Call to Family, Community, and Participation

As per a the Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone (and new archbishop of San Francisco):

"the love of husband and wife is a decisive gift for the world, and it calls for stewardship and responsibility....President Obama has now voiced his official support for the redefinition of marriage in the law....

"[The] 'New Family Structures Study'....has surveyed a very large, nationally-representative, and random sample of American young adults (ages 18 to 39) who were raised in different family or home environments, including homes with a parent in a same-sex relationship, as well as single-parent families, step-families, adoptive families and families where the children were raised by their biological parents married to each other.

"the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Mark Regnerus [notes]....several significant statistical differences when comparing young adults who were raised in an intact home with their married, biological parents and young adults raised in other home environments...."this study has been noted to empirically call into question other studies with smaller and more restrictive sample sizes that have purported to show that there are no differences between father-mother parenting and other arrangements  ....Dr. Loren Marks...reviewed fifty-nine (59) previous studies cited by the American Psychological Association (APA)....

"social science continues to affirm that children thrive and do best with their mother and father in an intact home. The protection of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is a work of justice and is foundational to the good of all, especially for those most vulnerable among us, our children. It is the way of true compassion—love in truth and truth in love. Our young people are hungry for this truth and are in a position to witness to it in a uniquely powerful way."

The document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States identifies Seven Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching...

• The Right to Life and the Dignity of the Human Person
• Call to Family, Community, and Participation
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
• Solidarity
• Caring for God’s Creation

"46. The human person is not only sacred but also social. Full human development takes place in relationship with others. The family—based on marriage between a man and a woman—is the first and fundamental unit of society and is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children. It should be defended and strengthened, not redefined or undermined by permitting same-sex unions or other distortions of marriage. Respect for the family should be reflected in every policy and program. It is important to uphold parents’ rights and responsibilities to care for their children, including the right to choose their children’s education.

  "47. How we organize our society—in economics and politics, in law and policy—directly affects the common good and the capacity of individuals to develop their full potential. Every person and association has a right and a duty to participate actively in shaping society and to promote the well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

"48. The principle of subsidiarity reminds us that larger institutions in society should not overwhelm or interfere with smaller or local institutions, yet larger institutions have essential responsibilities when the more local institutions cannot adequately protect human dignity, meet human needs, and advance the common good."

Advocacy for both abortion and alternative definitions of marriage appear to be hallmarks of the campaign of Kathy Boockvar, who is challenging Congressman Fitzpatrick in Pa's 8th Congressional District.  Boockvar even faults Fitzpatrick for voting "to defund Planned Parenthood", which is the nations's largest abortion provider.