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">2</sup> Diary, no. 1588.<br style="font-size: 12px;" /><sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">3</sup> Diary, no. 1182.<br style="font-size: 12px;" /><sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">4</sup> Bl. John Paul II, Encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae (The Gospelof Life) (1995), no. 99.<br style="font-size: 12px;" /><sup style="border: 0px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative !important;">5</sup> Pope Francis, homily, April 7, 2013</div>
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Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-11897285667318778622017-01-22T17:03:00.000-06:002017-01-22T17:03:36.963-06:00Bridges Of Mercy For Post-Abortion Healinghttp://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/2016/bridges-of-mercy-for-post-abortion-healing.cfm<br />
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Bridges Of Mercy For Post-Abortion Healing</h1>
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(<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;">en español</a>)</h2>
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Maria* was going back to Church after her second-grader enrolled in First Communion classes. She didn't know what to say to her daughter after being asked why she didn't go to Communion. </h3>
<br />Maria had an abortion in her teens and felt that she couldn't go to confession because she had committed an "unforgivable sin."<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
Li* and his wife, Vanessa*, were attending counseling to address problems in their marriage. Li decided to finally tell Vanessa that, while in college, he had taken his former girlfriend to get an abortion. Vanessa was devastated.</div>
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Jennifer* comes from a large, pro-life family that is active in their parish. At the funeral of her devout, beloved mother, Jennifer was despondent beyond the grief of her loss. Jennifer couldn't stop thinking that her mother in heaven would now discover the secret she had kept for thirty years: the existence of a granddaughter, whom Jennifer had aborted in college because she was too ashamed to tell her parents about her pregnancy.</div>
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"As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other." <br style="font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-size: 12px;" />Pope Francis</div>
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When Darryl* started attending a parish men's prayer group, he began to feel more connected than ever to his faith. But with his increasing engagement, he began to wonder whether God would really forgive him for encouraging and paying for the abortion of his only child. </div>
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Maria, Vanessa, Li, Jennifer, and Darryl are among the tens of millions of Americans whose lives have been directly touched by abortion. Like so many others, they have experienced shame, regret, guilt, and unhealthy secrets. But as they have also experienced, God's healing love and mercy are always possible. </div>
While many Catholics want to help women and men heal from past abortions, most don't know how to begin. Here are a few ways that Catholics of different backgrounds can assist friends, family members, fellow parishioners, clients—or perhaps even themselves:<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif !important; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 14px; list-style: square; margin: 5px; padding: 5px 0px;">
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are like Jennifer,</span> who had an abortion, read the words of St. John Paul II to women who have had abortions.** Be assured that it is never too late to seek God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and that "you can with sure hope entrust your child" to the Father and his mercy (EV 99). <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you know someone like Maria</span> who has had an abortion, express your sympathy for her loss. Assure her of God's unconditional love, and encourage her to seek healing and forgiveness. Explain that the Church's Project Rachel Ministry for post-abortion healing can help. (<a href="http://hopeafterabortion.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.HopeAfterAbortion.org</a>) <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a priest</span> who fears alienating parishioners, be confident that you can preach on pro-life issues with sensitivity as long as your message reminds the congregation that no matter how serious the sin, God longs to forgive every repentant heart. Many who have participated in abortion like Maria, Li, Jennifer, or Darryl believe they have committed the "unforgivable sin." Your preaching can be a unique channel of God's mercy for them, inviting them to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a parish faith formation leader,</span> become aware of the potential pastoral encounters with those hurting from past abortions like Maria or Darryl. Work with your pastor to include catechesis on forgiveness and reconciliation.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a member of your parish pro-life committee,</span> remember those who may be suffering like Jennifer or Li. Regularly highlight information about Project Rachel Ministry and post-abortion healing using bulletins, bulletin boards, literature racks, parish webpages and e-newsletters, and any other appropriate means of communication.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are actively involved in public pro-life advocacy</span> which people like Jennifer may encounter, remember to communicate with messages that are respectful, non-judgmental, and compassionate.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></span></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a mental health professional</span> who works with couples like Vanessa and Li, strive to learn more about post-abortion issues and how those you are serving may be affected. <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are trying to be a devout parent</span> like Jennifer's mother was, remind your children frequently that you love them unconditionally. Promise they can always come to you when they are troubled or have done something wrong.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you belong to a religious community,</span> you can help people like Maria, Vanessa, Li, Jennifer, Darryl, and others by regularly praying for all who are in need of post-abortion healing.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you don't specifically know anyone in circumstances</span> similar to those of the people mentioned, you still have an important mission. Keep all who suffer from post-abortion pain in your prayers, and commit yourself to being an instrument of mercy. Show by your example what it means to ask for and extend forgiveness.</li>
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All of us are sinners. Yet Pope Francis calls mercy a "bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness" (MV 2). The Holy Father also reminds us, "As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other" (MV 9). Life is a gift from God and so is his mercy. May we cherish and promote both!<br style="font-size: 12px;" /></div>
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*All names have been changed to protect the privacy of those mentioned.</div>
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**See Pope St. John Paul II, <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;">Evangelium vitae</a> </em>(<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Gospel of Life</em>) (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995), no. 99.</div>
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Excerpts from <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Evangelium vitae</em>, © 1995 and <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Misericordiae vultus</em>, © 2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used with permission. All rights reserved.</div>
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Copyright © 2016, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops</div>
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(<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;">en español</a>)</h2>
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Maria* was going back to Church after her second-grader enrolled in First Communion classes. She didn't know what to say to her daughter after being asked why she didn't go to Communion. </h3>
<br />Maria had an abortion in her teens and felt that she couldn't go to confession because she had committed an "unforgivable sin."<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 8px;">
Li* and his wife, Vanessa*, were attending counseling to address problems in their marriage. Li decided to finally tell Vanessa that, while in college, he had taken his former girlfriend to get an abortion. Vanessa was devastated.</div>
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Jennifer* comes from a large, pro-life family that is active in their parish. At the funeral of her devout, beloved mother, Jennifer was despondent beyond the grief of her loss. Jennifer couldn't stop thinking that her mother in heaven would now discover the secret she had kept for thirty years: the existence of a granddaughter, whom Jennifer had aborted in college because she was too ashamed to tell her parents about her pregnancy.</div>
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"As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other." <br style="font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-size: 12px;" />Pope Francis</div>
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When Darryl* started attending a parish men's prayer group, he began to feel more connected than ever to his faith. But with his increasing engagement, he began to wonder whether God would really forgive him for encouraging and paying for the abortion of his only child. </div>
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Maria, Vanessa, Li, Jennifer, and Darryl are among the tens of millions of Americans whose lives have been directly touched by abortion. Like so many others, they have experienced shame, regret, guilt, and unhealthy secrets. But as they have also experienced, God's healing love and mercy are always possible. </div>
While many Catholics want to help women and men heal from past abortions, most don't know how to begin. Here are a few ways that Catholics of different backgrounds can assist friends, family members, fellow parishioners, clients—or perhaps even themselves:<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif !important; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 14px; list-style: square; margin: 5px; padding: 5px 0px;">
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are like Jennifer,</span> who had an abortion, read the words of St. John Paul II to women who have had abortions.** Be assured that it is never too late to seek God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and that "you can with sure hope entrust your child" to the Father and his mercy (EV 99). <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you know someone like Maria</span> who has had an abortion, express your sympathy for her loss. Assure her of God's unconditional love, and encourage her to seek healing and forgiveness. Explain that the Church's Project Rachel Ministry for post-abortion healing can help. (<a href="http://hopeafterabortion.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.HopeAfterAbortion.org</a>) <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a priest</span> who fears alienating parishioners, be confident that you can preach on pro-life issues with sensitivity as long as your message reminds the congregation that no matter how serious the sin, God longs to forgive every repentant heart. Many who have participated in abortion like Maria, Li, Jennifer, or Darryl believe they have committed the "unforgivable sin." Your preaching can be a unique channel of God's mercy for them, inviting them to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a parish faith formation leader,</span> become aware of the potential pastoral encounters with those hurting from past abortions like Maria or Darryl. Work with your pastor to include catechesis on forgiveness and reconciliation.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a member of your parish pro-life committee,</span> remember those who may be suffering like Jennifer or Li. Regularly highlight information about Project Rachel Ministry and post-abortion healing using bulletins, bulletin boards, literature racks, parish webpages and e-newsletters, and any other appropriate means of communication.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are actively involved in public pro-life advocacy</span> which people like Jennifer may encounter, remember to communicate with messages that are respectful, non-judgmental, and compassionate.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></span></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are a mental health professional</span> who works with couples like Vanessa and Li, strive to learn more about post-abortion issues and how those you are serving may be affected. <br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you are trying to be a devout parent</span> like Jennifer's mother was, remind your children frequently that you love them unconditionally. Promise they can always come to you when they are troubled or have done something wrong.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you belong to a religious community,</span> you can help people like Maria, Vanessa, Li, Jennifer, Darryl, and others by regularly praying for all who are in need of post-abortion healing.<br style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 14px;" /></li>
<li style="border-bottom: 0px !important; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; float: none; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; height: auto; line-height: 14px; margin: 2px 4px 2px 15px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 10px; text-align: left;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 9pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you don't specifically know anyone in circumstances</span> similar to those of the people mentioned, you still have an important mission. Keep all who suffer from post-abortion pain in your prayers, and commit yourself to being an instrument of mercy. Show by your example what it means to ask for and extend forgiveness.</li>
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All of us are sinners. Yet Pope Francis calls mercy a "bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness" (MV 2). The Holy Father also reminds us, "As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other" (MV 9). Life is a gift from God and so is his mercy. May we cherish and promote both!<br style="font-size: 12px;" /></div>
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*All names have been changed to protect the privacy of those mentioned.</div>
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**See Pope St. John Paul II, <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;">Evangelium vitae</a> </em>(<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Gospel of Life</em>) (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995), no. 99.</div>
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Excerpts from <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Evangelium vitae</em>, © 1995 and <em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Misericordiae vultus</em>, © 2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used with permission. All rights reserved.</div>
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Copyright © 2016, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops</div>
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Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-22174579943509091822017-01-22T15:23:00.000-06:002017-01-22T15:23:11.518-06:0010 Ways To Support Her When She's Unexpectedly Expecting<h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 30px 7px 0px;">
<span style="color: #008061; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-weight: normal; text-transform: capitalize;">http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/2015/10-ways-to-support-her-when-shes-unexpectedly-expecting.cfm</span></span></h4>
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<br /></h1>
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10 Ways To Support Her When She's Unexpectedly Expecting</h1>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="CP_JUMP_1739" name="CP_JUMP_1739" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"></a><div class="cs_control CS_Element_Textblock" id="cs_control_1739" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
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<h2 style="border: 0px; color: #997733; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 10px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">
<span class="callout-right2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 128, 97); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(0, 128, 97); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 2px 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102) !important; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif !important; font-size: 13pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; font-style: italic !important; font-weight: normal !important; line-height: normal !important; margin: 20px; padding: 20px; width: 150px;">Your support might be the only support she receives. …You can make a difference in her life. Will you?</span></h2>
<a class="CP___PAGEID_179458" href="http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/2015/10-maneras-de-apoyarla-cuando-esta-esperando-sin-haberlo-esperado.cfm" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;"><h2 style="border: 0px; color: #997733; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 10px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">
(en español)</h2>
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I had been brought up to believe that life is always a gift, but it certainly didn't feel like one when I gazed in shock at a positive pregnancy test. As a mom who had my first baby in college, I know that an unexpected pregnancy can sometimes bring fear, shame, and doubt.</div>
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However, I also know that an unexpected pregnancy can bring joy, excitement, awe, gratitude, and deeper love than I knew was possible—not to mention the little bundle who inspires these sentiments! About nine months after looking at that pregnancy test, I received the very best gift I have ever been given: my daughter, Maria*.</div>
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An unexpected pregnancy might be confusing along the way, but life—though at times difficult—is ultimately beautiful. Perhaps one of your friends has become pregnant unexpectedly. As someone who has been there, I encourage you to support your friend in her new journey of being a mother.</div>
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Not sure how to help or what to say? Here are ten tips:</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. </span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Be available</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.</span><br style="font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-size: 12px;" />An unexpected pregnancy can send a woman into crisis mode. If your friend just found out she is pregnant, she may not be thinking clearly, and she may feel she has no control over anything at the moment.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></div>
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Be aware of how she is responding to you. Listen to her and let her know you love her and are there for her any time she needs you. Don't pass judgment on her either interiorly or through words or body language<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.<br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Respond positively.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></div>
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When a woman experiencing challenging circumstances confides she is pregnant, the reaction of the first person she tells tends to set the tone for her decision-making. Avoid responding with shock or alarm, and be calm and understanding. Let her know you're there for her and that it's going to be okay. Pay close attention to her emotional state, and act accordingly.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></div>
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Depending on where she is emotionally, it may or may not be helpful to congratulate her at that time. However, it is always important to affirm that every person's life—including her child's and her own—is precious and beautiful no matter the circumstances.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3. Be honest.</span></div>
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The journey through an unexpected pregnancy is not easy, and it's okay if you don't know the perfect words to say. Just be honest. Let her know you are there for her, and ask her how she is feeling and how you can support her.</div>
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It's a good way to open the door to communicate, and she may be grateful for the opportunity to talk freely with someone. She might become emotional at times, but be patient—let's not forget hormones; the struggle is real.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4. Offer specific help.</span></div>
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Don't be afraid to ask her if she needs help with anything or to make specific offers to help. For example, you might offer to help with cleaning, finding a good doctor, or running to the store to pick up the one food that won't make her feel sick. But remember to read her cues, and make sure you're not being overbearing.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5. Set up a support system.</span></div>
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In addition to the standard baby registry, you can help her get other kinds of support by lining up much-needed, practical help. Think outside the box. Food = love, so take advantage of websites that allow friends and family to sign up to make meals, send food deliveries, or simply donate money. Some websites can even help organize other assistance like rides to the doctor, babysitting other children she may have, or help around the house. You can also look into what programs and assistance may be sponsored by your local diocesan pastoral care or Respect Life offices.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6. Tell her she is beautiful.</span></div>
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She may be feeling physically, spiritually, and emotionally drained with this pregnancy. Take the time to reassure her of her beauty, both inside and out, especially when morning sickness might make her feel otherwise.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">7. Help her recharge and relax.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">First-time mothers may have difficulty crossing that threshold into their new life as a mother. Your friend may be fearful that her life is "over," so help her see it's okay—good, actually—to still focus on herself sometimes. Even though she is a mother, she will still continue to be a woman, so affirm that it's healthy and important to take care of herself—not only physically, but emotionally, as well. Help her to do things she really enjoys. Take her out for a nice meal, a movie, or a day of pampering.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">8. Reassure her it's okay (and good) to be happy.</span></div>
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It can be hard to be happy about a pregnancy that many people see as unfortunate timing at best and totally irresponsible at worst. Even if your friend wants to be happy about her bundle of joy, she may not feel she "deserves" to show that happiness. Get excited about her pregnancy in front of her, and she may just feel comfortable enough to share her own excitement with you.</div>
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Also, continue to show your interest and excitement throughout her pregnancy. Ask questions about her developing child. What is she learning at her doctor appointments? What names is she considering? Ask her what she thinks her baby looks like. Does she think they will have her eyes?<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">9. Encourage her.</span></div>
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Society tends to focus on ways that an unexpected pregnancy can be challenging. Help your friend to think of the benefits. Remind her of the fluttering kicks, somersaults, and maybe even dance moves her son or daughter will be rocking once they grow a little more. With moms' groups and opportunities for play dates, there's a whole new social world to explore. And there are plenty of benefits to being a young mom—like having more energy to chase her kids around.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="font-size: 12px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">10. Point out some real-life role models.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Many amazing young mothers and birthmothers have experienced unexpected pregnancies and still followed their dreams. </span>Other women have discovered that, even when unable to follow their lives as planned, something beautiful and good came out of the twists in the road, bringing opportunities, growth, and joy they hadn't imagined.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Point your friend</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> to some of the many</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> websites, blogs, and social media accounts dedicated to supporting young mothers</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">. </span>And let's not forget Mary, whose "yes" to bearing Jesus affected the course of history. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Blessed Mother is </span>a great person to pour her heart out to, and she's a powerhouse of intercessory prayer.</div>
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An unexpected pregnancy can be a difficult and frightening time, and it's important that your friend knows you are thinking of her and supporting her. Although the tips mentioned can be helpful, don't forget the most important thing is to pray. Even if it's just a quick two-second prayer, prayer is the most effective way we can help. Pray for her, for her child, and for guidance in how you can give her the best possible support.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Also, pay attention to how your friend feels most loved. One person might appreciate encouraging words, while another might feel more supported if you wash the dishes. Simple things</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">—</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">letting her know that you care and are always ready to listen, that you are available to help her, that you are praying for her</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">—</span>can give hope and courage when she might otherwise feel alone. Your support might be the only support she receives. Even if we never know how, the smallest things we do can change someone's life. You can make a difference in her life. Will you?</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; color: inherit !important; font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The author is now a married mother of four who works as an advocate for young mothers facing unexpected pregnancies. She had her first baby in college and is a proud Catholic who supports life in every circumstance and at every stage.</em></div>
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Heartbeat International provides a directory of pregnancy services, which is accessible at <a class="external link" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;" title="external link https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/worldwide-directory">www.heartbeatinternational.org/worldwide-directory</a><span class="icon" style="background-image: url("/images/icons/external.gif"); background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; height: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 16px !important;" title="external link">. . . </span>. You can learn about setting up parish-based support for women who are pregnant and need assistance by visiting the websites for The Gabriel Project (<a class="external link" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;" title="external link http://www.gabrielproject.us/">www.gabrielproject.us</a><span class="icon" style="background-image: url("/images/icons/external.gif"); background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; height: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 16px !important;" title="external link">. . . </span>) and Elizabeth Ministry (<a class="external link" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px;" title="external link http://www.elizabethministry.com/">www.elizabethministry.com</a><span class="icon" style="background-image: url("/images/icons/external.gif"); background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; height: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 16px !important;" title="external link">. . . </span>), which have chapters across the country. For more information about how you can help, or for information about help that may be available, such as pregnancy care centers, maternity homes, and other assistance, contact your local diocesan Respect Life office. A list of diocesan Respect Life Ministry offices can be found at<a class="CP___PAGEID_30882" href="http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/diocesan-pro-life-offices.cfm" style="border: 0px; color: #008061; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;">www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/diocesan-pro-life-offices.cfm</a>.</div>
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*Name changed for privacy.</div>
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Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-37393060436603803302016-08-25T00:31:00.001-05:002016-08-25T00:54:56.435-05:00<span style="font-family: sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif;">How a Formerly Pro-Choice Nursing Instructor Discusses Abortion with her Students </span><br />
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<a href="http://thetorchblog.net/?p=996">http://thetorchblog.net/?p=996</a><br />
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August 12, 2016 by Cynthia Isabell<br />
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I have been a labor and delivery nurse since 1980. During my thirty-six year nursing career, I have also worked in medical units and for hospice. Being a nurse has allowed me to be present with people through their early beginnings of intrauterine life, and with others through their last breaths. It has been an amazing and rewarding journey. Life is precious and life is fleeting, and life should be respected. I am pro-life.
I am also a nursing instructor and have taught obstetrics to hundreds of young men and women, our future nurses. My students often ask me what my opinion is regarding abortion. “Are you pro-life or pro-choice?” they ask me. I do not ask them the same, as I don’t want them to fear that their position might affect how I grade them.
When I answer that I am pro-life, the students often assume that my position is based on my religious beliefs, and so they respond that “you can’t force your religious beliefs on everyone else.” I explain that my argument against abortion is based on the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy, and on logical reasoning...
Cynthia, DNP, ACNS-BC, is a registered nurse with twenty-eight years experience working in low and high risk obstetrics, and eight years working medical surgical and hospice nursing. Cynthia has also been a nursing instructor for seventeen years. She holds a masters degree in adult health nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice with a certificate in nursing education.Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-38968635479604163612016-02-18T14:56:00.000-06:002016-02-18T14:56:29.730-06:00How Perinatal Hospice Helps Parents CopeHelping parents who want to continue a pregnancy despite baby's terminal illness.<br />
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<span>by </span><span class="author-name-no-email">Shannon Firth, </span>ContributingWriter, </div>
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<span class="category-primary"><a href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy">OB/Gyn</a></span>, <time>02.25.2015</time> </div>
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WASHINGTON -- <br />
When a baby is given a prenatal diagnosis of a life-limiting illness, providers often suggest termination. That isn't always what parents want.<br />
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Over a decade ago, <a href="http://waitingwithgabriel.com/Amy_Kuebelbeck.html" target="_blank">Amy Kuebelbeck</a> -- book author, freelance writer, and former reporter for the Associated Press -- was nearly 6 months into pregnancy when she learned that her baby would be born with a fatal heart condition.<br />
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She spoke about her experience at the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists conference on Sunday.<br />
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In 1999, the concept of bringing a baby with a fatal illness to term wasn't well recognized. Still, Kuebelbeck knew it was a legal option.<br />
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"We really created a perinatal hospice experience by the seat of our pants, without ever having heard the term," she said. In the last 15 years, the practice has grown exponentially. On Monday, she added the 240th listing to the international roster of perinatal hospice and palliative care programs she maintains at <a href="http://perinatalhospice.org/Home_Page.html" target="_blank">perinatalhospice.org</a>.<br />
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Kuebelbeck is the author of two books about perinatal hospice. "<a href="http://www.waitingwithgabriel.com/" target="_blank">Waiting with Gabriel: A Story of Cherishing a Baby's Brief Life,</a>" and <a href="http://perinatalhospice.org/A_Gift_of_Time.html" target="_blank">"A Gift of Time: Continuing Your Pregnancy, When Your Baby's Life Is Expected To Be Brief.</a>"<br />
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For her second book, Kuebelbeck and her co-author Deborah Davis, PhD, a psychologist, interviewed or received written narratives from more than 100 families.<br />
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Many families perceived that they were being pressured to terminate, said Kuebelbeck. "I think that in a lot of cases that option is offered out of compassion," she said, because providers assume termination will be easier for parents psychologically.<br />
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Also, physicians are doers and problem solvers. "Waiting doesn't feel much like doing," she said, but it is. "Waiting can be a profound and healing form of doing."<br />
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One of the things that Kuebelbeck learned through her own experience is that hospitals don't need an entire care team for a family to feel supported. In her case, a single nurse shepherded her family through that period.<br />
"The most important thing she did for us was that she affirmed that we still had a profound opportunity to parent our baby, that even through our time was going to be short that we could make tremendous memories during that time," Kuebelbeck told <em>MedPage Today.</em><br />
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<a href="http://www.pregnancypostpartumsupportmn.com/?page_id=185" target="_blank">Annette Klein, RN,</a> who works in parent education and support at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., is the nurse who guided Kuebelbeck through this traumatic time.<br />
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Kuebelbeck took Klein's advice to heart. She and her husband brought their son, still in the womb, to a baseball game -- even though Kuebelbeck hates baseball. They took him fishing, swimming, and to concerts. "We consciously thought of it as our summer with Gabriel," she said.</div>
Years later, she met other families who understood her approach, who recognized "that's your time with your baby, it might be your only time."<br />
The second most critical thing that Klein told Kuebelbeck was none of the families she met regretted continuing their pregnancies despite their child's fatal illness. Having her decision validated meant a lot to Kuebelbeck at the time.<br />
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Klein also helped Kuebelbeck create a birth plan. Klein arranged a conference with the caregivers involved and together they discussed "what might happen and what they hoped would happen," Kuebelbeck said.<br />
For Kuebelbeck, these plans included photographs to memorialize the birth. She also wanted the baby to be baptized.<br />
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Klein told <em>MedPage Today</em> that Kuebelbeck's family was the first family that she had guided through perinatal hospice, however informal it was. Before that time, providers didn't realize that photos might be important or that a mother could still hold her baby, she said.</div>
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Today, she recognizes how unusual and clear-sighted Kuebelbeck was. "She had wisdom beyond what most people do at that point in the journey," Klein said.<br />
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Since that time, Klein has helped dozens of families and provider teams through this healing experience.<br />
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One father told Klein he dreamed of having his son outside with him in nature to "feel the sun on his face." Because Klein spoke with the team in advance and let them know that certain rules and regulations were no longer important, the father got his wish. Once the mother was stable, they wheeled her and the baby out into the hospital's garden for close to an hour, she said.<br />
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"That was very meaningful to that father," Klein said.<br />
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Klein saw Kuebelbeck's own experience as "just a beautiful, beautiful birth and death." Kuebelbeck, her husband, her parents, and her daughters were all there to support her. Asked what she remembers, she said, "I remember love."</div>
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<strong>Advice for Caregivers and Families</strong><br />
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Nothing is more uncomfortable than talking about dying, and a dying baby is even worse, said Kuebelbeck.<br />
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"It seems so frightening and so overwhelmingly sad that people don't want to talk about it, but sadly it happens, and parents need support when it does."<br />
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Providers need to be conscious of their language choices. Parents are very aware of "shifts in terminology" -- for example, using the word "fetus" the moment a problem is discovered.<br />
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If parents have chosen a name for the baby, Kuebelbeck said, providers should use it.<br />
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Klein said, over the years, she has learned that parents' first instinct when their child is given a fatal diagnosis is a "head in the sand" response. They think blocking out the problem will make it easier and the fewer memories they have the better.<br />
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But she's found the opposite to be true. Mothers who chose to embrace their baby as present in their life could say, "She only lived for a short time or she only lived inside of me, but I was really a good mom."<br />
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Providers should allow families 24 hours or even a few days before they decide what to do about a prenatal diagnosis.<br />
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Memory-making is also incredibly important, said Klein.<br />
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She reminds patients that even in the womb, the baby can hear. She suggests parents read books, talk to their babies, and let their other children know they can talk to the baby too.</div>
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</article>Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-22387042205242631582016-02-18T12:28:00.000-06:002016-02-18T14:45:25.763-06:00What You Don’t Know About the Abortion Fight Before Roe v. Wade<div class="article-author ">
<span class="byline"><a href="http://time.com/author/daniel-k-williams/" itemprop="author">Daniel K. Williams</a></span> <time class="publish-date" datetime="2016-01-04 11:00:05" itemprop="datePublished" pubdate="">Jan. 4, 2016</time></div>
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<time class="publish-date" datetime="2016-01-04 11:00:05" itemprop="datePublished" pubdate=""><a href="http://time.com/4154084/anti-abortion-pre-roe/">http://time.com/4154084/anti-abortion-pre-roe/</a></time></div>
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<strong>The battle was already raging, but the divisions didn't fall where you might think they did</strong></div>
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<img alt="Anti-Abortion Rally 1973" data-lazy-loaded="true" data-loaded="true" src="https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/anti-abortion-rally.jpeg?quality=75&strip=color&w=560&h=374&crop=1" style="display: inline;" title="An anti-abortion rally in New York City on July 10, 1973," /><noscript>&amp;amp;lt;img src="https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/anti-abortion-rally.jpeg?quality=75&amp;amp;amp;#038;strip=color&amp;amp;amp;#038;w=560&amp;amp;amp;#038;h=374&amp;amp;amp;#038;crop=1" alt="Anti-Abortion Rally 1973" title="An anti-abortion rally in New York City on July 10, 1973,"&amp;amp;gt;</noscript></div>
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On Sunday, April 16, 1972, ten thousand people gathered in New York’s Central Park to protest New York’s liberal abortion law. The Supreme Court’s decision in <em>Roe v. Wade</em> was still nine months away, but the battle over abortion was already raging. Yet the divisions did not fall neatly along partisan or ideological lines.</div>
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</aside>In New York, the state with the highest number of legal abortions, the polarization was especially acute. It had been a Republican legislator and Republican governor who had been chiefly responsible for the legalization of abortion in the state two years earlier, and many of New York’s Republicans—including Governor Nelson Rockefeller—were still strongly supportive of abortion rights. But it was also a Republican who was leading the charge to reverse their actions. Democrats were equally divided.<br />
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The media portrayed the pro-life movement as a Catholic cause, but by 1972, that stereotype was already outdated. In Michigan, for instance, the fight against a referendum to legalize abortion was spearheaded by three Protestants—a gynecologist, a white Presbyterian mother, and an African American woman who was a liberal Democratic state legislator. In Minnesota, the leader of the state’s pro-life campaign was a liberal Methodist whose physician husband was a member of Planned Parenthood. In Massachusetts, one of the leading pro-life activists was an African American Methodist physician who had been the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. And even in New York, where Catholics accounted for the vast majority of the movement’s activists, there was more religious diversity than the media often acknowledged, partly because Catholics had joined forces with Orthodox Jews. In fact, one of the keynote speakers at the April 16 pro-life rally in Central Park was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who served as president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America. One of New York City’s most vocal pro-life advocates was a liberal Lutheran minister who was best known for his protests against the Vietnam War and his advocacy of civil rights.<br />
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Perhaps most surprisingly, at the time the protest took place, the pro-lifers were winning. Only a few years earlier, their campaign had looked like a last-gasp battle against the forces of progress. They faced opposition from the women’s rights movement, newspaper and television media, the medical and legal establishments, mainline Protestant denominations, ecumenical religious organizations such as the National Council of Churches, and political leaders in both major parties. Yet the pro-life movement had figured out a way to defy the international trend toward abortion legalization and defeat several efforts to liberalize state abortion laws.<br />
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The right-to-life movement had faced nearly insuperable challenges in the late 1960s, when a wave of sixteen states legalized at least some forms of abortion within a three-year period. But then the pro-lifers regrouped, changed their strategies, and figured out how to win legislative battles. In 1971, twenty-five states considered abortion legalization bills. Every one of them failed to pass. In 1972, the pro-life movement went on the offensive and began campaigning for measures to rescind recently passed abortion legalization laws and tighten existing abortion restrictions. In the wake of the Central Park protest, the New York state legislature voted to repeal New York’s liberal abortion law and was thwarted only by Governor Rockefeller’s veto.<br />
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The size of the backlash against abortion legalization surprised many supporters of abortion rights. What had happened? How did a small, beleaguered Catholic movement manage to create a massive ecumenical coalition of grassroots activists and stop the march of abortion legalization?<br />
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. . .If the opponents of abortion had based their opposition merely on religious teaching or the seemingly arcane principles of natural law—as Catholics had when campaigning against contraception—it is unlikely that the pro-life cause could have withstood the forces of the sexual revolution, the feminist movement, and the social changes of the 1960s. But because the pro-life movement grounded its arguments in the language of human value and constitutional rights, it was able to attract a politically and religiously diverse coalition that actually gained strength over time. The pro-life movement succeeded because it drew on the same language of human rights, civil rights, and the value of human life that inspired the struggle for African American freedom, the feminist movement, antiwar protests, and the campaign for the rights of gays and lesbians.<br />
<img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4154097 alignleft" data-lazy-loaded="true" data-loaded="true" height="150" src="https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/defenders-of-the-unborn.jpg?w=99&quality=75&strip=color&h=150" style="display: inline;" width="99" /><noscript>&amp;amp;lt;img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-4154097 alignleft" src="https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/defenders-of-the-unborn.jpg?w=99&amp;amp;amp;#038;quality=75&amp;amp;amp;#038;strip=color&amp;amp;amp;#038;h=150" alt="" width="99" height="150" /&amp;amp;gt;</noscript><br />
<em>Reprinted from </em>Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-life Movement before Roe v. Wade<em> by Daniel K. Williams with permission from Oxford University Press, Inc. Copyright © 2016 by Oxford University Press.</em></div>
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Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-39543531959323667722016-02-18T11:14:00.000-06:002016-02-18T14:45:42.371-06:00Pregnant Women’s Rights Must Be Fully Protected by the Criminal Law<div>
by Denise M. Burke April 15, 2014 5:15 PM </div>
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<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/375836/pregnant-womens-rights-must-be-fully-protected-criminal-law-denise-m-burke">http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/375836/pregnant-womens-rights-must-be-fully-protected-criminal-law-denise-m-burke</a></div>
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Recent media misinformation, perhaps deliberate on the part of left-leaning commentators, currently casts a cloud over efforts to give women more protection when they are forced to defend themselves and their unborn children. </div>
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Imagine being pregnant with quadruplets and having your babies’ father viciously punch you in the stomach during an argument. You remind him that you are carrying his children and warn him not to punch you in the stomach again. Tragically, he doesn’t heed your warning and instead comes at you. Fearing for your children, you grab a knife and stab him. He later dies, and you are charged with homicide. </div>
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At your criminal trial, you want to argue to the jury that your actions were legally justified because you were acting in defense of your unborn children. However, the judge determines that state law does not permit you to make that argument, and you are ultimately convicted and sentenced to prison. </div>
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This is not just a hypothetical. It actually happened to a Michigan woman in 1999. Her conviction was later reversed when an appellate court determined that Michigan law did, in fact, permit a woman to use force in defense of her unborn child. </div>
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Notably, this was the first time a court had extended the “defense of others” theory to the defense of an unborn child. Courts in Texas and Illinois had previously refused to do so, despite the significant and ongoing problem of pregnancy-related violence including violence specifically directed toward unborn children. </div>
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Each year, thousands of cases of unlawful violence against pregnant women and their unborn children are reported. These incidents continue to underscore the urgent need to ensure that our criminal laws protect both the woman and her unborn child, and that they also affirmatively provide legal protection to a woman who must resort to force in defense of her unborn child. </div>
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The Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act, model legislation developed in 2008 by Americans United for Life, is designed to amend a state’s existing criminal code and provides that a woman may use force — even deadly force — to defend her unborn child from unlawful violence or a criminal attack. </div>
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Attempts by some in the media to distort the intent and impact of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act and to smear Americans United for Life as encouraging violence against abortion providers represent thinly veiled, politically motivated attacks that blatantly ignore the stated intent of the model legislation. The legislation is intended simply to ensure that a pregnant woman and her unborn child are protected from unlawful criminal violence and that a woman’s decision to carry her child to term is respected. They also reveal a fundamental — and perhaps willful — misunderstanding of the express terms of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act, the scope and application of criminal law, and the purposes and intent behind this model language. </div>
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MYTH: The Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act will “legalize” or “incite” violence against abortion providers. </div>
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TRUTH: The Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act applies only to situations in which unlawful force is being applied or imminently threatened against an unborn child. Moreover, under the narrow tailoring of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act, only the child’s mother — and not a third-party — may be justified in using force to defend the unborn child. </div>
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Under well-established criminal jurisprudence, a person is justified in using force in the “defense of another” when unlawful force is being applied or threatened against that other person. Arguably, a “person” includes an unborn child under federal criminal law and the laws of 38 states that recognize an unborn child as a potential victim of violence. </div>
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In this instance, examples of the use of unlawful force would include punching or beating a pregnant woman with the intent of causing a miscarriage or damage to the pregnancy or threatening the use of a knife or other weapon against the unborn child. Notably, the force applied in response to the threat must be “reasonable” or comparable to the threat. Thus, deadly force can be used, although only in cases of extreme peril. </div>
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The provisions of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act come into play only when unlawful force is being applied or threatened. It does not apply to lawful activity. </div>
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Abortion is legal in the United States and a woman must consent to an abortion before it is performed. Thus, under no reasonable reading of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act can it be construed as applying to the provision of abortion (which is a legal act and not unlawful force) or as justifying or excusing criminal violence against those who perform legal abortions. </div>
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This narrow application of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act is confirmed by the Michigan appellate decision noted earlier where the justices specifically said:[BLOCK]The distinction between the abortion cases and the instant case is straightforward. The United States Supreme Court has held that the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right to personal privacy and that this right encompasses a woman’s decision whether to terminate her pregnancy. The “defense of others” theory is available only if a person acts to prevent unlawful bodily harm against another. Because clinics that perform abortions are engaging in lawful activity, the “defense of others” theory does not apply. . . . Our holding . . . does not apply to what the United States Supreme Court has held to constitute lawful abortions.[BLOCK] </div>
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MYTH: The Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act is part of a “campaign” to target abortion providers. </div>
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TRUTH: AUL drafted the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act in 2008 in direct response to the well-documented threats of violence faced by pregnant women and their children. Moreover, in keeping with its pro-life convictions, AUL has always denounced violence against abortion providers and would never promulgate model legislation that could reasonably be construed as calling for or excusing such violence. </div>
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As detailed in the legislative findings section of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act, evidence has shown that violence and abuse are often higher during pregnancy than during any other period in a woman’s lifetime. Based on studies conducted between 1995 and 1999, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that at least 300,000 pregnant women are abused each year. Moreover, according to the March of Dimes, one in six pregnant women has been abused by a partner. Similarly, a 1998 household survey determined that pregnant women are 60.6 percent more likely to be beaten than women who are not pregnant. </div>
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In fact, a pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide than to die of any other cause. And case after case has demonstrated that husbands or boyfriends are often the perpetrators of pregnancy-related violence, and this violence is often directed at the unborn child or intended to end or jeopardize the pregnancy. </div>
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It is precisely these threats that AUL seeks to address with the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act. </div>
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MYTH: The protections provided by the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act are unnecessary and are not supported by existing law. </div>
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TRUTH: The Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act is a logical extension of existing federal and state criminal laws that provide for the right to use force in the “defense of others” and other criminal law provisions that recognize and protect unborn children. </div>
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All 50 states permit the use of force in specified circumstances: for self defense, in the defense of others, and when a person reasonably believes that unlawful force is being used or will imminently be used against him/her or a third person. “Self-defense” and the “defense of others” are affirmative defenses raised by a criminal defendant that, if proven true, can provide a complete defense to criminal liability. </div>
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With that in mind, it is easy to see that the application of the affirmative defense of “defense of others” to cases where a mother uses force to protect the life of her unborn child is a natural extension of accepted criminal jurisprudence including existing unborn victims of violence protections (i.e., fetal homicide laws and fetal assault laws) that recognize the unborn as potential victims of criminal violence. </div>
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The federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act (more commonly known as “Laci and Conner’s Law,” after Laci and Conner Peterson), as well as the laws of 38 states, recognizes an unborn child as a separate victim of criminal violence and treats the killing of an unborn child as a form of homicide. In addition, 22 states define non-fatal assaults on unborn children as criminal offenses. </div>
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Thus, it is clear that recognizing the unborn as “others” for purposes of the “defense of others” theory in no way diverges from current federal and state criminal law. If under a state’s criminal code an unborn child is recognized as a potential victim of homicide or assault, then that unborn child can be protected through the use of force when warranted. </div>
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Recognizing this, Oklahoma, in 2009, became the first state to enact AUL’s Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act, explicitly expanding the affirmative defense of “defense of others” to include instances where a pregnant woman uses force to protect her unborn child. Arkansas and Missouri have also enacted this protective legislation. </div>
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MYTH: The Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act is simply another tool in the “abortion wars.” </div>
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TRUTH: The “Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act” is not an abortion bill and attempts by some in the media to subsume the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act into the debate over abortion do a grave disservice to abused women and vulnerable unborn children who are often the targets of criminal violence. </div>
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The Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act does not contain the word “abortion” anywhere in the text of the model legislation. (In fact, the word “abortion” is used only twice in the policy guide accompanying the model legislation, where it is used as an adjective in the term “abortion provider.” Notably, in this context, “abortion provider” is used when noting that the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act cannot legitimately or honestly be argued to condone, promote, or incite violence against abortion providers.) </div>
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Finally, there is a good reason for the absence of the term “abortion” in the AUL model language: The bill is not about abortion. As detailed above, the bill is intended to ensure that a pregnant woman is able to protect her unborn child from criminal violence. In doing so, it also protects her individual decision to carry her child to term — her choice for life. </div>
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— Denise M. Burke is Americans United for Life’s vice president of legal affairs. </div>
Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-33176515802076955792016-02-18T10:56:00.000-06:002016-02-18T14:46:00.247-06:00When Abortion Suddenly Stopped Making Sense <div>
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by Frederica Mathewes-Green January 22, 2016 4:00 AM </div>
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<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430152/abortion-roe-v-wade-unborn-children-women-feminism-march-life">http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430152/abortion-roe-v-wade-unborn-children-women-feminism-march-life</a></div>
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At the time of the Roe v. Wade decision, I was a college student — an anti-war, mother-earth, feminist, hippie college student. That particular January I was taking a semester off, living in the D.C. area and volunteering at the feminist “underground newspaper” Off Our Backs. As you’d guess, I was strongly in favor of legalizing abortion. The bumper sticker on my car read, “Don’t labor under a misconception; legalize abortion.” </div>
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The first issue of Off Our Backs after the Roe decision included one of my movie reviews, and also an essay by another member of the collective criticizing the decision. It didn’t go far enough, she said, because it allowed states to restrict abortion in the third trimester. The Supreme Court should not meddle in what should be decided between the woman and her doctor. She should be able to choose abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.<br />
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But, at the time, we didn’t have much understanding of what abortion was. We knew nothing of fetal development. We consistently termed the fetus “a blob of tissue,” and that’s just how we pictured it — an undifferentiated mucous-like blob, not recognizable as human or even as alive. It would be another 15 years of so before pregnant couples could show off sonograms of their unborn babies, shocking us with the obvious humanity of the unborn. </div>
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We also thought, back then, that few abortions would ever be done. It’s a grim experience, going through an abortion, and we assumed a woman would choose one only as a last resort. We were fighting for that “last resort.” We had no idea how common the procedure would become; today, one in every five pregnancies ends in abortion.</div>
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Nor could we have imagined how high abortion numbers would climb. In the 43 years since Roe v. Wade, there have been 59 million abortions. It’s hard even to grasp a number that big. Twenty years ago, someone told me that, if the names of all those lost babies were inscribed on a wall, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the wall would have to stretch for 50 miles. It’s 20 years later now, and that wall would have to stretch twice as far. But no names could be written on it; those babies had no names. </div>
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We expected that abortion would be rare. What we didn’t realize was that, once abortion becomes available, it becomes the most attractive option for everyone around the pregnant woman. If she has an abortion, it’s like the pregnancy never existed. No one is inconvenienced. It doesn’t cause trouble for the father of the baby, or her boss, or the person in charge of her college scholarship. It won’t embarrass her mom and dad. </div>
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Abortion is like a funnel; it promises to solve all the problems at once. So there is significant pressure on a woman to choose abortion, rather than adoption or parenting. </div>
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A woman who had had an abortion told me, “Everyone around me was saying they would ‘be there for me’ if I had the abortion, but no one said they’d ‘be there for me’ if I had the baby.” For everyone around the pregnant woman, abortion looks like the sensible choice. A woman who determines instead to continue an unplanned pregnancy looks like she’s being foolishly stubborn. It’s like she’s taken up some unreasonable hobby. People think: If she would only go off and do this one thing, everything would be fine. </div>
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But that’s an illusion. Abortion can’t really turn back the clock. It can’t push the rewind button on life and make it so that she was never pregnant. It can make it easy for everyone around the woman to forget the pregnancy, but the woman herself may struggle. When she first sees the positive pregnancy test she may feel, in a panicky way, that she has to get rid of it as fast as possible. But life stretches on after abortion, for months and years — for many long nights — and all her life long she may ponder the irreversible choice she made.<br />
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This issue gets presented as if it’s a tug of war between the woman and the baby. We see them as mortal enemies, locked in a fight to the death. But that’s a strange idea, isn’t it? It must be the first time in history when mothers and their own children have been assumed to be at war. We’re supposed to picture the child attacking her, trying to destroy her hopes and plans, and picture the woman grateful for the abortion, since it rescued her from the clutches of her child. </div>
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If you were in charge of a nature preserve and you noticed that the pregnant female mammals were trying to miscarry their pregnancies, eating poisonous plants or injuring themselves, what would you do? Would you think of it as a battle between the pregnant female and her unborn and find ways to help those pregnant animals miscarry? No, of course not. You would immediately think, “Something must be really wrong in this environment.” Something is creating intolerable stress, so much so that animals would rather destroy their own offspring than bring them into the world. You would strive to identify and correct whatever factors were causing this stress in the animals. </div>
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The same thing goes for the human animal. Abortion gets presented to us as if it’s something women want; both pro-choice and pro-life rhetoric can reinforce that idea. But women do this only if all their other options look worse. It’s supposed to be “her choice,” yet so many women say, “I really didn’t have a choice.” </div>
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I changed my opinion on abortion after I read an article in Esquire magazine, way back in 1976. I was home from grad school, flipping through my dad’s copy, and came across an article titled “What I Saw <br />
at the Abortion.” The author, Richard Selzer, was a surgeon, and he was in favor of abortion, but he’d never seen one. So he asked a colleague whether, next time, he could go along. </div>
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Selzer described seeing the patient, 19 weeks pregnant, lying on her back on the table. (That is unusually late; most abortions are done by the tenth or twelfth week.) The doctor performing the procedure inserted a syringe into the woman’s abdomen and injected her womb with a prostaglandin solution, which would bring on contractions and cause a miscarriage. (This method isn’t used anymore, because too often the baby survived the procedure — chemically burned and disfigured, but clinging to life. Newer methods, including those called “partial birth abortion” and “dismemberment abortion,” more reliably ensure death.)</div>
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After injecting the hormone into the patient’s womb, the doctor left the syringe standing upright on her belly. Then, Selzer wrote, “I see something other than what I expected here. . . . It is the hub of the needle that is in the woman’s belly that has jerked. First to one side. Then to the other side. Once more it wobbles, is tugged, like a fishing line nibbled by a sunfish.” </div>
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He realized he was seeing the fetus’s desperate fight for life. And as he watched, he saw the movement of the syringe slow down and then stop. The child was dead. Whatever else an unborn child does not have, he has one thing: a will to live. He will fight to defend his life.<br />
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The last words in Selzer’s essay are, “Whatever else is said in abortion’s defense, the vision of that other defense [i.e., of the child defending its life] will not vanish from my eyes. And it has happened that you cannot reason with me now. For what can language do against the truth of what I saw?” </div>
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The truth of what he saw disturbed me deeply. There I was, anti-war, anti–capital punishment, even vegetarian, and a firm believer that social justice cannot be won at the cost of violence. Well, this sure looked like violence. How had I agreed to make this hideous act the centerpiece of my feminism? How could I think it was wrong to execute homicidal criminals, wrong to shoot enemies in wartime, but all right to kill our own sons and daughters?</div>
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For that was another disturbing thought: Abortion means killing not strangers but our own children, our own flesh and blood. No matter who the father, every child aborted is that woman’s own son or daughter, just as much as any child she will ever bear.<br />
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We had somehow bought the idea that abortion was necessary if women were going to rise in their professions and compete in the marketplace with men. But how had we come to agree that we will sacrifice our children, as the price of getting ahead? When does a man ever have to choose between his career and the life of his child? </div>
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Once I recognized the inherent violence of abortion, none of the feminist arguments made sense. Like the claim that a fetus is not really a person because it is so small. Well, I’m only 5 foot 1. Women, in general, are smaller than men. Do we really want to advance a principle that big people have more value than small people? That if you catch them before they’ve reached a certain size, it’s all right to kill them? </div>
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What about the child who is “unwanted”? It was a basic premise of early feminism that women should not base their sense of worth on whether or not a man “wants” them. We are valuable simply because we are members of the human race, regardless of any other person’s approval. Do we really want to say that “unwanted” people might as well be dead? What about a woman who is “wanted” when she’s young and sexy but less so as she gets older? At what point is it all right to terminate her? </div>
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The usual justification for abortion is that the unborn is not a person.” It’s said that “Nobody knows when life begins.” But that’s not true; everybody knows when life — a new individual human life — gets started. It’s when the sperm dissolves in the egg. That new single cell has a brand-new DNA, never before seen in the world. If you examined through a microscope three cells lined up — the newly fertilized ovum, a cell from the father, and a cell from the mother — you would say that, judging from the DNA, the cells came from three different people. </div>
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When people say the unborn is “not a person” or “not a life” they mean that it has not yet grown or gained abilities that arrive later in life. But there’s no agreement about which abilities should be determinative. Pro-choice people don’t even agree with each other. Obviously, law cannot be based on such subjective criteria. If it’s a case where the question is “Can I kill this?” the answer must be based on objective medical and scientific data. And the fact is, an unborn child, from the very first moment, is a new human individual. It has the three essential characteristics that make it “a human life”: It’s alive and growing, it is composed entirely of human cells, and it has unique DNA. It’s a person, just like the rest of us. </div>
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Abortion indisputably ends a human life. But this loss is usually set against the woman’s need to have an abortion in order to freely direct her own life. It is a particular cruelty to present abortion as something women want, something they demand, they find liberating. Because nobody wants this. The procedure itself is painful, humiliating, expensive — no woman “wants” to go through it. But once it’s available, it appears to be the logical, reasonable choice. All the complexities can be shoved down that funnel. Yes, abortion solves all the problems; but it solves them inside the woman’s body. And she is expected to keep that pain inside for a lifetime, and be grateful for the gift of abortion. </div>
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Many years ago I wrote something in an essay about abortion, and I was surprised that the line got picked up and frequently quoted. I’ve seen it in both pro-life and pro-choice contexts, so it appears to be something both sides agree on. </div>
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I wrote, “No one wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg.” </div>
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Strange, isn’t it, that both pro-choice and pro-life people agree that is true? Abortion is a horrible and harrowing experience. That women choose it so frequently shows how much worse continuing a pregnancy can be. Essentially, we’ve agreed to surgically alter women so that they can get along in a man’s world. And then expect them to be grateful for it. </div>
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Nobody wants to have an abortion. And if nobody wants to have an abortion, why are women doing it, 2,800 times a day? If women doing something 2,800 times daily that they don’t want to do, this is not <br />
liberation we’ve won. We are colluding in a strange new form of oppression.</div>
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And so we come around to one more March for Life, like the one last year, like the one next year. Protesters understandably focus on the unborn child, because the danger it faces is the most galvanizing aspect of this struggle. If there are different degrees of injustice, surely violence is the worst manifestation, and killing worst of all. If there are different categories of innocent victim, surely the small and helpless have a higher claim to protection, and tiny babies the highest of all. The minimum purpose of government is to shield the weak from abuse by the strong, and there is no one weaker or more voiceless than unborn children. And so we keep saying that they should be protected, for all the same reasons that newborn babies are protected. Pro-lifers have been doing this for 43 years now, and will continue holding a candle in the darkness for as many more years as it takes. </div>
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I understand all the reasons why the movement’s prime attention is focused on the unborn. But we can also say that abortion is no bargain for women, either. It’s destructive and tragic. We shouldn’t listen unthinkingly to the other side of the time-worn script, the one that tells us that women want abortions, that abortion liberates them. Many a post-abortion woman could tell you a different story.</div>
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The pro-life cause is perennially unpopular, and pro-lifers get used to being misrepresented and wrongly accused. There are only a limited number of people who are going to be brave enough to stand up on the side of an unpopular cause. But sometimes a cause is so urgent, is so dramatically clear, that it’s worth it. What cause could be more outrageous than violence — fatal violence — against the most helpless members of our human community? If that doesn’t move us, how hard are our hearts? If that doesn’t move us, what will ever move us? </div>
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In time, it’s going to be impossible to deny that abortion is violence against children. Future generations, as they look back, are not necessarily going to go easy on ours. Our bland acceptance of abortion is not going to look like an understandable goof. In fact, the kind of hatred that people now level at Nazis and slave-owners may well fall upon our era. Future generations can accurately say, “It’s not like they didn’t know.” They can say, “After all, they had sonograms.” They may consider this bloodshed to be a form of genocide. They might judge our generation to be monsters. </div>
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One day, the tide is going to turn. With that Supreme Court decision 43 years ago, one of the sides in the abortion debate won the day. But sooner or later, that day will end. No generation can rule from the grave. The time is coming when a younger generation will sit in judgment of ours. And they are not obligated to be kind.</div>
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— Frederica Mathewes-Green is the author of Real Choices: Listening to Women; Looking for Alternatives to Abortion.<br />
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Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430152/abortion-roe-v-wade-unborn-children-women-feminism-march-life</div>
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Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-12597346571256133862015-11-27T23:01:00.000-06:002015-11-27T23:24:58.951-06:00Bang, Bang, Sanity<i>One of the most common sense articles on the gun culture and gun violence. A few excerpts from a lengthy, but well written piece.</i><br />
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Jim Wright, Stonekettle Station<br />
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http://www.stonekettle.com/2015/06/bang-bang-sanity.html?m=1<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 20.592px;">We need gun laws that give society legal recourse by making each gun owner/user personally accountable for their own actions."</span><br />
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"Those laws should be designed to change our gun culture over time in order to make gun violence less likely."<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 20.592px; line-height: 20.592px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">"Make </span><em style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">responsible</em><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"> gun ownership and usage federal law, uniform across the United States."</span></span></div>
Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-2513815566781337542015-11-08T12:55:00.000-06:002015-12-09T00:04:25.560-06:00Gun Violence: The Public Health Crisis America Is Denying<div class="post-title">
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<a href="http://images.agoramedia.com/EHBlogImages/hear-me-out/2015/10/Gun-Violence-Is-a-Public-Health-Issue-722x406.jpg"><strong><img alt="Gun-Violence-Is-a-Public-Health-Issue-722x406" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-615" src="http://images.agoramedia.com/EHBlogImages/hear-me-out/2015/10/Gun-Violence-Is-a-Public-Health-Issue-722x406.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></strong></a><strong></strong><br />
<strong>By </strong><a href="http://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff_directory/staff_display?doctorid=1275"><strong>Ellen Rome, MD, MPH</strong></a><strong>, Special to Everyday Health, </strong><br />
Published Oct 9, 2015<br />
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<a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/hear-me-out/gun-violence-public-health-crisis-america-is-denying/">http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/hear-me-out/gun-violence-public-health-crisis-america-is-denying/</a><br />
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Remember the <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/ebola-10-essential-facts-about/">Ebola</a> panic of 2014? The fear and upheaval? The media saturation? The stop-it-by-any-means attitude?<br />
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If we can mount that kind of response for a disease that was contracted by just two people in the United States, imagine what would happen if a public health crisis began killing <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf">30,000 Americans a year</a>, including 3,000 children.<br />
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Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine this. Gun violence kills that many Americans annually, while <a href="http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/nfirates2001.html">wounding 73,000 more</a>. Sadly, response from lawmakers is the polar opposite of the Ebola response.<br />
This has to change.<br />
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Gun violence is a public health issue that profoundly affects children and families. Firearm injuries are among the top three killers of kids.<br />
As a pediatrician, I have a duty to protect children. And the data is clear: strong gun laws positively impact families and lower accidental gun deaths, homicides, and <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/factors-that-may-increase-suicide-risk/">suicides</a> in youth.<br />
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I firmly support the American Academy of Pediatrics’ <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/federal-advocacy/Documents/AAPGunViolencePreventionPolicyRecommendations_Jan2013.pdf">stance </a>that Congress needs to find a way forward on gun safety legislation that improves the background-check system (including the elimination of gun show loopholes), reduces gun trafficking, requires safe firearm storage, bans all high-capacity magazines, passes stronger handgun regulations, enacts a strong, effective ban on assault weapons, and supports research to generate effective approaches to prevention and healing.<br />
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Here’s a closer look at the priorities the <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx">American Academy of Pediatrics</a> is advocating:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Firearm safety:</b> Enact stronger gun laws, including an effective assault weapons ban; mandatory background checks on all firearm purchases; and a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines.</li>
<li><b>Prevention and public health: </b>Allow federal agencies to conduct research on the causes and prevention of gun violence, and stand by the president’s clarification that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors from asking their patients about guns in the home.</li>
<li><b>Access to mental health services:</b> Improve the identification of mental illnesses through increased screening, addressing inadequate insurance coverage and high out-of-pocket costs that create barriers to access, strengthening the overall quality of mental health access, and expanding the Medicaid reimbursement policy to include mental health and developmental services.</li>
<li><b>Reducing gun violence in the media and educating children: </b>Develop quality, violence-free programming and constructive dialogue among child health and education advocates, the Federal Communications Commission, and the television and motion picture industries, as well as toy, video game, and other software manufactures and designers, to reduce the romanticization of guns in the popular media as a means of resolving conflict.</li>
</ul>
For those who have been the witnesses or victims of gun violence, more affordable and accessible <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/ways-to-get-mental-health-help/">mental health services</a> are a necessary part of the healing process. Supporting a robust gun violence research agenda will also ensure that we develop and utilize the most evidence-based practices to keep families safe and well, especially children and adolescents — our most vulnerable population and our future.<br />
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I saw a young man in my office with bullet wounds skimming his legs. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time — an increasingly common occurrence here in Cleveland. In the past month, three children have been killed in separate Cleveland shootings: A 3-year-old boy and a 5-month-old girl were shot and killed while sitting in cars on the city’s East Side, and a 5-year-old boy was shot and killed while playing football outside his grandmother’s home.<br />
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These incidents — as well as the <a href="http://www.npr.org/series/167276841/shootings-in-newtown-conn">Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting</a> in Newtown, Connecticut; the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/us/oregon-shooting-umpqua-community-college.html">Umpqua Community College shooting</a> in Roseburg, Oregon; and all the other places that have become synonymous with deadly shootings — are preventable.<br />
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A public health approach can help.<br />
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Consider automobile safety. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, traffic fatalities were as high as they had been since cars went into mass production, with about <a href="http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx">52,000 deaths per year</a>, or 25 to 26 deaths per 100,000 people.<br />
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A litany of common-sense laws, regulations, and safety campaigns were put in place over the next several decades, including speed limits, seat belt laws, air bag regulations, better highway design, baby seat and child seat laws, and drunk driving laws. Societal pressure also had a big impact. By 2013, the <a href="http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx">death rate had dropped 61 percent</a>, to 10.3 deaths per 100,000 people.<br />
Picture our roads and highways today without speed limits, seat belts, or child safety seats. It’s unthinkable. In fact, after initially fighting increased safety measures as too expensive, the auto industry has made safety a selling point, adding more air bags and technology that alerts drivers when they’re out of their lanes, and even brings the car to a stop to avoid collisions.<br />
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How does this apply to guns? It shows that safety improvements can be made through common-sense tactics, and that it’s possible for a resistant industry to embrace safety changes — and for a hesitant society to flip cultural norms.<br />
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It’s also important to consider that we didn’t ban cars to improve traffic safety. We didn’t ban alcohol to decrease incidence of drunk driving. Instead, we implemented multi-faceted approaches through improved technology, law enforcement, and cultural pressure.<br />
We cannot afford to be silent on gun violence. I strongly encourage action on this issue, with appropriate legislation passed, research supported, and families able to access bolstered mental health services to heal those who are already victims of schoolyard killings, drive-by shootings, or accidental gun-related injuries in the home. Call your congresspeople. Take action to help be the change we need.<br />
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I hope that we can all agree that reducing gun violence would be good for America. Certainly, there is no simple, overnight solution. It took the better part of four decades to improve traffic safety. Let’s hope it won’t take that long to improve gun safety.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://images.agoramedia.com/EHBlogImages/hear-me-out/2015/10/Rome_Ellen_395572.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rome_Ellen_395572" class="wp-image-616 alignleft" src="http://images.agoramedia.com/EHBlogImages/hear-me-out/2015/10/Rome_Ellen_395572.jpg" height="145" width="115" /></a><strong>Ellen Rome, MD, MPH</strong>, is a pediatrician at <a href="http://my.clevelandclinic.org/">Cleveland Clinic </a>and head of Cleveland Clinic’s <a href="http://my.clevelandclinic.org/childrens-hospital/specialties-services/departments-centers/adolescent-medicine">Center for Adolescent Medicine</a>.<br />
Top photo credit: Getty Images<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/hear-me-out/gun-violence-public-health-crisis-america-is-denying/">http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/hear-me-out/gun-violence-public-health-crisis-america-is-denying/</a>Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-84117373225419617472015-11-01T11:19:00.000-06:002015-12-09T00:05:53.226-06:00Why Liberals Should Oppose Assisted Suicide<span class="field field-name-field-byline field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><a href="http://ncronline.org/authors/michael-sean-winters">Michael Sean Winters</a></span>, <span class="submitted">Oct. 28, 2015</span> <span class="field field-name-field-blog-column field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><a datatype="" href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" typeof="skos:Concept">Distinctly Catholic</a> </span><br />
<span class="field field-name-field-blog-column field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden">National Catholic Reporter</span> <br />
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<a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/why-liberals-should-oppose-assisted-suicide">http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/why-liberals-should-oppose-assisted-suicide</a><br />
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<section class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">Assisted suicide is now legal in five states: California, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont. In the coming year, Connecticut, Maryland and New York will likely face the issue in their state legislatures. All but one of those states, Montana, is a blue state, and in the three states set to consider the issue, Democrats control both houses of the legislature in Maryland and Connecticut, and the governorships in Connecticut and New York. So, this political battle will largely be fought within the ranks of the Democratic Party.<br />
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Liberals certainly value personal autonomy. They also have been the core of the party which has evidenced a sense of social solidarity: Democrats created the New Deal and continue to defend it, they support union rights, they care about immigrants and how they are treated. On the issue of assisted suicide, these values, personal autonomy and social solidarity seem to conflict and, indeed, there are prominent Democrats who support it and prominent Democrats who oppose it. All Democrats and liberals should oppose it and here is why.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Whatever your thoughts on the issue per se, how Democrats conduct the debate on assisted suicide will have a clear impact on how our nation confronts one of the most consequential political struggles in the coming years: entitlement reform. Medicare and Social Security (and other entitlements) account for a large and increasing share of federal spending. These benefits go disproportionately to the elderly, who some of us believe have earned the right to live out their lives in dignity and consequently believe that the rest of us have an obligation to provide for our seniors. This issue, along with immigration reform, more than any others, requires a </span>renegotiation<span style="line-height: 1.6em;"> of the social contract, the sense of what we as citizens owe to one another. (Assisted suicide is not only an issue about the elderly, but it is primarily about them and they are the focus of my concern here.)</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">It is obvious to me that if liberals spend the next twelve months in the important media markets of Washington, D.C. and New York talking about the importance and value of social solidarity in opposing assisted suicide, they will be well positioned to defend against efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare funding. If, on the other hand, those of us who care about entitlements celebrate personal autonomy, we play into the hands of those who wonder why they should be expected to pay their money in taxes to support people they do not know or do not care about.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Make no mistake about it: When the ideological libertarianism of the right on economic issues combines with the moneyed interests of those who will have to pay more taxes to keep Social Security and Medicare afloat, powerful political pressure will be brought to bear. It is easy to scare people about the rising costs of entitlements because the numbers are scary. It is easy to find someone who defrauded Medicare and make that person the poster child of an otherwise very effective system for providing health care. (I have never understood why people buy into this kind of attack, using one person’s fraud to demean an entire system. After all, in Watergate, we drove Nixon out of office, we did not cease holding presidential elections.) In the </span>1980s<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">, Republicans regularly denounced “welfare queens” to attack social welfare programs, and stoke a bit of racial animus as well. Some such campaigns will likely be used to convince Americans that “we can’t afford” Social Security and Medicare, we have to make cuts, the laws of economics demand it, that we are depriving our children of their future, etc. Just because this is bunk doesn’t mean it won’t work.</span></section><section class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div id="region-incontent">
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">This line of argument will have a harder time working if we on the left spend the next twelve months talking about the elderly in terms of solidarity and confronting assisted suicide because it is the opposite of solidarity. Solidarity with those who are suffering should speak to the liberal heart, shouldn’t it? And, it should speak to our brains too. Assisted suicide as public policy is a statement of failure, of social failure, not medical failure: Pain management has come a long, long way and those who are dying need not suffer pain and they can experience a death with dignity, surrounded by caring family and nurses. Vicki Kennedy, whose husband Sen. Ted Kennedy had died after a long illness, spoke to this in her<a href="http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20121027/Opinion/210270347"> important </a></span><a href="http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20121027/Opinion/210270347">op-ed</a><span style="line-height: 1.6em;"><a href="http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20121027/Opinion/210270347"> </a>opposing assisted suicide in Massachusetts three years ago. She wrote:</span><br />
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<em style="line-height: 1.6em;">When my husband was first diagnosed with cancer, he was told that he had only two to four months to live, that he'd never go back to the U.S. Senate, that he should get his affairs in order, kiss his wife, love his family and get ready to die.</em><br />
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<em style="line-height: 1.6em;">But that prognosis was wrong. Teddy lived 15 more productive months. During that time, he cast a key vote in the Senate that protected payments to doctors under Medicare; made a speech at the Democratic Convention; saw the candidate he supported elected president of the United States and even attended his inauguration; received an honorary degree; chaired confirmation hearings in the Senate; worked on the reform of health care; threw out the first pitch on opening day for the Red Sox; introduced the president when he signed the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act; sailed his boat; and finished his memoir "True Compass," while also getting his affairs in order, kissing his wife, loving his family and preparing for the end of life.</em><br />
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<em style="line-height: 1.6em;">Because that first dire prediction of life expectancy was wrong, I have 15 months of cherished memories — memories of family dinners and songfests with our children and grandchildren; memories of laughter and, yes, tears; memories of life that neither I nor my husband would have traded for anything in the world.</em><br />
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<em style="line-height: 1.6em;">When the end finally did come — natural death with dignity — my husband was home, attended by his doctor, surrounded by family and our priest.</em><br />
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">That is what death with dignity looks like. That is what health care, which Sen. Kennedy considered the cause of his life, looks like. That is what solidarity looks like.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Assisted suicide is promoted as a means to alleviate suffering, but that is not how it is actually practiced. All of us fear being in great pain at the end of our lives, but once this right is established, people who are not facing great pain avail themselves of it. This is not a slippery slope argument. There is clear evidence that the slope is slippery. In Oregon, where assisted suicide has been legal since 1997, the principal reasons for availing oneself of the “right-to-die” are: </span><a href="http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year17.pdf" style="line-height: 1.6em;">loss of autonomy</a><span style="line-height: 1.6em;"> (91.4%), decreased ability to engage in enjoyable activities (86.7%), loss of dignity (71.4%), loss of control of bodily functions (49.5%) and becoming a burden on others (40%). Advocates of assisted suicide say they are in favor of “compassionate choices” but surely, there are more compassionate ways to help people cope with these anxieties than inviting them to kill themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">All of those items on the list are things people with disabilities confront and overcome, which is one reason the disability community is in the vanguard of opposition to assisted suicide laws. They understand that, yes, life is made more challenging because of their disabilities, but they are not expendable, they still have dignity. They understand, too, that a society that starts calculating what people can and can no longer contribute to society, that links human worth with other people’s determination of social utility, leads to inhumane judgments and expectations: If you are a burden, and you know it, why not dispose of yourself? On second thought, why shouldn’t society help you? Our country found its better angels when it passed the Americans with Disabilities Act that responded to the challenges people with disabilities face by trying to ameliorate the hurdles, not encouraging people to make themselves scarce.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Still undecided? When confronting a decision that involves competing values of personal autonomy and social solidarity, a pertinent question to ask is whether a given policy will impact the poor disproportionately. The rich can hire help so that they are not a burden, nurses to take of their physical needs, and the like, but the poor cannot. This should set off alarm bells in liberal minds. Among the reasons Gov. Jerry Brown should have vetoed the assisted suicide law in California is that the state’s Medicaid program does not cover palliative care, but it will cover assisted suicide. So much for choices! Advocates of assisted suicide argue that everyone is free to choose whether or not to seek the drugs that will take their life and this is true in a formal sense. But, formal freedom is not real freedom. The rich and poor alike are formally free to rummage in the dumpster for their dinner. Blacks were formally free to vote before the Voting Rights Act. Real freedom is something different.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">I return to the issue of entitlement reform and pose a question to fellow liberals: Do you really trust President Obama and incoming Speaker Ryan not to find a compromise on entitlement reform that harms the poor and the elderly? I don’t. No one, absolutely no one, either man speaks with on a regular basis receives their actuarial statement from the Social Security Administration, looks at their estimated retirement benefit, and asks themselves if they will be able to live on that amount. They are wealthy and highly successful people. When they leave government service, they will likely make large fortunes in the private sector or go work at a think tank where the idolatry of the market convinced far too many that Simpson-Bowles was a good deal. I will support cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security only when the top marginal tax rate is back around 70% where it was in the Eisenhower years! Those were good years for the country, good years for the wealthy, good years for working people, but they were not years that produced the kind of Gilded Age economics we have today.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;"></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Social Security and Medicare exist so that the elderly will not be destitute. That is a low bar. We as a society, not our government, should do even more for our elderly. Our churches, our unions, our neighborhood watch groups, our schools, and most especially our families, should do more to keep our seniors involved in our lives. As Pope Francis never ceases reminding us, they hold the wisdom of years, which is a wisdom we could all use. Instead of seeing the elderly, and the entitlement programs that support them, as a burden, we should all find ways to celebrate their lives and keep them integrated into our own. We can start exercising this kind of social solidarity by opposing assisted suicide and reminding our seniors that they are not a burden, that they are needed and valued, that they have dignity and can never lose it. Here is an issue on which solidarity must trump personal autonomy or else we will all lose, and we might lose more than we first thought.</span></section><section class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"></section><section class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/why-liberals-should-oppose-assisted-suicide">http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/why-liberals-should-oppose-assisted-suicide</a></section></div>
Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-7203891243920140362015-10-29T12:04:00.000-05:002015-12-09T00:07:24.750-06:00An Appeal to Men to Stand up for Women and Care for and Defend Their ChildrenBy <span class="author">Randy Alcorn, </span>September 16, 2015<br />
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http://www.epm.org/blog/2015/Sep/16/appeal-men<br />
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<em>The tenth video exposé about Planned Parenthood from The Center for Bioethical Reform was released yesterday. You can view it, and more related articles, on the <a href="http://erlc.com/article/planned-parenthood-executive-calls-fetal-organ-harvesting-donation-for-remu">ERLC site</a>. </em><br />
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The history of abortion in America should bring more shame to men than to anyone. No pregnancy happens without a man. Men should take the responsibility for their own purity and to protect that of women. When they fail to do this, they should be the first to accept full responsibility for the consequences of their actions, including the conception of a child.<br />
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As George Gilder argues in <em>Men and Marriage,</em> [i]<span style="font-size: 6.94px;"> </span>when men exercise deep loyalties to women and children, when we take responsibility to protect and defend them, we are at our best; when we violate those loyalties, we are at our worst. We become abusers on the one hand, or passive cowards on the other. We place ourselves under the rightful scorn of women and under the judgment of God.<br />
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When I spoke on this subject at my church, a man in his sixties told me of a girl he got pregnant thirty-nine years ago. She gave him the choice of what to do, and he chose an abortion. He said it has haunted him since. He thinks about the woman he failed and the son or daughter he lost and wonders about the grandchildren he’d now be holding. He said to me, “Tell people about the consequences. Warn our young men—tell them God will hold them accountable for what they do with their children.” Then he broke down in tears and said, “I don’t want our young men to do what I did thirty-nine years ago.”<br />
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One of our home Bible study leaders came to me, tears in his eyes. He told me of an abortion he paid for years ago and the devastating impact it had on his life. A quarter of a million babies are aborted each year by women who describe themselves as “evangelical” or “born again." [ii] Most of these women no doubt have some church affiliation. In many cases the father of the child attends the same church. It is not only a moral crisis, but a matter of great shame that Christian men have been so weak that they not only commit sexual immorality, but allow a child to be killed to cover up their sin and make their lives easier (until their conscience takes revenge).<br />
For the sake of women and children—and for our own sakes—it is time for men to stand up and make whatever sacrifices are necessary to care for children they have fathered. If this means begging the forgiveness of women, or standing in front of church leaders or a congregation and confessing their sin, so be it. If this were done more often, more young men in the church would be encouraged to pursue purity and discouraged from ever letting a child die for their sins.<br />
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Abortion isn’t a women’s issue. It’s a human issue, and its effects are devastating to women and men alike. But it’s high time for men to take personal responsibility, stand up for women and children, and exercise the kind of leadership God expects of us.<br />
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<strong>Sources</strong>[i] George Gilder, <em>Men and Marriage </em>(Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1992).<br />
[ii] <em>Family Planning Perspectives, </em>July–August 1996, 12.<br />
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<a href="http://www.epm.org/blog/2015/Sep/16/appeal-men">http://www.epm.org/blog/2015/Sep/16/appeal-men</a>Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-10326456779089716392015-10-25T12:29:00.000-05:002015-10-25T12:29:44.006-05:00Is personhood an opinion?Did you ever think that perhaps the root cause of many social problems is that the status of personhood is perceived as just an opinion? If one person's opinion is that another is less of a person than oneself, then any behavior against the other is allowable and justified. (History shows us that legality is not a factor as laws can be changed and are changed.) <br />
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Women are considered inferior to men; so men feel justified when putting a woman into 'her place' through domestic violence. Malala was shot for advocating women's education, defying male dominance over women. Gays are bullied for their sexual orientation. Ethnic and racial groups are marginalized, segregated and eliminated through genocide. <br />
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Think of how groups of people are dehumanized through words or images. In Rwanda before the genocide began the radio station RTLM referred to the Tutsis as "cockroaches". Jews were described by the Nazis as "lazy", "inferior", "robbers", "vermin" and "lice". African-Americans were labeled "apes". Native Americans were commonly referred to as "savages". How much easier is it to harm or kill someone else if that person is not as 'human' as you?<br />
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Abortion is justified by many as the removal of an object or a clump of cells. Others admit that those cells are the beginning of a person, but just not yet a person; therefore an abortion is acceptable. Euthanasia is urged in some places for those unable to function to the standards of the world. <br />
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Is child abuse an effect of abortion? The disposable unborn becomes the disposable baby, child, teenager?<br />
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Could even the violence of street gangs be attributed to those members viewing members of other gangs as less of a person? <br />
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The only possible way to give dignity to all is to respect the personhood of all people from the moment of conception to their natural death. <br />
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A stretch? I don't think so. But of course, it is just my opinion.Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-79380294605045804722015-10-25T11:53:00.000-05:002015-12-09T00:08:51.627-06:00Guns in America: A pro-life letter to my dad<span style="color: #666666;"><em>A pro-life view on guns and gun control.</em></span><br />
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By <a href="http://www.uscatholic.org/authors/stephen-schneck-30151">Stephen Schneck</a>, <span class="article-type">blog</span> <span class="article-term">Justice</span> <span class="article-term">News</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/201510/guns-america-pro-life-letter-my-dad-30413#disqus_thread">http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/201510/guns-america-pro-life-letter-my-dad-30413#disqus_thread</a><br />
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<em>My dad died in 2008. He joined the National Rifle Association (NRA) when he came home from Korea and was a member for the rest of his life.</em><br />
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Dear Dad,<br />
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I’ve changed my mind about guns. They do need to be regulated, licensed, and limited. I say this especially as a pro-life Catholic.<br />
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In America today, guns have become something that they never were for us. We wrangled about whether this or that shotgun gauge was better for ducks or pheasants. Dad, I remember how proud you were when I bested all my Boy Scout friends at an NRA rifle contest. With guns, we felt part of family history; we celebrated rituals like walking Uncle Nick’s cornrows and huddling over steaming coffee in a late November deer stand and passing along Grandpa Joe’s .410 to the next generation. Guns were several things in our home. They were tools for the hunting part of our lives and they were legacies of family traditions. As tools and legacies, they were part of the fabric of our culture and way of life.<br />
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I’m sure that for some Americans, guns are still what they were for us—tools and legacies. But, for most that’s not what they are anymore.<br />
For many, guns are no longer a part of the fabric of their way of life; they have become the measure and purpose of their way of life. I wonder if this is related to a decline of religiosity or if it’s a reaction of people who find themselves in an America where everything seems to be eroding or in flux. Remember that kid when I was growing up who became so fixated with fire? Remember how he ended up burning down the high school? I think there are thousands and thousands of people in America who have become crazy about guns like that kid was about fire.<br />
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For others, guns are about power, both symbolic and real. If guns are about power over others then they are no longer merely tools. Guys who feel powerless and who worry about not measuring up as a man gravitate toward guns. The bigger and scarier-looking the gun, the better. I blame Hollywood and other parts of America’s culture industry for the prevalence of this fetishizing of guns.<br />
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I remember how you laughed at that guy in the duck blind who had painted his shotgun black. Scary-looking guns don’t hunt better, you said. Well, it’s the scariest-looking guns that people are buying these days—a telling sign of how guns in America today are no longer what they were for you. They are now all about having power or feeling powerful. They’re now primarily understood as weapons and increasingly as militarized weapons, designed by manufacturers and at least subliminally valued by their owners for their deadliness against human life.<br />
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You know that I’m pro-life, Dad. Over the years, as I’ve become more and more appalled at the unconscionable deaths of innocents, I’ve become pretty strident in my support for pro-life causes. You remember me marching in Washington’s annual January pro-life march. You remember my efforts to advance policies and laws that promote and protect life in all its stages. (And, you would be appalled at what Governor Jerry Brown just approved in California! You used to like him.)<br />
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In the last few weeks it’s become clear to me that one cannot be opposed to abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty and yet remain silent about guns. This year, guns in the United States will kill thousands and thousands of people. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to see it this way, but clearly this is a pro-life issue. If you are pro-life, then you must be in favor of whatever works to reduce gun deaths. Reflecting the teachings of the church, we are obliged as Catholics, as a matter of faith and morality, to address the availability of guns in public life, just as we are with other life issues. The moral gravity of gun violence is no less than for other life issues.<br />
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We know each other too well, Dad, so I know that you’re going to ask me to step down from lofty sermonizing and tell you what this would actually mean in the real world. How do we really achieve such reduction? Well, we could do worse than to take our bearings from the way that the pro-life movement has made progress against abortion: regulation, licensing, limits and, equally importantly, trying to change the culture by promoting supportive policies for families, mothers, and babies.<br />
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How would this work for guns? In many states, only state liquor stores can sell liquor. Why not ammunition? In every state, some cars are not allowed on the roads because they are potentially dangerous. In every state, cars need to be licensed, insured, and frequently inspected. Why not guns? One needs to be licensed to scuba dive, run a restaurant, have a dog, operate a ham radio, fish for trout, get married, and oodles of other things. Why not for gun ownership? Such regulations, limits, and licenses are designed to keep the public safe, while allowing mature, qualified, and appropriately healthy individuals to own and use these things safely.<br />
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You and I would surely argue about the details. It’s the bigger matter of faith and morals that’s become so compelling to me. This is a moral imperative. Don’t you see? It’s not a putdown or an effort to diminish the way of life that you loved and that I grew up in. Indeed, that way of life would surely flourish if common sense regulations and limits were in place. But if I’m pro-life, Dad, if I’m serious about my Catholic faith, then I must support advancing gun controls in contemporary America.<br />
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I know that someday we’ll be tramping through Uncle Nick’s cornrows again. I miss you, Dad.<br />
<br />
Steve<br />
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Stephen Schneck is the Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America.<br />
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<em>Stephen Schneck's blog, </em><a href="http://www.uscatholic.org/church-and-state">Church and state</a><em>, will update every Monday. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenSchneck" target="_blank">@StephenSchneck</a>. </em><br />
<em>Image: Flickr <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" target="_blank">cc</a> via </em><a href="http://michaeldorausch.com/" target="_blank"><em>Michael Dorausch</em></a><br />
<a href="http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/201510/guns-america-pro-life-letter-my-dad-30413#disqus_thread">http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/201510/guns-america-pro-life-letter-my-dad-30413#disqus_thread</a></div>
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Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3385380251871409486.post-87545688096816550312015-10-22T15:07:00.001-05:002015-10-22T15:07:40.742-05:00Comprehensive Health Clinics vs. Planned Parenthood<img alt="" class="has-story-image-wrapper" src="http://c5.nrostatic.com/sites/default/files/pic_article_adflist_08172015.jpg" style="height: auto; margin: 0px; width: 100%;" />Mary Ann Gisburnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14776295700641437329noreply@blogger.com0