By Mark Pickup

Since becoming a grandparent, I have been annoying friends with pictures of my grandchildren. In fact, at one point I sent so many photos by e-mail to my friend Bob Schindler (the late father of Terri Schiavo), the sheer volume crashed his computer! After apologizing profusely, I decided to take the hint and scale back on my grandfatherly e-mail boasting.

Yes, being a grandparent is proving to be one of the best and happiest phases of my life, and that brings me to the point of this short blog.

I have had an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis for 26 years. In the early years after being diagnosed, I was often affected by a series of terrifying roller-coaster rides of MS attacks. I would go to bed at night not knowing what function I would wake up with or without. It was horrible! At times, it was only the very real presence of Christ in my life and the love of my family that sustained me.

If I had despaired of life and if assisted suicide had been available (like in Oregon and Washington state), and if I had taken that option ... look what I would have missed! My five grandchildren bring me unspeakable joy and happiness.

My annoying people with emailed pictures of my grandchildren is really just another way for me to say I am able to celebrate life in all its stages, phases and eventualities—despite a disease that is slowly destroying me. My disease and electric wheelchair cannot take away my joy.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide acceptance is often fueled by fear of the future. But today is the tomorrow I feared yesterday. My todays are filled with the only thing that ultimately matters in life: love.

Euthanasia not only kills people, it kills the potential to love and be loved.


This blog is reprinted with permission. About the author: In 1984, at age 30, Mark Pickup was diagnosed with aggressive multiple sclerosis; he is now triplegic. Mark has spoken throughout the U.S. and Canada to promote the sanctity of life and the dignity of all human beings, and is also a widely published writer on bioethical and Christian matters. His wife, LaRee, is the provincial director of the Alberta Pro-Life Association. Mark and LaRee have developed a gripping presentation chronicling their personal experiences titled “The Search for Meaning in Suffering: A Christian Perspective,” a three-part seminar suitable for retreats and conferences. To book them as speakers, call 780-929-9230 or e-mail MPickup@shaw.ca. Read all of Mark’s blogs at http://humanlifematters.org and markpickup.org.

By Steven Mosher and Colin Mason

But a billion human beings are not added to the planet’s population very often. Annual funding requests needed an annual justification. Thus the following July 11th was billed as “World Population Day (WPD),” as has every subsequent July 11th up to the present day.

In its initial iteration, World Population Day consisted of dismal pronouncements from the United Nations Population Fund—the lead spear carrier for this unholy day—bringing us the bad tidings that we are breeding ourselves off the face of the planet. This early “apocalypse now” style proved effective at generating massive press coverage, which in turn prompted parliaments around the world to open up their purses.

The rhetoric of World Population Day has softened considerably in the years since. First of all, the numbers simply didn’t support the old population-bomb thesis. Birth rates were falling farther and faster than anyone thought imaginable. Second, forced-pace population control programs in China and elsewhere had produced a backlash in the West.

The 1994 Cairo conference marks a watershed in the rhetoric, if not the reality, of population control programs. Largely because of opposition from a consortium of Catholic and Muslim countries, the Programme of Action that resulted from the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) contains no population projections, no demographic analyses, no universal right to abortion, and no hard targets for contraceptive acceptance, fertility decline or population levels. What survived the prolonged and often fractious negotiations was a pastiche of less controversial policies centering not on the numbers but on what came to be called “reproductive health care.”

This outcome was initially quite a disappointment for the hard-line controllers who, in the words of Adrienne Germain,

argued that Cairo’s “reproductive health approach” will be far more expensive and less efficient than vertical family planning programs. Rather, they say, priority should be given to meeting the unmet need for contraception, as conventionally defined. They further argue that “population” resources, small to begin with, certainly should not be stretched to cover the kind of “social engineering”—that is, health, empowerment, and rights—mandated by the ICPD. If there is to be any “social engineering,” they say, it should take the form of incentives or other persuasive measures directly targeted on fertility and, in particular, contraceptive use.

In other words, they wanted to continue the hard sell, complete with hard targets, which relied upon bribes, sanctions and propaganda campaigns to ensure compliance.

Advocates of a “reproductive health care” approach, including Germain herself, sought to reassure the hard-liners that the “demographic imperative”—that is, the need to control population growth—remained the top priority:

[A] reproductive health approach will be more cost effective in meeting demographic goals … by reducing dropout and failure rates, and … by appealing to the younger individuals and couples who, in demographic terms, need to …contracept earlier and longer. Proponents of the ICPD also look to broad “social engineering,” rather than fertility-centered propaganda or incentives … That is, we argue for creation of socio-economic conditions in which it makes sense for individuals to have two or fewer children. [italics added]

Germain concluded by reassuring hard-line controllers that these presumably costly social engineering programs would not compete with their existing programs for funding. Rather, they would be paid for by “broader development agencies and budgets, not from family planning budgets; nor would ministries of health and family planning be responsible for their implementation.” This new money, according to Germain, would ensure that the reproductive health approach would not compete with, but work alongside existing top-down, numbers-driven population control programs. This point bears repeating: The hard-line approach was slated to continue, with or without the infusion of new funds necessary to initiate full-service reproductive health care programs.

In [any] event, the UNFPA’s fundraising drive and those of related organizations, stalled shortly after takeoff. In the years since, it has issued increasingly frantic calls for donor countries to “honor” the ICPD commitments—that is, put more money into population control—only to have these increasingly ignored. Of the projected tens of billions of dollars that these new commitments to reproductive health care supposedly required, only a fraction has actually been raised. The 179 nations present at the ICPD have not even come close to meeting their pledges. Annual funding in 2003 stood at only $4.7 billion, a handsome sum of money, to be sure, but only one-quarter of the estimated $18.5 billion that had been pledged at Cairo.

Caught between the demands of the Cairo agreement for reproductive health care programs, on the one hand, and the reality of existing family planning commitments and essentially static budgets on the other, the population bureaucracy has had to improvise. They have done so by dressing up existing fertility control programs in the guise of reproductive health care. And they now tout such “reproductive health” programs as a great boon to women and children. Among the many [alleged] benefits of reducing the birthrate they list lower maternal mortality, reduced infant mortality, improved overall health and higher living standards. The claims of the controllers are greatly exaggerated, if not entirely bogus.

But this year’s World Population Day rhetoric is even blander than “reproductive health” and “reproductive rights.” This year’s theme— “be counted” and “everyone counts”—is so soft that it can mean almost anything. According to UNFPA Director Thoraya Obaid, it means,

Every country counts its people. The numbers tell decision-makers about current and future needs …With world attention focused on achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and the upcoming MDG10 Summit at the United Nations in September, the availability of consistent and comparable statistical information has become even more crucial. Data for development plays a prominent role in monitoring progress, assessing and realigning plans and strategies, and conducting effective advocacy. Data, and public access to it, contributes to transparency and accountability.

So the UNFPA’s job is now … carrying out a census? Data for resource allocation? Even the official UN Secretary-General’s statement has only passing reference even to reproductive rights, normally the cornerstone of UNFPA rhetoric.

On the ground, however, it’s business as usual, and the locals know it. News photographs of WPD celebrations from Delhi, India, for example, bear captions quoting Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit saying, “There is a need for small families as resources are limited and uncontrolled population may result in slower development.” From Africa, we are assured that, vis-á-vis WPD, “Family [p]lanning is an investment in the people’s needs and the needs of the population. It’s a win-win situation.”

The United Nations, in the person of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, has even proclaimed, “[I]ndividuals have a basic right to determine freely and responsibly the number and timing of their children,” adding, “Millennium Development Goal 5, improving maternal health, affirms this right.”

The minds behind World Population Day understand that top-down population control has too much bad press. Places like China and Peru have shown the world what coercive population policies really look like, and the results are ugly and violent.

They understand that in order to sell population control, it has to look like human rights. It has to look like choice. It has to look like help. It has to look like anything but what it really is.

Steven W. Mosher is president of the Population Research Institute, an international nonprofit working to end coercive population control and fight the myth of overpopulation that fuels it. He is also an internationally recognized authority on China and population issues, as well as an acclaimed author and speaker. He has worked tirelessly since 1979 to fight coercive population control programs.

Colin Mason is director of media production at the PRI, as well as its primary media contact and liaison. He also conducts research and writes articles regularly for the PRI. He has produced seven television shows for EWTN on the state of the pro-life movement worldwide, in addition to numerous mini-documentaries and short pro-life films, all of which are available on YouTube.

This commentary is reprinted with the PRI’s kind permission. 

By James
 
Just a few years ago, the landlord of Rockford’s infamous abortion mill walked outside the mill and began mocking the few Christians who were there, praying for life. He looked down the sidewalk in one direction and shook his head. Then he looked down the sidewalk in the other direction, began laughing and said, “Where are all your Christians? No one’s here. Nobody cares about abortion.”
 
In the past, the Rockford abortion mill was sometimes open three days a week and could do anywhere from 50-75 abortions a week!

Below are the testimonies of three Christians who have over 65 years of pro-life ministry among them:

After the abortionist, Richard Ragsdale, moved from near Rockford Memorial Hospital to the clinic’s present location on Broadway in 1985, the clinic was open three days a week, doing approximately 75 abortions each week.
 
The owner of the building, Wayne Webster, and the security guard, John Caskey, enjoyed themselves standing at the driveway every clinic morning, harassing and speaking obscenities to the sidewalk counselors and prayer supporters.
 
If a car did stop in the driveway to talk to a sidewalk counselor, they would holler and scream at the driver to “pull in, pull in.” Rarely did we get to give out literature or talk to a mother.

Rarely were there any “saves” or turnarounds.  

—Vicki

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It was 1985 when I first went to 10th & Broadway to hear Joe Scheidler, a long-time pro-life advocate from Chicago, give a speech.
 
I remember that he said, “If you want to save babies, you have to be here where the babies are dying and do all you can to reach those moms who are going in there.” It was after that that I decided that is where I wanted to direct my efforts. …
 
Richard Ragsdale was the doctor who killed the babies. The mill was open three days a week. It was not unusual to have 25-30 mothers going in on a Friday, and the other days it was usually anywhere from 10-17.
 
Wayne Webster, the owner of the building, had security guards who were not very nice people, and at one time he had a truck parked near the sidewalk filled with sewage that he threatened to spray on us.
 
He also spent a lot of time on the loudspeaker, making fun of some of the people who were praying, and he took pleasure in calling people names.
 
I grieve for the children who have died such a terrible death in that building and pray for their moms. If God is calling you to help the unborn, please come and experience the joy of seeing a girl leave and choose life. There is nothing else like it.

—Mary Jane

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When I first started praying at this mill, there were so many mothers coming in for abortions, they sometimes had to park in the street because the parking lot was full.
 
I remember once when they killed over 40 babies in one day. Sadly, at times there were not very many Christians on the sidewalk praying or offering help to mothers.

—Kevin

So, what has changed from when 50-75 children were killed per week to now, when they kill 20-25 babies per week with more mothers than ever turning to pro-lifers for help?
 
How can we continue this trend of reducing the numbers of babies killed in Rockford and continue being God’s instruments in helping mothers and saving the lives of God’s precious infants?

Jesus said, "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons.” (Mark 16:16)

1. Love: Love involves a sacrifice of self and time. More Christians than ever are realizing this abortion nightmare will not end without the sacrifice of ourselves and our time, standing in love for countless hours on the sidewalks in front of this abortion mill that has murdered so many thousands of children. More and more Christians are public witnesses of life and love that mothers see as they drive into the mill parking lot. The very presence of Christians at this place of death results in mothers seeing and knowing that love and help are available to them—and many choose LIFE.
 
2. Prayer: Christians are praying at the mill, at home, at church, at school for the end of the killing of children at the Northern Illinois Women’s Center. The power of prayer is what those inside the mill hate the most and try to disrupt with loudspeakers and offensive signs in the mill windows meant to distract and disrupt the efforts of people at prayer. They have failed to stop the prayer, and the more they attack God, the more people are praying.
 
3. Courage: For years, the Northern Illinois Women’s Center has employed and engaged in a campaign of intimidation toward Christians that has finally backfired in its face. Because Christians have stood strong in the face of this bigotry and hatred, the vicious attacks of those who operated this mill are now being broadcast and documented on the internet and YouTube. Over 50 web sites have covered the bigotry and hatred of the Rockford abortion mill.
 
Because they have been held accountable in public, their attempts at intimidation have been reduced to a few noxious signs in the windows of the building at 1400 Broadway. The courage of pro-life women and men to deal with the vulgar profanity of these killers of children and mocking of Jesus Christ directed at them for years has been the courage and steadfastness of which saints are made.
 
4. Truth: Science has shown people the clear and indisputable truth that abortion kills a human person in his or her mother’s womb. Women who have been deeply hurt by abortion in Rockford have come forward to tell the truth of how abortion has harmed them and how they have been treated by the abortion industry. The truth is that more and more people are getting sick of the murder of babies in the womb that takes place in Rockford.
 
5. Jesus Christ:

O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable His ways! (Romans 11:33)

We don’t always understand how the will of God works, but we know for sure that any effort of Christian charity such as the pro-life movement, which is bathed in God’s grace and love, will bring life and hope to the world.

“All these I have kept,' the young man said. "What do I still lack?" (Matthew 19:20)

Much good has been done by Christians at Rockford’s abortion mill. Many children have been saved from abortion, but many are still being killed every week. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but it is good to know the pro-life prayer, ministry and work already done in faith and love have brought Christ and life to countless people in Rockford.
 
We will continue, each according to our position in life, to do all in our power to bring Jesus Christ to mothers and children in need in Rockford so we may one day say,

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7)

“James” is a 15-year veteran of the pro-life movement in Rockford, Illinois, witnessing outside the internationally notorious abortion business known as the Northwest Illinois Women’s Center. This commentary is reprinted with the kind permission of James and Pro-Life Corner, the web site of Stephenson County Right to Life, Inc., a nonprofit, nondenominational, volunteer pro-life organization in northwest Illinois.

By Jennifer Roback Morse

The reason for the disconnect is that the ideology surrounding the pill is more significant than the pill itself.

Behind the apparently benign goal of giving people more choices lies a deeper goal: re-creating society. And since this new society is neither appealing nor natural, its advocates are not so eager to call attention to it.

The New Contraceptive World Order holds these tenets: Sex is a sterile recreational activity. “Safe” sex (meaning sex with a condom) has no significant negative consequences. Marriage is not necessary for either sexual activity or childbearing. And unlimited sexual activity is an entitlement for everyone old enough to give meaningful consent.

But there is a serpent in this man-made paradise: All of these tenets are false.

It isn’t true that sex is a sterile activity. Contraception fails—regularly. Even the pill only reduces the probability of pregnancy, but not all the way to zero. Uncommitted sex has plenty of negative consequences that cannot be prevented by contraception. Marriage really is the best place for both sexual activity and childbearing. And, because we have been convinced that unlimited sexual activity is an entitlement, we have sex in relationships that cannot possibly sustain a pregnancy. When the inevitable pregnancies result, we fall back on abortion to continue clinging to our belief in the New Contraceptive World Order.

Thus, the attempt to create this new society cannot succeed.

The New Contraceptive World Order is an artificial creation of the state. It requires continual support and coddling from the state, including ever-increasing efforts to suppress dissent and enforce conformity.

Cheerleaders for this new heaven on earth insist that all doctors be trained in abortions, that all pharmacists prescribe all forms of birth control, that all employers provide contraception and abortion in their health plans. Suppressing the choices of doctors, pharmacists, insurers and employers makes no sense—unless the real goal is to create the new and unnatural society of sterile sex.

Public-interest law firms defending First Amendment rights report that student pro-life groups are subjected to more restrictions on their free-speech rights than virtually any other student groups.

Obviously, restricting free speech in the name of reproductive “freedom” is incoherent. None of this would be necessary if the only purpose of the pill were to give everyone more choices.

This fundamental incoherence is also the underlying cause of the contentiousness of the Supreme Court nomination process. Since this new world cannot sustain itself by the ordinary actions of ordinary people making voluntary decisions, it has to be sustained by the continual applications of force by those in power. This explains why the stakes for seats in the judiciary are so high.

You might think that consistent failures would compel people to reconsider their ideas about sex. But this cannot be left to chance. The propaganda surrounding the pill has been just as revolutionary as the pill itself. Griswold v. Connecticut, allowing married couples to access contraception to reduce the probability of pregnancy, was never enough for the radicals of the sexual revolution.

To bring their dream world into existence, contraception has to be actively promoted. The federal government finances contraception education in public schools. The sexual-revolution radicals become hysterical over the mere mention of abstinence education. Even people who are normally not ideological have become convinced that it is more “realistic” to expect teenagers to use a condom every time than to persuade them to postpone sexual activity in the first place.

As for the great benefits to women supposedly created by contraception, consider this: In the New Contraceptive World Order, women have the freedom to participate in the labor market on the same terms as men with this proviso: We agree to chemically neuter ourselves during our peak reproductive years.

But it never was necessary for women to make the Faustian bargain. The trend toward the increasing participation of women in higher education and the labor force began around the turn of the 20th century—well before the pill, The Feminine Mystique and the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). Women never needed contraception to be free, even according to the crabbed and truncated vision of freedom that claims that acting on impulse is the ultimate expression of human liberty.

The Catholic Church and other advocates of natural society have taken a beating for being hopelessly “out of step” with modern times.

Do not be deceived by this incessant rhetoric.

The New Contraceptive World Order is inhuman, irrational and, ultimately, unsustainable. It is time to insist that our government stop trying to create something that would not make us happy—even if it could be forced into being, which it cannot.

Jennifer Roback Morse is founder of the Ruth Institute, a project of the National Organization for Marriage. This article was published in the June 28, 2010 issue of the National Catholic Register and is reprinted with its kind permission.  

By Rev. James Kubicki, SJ

Here is the full text of June’s prayer intention: “That every national and international institution may strive to guarantee respect for human life from conception to natural death.”

What does Jesus feel?

The special significance of this intention appearing in June is that this month is traditionally dedicated to honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He didn’t say it directly, but Pope Benedict implied that respect for the right to life of all human beings is an intention very close to the Heart of Jesus. Jesus cares especially for the most helpless among us, and the pope is asking us to do the same. What does Jesus think and feel as He looks out over the world today? We believe that His Heart is particularly wounded by the scourge of abortion. We believe His Heart is broken by all the sins against life.

As Christians, we strive to know the thoughts and feelings of Jesus’ Heart so we can imitate and act upon them. Let’s look more deeply into the Heart of Jesus.

The Bible speaks of a person’s heart as far more than just a muscle that pumps blood. Even in popular use, the word heart often refers to the deepest interior of a person—the place where his or her values and attitudes, thoughts and plans, are formed. Scripture also speaks of sin in terms of “a hard heart.” The prophet Ezekiel addressed the word of God to the Israelites, declaring, “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts” (36:26). God fulfilled this promise in His own Son, Jesus, Who reveals that the Heart of God is filled with a love that is willing to give all for the good of humanity. In giving us forgiveness and new life, Jesus also gives us a new heart, one like His that is open to the workings of the Holy Spirit. We also have a heart, like His, that is wounded and broken by the sins against life.

Can Jesus still suffer?

Jesus is risen and in glory. How can we say His Heart is wounded and broken by the sins against life? Can Jesus still suffer? Saint Paul explains this mystery by declaring that we are the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). Jesus is the Head and we are the Body. Just as we are intimately connected to the power and joy of Jesus, Jesus is intimately connected to the weakness and sorrow of His Body. Paul says, “If (one) part suffers, all the parts suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Jesus, the Head of the Body, continues to suffer with us and in us as we suffer for the brutal dismemberment of the little ones. Fully human and fully divine, Jesus feels our pain with us, but with a divine intensity.

When we recognize the suffering that Jesus feels over abortion and enter more deeply into His sorrow—and when we share our suffering with Him—this shared suffering draws us closer to Him.

Consoling His Heart

Here’s something else that’s wonderful. Devotion to the Sacred Heart has traditionally involved consoling the Heart of Jesus. That amazing concept of consoling the Lord still holds true. We console Jesus by praying and by sharing His loving concern for victims of human ignorance and cruelty, those who are denied their right to life.

But it is not enough to unite our concerns to Jesus’ concerns. If we are praying according to the will of His Heart, our prayer should always lead us to action. Feelings and words are good, but they should lead us to work to remove that which causes sorrow to the Heart of Jesus. We commit ourselves to changing the wrongs that wound His Heart and our hearts. We commit ourselves to reparation, seeking to repair the damage that abortion and other sins against life have done to the Body of Christ and to the world.

The Apostleship of Prayer offers a simple yet profound way to pray for change in the hearts of our leaders and all people. Writing to the Christians in Rome, Saint Paul challenged them to live the Christian life by following Jesus’ example of sacrificial love. He wrote, “I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). This offering of our bodies and our entire selves can be made each morning upon rising. It can be done in our own words or in a set prayer. In the Apostleship of Prayer, we encourage people to make this offering with an awareness of the millions of other Christians who are making a similar offering on behalf of the pope’s intentions. Many people add a special prayer for the end of abortion, and in this way, they create a powerful prayer chain.

Thus, one day at a time, we recommit ourselves at the beginning of each day to pray and work to remove the wound of abortion from Jesus’ Heart. We pray too that healing may come to the hearts of all people wounded and suffering from the sin of abortion.

Daily offering prayer for life

God, our Father, I offer You my day.
I offer You my prayers, thoughts,
words, actions, joys, and sufferings
in union with Your Son Jesus.
I offer them for all the intentions of Jesus’ Heart.
His Heart grieves over sins against life.
He suffers with and for the victims of abortion.
May I share His suffering and offer myself today,
that hearts of stone may be converted.
I join my prayer with all those
who are also offering themselves to You today.
May our offerings build a culture of life.
Amen.

Adapted from the article with the same title in the May-June 2010 issue of American Life League’s Celebrate Life and featured with the author’s permission. About the author: Rev. James Kubicki, SJ, is national director of the Apostleship of Prayer. Founded in France in 1844, its mission is to encourage Christians to make a daily offering of themselves to the Lord for the coming of God’s Kingdom and for the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions. Father Kubicki is also a popular speaker at retreats, conferences and parish missions, as well as a frequent guest on radio and TV shows. For more information about the simple yet profound way of life of the Apostleship of Prayer, go to www.apostleshipofprayer.org or call 414-486-1152.


 

Responses

Howdy Judy,

I am a terminally ill military veteran.
My heart aches to see what they are doing to the babies. I am praying that b4 i die, I can start at least one DIVINE MERCY RANCH FOR MOTHERS AND THEIR UNBORN BABIES. The Grass-Fed beef would be sold directly to the public to provide an income for the mothers and their babies. The mothers and babies could live at the ranch till some elegible bachelor swept them off their feet and they were happily married. I have the idea on my web site http://DivineMercyRanch.webs.com.
God Bless
Thomas Watts of Wisconsin
THOMAS WATTS | July 28, 2010

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By Jenn Giroux

Who would have ever guessed that contraception would move to center stage in women’s health and in the political arena in 2010? The New York Post reported that a Wicked actress sued Bayer pharmaceutical company, claiming the popular birth control pill Yaz caused her to have a stroke at age 27. According to the US Drug Watchdog site, the serious side effects of birth control pills such as Yaz and Yasmin are potentially putting millions of women at risk for stroke, heart attack and even death. Also, women who have used the pill are now getting breast cancer in their 30s. (Prior to the pill era, breast cancer was a postmenopausal women’s disease.) Next time you are at the pharmacy, ask for the insert information inside the very box that is provided to the consumer when they purchase a contraceptive. For instance, on NuvaRing’s (a common contraceptive) web site, risks associated with the drug include blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, heart disease, gallbladder disease, liver tumors, and cancer of the reproductive organs and breasts.

How many doctors are telling women who go in for contraceptives about these stunning statistics? Women who use hormonal contraceptives for a minimum of 4 years prior to their first full- term pregnancy have a 52-percent higher risk of developing breast cancer (Mayo Clinic Proceedings). Women who use a hormonal contraceptive for more than 5 years are 4 times more likely to develop cervical cancer (International Agency for Research on Cancer). Instead, many doctors convince married and single women to go on contraceptives when they come into the office.

Natural family planning (NFP) is a highly reliable form of not only spacing children but helping couples to conceive. Recent studies have shown it to be 99-percent effective. It’s amazing more doctors aren’t encouraging their patients to effectively use NFP, which has no risks associated with it.

Now, as the undeniable medical evidence mounts which confirms the damage contraceptives have done and continue to do to women’s health, one may ask why, for years, mainstream and even [some] pro-life organizations have ignored this. In addition, it has been revealed that our elected officials are trying to force our tax dollars to pay for birth control under “preventative” medicine that taxpayers and insurers will be forced to pay for under the Affordable Care Act. It is time that every pro-life organization stands up and resists with all their might. Not only are these contraceptives damaging to women’s health, but these class A-1 carcinogens are also causing chemical abortions (in excess of 250 million since the 1960s). For every U.S. child born, an estimated 2 children are killed in the womb from surgical abortion and abortifacient contraceptives (National Center for Health Statistics Division of CDC, 2003; International Pharmacists for Life, 2003).

It’s clear that it is time for expansive and comprehensive education against contraception use. The very life and health of women and the country depend on it. As we watch this all play out, it is easy to think that “crazy is the new normal”—sex outside of marriage, doctors prescribing class A-1 carcinogens and women, through hormonal contraceptives, chemically aborting possibly one baby every month.

That’s definitely CRAZY. But it will never be normal.

Jenn Giroux is a registered nurse, wife, mother of nine and executive director of HLI America, a new initiative of Human Life International. HLI America brings Americans the truth about human life, the beauty of children, and the devastating and harmful physical and spiritual effects of contraception in America. This article is reprinted with permission. 

Responses

Thank you Jenn and Judie for this warning on contraceptions. It would not hurt to hear the dangers of contraceptions from the pulpits until it is no longer a threat to lives. I will send this article out to many and pray.

I hope everyone will call their Senators to oppose Elena Kagan's nomination as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice for life. Pro-abortion activists and President Obama want Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court. The Senate will be voting on Kagan before the August recess. There must be many Catholics perplexed why the USCCB Bishops are so silent on Kagan's nomination?
Senate Switchboard 202 224 3121

May God come to our assistance.


Patty | July 25, 2010

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By Michael Hichborn

A kiss—an expression of affection, greeting, respect, or love by use of the lips. Judas the Apostle sealed his betrayal of our Blessed Lord with a kiss for a mere 30 pieces of silver. But his betrayal was not done in anger. He did not publicly blaspheme the Lord or denounce His teachings. He didn’t even deny Him as Peter had. In fact, it might be said that he persisted in his faith in the Lord when he confessed to Annas and Caiaphas that he had “betrayed innocent blood.”  But instead of repenting of his sin, and publicly proclaiming Christ’s innocence, he took a rope, tied it around a tree, and hanged himself.

Two thousand years later, we see a similar story unfold as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi prepares to receive an award from Planned Parenthood, specifically for her work in preventing any restrictions on abortion from being included in the health reform bill (now law). In other words, she betrayed innocent blood and, in return, received a trinket from those who orchestrated, and had the most to profit from, this betrayal.

Rather than renouncing the Catholic faith, since she so clearly disbelieves its core teachings on human life, Pelosi insists on pointing out to the public that she is a Catholic. In fact, according to a January article from LifeSiteNews.com, this “ardent, practicing Catholic” has professed:

“I am a practicing Catholic, although they’re probably not too happy about that. But it is my faith,” said the Speaker. “I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that is that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have that opportunity to exercise their free will.”

The word used by both Matthew and Mark to describe Judas’ kiss is the Greek verb kataphilein, which means to kiss intensely. In other words, Judas smothered Jesus with kisses, as if to make some public show of affection for God.

And so it is with Nancy Pelosi. She, too, is smothering our Blessed Lord with kisses in an apparent attempt to compensate for her own denial of Catholic teaching on abortion. Judas denied the divinity of Christ, calling him “teacher,”  “rabbi,” and “master.”  Pelosi is denying the humanity of preborn children by reducing their worth to a woman’s “choice.”  

The defection of Judas is first recorded in John 6:64 and 67-71. Immediately after explaining the Eucharist, Jesus asked the twelve if they would leave, as many others had done. They all remained, and Peter spoke for them saying, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus responded by saying, “Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?”  He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, for it was he who would betray Him.

As with Judas, Nancy Pelosi has never publicly denied Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist. Yet even in the face of open rebellion against the Church’s teachings on abortion, birth control, and homosexual acts, she faithfully presents herself for Communion every Sunday. According to Pelosi, “…communion has not been withheld and I’m a regular communicant so that would be a severe blow to me if that were the case.” 

Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law states that “Those … obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.” The purpose for this Canon is three-fold. It defends the Holy Eucharist from desecration, it protects individuals from heaping condemnation upon themselves, and it defends the faithful from scandal.

And now, Nancy is preparing to receive her 30 pieces of silver in the form of an award from Planned Parenthood.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed fervently while his apostles slept. But at least when it became clear that Jesus had been betrayed, they zealously fought in His defense. Today, while Pelosi betrays the Church, scandalizes the flock, and smothers the face of Christ with kisses, there is no zealous defense.

Unfortunately, no bishop with proper authority over Nancy Pelosi has shown her the true charity due her by preventing her from committing further sacrilege. Archbishop Niederauer, who is her bishop in San Francisco, has refused to deny her Holy Communion, as has Archbishop Wuerl, of Washington, D.C.

So, the betrayal is complete. Pelosi sells millions of preborn babies to Planned Parenthood for a worthless award while the bishops sleep, just as Judas sold our Blessed Lord to the Sanhedrin for a worthless amount of silver while the Apostles slept. And just as Judas blistered his lips upon the cheek of the Son of Man, each Sunday Pelosi will kneel at the foot of the Cross, recite the prayers of the Mass and then blister her tongue with the Body of Christ.

Michael Hichborn is the director for American Life League’s project Defend the Faith and host of the ALL Report (www.all.org/youtube).

Responses

Dear Judie, that was a sharp, painful letter from Michael Hichborn, reminding us that there is nothing new under the sun, and that what happened to Jesus would indeed happen to His Church. All I can think of to do is pray a special rosary for Nancy Pelosi and her Bishops meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries, especially the Agony in the Garden. Of course in the garden Jesus knew not only what Judas was doing, but what Archbishop Niederauer and Archbishop Wuerl were doing, since time has no effect on God. The pain from those Bishops and the kiss from Nancy Pelosi were no less painful to Christ than the pain from the betrayal of Judas, who pretended love but pierced His Heart.
Mary
Mary | July 22, 2010

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