Legislative Fight Over Human Embryo Experiments Coming
The good news continues. According to the Washington Post, the National Institutes of Health Monday ordered a immediate halt to all experiments on human embryonic stem cells. Last week the NIH shelved any requests for new funding for experiments and Monday’s announcement applied to experiments done by NIH. This was in response to the temporary injunction barring the federal government from funding experiments on human embryonic stem cells. The judge in the case upheld the law which prohibits the use of taxpayer money on human experimentation through embryonic stem cell research. The Dickey-Wicker amendment, that has been attached to annual appropriations bills for the Department of Health and Human Services since 1996, prohibits the use of federal funds to support research in which embryos are destroyed or discarded.
The American people should not be forced to pay for needless experiments–prohibited by federal law–that destroy human life. Deriving stem cells results in destruction of the embryos; this cannot and should not be paid for by taxpayers. Expect the battle to move quickly from the courts to the legislature.
The polls are in our favor; a new Rasmussen Reports national survey shows 57% Oppose Taxpayer Funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research, but we expect the Congress to move quickly to try to repeal the Dickey-Wicker amendment.
Helping Expectant Mothers and Churning Miracles
In our ongoing battle to end abortion and help the poor, SMS has been blessed to work with Father Stefan Starzynski in his mission to care for expectant mothers through maternity homes in Virginia. Over the past three years, the Paul Stefan Foundation – www.paulstefanhome.org has cared for and nurtured over 80 expectant mothers and babies in our homes in Central and Northern, VA.
The PSF not only cares for these women and their newborns before, during and after the baby’s birth, we also help them find jobs, and further their education to help them get back on their feet in society.
We are now raising money not only for the essential daily care of these women and their newborns, but also to open more homes in the region.
On Saturday, September 25, the Paul Stefan Foundation will have its annual Gala Dinner — Celebrating Life.
I hope you will consider either purchasing a table or making a contribution to this heartwarming charity.
Information on gala here: http://www.paulstefanhome.org/celebration-of-life-gala/
Two events happened separately and came together for the formation of The Paul Stefan Home of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The first event was a trip in October, 2005 by Father Stefan Starzynski to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. While there he prayed for Randy and Evelyn James and their unborn child. After many tests, the doctors had advised Mr. and Mrs. James that the baby had a diaphragmatic hernia and could not survive delivery. They recommended an abortion. Randy and Evelyn said the pregnancy would continue and the outcome would be in the hands of God.
Father returned home and brought with him a beautiful picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe which he blessed and gave to Sharon Fentress. She had given him money and requested that he bring her something from Guadalupe.
Sharon subsequently met Evelyn James at mass. When Sharon later found out there was a problem with Evelyn’s pregnancy, she took the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Randy and Evelyn’s home and left it with them. The picture was taken along to the hospital when Evelyn was ready for delivery.
The James baby was born on December 13, 2005. He was given the Name Paul Stefan James. He died about an hour after be was born. To read more about the miracle of Paul Stefan, go to the area on this web site dedicated to Paul Stefan James.
The second event began on November 30, 2005. Father Stefan started a novena to Saint Andrew that was to end on Christmas day. On December 4th, which was Confirmation day at St Patrick church, Father prayed for the Holy Spirit to come down. On that day two parishioners, Kathleen Wilson and Theresa Rousseau, decided to join Father in making that novena. It was decided they would pray for a home for unwed mothers.
Father began to talk to other parishioners and also spoke from the pulpit about prayers being said for a home for unwed mothers. A parishioner told Father Stefan that her husband would arrange to lease fifty acres of land for a dollar a year and the donation of two houses on that land so a home for unwed mothers could be established.
A Board of Directors was formed and what to name the home was discussed. Everyone agreed it should be named in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Paul Stefan James. Thus the home was christened the Paul Stefan Home of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Please pray for the PSF Mission, the women and their babies.
Thank you and God Bless you.
Mother Teresa
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Here is one of the prayers that The Missionaries of Charity pray after daily Mass.
Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, That our lives may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, That every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as You shine; So to shine as to be a light to others. The light O Jesus will be all from You, none of it will be ours; It will be You, shining on others through us. Let us thus praise You without preaching, not by words but by our example, By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You. Amen.
$600,000 to be Awarded to Life Saving Heroes
Exciting news out today from the Gerard Health Foundation …
The foundation again will be awarding $600,000 in prize money to those who have succeeded in saving human lives and awakening the conscience of America at an invitation-only event this January in Washington DC.
That’s some prize money!
Ray Ruddy, founder of the Gerard Health Foundation, shared this at the launch of this year’s program:
Our Foundation has a profoundly simple mission: to save lives. Life Prizes works to honor those who have best accomplished this noble goal and to inspire the next generation to break the mold in their life-saving work. As last year’s winners will tell you, ordinary people can achieve extraordinary goals. We look forward to celebrating six new heroes and thanking them for their ingenuity, dedication, sacrifices and leadership.
You may recognize most if not all of the six inaugural award winners 2009:
- Jill Stanek – Nurse who first publicly exposed infanticide of abortion survivors
- Lila Rose - Student leader who has launched several successful, undercover investigations exposing statutory rape cover-up and racism at Planned Parenthood
- American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) - A professional voice reaffirming the unique value and dignity of individual human life in all stages of growth and development from conception onward.
- Richard Doerflinger – Associate Director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, bioethics expert, and consummate researcher
- Kay Coles James – Founder of The Gloucester Institute and of Black Americans for Life, pro-life advocate in the highest levels of government for decades
- Margaret “Peggy” Hartshorn – President, Heartbeat International, a preeminent network of more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers
As Human Events’ Elisabeth Meinecke notes in her piece , the 2009 ceremony and reception “drew over 1,200 attendees, with Laura Ingraham serving as master of ceremonies” and was held in January of 2009. The popular rock band BarlowGirl headlined the fantastic event and several St Michael Society editors were fortunate enough to attend. It truly was like the Oscars of the pro-life movement.
LifeNews.com also aptly notes that
… with the mainstream media frequently ignoring or twisting the coverage of pro-life advocates and Hollywood awards ceremonies featuring a who’s who of pro-abortion celebrities, the Gerard Health Foundation decided to create its own awards ceremony to honor pro-life heroes working against abortion.
Watch last year’s event video and read the ceremony speeches at www.LifePrizes.org.
We can’t wait until October when the award winners will be announced!
Ahead of Schedule: NC Forces Students to Buy Health Insurance That Pays for Abortions
Students for Life of America has revealed that the North Carolina Board of Governors is requiring all of the students of the University of North Carolina institution carry health insurance this year.
From the Students for Life release:
“Students who do not already have private health insurance are required to buy a state selected policy from Pearce & Pearce, Inc.
“This mandated policy covers up to $500 toward elective abortions and has 80% PPO coverage for elective abortions.
“The Pearce & Pearce policy costs students $744 per year or $375 per semester. The State of North Carolina will not be paying into the policy; rather, the students who are required to purchase the insurance will be required to pay the entire cost.”
Sound familiar? It should.
Because a student is enrolled in the University of North Carolina educational institution, they are required to have health insurance. On a national level, just because someone is an American citizen, they are required to have health insurance (the individual mandate provision).
The government has said that supposedly there will be policies that won’t include abortion coverage that pro-lifers can purchase. But what if those policies don’t include everything someone needs to stay healthy and the only plans that work are the ones that include abortion coverage? It’s a likely scenario.
For the pro-life students or even those students who don’t think that their dollars should pay for abortions, there is no other option. They are FORCED to fund something they find morally reprehensible.
Students for Life of America has a new website dedicated to raising awareness of this issue and is asking people to sign a petition against the forced mandate and contact the NC Board of Governors Chairman on this issue. Go here to check it out: http://www.noabortioninhealthcare.com/NC/Home.html.
Nancy Pelosi Pretends She’s a Catholic Theologian (Again)
Because we haven’t written on Nancy Pelosi in awhile and because the things the supposedly Catholic Speaker of the House says are too ridiculous not to bring to your attention, here we go.
Nancy Pelosi said earlier this year, when talking about the massive healthcare bill, that she wanted to pursue policies “in keeping with the values” of Jesus Christ, the “Word made Flesh.” Which is why she passed a bill that allowed for government funding of abortion of course.
At a press briefing last week, a CNSNews.com reporter reminded Pelosi of her previous statement and of the very fact that the bill takes life rather than saves it.
Pelosi, the quick Catholic thinker that she is, declined to say when Jesus obtained the right to life.
“Whenever it was,” said Pelosi, “we bow our heads when we talk about it in church, and that’s where I’d like to talk about that.”
That part where we “bow our heads” is during the Nicene Creed when we profess how Jesus came into this world:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
In other words, we bow because we acknowledge that extraordinary miracle of the Incarnation, the moment of Christ’s conception when God became man, yet still retained his divine nature.
The reporter followed up with a question about Christ’s conception and if that was when Jesus got the right to life. Through her press secretary, the answer was: “The speaker answered the question. Thanks.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, along with science, also makes it very clear when life begins: “From its conception, the child has the right to life.” (2322)
CNS News has the full story here with the audio clips and the line of questioning – http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/70445.
Planned Parenthood Ignores Medical Info; Lies to Patients
Lila Rose and Live Action Films, the constant thorns in the side of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry, released yet another undercover video today chronicling how a Planned Parenthood staffer gives erroneous medical information to a woman seeking to obtain an abortion in Indiana.
The clinic staffer gives several misleading and incorrect statements regarding abortion:
1) The staffer says that the baby’s heart starts to beat around the 8th or 9th week. In reality, the heart starts beating at 22 or 23 days.
2) The staffer says that abortion is “safer than carrying to term.” In reality, 2009 study from the Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey recently found that a previous abortion increased a woman’s risk of pre-term birth by 20%, and a 2003 report from the Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research notes a 55% increased risk of future miscarriages for women who have abortions.
3) The staffer says that there won’t be any problems to have children down the road after an abortion. In reality, there’s a 50% increased risk of an ectopic pregnancy after a single abortion (American Journal of Public Health, 1998), previous abortions increase the risk of premature birth by 20% in later pregnancies (Journal of Perinatal Medicine, 2009) and abortion increases the risk of miscarriage
In Indiana, there is an informed consent law that requires women to be given medically accurate information. The data cited from Live Action isn’t from pro-life centered groups but rather from medical studies and non-affiliated organizations.
Planned Parenthood obviously could care less about the kind of information it gives to convince woman to have abortions. Oh, and in case you missed it, you, the taxpayer, are footing the bill for this kind of “counseling” and abortion procedures thanks to the hundreds of millions of tax dollars Planned Parenthood gets each year – and they’ll be getting more due to the new healthcare law.
Live Action – www.liveaction.org
So Called Ban on Abortion Funding – Anti-Catholic History – Faith vs Works
I thought there is no public funding of abortion?
I wonder what Sister Carol Keehan, Bart Stupak and all the so-called Catholic health organizations think about U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi receiving an award from abortion giant Planned Parenthood in recognition of her efforts in ensuring that the abortion funding ban was not inserted in ObamaCare. Never mind, I don’t want to know.
History and Catholicsim:
I’m not looking to re-fight the Thirty Years War or defend all the actions of Mary I of England, but this interesting article should remind all Catholics that most of the history books we read are written by people that at their core are anti-catholic. If you like to read a good history of the Catholic Church to recommend Harry Crocker’s book:
Faith vs Works? I choose Christ.
The New Oxford Review has a wonderful piece by Stephen Rombouts. He takes on the debate between faith versus works and talks about having a “truly personal relationship with Jesus” through the Eucharist.
