Maryland Pro-Life News and Commentary

Building a Culture of Life - Part 6

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:16:00 +0000

Building a Culture of Life - Part 6

On August 7, 2008, the 126th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus passed a resolution entitled "Building a Culture of Life". This is a continuation of my reflections on that resolution.

"FURTHER RESOLVED, That we reaffirm our commitment to building a culture of life by promoting policies that favor the family, and by recognizing that it is within strong and healthy families that moral values are taught and that the spiritual and cultural heritage of our nation is transmitted;"

As the family goes, so goes the nation. This was a saying of Pope John Paul II, and how true it is! If strong families build strong cultures, the opposite must be true - weak families build weak cultures. The traditional family in America has been all but destroyed over the past 55 years. In the 1950s and earlier, America enjoyed a very public Judeo-Christian culture, from small towns to State governments, from the Federal government to all of the forms of public media. Abortion, "gay marriage," pornography, and divorce were all seen as the social ills that they truly are. There were laws against such ills and they were portrayed as ills in our media.

Fast-forward to the present - now these social ills are not only legal, but protected as rights! What happened? The family was torn apart by many things - television, public school, smaller family sizes, divorce, two working parents, materialism, promiscuity, and so on.

As Christian men, we should be leading the charge to re-focus on the traditional family. We need to be the best dads, husbands, uncles, grandfathers, godfathers, priests, and deacons, and we need to reinforce the moral truths that come to us from God through the Church. If our #1 and #2 priorities are not God and family, then it's time re-examine our lives and shift our focus back to where it should be.

You can view all of the resolutions online at http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/convention_2008/resolutions/index.html.

Vivat Iesus,

Joe Healy

Building a Culture of Life - Part 5

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:19:00 +0000

Building a Culture of Life - Part 5

Here is the next part of the pro-life resolution passed by Supreme last August:

"FURTHER RESOLVED, That we believe that “women deserve better than abortion” and will continue to support programs which provide women facing crisis pregnancies with alternatives to abortion, including adoption, and that we support projects which provide spiritual support to those women and men suffering from the traumatic emotional and psychological after-effects of abortion;"

This resolution brings to light the work we should be doing to support women in crisis pregnancies and those men and women who are suffering from an abortion. We are not only pro-life, but we are pro-woman. We need to stand up as men, real men, not the wimpy pseudo-men that our society tries to turn us into. Women want us to be the leaders, protectors, and providers we were all meant to be. When we fail them in those roles, our women seek them elsewhere, and not always in the most wholesome ways. Men failing to be real men are largely to blame for the abortion crisis!

We have an opportunity to atone for some of our failings. A few minutes down Frederick Rd. from our Council Hall is Pregnancy Center West, a place where women can turn when they don't know where else to turn. They provide free services to women who are or think they may be in a crisis pregnancy. Their Pregnancy Counselors are volunteers specially trained in pregnancy counseling. Their goal is to provide women with top quality compassionate care, as well as complete, accurate information about adoption, single parenting, abortion and STDs. They do not perform or refer for abortion. All of their services are free and confidential.

Pregnancy Center West is in need of our help. Some of our brother Knights already volunteer there to provide a male presence. Some contribute money on a regular monthly basis. Our help is also needed with cleaning, maintenance, and minor repairs to their clinic. We can always spread the word about what they do and where they are located. If you want to help, give them a call at 410-788-4433 and find out what they need most from you.

Vivat Iesus!

Joe Healy

Building a Culture of Life - Part 4

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:53:00 +0000

Building a Culture of Life - Part 4

Here is the next part of the pro-life resolution passed by the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus in August 2008:

"FURTHER RESOLVED, That we recognize that abortion not only results in the death of an unborn child, but also leads many post-abortive women and men into depression, anxiety and other emotional disturbances;"

My commentary:

We are called to care for not only the unborn children, but also for their parents. These are people who are most likely hurting in one way or another. Most women choose to abort their child because they feel like they have no choice; they do not see any way they could bring that child into the world. They think it's better to end that child's life than try to deal with the difficulties they will face throughout the pregnancy and young life of the child. This sounds like the same thought process that leads people to consider suicide - a lack of hope and lack of options.

After the abortion, she can't help but feel a loss. When she sees that there actually were other options available to her, she often despairs and feels terrible for killing her child. She becomes depressed; her relationships fall apart; she has trouble with her finances - in short, she suffers from Post-Abortion Syndrome.

While the "medical community" may debate whether or not there is such an illness, the tens of thousands of women and men who suffer from it know it is real. Was my baby a boy or a girl? What would he or she look like today? How old would my child be right now?

We need to support those groups that minister to these suffering women (and men, too!). One such group is called Silent No More (www.silentnomoreawareness.org). Their mission is to make the public aware of the devastation abortion brings to women, men, and their families. Their hope is that the emotional and physical pain of abortion will no longer be shrouded in secrecy and silence, but rather exposed and healed. This is a noble effort!

Abortion: One dead, one wounded. Let's end it!

Vivat Iesus!

Joe Healy

Building a Culture of Life - Part 3

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:50:00 +0000

Building a Culture of Life - Part 3

Here is the next part of the pro-life resolution passed by the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus in August 2008:

"FURTHER RESOLVED, That we will challenge our fellow Catholics who are elected officials to be true to the faith they claim to profess, by acting bravely and publicly in defense of life, affirming with Pope Benedict XVI that 'there can be no room for purely private religion.'"

My commentary:

We are called as Knights, Catholics, Christians, and people of good will to be beacons of light in society. One way to do that is to challenge our fellow Catholics and Christians to live the Gospel, including the Gospel of Life. While we all struggle to faithfully adhere to Christ's teachings, Catholics who hold public office have the added responsibility of leading those who are governed by them. They are also very visible examples of the Catholic faith in our world.

Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical The Gospel of Life that public leaders are, "[c]alled to serve the people and the common good, they have a duty to make courageous choices in support of life, especially through legislative measures. In a democratic system, where laws and decisions are made on the basis of the consensus of many, the sense of personal responsibility in the consciences of individuals invested with authority may be weakened. But no one can ever renounce this responsibility, especially when he or she has a legislative or decision-making mandate, which calls that person to answer to God, to his or her own conscience and to the whole of society for choices which may be contrary to the common good."

We need to help remind our Catholic public officials that they have the duty to defend and protect innocent human lives. We must send letters and e-mails, make phone calls, and even visit them in person, and always with Christian charity and as a gentleman Knight. We must also support those who defend innocent human life.

Vivat Iesus!

Joe Healy

Building a Culture of Life - Part 2

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:48:00 +0000

Building a Culture of Life - Part 2

Here is the next part of the pro-life resolution passed by the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus in August 2008:

"FURTHER RESOLVED, That we will continue our efforts to charitably inform, educate and motivate our brother Knights and fellow Catholics of the serious obligation they have to form their consciences so that they make sound moral judgments which support and defend life in all its stages."

My commentary:

Education is the cornerstone of any successful effort to promote a culture of life. Our post-modern culture has been mis-educated from early childhood through adulthood on life issues. Human life has been turned into a commodity to be used by the powerful to achieve certain ends (some good, some bad). We have to re-educate ourselves to see the inherent dignity in each and every human life, from conception to natural death, and treat each and every human life with the respect he or she deserves.

As Knights, we are especially called to be moral leaders in our churches and communities, so I encourage each and every one of you to become educated on life issues and help educate others. There are some great educational resources on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' prolife activities website: http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/.

Vivat Iesus,

Joe Healy

Building a Culture of Life - Part 1

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:44:00 +0000

Building a Culture of Life - Part 1

On August 7, 2008, the 126th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus passed a resolution entitled "Building a Culture of Life". I will present that resolution over the next few posts.

"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That we renew our deep commitment to oppose any governmental action or policy that promotes abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, assisted suicide and other offenses against life, and that we will continue to speak out to our elected representatives about the need to enact legislation to oppose these practices and protect human life from conception to natural death;"

This is the cornerstone of our pro-life commitment. We believe and affirm that a unique and eternal human person begins at the moment of conception, and it is at that point that a person is deserving of his or her rights. The unborn do not have a voice and we need to speak up for them, particularly in the voting booth and the public arena, just as we do for our children who are under the voting age of 18.

It is essential that we support and elect officials who have a deep and profound respect for all human life; who else would you trust with making decisions on your behalf? Who knows when YOU may be in a situation where the presiding officials deem you less than human and that YOU deserve to die? We already see it today when insurance companies decline to cover life-saving medical care and instead offer to cover life-ending "medication" because it costs them less.

We are called to be the leaven in society; now is the time to act!

You can view all of the resolutions online at http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/convention_2008/resolutions/index.html.

Vivat Iesus,

Joe Healy

Life Prevails - Lauren Richardson Allowed to Live!

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:23:00 +0000

I made an appeal last year for Lauren Richardson's life (http://defendlife.blogspot.com/2008/01/pray-for-lauren-richardson-being.html). Well, the Alliance Defense Fund took up her case, and here is the wonderful outcome:

Delaware woman’s parents now in agreement:
their daughter must live

ADF attorneys representing father reach settlement with mother,
who now agrees that 24-year-old disabled daughter should live

WILMINGTON, Del. — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have reached a favorable settlement in a lawsuit that had pitted father against mother over the life of their 24-year-old daughter who suffers from severe brain injury. Because of religious conviction and heartfelt interaction with her ex-husband’s family, the mother of Lauren Richardson decided to join cooperatively with Richardson’s father to care for their daughter and to drop her court request to remove Richardson’s feeding tube and water.

“Everyone deserves a chance to recover. Life should be protected—not destroyed,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “This change of heart and settlement has profoundly affected everyone involved. The miracle of life is not something that should be taken lightly.”

In August 2006, while Richardson was pregnant, she suffered severe brain injury. Doctors later declared her to be in a persistent vegetative state. Despite medical difficulties, she survived and delivered a healthy baby girl in February 2007. She then stabilized into a healthy condition except for some mild medications and her brain injury, which limited her mobility and responsiveness and led to her being fed through a tube.

Richardson’s divorced parents went to court over her care. In January 2008, Richardson’s father, Randy Richardson, contacted ADF after the Delaware Chancery Court made a preliminary recommendation in the case, In re: Lauren Richardson, to give the mother sole guardianship to remove their daughter’s feeding tube. ADF attorneys asked for a new trial and further medical evaluations to show that Lauren Richardson was responsive, that new science undermines the PVS category, and that insufficient evidence existed to demonstrate that Lauren Richardson wanted to stop her own nutrition.

Though it had been alleged that Lauren Richardson once said years earlier that she wouldn’t want to be kept alive if there was “no hope,” her mother’s Christian faith and updates from Randy Richardson’s Web site caused her to feel convicted that her daughter’s life had value and should be preserved. The Web site described Lauren’s responsiveness to pain, music, family members’ voices, touch, and assisted exercise. The site also expressed regret that Lauren Richardson’s daughter might never see her own mother. A reconciliation between the parents ensued in September 2008.

The parents agreed to settle the case, to share joint guardianship of their daughter, and to cooperate in caring for her at Randy Richardson’s Maryland home. Lauren Richardson wept emotionally when her mother informed her of the settlement and the reconciliation of her parents, confirming to the mother that her daughter was aware and responsive. Both parents and their families continue to interact with her daily.

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

http://www.telladf.org/

2 Minutes to Midnight

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:23:00 +0000

As I reflected on yesterday's election, the following lyrics from an Iron Maiden song I used to listen to came to mind (yes, I used to be a headbanger!):

2 minutes to midnight;
the hands that threaten doom;
2 minutes to midnight;
to kill the unborn in the womb.

This is perhaps the darkest hour in post-modern history. We must band together like never before to fight for the lives of the unborn children, to save women from physical and emotional harm, to save men from lost fatherhood, to save families from utter ruin, to end the American Holocaust and bring God's blessing back on our country.

At the beginning of the song mentioned above (at least on the version from the "Live after Death" album), the following inspirational words from Winston Churchill are spoken, in reference to the attempted Nazi takeover of Great Britain and all of Europe. I will change the wording a bit to reflect our current challenge in America, as noted by the words in bold (to see the original quote, click here):

We shall go on till the end. We shall fight in our churches. We shall fight in the legislatures and courts. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the Lord. We shall defend life what ever the cost may be. We shall fight in our cities and we shall fight in our towns. We shall fight on the sidewalks and in the streets. We shall fight in our homes. We will never surrender.

The Battle for America is about to begin. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the American Republic should last a thousand years, men will still say: This was their finest hour.

God bless America, one nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL, born and pre-born!

Freedom of Choice Act

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:34:00 +0000

I commented on some of the wording in the 2007 Freedom of Choice Act to make its meaning a bit more clear. The way I see it, if this Act is enacted, which President-Elect Obama has said would be his first act as President, the Government (Federal, State, Local) would be unable to protect its most helpless and endangered citizens of all - the unborn.

SEC. 4. INTERFERENCE WITH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROHIBITED.

(a) Statement of Policy- It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy [why is it a child if you want to bear it, but a pregnancy if you want to kill it? A child is a child no matter how you feel about him or her!] prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy [kill a child] after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman [health of the woman includes lifestyle, financial, etc.].

(b) Prohibition of Interference- A government may not--

(1) deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose--

(A) to bear a child;

(B) to terminate a pregnancy [kill a child] prior to viability; or

(C) to terminate a pregnancy

[kill a child] after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or

(2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information [i.e., cannot establish laws or provide funding for anything that might limit a woman's access to abortion - parental notification, required waiting period, crisis pregnancy centers, partial-birth abortion restrictions, etc.].

(c) Civil Action- An individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (including relief against a government) in a civil action.

PETRA SUPER PETRAM: In the Holiness of Truth...

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:52:00 +0000

This is from my good friend over at Petra Super Petram:

PETRA SUPER PETRAM: In the Holiness of Truth...

Even if you are not absolutely CERTAIN that what you see pictured there is a human person deserving of the same protections that we born people enjoy, you must admit that you CANNOT PROVE it is NOT a human person.

Wouldn't you rather err on the side of protecting all human life rather than allowing innocent, helpless people to be killed by abortion?

I mean, if an unborn human is not a person, and you can absolutely prove it beyond a doubt, then I guess abortion is no different than getting a haircut or trimming your nails. But if an unborn human IS a person, then woe to us! We are killing more than 4,000 innocent Americans every day, and more than 50,000,000 since 1973!

I say, choose life!

Joe the Plumber

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:25:00 +0000

I received this from a friend:

A Guy named Joe, who happens to be a plumber with ambitions for a bigger business, questioned and challenged a Guy named Barack, who happens to be running for President of the US/Leader of the Free World…

And withing 24 hours the Media has given us more information about Joe's life than they've given us about Barack's life in the past 18 months.

Thanks to a diligent press corps, we now know about Joe's professional licensing status, his income tax situation, his employment history, his domestic squabbles, his voting record, everything associated with his personal identity; his education…. It's probably been reported somewhere whether he wears boxers or briefs.

Thanks to a ruthless and lazy press corps…We still don't know what grades Obama made in college; how he got into Harvard; when he met Bill "the bomber" Ayers; when he stopped doing illegal drugs; his medical history; whether he still smokes cigarettes; the extent of his affiliation with socialist/communist organizations; why he's no longer a licensed attorney; whether he lied on his Bar application;----

Whether he'd qualify for a security clearance if he were just an "average Joe;" what passport he used to travel to Pakistan in 1981; who his ex-girlfriends are; whether he was or still is an Indonesian citizen; why his Kenyan grandmother insists he was born there; whether he was ever legally named Barry Soetoro or anything else besides Barack Hussein Obama-----;

Why he needed the help of a crook to purchase his family home; where he was on Nov. 6 and 7, 1999; what the long-version of his birth certificate says; why he helped an anti-American, pro-Islamic candidate for Kenyan President against US interests; why he listened to Rev. Wright's sermons for 20 years; how many times he took his kids to a Rev. Wright sermon; what he actually did as chair of the Annenberg Challenge; the depth of his relationship with ACORN…

Well, you get the idea.

But, really, I am SO relieved that the Mainstream Media has done its job vetting Joe The Plumber, who is NOT running for public office, but who had the AUDACITY to challenge Barack Hussein Obama, who wants my vote for President of the United States of America."

Is Obama Even Qualified to be President?

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:05:00 +0000

The US Constitution is very explicit when it gives the criteria for becoming President of the USA:

1. Must be at least 35 years old;
2. Must have been a US resident for at least 14 years;
3. Must be a natural born citizen.

Watch this video and let me know if you're certain that Sen. Obama meets ALL of these criteria:

US Bishops Decisively Answer Pelosi's Nonsense About Abortion

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:21:00 +0000

When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told Tom Brokaw on "Meet the Press" that the Catholic Church has not been able to determine when human life begins, she set off a firestorm of debate about the Church and her stance on abortion.

In this response by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Church's constant teaching on the evil of direct procured abortion is very clearly laid out. It is the most succinct and clear explanation I have seen and it is very much worth reading. Thanks to Marcellino D'Ambrosio and his Cross Roads Initiative for providing this!

http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/1096/Pelosi_Continues_to_Roil_Bishops.html

Pelosi Continues to Roil Bishops

September 4th, 2008 by Catholic League

On August 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Tom Brokaw on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Catholic Church has not been able to decide when life begins; she was quickly criticized by many bishops and lay Catholics (including the Catholic League) for misrepresenting the Church’s teaching. No source of criticism was more important than that of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Three days later, Pelosi’s office issued a statement acknowledging that the Church teaches that life begins at conception. However, it also said that St. Augustine offered a different perspective and opined that “many Catholics do not ascribe to that [the Church’s] view.”

Yesterday, the USCCB issued another statement (see below): it is a two-page reply that offered a historical account of the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion. The release makes it clear that the Church has always been unequivocally opposed to abortion. The new statement was written to “help end confusion caused by recent misrepresentations of Catholic Church teaching on abortion,” a process that was “prompted by misleading remarks by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue weighed in as follows:

“Nancy Pelosi continues to give currency to the idea that the Church’s teaching on abortion has evolved over time, and that in any case there is more than one legitimate Catholic position on this subject. She is twice wrong. It is precisely because of people like Morton Kondracke of the Fox News Channel, Anthony Stevens-Arroyo of the Newsweek-Washington Post ‘On Faith’ blog site, and anti-Catholic groups such as Catholics for Choice, that the confusion continues to rage. All of them defend Pelosi’s ignorant remarks.

“Nineteen Catholic members of the House have publicly asked Pelosi to ‘correct the public record’ on this issue. Her steadfast refusal to do so is keeping this matter alive. One wonders what it will take to get her to retract her comments before more damage is done to the Catholic Church, to her and to the Democratic Party.”

Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant TeachingFact sheet by the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Click here to print as a PDF.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law” (No. 2271).

In response to those who say this teaching has changed or is of recent origin, here are the facts:

From earliest times, Christians sharply distinguished themselves from surrounding pagan cultures by rejecting abortion and infanticide. The earliest widely used documents of Christian teaching and practice after the New Testament in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) and Letter of Barnabas, condemned both practices, as did early regional and particular Church councils.
To be sure, knowledge of human embryology was very limited until recent times. Many Christian thinkers accepted the biological theories of their time, based on the writings of Aristotle (4th century BC) and other philosophers. Aristotle assumed a process was needed over time to turn the matter from a woman’s womb into a being that could receive a specifically human form or soul. The active formative power for this process was thought to come entirely from the man – the existence of the human ovum (egg), like so much of basic biology, was unknown.
However, such mistaken biological theories never changed the Church’s common conviction that abortion is gravely wrong at every stage. At the very least, early abortion was seen as attacking a being with a human destiny, being prepared by God to receive an immortal soul (cf. Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you”).
In the 5th century AD this rejection of abortion at every stage was affirmed by the great bishop-theologian St. Augustine. He knew of theories about the human soul not being present until some weeks into pregnancy. Because he used the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, he also thought the ancient Israelites had imposed a more severe penalty for accidentally causing a miscarriage if the fetus was “fully formed” (Exodus 21: 22-23), language not found in any known Hebrew version of this passage. But he also held that human knowledge of biology was very limited, and he wisely warned against misusing such theories to risk committing homicide. He added that God has the power to make up all human deficiencies or lack of development in the Resurrection, so we cannot assume that the earliest aborted children will be excluded from enjoying eternal life with God.
In the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas made extensive use of Aristotle’s thought, including his theory that the rational human soul is not present in the first few weeks of pregnancy. But he also rejected abortion as gravely wrong at every stage, observing that it is a sin “against nature” to reject God’s gift of a new life.
During these centuries, theories derived from Aristotle and others influenced the grading of penalties for abortion in Church law. Some canonical penalties were more severe for a direct abortion after the stage when the human soul was thought to be present. However, abortion at all stages continued to be seen as a grave moral evil.
From the 13th to 19th centuries, some theologians speculated about rare and difficult cases where they thought an abortion before “formation” or “ensoulment” might be morally justified. But these theories were discussed and then always rejected, as the Church refined and reaffirmed its understanding of abortion as an intrinsically evil act that can never be morally right.
In 1827, with the discovery of the human ovum, the mistaken biology of Aristotle was discredited. Scientists increasingly understood that the union of sperm and egg at conception produces a new living being that is distinct from both mother and father. Modern genetics demonstrated that this individual is, at the outset, distinctively human, with the inherent and active potential to mature into a human fetus, infant, child and adult. From 1869 onward the obsolete distinction between the “ensouled” and “unensouled” fetus was permanently removed from canon law on abortion.
Secular laws against abortion were being reformed at the same time and in the same way, based on secular medical experts’ realization that “no other doctrine appears to be consonant with reason or physiology but that which admits the embryo to possess vitality from the very moment of conception” (American Medical Association, Report on Criminal Abortion, 1871).
Thus modern science has not changed the Church’s constant teaching against abortion, but has underscored how important and reasonable it is, by confirming that the life of each individual of the human species begins with the earliest embryo.
Given the scientific fact that a human life begins at conception, the only moral norm needed to understand the Church’s opposition to abortion is the principle that each and every human life has inherent dignity, and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person. This is the foundation for the Church’s social doctrine, including its teachings on war, the use of capital punishment, euthanasia, health care, poverty and immigration. Conversely, to claim that some live human beings do not deserve respect or should not be treated as “persons” (based on changeable factors such as age, condition, location, or lack of mental or physical abilities) is to deny the very idea of inherent human rights. Such a claim undermines respect for the lives of many vulnerable people before and after birth.

For more information: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Procured Abortion (1974), nos. 6-7; John R. Connery, S.J., Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (1977); Germain Grisez, Abortion: The Myths, the Realities, and the Arguments (1970), Chapter IV; U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, On Embryonic Stem Cell Research (2008); Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995), nos. 61-2.

Peaceful Pro-Lifers Arrested Without Warning in Harford County, Maryland

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:30:00 +0000

August 14th update:

VICTORY!!! On Tuesday, August 12, Joe Cassilly, the Maryland State's Attorney in Harford County, dropped all charges that were filed against the 18 PRO-LIFERS who were illegally arrested for peacefully holding FACE THE TRUTH TOUR signs along Route 24 in Bel Air, Maryland last Friday, August 1. This is GREAT NEWS, especially for the ten teenagers who were among those arrested.

Thanks to all of you who stormed heaven with prayers for those who were arrested, for those who were involved in the decision to arrest them, and for our State officials.

What happened on August 1st is almost unbelievable, that 18 persons who were peaceably assembled on public property out of harm's way were arrested without any warning and without being told what the charges against them were. None of those arrested were read their rights. Only a few were allowed to make a single phone call.

This decision by the State of Maryland to drop the charges shows that our side of the story was the true story. There were no traffic jams. There were no people running in and out of traffic. There was no refusal to disperse. They plainly and simply violated our First Amendment rights!

I'm keeping a summary of links to articles and blog posts about the arrests of the Face the Truth Tour participants in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland on Friday August 1st. I was participating in the sign-holding and witnessed everything, including capturing some of the arrests on my camera (see photos). I miraculously walked away without being arrested and immediately began making phone calls to get help for these great pro-life warriors!

Everyone was released by 10:45 Saturday morning and charged with various alleged offenses.

18 Aug 2008 press release by Dr. Mike Hargadon.

06 Aug 2008 updated links:

+ The Baltimore Reporter correcting errors in the Baltimore Sun article (thank you!)

+ LifeSiteNews Article

+ ProlifeNews.tv Article and Video Interview

+ My Radio Interview on Crosstalk with Vic Eliason 8/5/08 (beginning of the program): Real Audio - MP3 - Windows Media

+ My Radio Interview on Faith2Action with Janet Folger 8/4/08 (about halfway through the program): RealAudio - MP3

+ Covenant News article.

+ Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood blog post and discussion.

Previous links:

+ A well-written article by Global Religion News.

+ Here is a link to a great article put out by Operation Rescue:

"Troopers Run Amok, Conduct Mass Arrest of Pro-Lifers in Maryland"

Here's the article on Christian News Wire.

+ One of the first articles appeared on Pro-Life News:

"Washington D.C. area Pro-Life Face the Truth Tour participants arrested!"

+ Here's a post by Catholic Citizens of Illinois (www.CatholicCitizens.org).

+ Here's a post by a friend of some who were arrested (phatmass blog).

Roman Catholics for Obama?

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:24:00 +0000

I applaud the sincerity of Roman Catholics for Obama and their desire to use the US Catholic Bishops' guidance on the responsibility of Catholic voters (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship). I also like the idea that they are 'practicing Catholics' and are truly trying to discern, seemingly at least, which candidate to support for President in 2008.

However, they miss the entire point of the USCCB document, which they quote in order to justify their support of a radically pro-abortion candidate in Obama.

The bishops show us there are eight issues where a candidate can hold an 'intrinsically evil' position. They are abortion, euthanasia, embryo-destructive research, human cloning, the use of torture, targeting of non-combatants, racism, and marriage. The bishops teach us that we MUST evaluate a political candidate's positions on these issues FIRST before we can even look to any other issues. If a candidate supports any 'intrinsically evil' position, there are serious implications on how we can vote.

In the situation presented to Catholic Americans in the 2008 presidential race, we must look at the two front-runners, Obama and McCain, and evaluate them against the eight serious issues.

Abortion: Obama takes the intrinsically evil position of supporting legalized abortion. McCain does not support legalized abortion and is pro-life.

Euthanasia: Obama takes the intrinsically evil position of supporting legalized euthanasia. McCain opposes euthanasia.

Embryo-destructive Research: Obama takes the intrinsically evil position of fully supporting embryo-destructive research. McCain opposes creating/harvesting new embryos and has recently stated, in light of the many advances in using adult stem cells in medical research, that he now opposes using currently-existing IVF embryos in destructive research.

Human Cloning: Obama's position is questionable, as he has opposed human cloning bans, which indicates an intrinsically evil position of supporting human cloning. McCain opposes human cloning.

Torture: Both Obama and McCain oppose the use of torture.

Targeting of Non-Combatants: Obama has stated that he would never use tactical nuclear weapons and that he opposes targeting of non-combatants. McCain has stated that he also opposes targeting of non-combatants but has not ruled out the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Racism: Both Obama and McCain vow to fight against racism.

Marriage: Obama holds the intrinsically evil position that same-sex 'marriage' is legitimate and will strive to legalize it in America. McCain opposes same-sex marriage and has vowed to protect traditional marriage as between one man and one woman.

As you can see, Obama holds an intrinsically evil position on at least four, and possibly five, out of the eight incontrovertible issues. McCain does not hold any intrinsically evil positions, although he may be weak on embryo-destructive research (but better than Obama) and targeting of non-combatants.

It is CLEAR that practicing Catholics, following Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, CANNOT support Obama for president in good conscience.

Another interesting note: IF you go beyond these eight major Catholic issues to the other twenty-two issues brought up as important (but not involving 'intrinsically evil' positions), McCain still outshines Obama, taking a more favorable position than Obama on nine of the issues, while Obama takes a more favorable position on only two of the issues, with them taking equally favorable positions on eleven of the issues.

Applying a scoring system, I allocated a maximum of 15 points to each of the eight major issues and 5 to each of the twenty-two minor issues, and here is how the two candidates fared(maximum of 230 points):

Obama: 50 points for major issues; 64 points for minor issues; 114 points total.

McCain: 104 points for major issues; 90 points for minor issues; 194 points total.

You can see my spreadsheet analysis by clicking here.

But what are points to the more than one million American babies who are being murdered legally before birth each year? When Catholic voters (and the candidates) face them in the next life, will they be able to say, "I did everything I could to save you"?

See also Archbishop Chaput's letter, Thoughts on Roman Catholics for Obama, in response to their use of one of his statements, taken out of context, in order to justify their support of Obama.

How to End Abortion - A Multi-part Series by Fr. Mellace

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:11:00 +0000

Fr. Anthony Mellace's recent article on his reasons for fighting against abortion stirred up quite a lot of interest. In response, he has provided the following series on what we need to do in order to end abortion.

Introduction: My Reasons for Fighting Against Abortion

Part 1 - Evil in Our Midst

Part 2 - The Truth Shall Make You Free

Part 3 - Character Formation

Part 4 - Expose the Evil: Abortion Traumas

Part 5 - Shining Truths

Part 6 - Simple Logic

Part 7 - Bleeding Bodies

I will publish more as he makes them available. To see all of Fr. Mellace's articles I have published, click here.

Obama: The Most Radically Anti-Life Candidate in US History

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:56:00 +0000

Hillary Clinton, who was once the poster-child for the "pro-choice" movement, lost a key endorsement to Barack Obama last week. The largest group to lobby for the right to commit pre-natal murder legally (and make a profit off of it), NARAL Pro-Choice America, has endorsed Obama for president.

NARAL Pro-Choice America is the radical lobbying-arm of Planned Parenthood, a "non-profit" organization that made $112,000,000 in profit and received $336,000,000 in taxpayer funding in 2006. Planned Parenthood is responsible for at least 300,000 abortions annually plus many more due to abortifacient drugs and contraceptives. (See related video: Planned Parenthood Kills for Profit.)

Planned Parenthood has also been tied to eugenics (killing off "less-than-desirable" people to make the world a "better place"), and was recently exposed accepting racist donations that would have been tied explicitly to killing black babies.

Planned Parenthood has been accused of covering up a multitude of sexual crimes: rape, incest, pedophilia, statutory rape.

Obama would view the conception of HIS OWN GRANDCHILDREN as a mistake and would advocate their pre-natal murder to prevent his daughters from being "punished with a baby"!

Obama considers his single biggest mistake as a US Senator was voting to save the life of Terri Schiavo! If presented with that scenario again, he would let her die.

Obama also advocates the killing of newborn or genetically imperfect children.

The fact that NARAL Pro-Choice America sees hope in Obama should be a warning to us all. He has supported the pro-prenatal-murder group 100% in his time in the US Senate. This, combined with Obama's own statements about life, make it plainly obvious that Catholics, and indeed all people of good will, cannot in good conscience cast a vote for him in November.

Articles About My Vaccine Issue With The Coast Guard

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:30:00 +0000

The U.S. Coast Guard recently granted my request for a religious exemption from receiving the Hepatitis A vaccine, which is derived from cells obtained in the abortion of a healthy 14-week old baby. I am a practicing Catholic, and the Church teaches that all life is sacred, from conception to a natural death, and I think it is wrong to use aborted babies in medical research.

The Coast Guard initially denied my request, stating that receiving the vaccine was not against my faith, but after a lawsuit filed on my behalf by the Alliance Defense Fund (http://www.telladf.org/), the authorities reconsidered my request and ended up granting it.

Here's a great quote from the WND news article: "[Healy] said the decision "is consistent with the Coast Guard's mission to save human lives from dangers at sea; in this case, those in danger are the unborn babies in the turbulent waters of their mothers' wombs.""

My special thanks go out to Debi Vinnedge (http://www.cogforlife.org/), Matt Bowman (Alliance Defense Fund), and all of the many hundreds of people who offered their prayers and words of encouragement throughout this case.

Here are some news stories about my case:

WorldNetDaily.com: http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64230
Catholic News Agency: http://catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12647
LifeSiteNews.com: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051301.html
LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/nat3924.html
Catholic World News: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=58527
Children of God for Life: http://www.cogforlife.org/militaryexemptionallowed.htm
Alliance Defense Fund: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4509
FRC Action: http://www.frcaction.org/get.cfm?i=WA08E13#WA08E13
The Source Daily: http://tinyurl.com/4rl2c6

Blogs:

Theoreo: http://theoreo.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/128/
Transfigurations: http://transfigurations.blogspot.com/2008/05/coast-guard-relents-allows-officer-to.html
St. Louis Catholic: http://stlouiscatholic.blogspot.com/2008/05/military-allows-religious-exemption-to.html
The Shepherds' Journey: http://www.shepherdsjourney.com/jaysblog/2008/05/coast-guard-allows-officer-to-refuse.html
Scout.com: http://forums.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=7&F=1405&T=2471251&P=1#s=7&f=1405&t=2471251
iFeminists: http://www.ifeminists.net/e107_plugins/enews/enews.php?item.9962.3

Bleeding Bodies

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:00:00 +0000

This is Part 7 of a series of articles on How to End Abortion written by Fr. Anthony Mellace (drdavila@aol.com) and is published here with his permission. Fr. Mellace has a new website: http://www.freehorizon.org/.

In this article, Fr. Mellace takes apart two remaining pro-abort arguments.

How to End Abortion: Part VII - Bleeding Bodies

The following are two other arguments used by pro-abortionists:

“..No woman should be forced to accept an unwanted pregnancy.”

You mean that no one should be forced to accept a sexual relation that your boyfriend pressures you into. The above argument makes as much sense as a glutton who says that he should not be forced to accept an unwanted digestion. His only intention was to eat and drink in an excessive and abusive way. Since he is annoyed and irritated by the uncomfortable result of his debauchery, he therefore feels justified in taking something to vomit the undesirable food. It also makes as much sense as an intoxicated driver who says that he should not be forced to accept or be responsible for the unwanted survivors of a car accident that he was responsible for. His only intention was to entertain himself racing down the road. He had no idea that other people were on the highway. Since they interfered with his pleasure, they don’t deserve to live.

“..Legalizing abortion makes it safe and therapeutic.”

Whether legal or not, abortion is abortion and is never safe:

I deeply thank and appreciate HLI for providing us with an objective, unbiased, scientific, medical clinical picture of the physical damages inflicted on the body of a woman through a procured abortion. They are the simple and hard facts:

· When the aspiration or vacuum cleaner method is used, the uterine lining is lacerated. The consequences are high risks of post spontaneous abortions in 10% of the patients. Also many pre-mature births occur.

· Since the pregnant uterus is very fragile and thin, the sharp instruments and vacuum cleaner perforate it. The surgeon is even unaware of this.

· Infection occurs, the fallopian tubes are obstructed and sterilization could occur

· The sharp instruments used can also cause lesions to the intestine, bladder and fallopian tubes.

· If the artery of the uterus is hit, then a hysterectomy is necessary, since it is not possible to stop the hemorrhage.

· Heavy hemorrhages are caused by the scraping away of the baby

· This will necessitate blood transfusion

· This will bring on more infections

· Antibiotics, in such cases, are ineffective

· Adherents are formed in the uterus bringing on sterility and an absence of menstruation

· Left over placenta in the womb causes problems for future pregnancy

· Saline solution causes retention of placentae hemorrhages

· Saline solution causes intoxication by retaining the water in the womb and may cause the heart to stop beating and eventually death

· The saline solution can enter into the bloodstream of the mother with mortal effects

· Leftover solution could kill second future child. 22,000 cases were reported

· Abortions incapacitate the uterus and make it insufficient for its role

· Post abortions cause infertility in 18% of the women submitted to them

· 67% of women who had abortions suffered from one or more of the above complications after second pregnancy, especially hemorrhage

· Congenital defects in second child due to imperfect placenta

· Pro-abortion doctors and nurses suffer from pathological conditions of anguish, guilt complex and depression. They are professionally demoralized

· Young couples who have an abortion do not want to marry afterwards

· The married couple that aborted have great hostilities towards each other after the abortion

· Pro-abortion doctors constantly fear being sued for abortion complications. Some fear for their reputations and jobs if discovered they are abortionists. (I think we should expose them)

· Pharmaceutical companies and supermarkets are obligated by law to write in the dangerous side effects of medicines or the chemical compositions of their foods, but abortionists are not obligated to say anything (have our congressmen see this)

If abortion is not something evil, why are doctors who perform it afraid to show themselves in public and hate to be called abortionists? Why is that they do everything possible in order for people not to know that they do perform abortions? Why do they hide, run and cover their faces? Why do they withhold the information concerning the physical damages caused to a woman’s body by an abortion? Is that the way that true and honest physician proceeds in his medical profession? When a doctor performs a surgery to save a human life, he is well spoken of, congratulated, praised and welcomed by the public. Why doesn’t an abortionist receive the same honors? Why is he despised by everyone? Why does he do abortions if he is deeply ashamed of this practice? I would encourage all pro-lifers to provide knowledge as to which doctors in their areas or cities perform abortions. I believe that the public has a right to this type of knowledge whether they agree with abortion or not. Would you then go and be treated by him for any physical problem? Would you trust your life in his hands?

Lawyers, too, if they are true to their profession of practicing justice, should all be prosecuting abortionist doctors for the physical damage caused to women through an abortion. They advertise day and night on TV that they will immediately aid any one who has been physically injured in any manner (work or job areas, car accidents, side effects of medicine, etc.) yet I have never seen one of them defend a woman against an abortionist who has mutilated her healthy organs through an abortion.

Father Anthony Mellace

Simple Logic

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:30:00 +0000

This is Part 6 of a series of articles on How to End Abortion written by Fr. Anthony Mellace (drdavila@aol.com) and is published here with his permission. Fr. Mellace has a new website: http://www.freehorizon.org/.

In this article, Fr. Mellace takes apart two of the main arguments against the unborn not being a person.

How to End Abortion: Part VI - Simple Logic

Here are two more arguments used by pro-abortionists to justify their hideous crime. These arguments were used by a geneticist of a famous university before the Supreme Court of Brazil to get a judicial decision in favor of abortion:

a) “..It is not a human person since life is defined by the presence of brain waves and the thing does not show or manifest this...”

The cessation of brain waves in an old or maimed person as a sign of their certain death is not the same thing as the lack of brain waves in a newly conceived person. A worn out battery is not the same thing as a newly bought unused one. One has his life worn out and the other has it but not using it yet.

I would like to cite Robert and Mary Joyce from their book on abortion regarding this question:

“..Only a human being can develop a human brain. A human brain cannot develop before a human being exists.

One cannot choose the brain and his activities as a starting point for argument and then go on from there to the human person, but vice-versa. This is an extremely dangerous way to reason and decide things. If you are talking about brain waves, you are talking about a brain that emits them and if a brain emits them, it has to exist, and if it exists, it has to come from a human being that produced it.

If I see a bird in his nest resting and do not see him fly, I might conclude he has no wings since he is not using them to fly. But I do see a bird in the nest, even if he is not using his wings and that in itself is enough to confirm his existence! He is a bird by nature and therefore can fly (sooner or later) whether he wants to or not, capable or not. The fact that at the moment he is not flying takes nothing away from his nature or dignity of being a bird.*

“..An organism develops itself. The human zygote is more than a genetic package or a bundle of genes; it is a living being that has genes. We do not think that an adult person is a package of organs, muscles and bones, but is a being who has organs, muscles and bones.

The new one celled reality is not something that I come from, but is my being.

The human being does not come from any of his stages of development.”

A human being doesn’t come from his “childhood” or “adulthood” for example, but are stages of his growth which depend on him for their existence.*

“..The new being is no less human for being undeveloped.

If it is obviously true that only the human being can have the developed capacities for thinking and loving, so it is obviously true that only a human being can have the undeveloped capacities for thinking and loving.

A one celled horse, dog or cat has no such undeveloped capacities, thus they have no such developed capacities.

A one celled dog is qualitatively different from the one celled human, not only in genetic structure, but more basically in the very being that has a particular genetic structure.

The dignity and value of the human being is not determinable simply on the basis of what he actually has, but on the basis of what he actually is.

The value of the person is not primarily in his actualities that have come to term, but most radically in the actuality of what he is.

His being always has undeveloped potential no matter how long and active his life on earth may be (during our whole lifetime we only use about 10% of our brain anyway). *

b) “..What is in the mother is not a human person since it has no self-awareness and a human person is self-conscious of itself..”

“..The biological definition of a person is usually based on physical shape and function. The psychological definition is based on some kind of self-awareness or ability to reason.

Though some persons with a biological or psychological meaning of the person try to argue that a human person is not present at conception, they cannot succeed in showing that a human being is not present conception. Then again, a human being is always a human person.

It is possible for a human person to exist as a person before any of his members or powers are developed.

In fact, it is necessary. What a natural organism can become, it already is in an absolute way. An undeveloped person is no less a person. Even an adult is more potentiality than actuality. (In heaven, a full revelation of what we really are will be made). *

An accomplished actress is no more of a person than her newly conceived child. The child has as much right to develop a personality as the mother has to express her developed personality.

Growth is the internal revelation of the being that is fully present in its own conception.

The person cannot be reduced to one or to all of his functions, not even to the function of his brain.

The one celled zygote is in no way part of a person, but is in every way a whole person.

If we are going to argue the existence of the human person by his functions and self-awareness or consciousness, then we will have to say that all those who sleep, are undergoing surgery, with mental deficiencies, distracted or absent minded, children under two years of age, etc are not human persons since they are not self-aware of themselves in those moments. Also, even if an unborn child has not a brain, it does not take away the fact that he is still an unborn human being and his dignity is not defined by the absence or presence, activity or not of one of his organs.*

*my commentaries

Father Anthony Mellace

Shining Truths

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:00:00 +0000

This is Part 5 of a series of articles on How to End Abortion written by Fr. Anthony Mellace (drdavila@aol.com) and is published here with his permission. Fr. Mellace has a new website: http://www.freehorizon.org/.

In this article, Fr. Mellace makes the point that the onus is on the anti-lifers to prove that a zygote, embryo, or fetus is not a new and unique human person (which they will of course NOT be able to do).

How to End Abortion: Part V - Shining Truths

In 1973, the Supreme Court approved of the practice of abortion in our country and justified this by saying that what is in the mother’s womb is not a human person. The fact is that the decision of the Supreme Court was based on a lie. Justice (or rather “Injustice”) Blackmun, before being on the Supreme Court, had been a lawyer for the famous Mayo Clinic of Minnesota, where every textbook of medicine and biology clearly said that human life began at conception. He himself was well aware of this.

Since that period, the science of genetics has advanced so rapidly that the proof of the zygote being a distinct human person is overwhelming. No one, in his right or scientific mind, doubts this fact. Feminists can no longer say, in their gross ignorance, that what is present in their womb is simply a tissue of their own bodies. No woman goes through a terrible shock and psychological trauma for cutting off a piece of their hair, eyebrow, toe nail or liver or intestine (for biopsy), which is something normal in their lives. To kill their own conceived child in the womb, who is a distinct human being from themselves, will blow their minds.

The movements in the State of Colorado to have the local government recognize the definition of the human person beginning at conception is an important landmark for the growing awareness of the value of the human person and his basic fundamental rights. It will be a wonderful breakthrough and the dawn of a new civilization of love that finally will protect human life from its very origin. We need to give our full support to those behind this project. I would urge everyone to write to the bishops, religious and civil leaders of the State to get all the signatures needed to have this law become a reality. I would also ask all pro-lifers and especially the pro-life organizations of other States (such as Florida, New York, Maryland, etc.) to do the same and follow suit in the Colorado movement.

The following paragraph is a paraphrase taken from Robert and Mary Joyce’s book on abortion in regards to the origin and beginning of human life at conception.

Robert and Mary Joyce:

"…No one has proved that the human zygote, embryo or fetus is not a human being. (zygote, embryo or fetus are medical terms which refer to the phases of development and growth of the one fully existing human being, much as we say and refer to the human person as a child, adolescent or adult)*. He is always the same human person no matter where he is in his development. We don't say that a child is less than or has less rights than an adolescent or adult because of his size.

"The human zygote is a human person until proven otherwise. A being conceived by a human father and a human mother should be regarded as a human person unless conclusively proven to be something else. Who can prove that a human being does not exist at the beginning of his own growth?"

It is neither a vegetable life (a carrot doesn't sprout out) nor an animal life (a canary doesn't fly out). If you claim that Washington was not the first president of the country or that Columbus did not discover America, you have the onus of proving your thesis. I am under no obligation to defend my position being that it is prior to yours and socially accepted from the beginning. It is silly and stupid for pro-lifers to try to prove things to pro-abortionists and fall into their sophisms, when they have no obligation to do this.
* my commentary

Father Anthony Mellace

Expose the Evil - Abortion Traumas

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:30:00 +0000

This is Part 4 of a series of articles on How to End Abortion written by Fr. Anthony Mellace (drdavila@aol.com) and is published here with his permission. Fr. Mellace has a new website: http://www.freehorizon.org/.

In this article, Fr. Mellace shows some of the many devastating effects of abortion.

How to End Abortion: Part IV - Expose the Evil - Abortion Traumas

In the fight against abortion and the education of our youth in its respect, it is insufficient to simply prohibit the evil action. One must also show how the good is corrupted by the evil act. For example, the following are excerpts taken from David Reardon’s book on the psychological effects of abortion on a woman:

"...It takes two hours for the child to die and the woman, who feels grief and guilt, is never the same again. She hates herself and loses all self-esteem, every value held dear; every hope that was dreamed is all stripped away. Every memory of joy is now tainted by the stench of death. She who was such an advocate of choice has none left at all. She has no control and is psychologically turned into a powerless, weak and murderous person.

"The abortive woman withdraws from the family (and those who encouraged and supported the abortion).

"They don't want to be loved, but feel empty with a constant feeling of dread.

"They are afraid to touch newborn infants and refuse to do so. They become afraid of their own destructiveness and terrified to hurt the other child. The fear causes them not to have children and to be sterilized. It becomes too devastating and mind-boggling for them. They become pre-occupied with thoughts of death.

"The aborted woman does not care if she lives or dies and goes through a radical personality change. She becomes increasingly self-destructive, bold and aggressive. The reason for becoming rough and callous is to protect herself from hurt.

"She has contempt for the world and will even begin to carry guns and knives. She will go out to destroy, steal and maim (others and herself). This shows that psychologically, violence is born of abortion. In her destructiveness, she will release her growing hatred towards the world that abandoned, abused and exploited her. Psychologically, by attacking others, she is telling the world that she is ready to be punished and even killed. Anger, defiance, self-punishment and self-destruction are attitudes and feelings identified with an abortive woman.

"Psychologically, she tries to prove to herself that destroying others doesn't hurt. Once you have killed, you should be able to do anything. By doing every conceivable wrong, abortive women hope to strip themselves of conscience and destroy all values they ever held.

"If she could prove to herself that everything was meaningless (including the innocent child she killed through abortion) perhaps she could have the peace of total meaninglessness. Now the natural center of this destructive escapist world is drugs. (Maybe that is why we have an increase of drug consumption in the world, proportional to the abortions committed. If we get rid of abortion, then maybe we can get rid of drugs too)*. Abortion gives birth to cocaine, heroin and crack.

"Drugs are the refuge, comfort, slow fuse to self-obliteration. Being stoned, you don't have to think. If you can't think, you can't feel. If you can't feel, that is as good as being dead and then you can face yourself. Then you begin to sell drugs to get drugs. One prostitutes herself or burglarizes houses to get the money. The promise of forgetfulness is worth any price since to remember is a hellish life.

"The abortive woman represses herself in speaking about her abortion and only speaks about it when drugged.

"She has a restless fear and is afraid to sleep and of night itself.

"Four years later after the abortion, the self-destructive attitude turns into an open desire for death. She sees no reason to live and doesn't feel she deserves other children or is worthy of their love. Life is pain and loneliness. She feels like she needs to die, but is afraid of the unknown terrors.

"Only after three years of a religious experience is she able to come to forgive herself.

"Abortion is a trap, a curse, a cheap substitute for love and support, a tool for manipulation and exploitation of women that society has abandoned.

90% of abortive women have severe emotional stress
10% require psychiatric hospitalization
2% suffer severe traumas that render them incapable of work

"Abortive women suffer suicide risk nine times greater than non-abortive.

"Those who aborted for reasons of rape, incest or defects in their child suffered more severe emotional stress than those of normal abortions.

"Abortive women have a tendency to beat their children.

62% of abortive women felt suicidal and 20% actually attempted it one or more times
30% of abortive women became alcoholics or increased their drinking
40% of abortive women became drug addicts
50% of abortive women experienced sexual coldness and revulsion towards the father of their aborted child.
40% of abortive women had nightmares or insomnias
20% had complete mental breakdowns

"Other common psychological symptoms of post-abortive women were:

"Profound remorse, regrets, grieves, sense of murder, fear of punishment, general sense of loss, bitterness, lack of forgiveness for self and others, anxiety, fear of others finding out, loneliness, isolation, feelings of having been exploited, feelings of helplessness and inability to make decisions.

"Only less than half (48%) of the abortive women were able to get over their abortion experience (and this only after three years)...”

*my commentary

Father Anthony Mellace

Character Formation

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:00:00 +0000

This is Part 3 of a series of articles on How to End Abortion written by Fr. Anthony Mellace (drdavila@aol.com) and is published here with his permission. Fr. Mellace has a new website: http://www.freehorizon.org/.

In this article, Fr. Mellace discusses the importance of proper character formation in our youth.

How to End Abortion: Part III - Character Formation

The educators (parents or teachers) who will be involved in the character formation of youth need to have at least a “smack” of infant and child psychology. They need to understand and study this. The reason is not so much to give a psychological formation as more to avoid deforming and wounding psychologically the youth through pedagogical errors. We know that there are thousands of books on the market dealing with the emotions. Many of them are actually wonderful reading. Educators often do not have time, however, to read so much literature. I myself would recommend the following books to help parents and teachers develop a healthy personality in their young children. I consider them to be the best in this arena:

1) Healing and Feeling Your Emotions (by Conrad W. Baars M.D.)*
2) Healing the Unaffirmed (by Conrad W. Baars M.D./Anna A. Terruwe M.D.)*
3) Born Only Once (by Conrad W. Baars M.D.)

*The above authors were praised and recommended by Pope Paul VI himself

4) Mother and Infant (by Rev. William Virtue)
5) Human Sexual Ecology (by Robert E. Joyce)
6) Friends (by Mary R. Joyce)
7) Women and Choice (by Mary R. Joyce)
8) Aborted Women, Silent no More (by David C. Reardon)
9) The Consumer’s Guide to the Pill and other Drugs (by John Wilks B. PharmM.D.,P.C.)
10) Let Us Be Born: the Inhumanity of Abortion* (by Robert E. Joyce/Mary R. Joyce)

*This book was the first ever written on the subject of abortion and the best that thoroughly covers it in depth and intelligence. Recommended reading for all who truly want to inform themselves on the subject from all perspectives.

Parents and teachers must aim at four objectives in the educative program of youth:

-love of truth
-love of the good
-love of justice
-love of heroism

They should also nurture his self-esteem by helping him overcome his fear of knowledge. The youth, through the affirming education received by teachers and parents, will develop feelings of faithfulness and responsibilities. Parents and teachers should encourage their youth to also collaborate with other youth involved in this similar formation and be strengthened in the mutual solidarity. It is that positive environment of purity that Pope Paul VI wished to be formed amongst young Christians that would help them to grow in a mature and fulfilling way. Professors and parents must remember that they are there to free and liberate the good energies present in the youth rather than try to repress the bad ones.

Father Anthony Mellace

The Truth Shall Make You Free

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:30:00 +0000

This is Part 2 of a series of articles on How to End Abortion written by Fr. Anthony Mellace (drdavila@aol.com) and is published here with his permission. Fr. Mellace has a new website: http://www.freehorizon.org/.

In this article, Fr. Mellace discusses the importance of true education.

How to End Abortion: Part II - The Truth Shall Make You Free

The second thing to do in order to end abortion is to be educated in the matter. Before I get into this, however, I would like to say something about education itself. The object of education is to come to freedom, whether internal or external. Education has to free our youth or else it is not education. A young man or woman educated to generous love, a sense of law, dedication to others, a respect for human life, etc. becomes liberated. Education does not mean that we are to produce a generation of consumers. It does not mean that we are to form a group of technocrats geared for scientific discoveries. This is simply the fruit of a materialistic society.

What we need to teach to our youth is truth and goodness. When youth have knowledge of the good, then they will want to possess and love it. A young man’s or woman’s will also needs to be guided and perfected and not only his intellect. It is amazing how many people in America are greatly informed about so many things, but the formation of their will is nil. Intellectualism is not the answer to our problems.

The first school of education is in the family. All the psychological traumas, bad examples, ignorant ideas and discriminating attitudes start in this environment. The places where the youth work, study, sing, dance and pray will also influence them to either respect human life or destroy it. Emotional suffering, lack of love and affection, disillusions, friendships, social customs, laws, popular opinions, gossip and broken relationships all will affect a young man or woman in his educative process and outlook on life itself.

Youth have an innate tendency toward heroism and if this aspiration is not fulfilled, they will turn it against themselves and society. Instead of becoming heroes and martyrs for the good (because of a family or society that frustrated such ideals and dreams) they will become drug addicts, alcoholics, ambitious materialists and socialists. Such energy in youth needs to be recognized, gathered, accepted and channeled into right use. It must not be denied nor suffocated. Youth need to know that the truth exists of its own nature and not because it is based on the word of some authority. They therefore are to sincerely dedicate themselves to its search throughout their lives. Our teachers and parents are to help us to come to this awareness and not to mislead us. Those who deny the truth to youth show their own incompetence, cowardice and despair and frustrate these young people in their search for it.

Those involved in the formation of youth need to be a rock, guide, light and beacon for them. They are not to deceive them, since the youth have need of this help. Youth today have nowhere to go and will be lost without a reference for truth. The search for truth, finally, has to be a humble and sincere one.

Once the intelligence is fed with the truth, moral education will come as natural result. It will not be necessary to educate the will since practical reason will take care of this itself. Practical reason is educated through the presentation of principles that influence the will. It is due to this mistrust of reason that so many Catholic schools invented hundreds of rules and regulations that really annoyed the students in them. It is for this motive, too, that a great number of these religious schools and their educational systems failed miserably.

Father Anthony Mellace

Evil In Our Midst

st.piusx@gmail.com (Joe Healy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 +0000

This is Part 1 of a series of articles on How to End Abortion written by Fr. Anthony Mellace (drdavila@aol.com) and is published here with his permission. Fr. Mellace has a new website: http://www.freehorizon.org/.

In this article, Fr. Mellace exposes the evil underpinnings of abortion.

How to End Abortion: Part I - Evil In Our Midst

Various people, emotionally affected by the article I wrote on abortion, have asked me for counsels on what they could effectively do to get rid of abortion in our society. It is not possible to answer this question in one article, so I will discuss one aspect at a time.

The first thing to be done is to pray and fast. There is a reason for this. Our fight to end abortion is not so much a struggle against flesh and blood as it is a war waged before the princes of darkness, who are the true authors of this crime. We need to expel the unclean spirits from our midst. A human being, with his own natural powers, is unable to overcome an angelical nature (the demons have a greater intelligence and superhuman power). We can only remove these spiritual pests through God’s grace or the assistance of His angels. To pray to St. Michael and the other angels in order to overcome the demons is something worthwhile to do. To pray to Mary, the queen of heaven, who crushes the head of Satan, is even better yet.

It is interesting to note that Jesus prayed before He worked His miracles and expelled many impure spirits out of people. He sent seven out of Mary Magdalene. In certain cases, like that of the possessed boy, Jesus fasted in addition to praying before commanding Satan to leave him. He even revealed to the Apostles that certain difficult demons are only removed with these two things: prayer and fasting.

Why was it harder to expel a devil out of a young man rather than an adult? The earlier that Satan takes possession of one’s heart, the harder it will be to get rid of him. That is why it is so important to prepare the souls of our young to love God and respect human life at the earliest age possible. If the devil beats us to them, it won’t be easy to have him let go of his victim. Jacques Maritain, the great Catholic philosopher, along with St. John Bosco, used to say that we make our definite decision for or against God in the beginnings of our conscious childhood. The rest of the acts that follow in adulthood are simple consequences of this one basic and fundamental decision from which they flow. Only the powerful grace of God can bring us back to the right path.

Once a society is living in God’s grace, it is protected against the wiles and snares of the devil. If there is moral deterioration, the demons begin to return and take over everything. The whole nation is now in their power and they wreak havoc and all sorts of suffering upon the population. It is sin that gives them the right and permission to punish the people. Sin makes an individual become the true property of Satan, so that he may do whatever he wants to with him.

God, in His infinite mercy and goodness, does not allow us to feel the full effects of Satan’s power and hate, or else he would tear us all to pieces. He gives us a chance to convert and return to Him. The only ones that have power to get rid of demons are Christians in the state of grace and holy men and women. Jesus, and later the Apostles, expelled the demons from the Israelites. The early Christians expelled them from Rome and Greece. The Church fathers tell us that the whole of Greek mythology was nothing more than an array of lies invented by the devils. St. Gregory of Tours tells us, too, that the missionaries to France first had to expel the demons from the country in order to peacefully and effectively evangelize the country. They had invented the idols of the barbarians.

The abortion decision of 1973 opened the doors for Satan and his cohorts to enter our nation and chastise it with their presence. This was worse than any terrorist incursion into America. There they are, in every abortion clinic in the country, dancing to their diabolical glee at the torture and murder of innocent human lives. What we need now is a host of generous Christian souls willing to fast and pray to rid our nation of these spiritual flies. The great mystics of our times (Sister Lucia of Fatima, Sister Faustina, Padre Pio, Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul II, etc) have all died and gone to their heavenly rest. Now it is our turn to take their places and continue the struggle and battle against these inhabitants from the bowels of the earth. We need much reparation and generous souls willing to carry on the fight. If some are unable to fast due to health problems, then they should offer up whatever physical or emotional ailment they may have. Every little bit helps. It is just as good as a fast and gives wonderful results for the conversion of our country. I would even suggest that we form ourselves into groups where we could invent collective penances to practice each month and in this way, work as a united team to get the best spiritual results possible against abortion.

Father Anthony Mellace