"the faithful are called to bear witness to this basic truth of biblical faith and natural law"

Many on both the left and the right may fail to see this, but our present Holy Father is a great champion of life and marriage/family in our troubled times.

"Elevated by the Savior to the dignity of a sacrament, marriage is, in the Creator’s plan, a natural institution, a life-long covenant of love and fidelity between a man and a woman, directed to their perfection and sanctification, and to the future of our human family.  Today, when the institution of marriage is under attack from powerful cultural forces, the faithful are called to bear witness to this basic truth of biblical faith and natural law, which is essential to the wise and just ordering of society....His Holiness trusts that the theme of this year’s Supreme Convention – Endowed by their Creator with Life and Liberty – will draw attention to the duty of American Catholics, precisely as responsible citizens, to contribute to the reasoned defense of those freedoms on which their nation was founded....The protection of religious freedom must also engage the consciences of believers on the global level, in response to the attacks unleashed on minority communities, most often Christian, in various parts of our world" (Pietro Cardinal  Parolin, 8/5/15 Message to the Knights of Columbus).

Largely because we have asked for too little, we have heretofore witnessed our representative in the U.S. House and our two U.S. Senators failing to step up to defend marriage/family.  At this time, none of them are even co-sponsoring the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA)!  (See the 145 co-sponsors of HR2802 and the 36 co-sponsors of S1598.)

If we REALLY want to stop Planned Parenthood on a federal level, we cannot be naive and/or make excuses for elected officials; those who say that they are against Planned Parenthood must stop voting for such mechanisms as "continuing resolutions" that fund Planned Parenthood!  Click to Email Representative Fitzpatrick and Senator Toomey's legislative director, asking if they will commit to stop such votes.  Click to Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for a moratorium on all state funding of Planned Parenthood  (NOTE: You may find that these links work better directly from the web site, than from the email.).



With regard to federal concerns, current alerts from Catholic leadership* support:  

• "Investigate and Defund Planned Parenthood"
• HR940 (Health Care Conscience Rights Act),
• HR1150 (The Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2015),
• HR824 / S435 (State Marriage Defense Act),
• S1553 (Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act),
• HR2802 / S1598 (First Amendment Defense Act (FADA)) [See Women Speak for Themselves.], 
• HR1299 / S667 (Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act),
• S1177 ("Urge your Senator to support the provisions in The Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177) so as to improve equitable services for students and teachers in religious, private and independent schools!"),
• Criminal Justice Reform,
• Fostering Peace/Endorsement of P5+1 Negotiations with Iran, as well as 
• "meaningful and compassionate immigration reform legislation", and
• passage of HR 7 in the Senate. 

*You can find "alerts" about federal concerns at the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference's "alerts" and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' "ALERTS CENTRAL."  The USCCB also notes that "Action alerts for pro-life issues can also be found through our partner organization, the "National Committee for the Human Life Amendment" (NCHLA), and that "Action alerts for issues related to immigration reform can be found through the USCCB-led Catholic coalition, "Justice for Immigrants." 

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC) posts additional alerts on state concerns at https://www.votervoice.net/PACC/Campaigns.