Dear Senators and Representatives,
I am writing to you, because at least some of your constituents reside in one of five counties which are particularly dear to me - Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. Those five counties compose the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
While some might try to argue cause and effect, it is undeniable that we have seen a terrifying rise in child abuse statistics, during the decades of legal abortion in the United States. As a society, I believe that we have come to place much less value on all human life - this is a trend which we must reverse. Along those lines,
- I applaud those senators and representatives who voted for SB 732, which has been signed into law by the governor.
- As abortion is in no manner, shape, or form "health care," I applaud those senators who voted for SB 3 on 6/7/11 and those representatives who voted for HB 1977 on 12/12/11.
- I applaud those members of the House Health Committee, who voted for HB 1077, the Women's Right to Know Act. As per the Pennsylvania Family Council, this would:
"•Require abortion clinics to perform an ultrasound at least 24 hours before an abortion (or provide a list of other ultrasound providers, including pregnancy care centers);
•Require that pregnant women be informed of their right to view the live ultrasound image of her unborn baby while the test is being performed;
•Require that printed photos of those ultrasound images be provided to women."
Please support HB 1077.
Over the years, I have taken great interest in the National Marriage Project (which is now at the University of Virginia) and the Fragile Families and Child Well Being study (Princeton and Columbia Universities). Because kids are absolutely essential, each and every one of us has a duty to be concerned with preserving the best social program ever put forth for the care, education, and well-being of children. Simply put, the fact that kids do best in the care of their own moms and dads who are married to each other has been getting grossly overlooked. At this juncture, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference reminds us that "a Marriage Protection Amendment to the Pennsylvania State Constitution may be the only way" to preserve marriage in Pennsylvania. House Bill 1434 needs to successfully make its way out of the State Government committee and be passed by the House & Senate, en route to the governor's signature. The well being of children requires putting aside political differences and supporting this time-tested social program.
Education is obviously an essential component of children's well being. Decisions about educational policy must be driven by what is best for kids. When this 53 year old was a kid, I vividly recall being taught that certain utilities / public services HAD to function as monopolies. Yet if I used the term now, I doubt that either of my two young adult children would recognize the name, "Ma Bell." Just as it is true that phone service did not need ATT to survive, education does NOT require that public school systems exercise exclusive strangleholds.
My wife and I sent our two children through Catholic grade school and high school in Lower Bucks County, thus saving other taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars which would have gone to the public school system. When our kids were high school age, our local school system told us that all residents of Morrisville Boro were within walking distance of the school - Historically, Morrisville School District (as well as Bristol Boro School District) has thus justified its failure to even provide transportation for parochial school kids. Heretofore, we just swallowed that injustice. At this juncture, however, we are learning that genuine school choice options are needed for parochial school systems to survive.
School Choice would be in everyone's best interest - other than those, of course, who are NOT interested in putting kids first.
Sincerely,
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