Planned Parenthood, Marriage/Family, Genocide....

Planned Parenthood

• Boeher Redux: Will the Real Paul Ryan, please stand up? (11/4/15)

• "This year they’ve already waved the white flag of surrender, they’ve already said they can’t defund Planned Parenthood. Folks, if the Republican Party can’t stand up and protect innocent human life, what good is the Republican Party?” (Gov Bobby Jindal, 10/31/15) 

• "We need to get off the sidelines and stand up for life on the front lines. We need faith like that of our fathers who defended the children of previous generations and who gave up their own lives rather than abandon their faith in Christ" (Bishop Thomas Olmstead, 9/29/15). 

Mike Fitzpatrick is to be commended for introducing "a bill that would pull an FDA-approved birth control device, Essure, off the market" (EWTN, 11/4/15).  We also need him to absolutely oppose any monies going to Planned Parenthood.  Email Representative Fitzpatrick, Senator Casey, and Senator Toomey, asking for all federal funding of Planned Parenthood to stop.    Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for all state funding of Planned Parenthood to stop.

Marriage/Family

• "the marriage act purged of impurities is the nearest thing to the beatific vision we can know....To offer the suffering of celibacy, temporary or permanent, to the Lord is to make use, in the best possible way, of man's greatest joy " (10/21/15)

• "Statement Calling for Constitutional Resistance to Obergefell v. Hodges"  (American Principles Project, 10/8/15)

• "the Sexual Revolution ushered in the scourge of abortion, pornography, and sexual abuse so rampant in recent decades. Instead of real and authentic love, this false 'liberty' offers cheap pleasures that mask a deeper loneliness and pain. Instead of the security of traditional family bonds, it leaves children longing for the stability of a mother’s and a father’s love....Today’s attack on fatherhood, and by extension, motherhood, is multi-pronged and breathtakingly damaging. 41% of children are born into unmarried homes in our day, an increase of 700% from 1950" (Bishop Thomas Olmstead, 9/29/15). 

As per the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "The First Amendment Defense Act (H.R. 2802, S. 1598) would bar the federal government from discriminating against individuals and organizations based upon their religious beliefs or moral convictions that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. The Act provides broad protections against adverse federal actions directed toward individuals and organizations that act on such beliefs."  The USCCB has an "alert" for contacts to Fitzpatrick, Casey, and Toomey, re: the First Amendment Defense Act: http://cqrcengage.com/catholicbishops/app/make-a-call?0&engagementId=113753 

As per the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "The State Marriage Defense Act would require....the federal government to honor the state marriage laws where people are actually living when determining whether they are legally married for purposes of federal rights, benefits, and privileges."  The USCCB has an "alert" for contacts to Fitzpatrick, Casey, and Toomey, re: the State Marriage Defense Act: http://cqrcengage.com/catholicbishops/app/make-a-call?2&engagementId=81348 

As per the Family Research Council, the so-called "Equality Act" (S 1858 and HR 3185) "would essentially obliterate gender-specific designations in virtually every realm of public life in America and possibly even many private areas.

"The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference explains that "Changing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious beliefs.  In other states, this law has closed Catholic adoption agencies and violated religious liberty....HB 1510/SB 974 exposes even more Pennsylvanians to discrimination based solely on their religious beliefs. Simply put, this legislation is intolerant and prejudiced against people of faith."

Genocide

• "'It’s genocide’ - US Congress challenged over Christian victims of ISIS" (Mercator.net, 10/15/15)

• "Members of Congress introduced a resolution...to label the atrocities committed by the Islamic State against Christians and other religious minorities 'genocide'....Call it what it is, name it, and especially declare that it is genocide, says Princeton Professor Robert George, Chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom....citizens in the US [need] to call on their Members of Congress...to support two pieces of urgent legislation in the House of Representatives" (As of 11/5/15, Representative Fitzpatrick is NOT among the  108 co-sponsors of H.R. 1150; Fitzpatrick is NOT among the 146 co-sponsors of  H Con Res 75.).

• Letter to Senator McConnell, Senator Reid, Speaker Boehner, and House Minority Leader Pelosi, in support of Representative Chis Smith's HR 1150 (Ken Starr, Archbishop Chaput, Alan Dershowitz, Matthew Franck, Maryann Glendon, Senator Joseph Lieberman, Bishop William Murphy, Pastor Rick Warren, Cardinal Wuerl and others, 7/14/15).
  "We write as a diverse group of religious leaders, public intellectuals and scholars to urge Congressional action on the issue of international religious persecution that threatens people of faith worldwide and our national security.... We are witnessing a tragic, global crisis in religious persecution, violence, and terrorism, with dire consequences for religious minorities and for the national security of the United States....H.R. 1150 would...give Ambassador Saperstein the status that other ambassadors at large at the Department of State enjoy, the authority to develop an interagency strategy to protect global religious freedom, and the resources he needs to implement that strategy. It would also mandate training for all foreign service officers, deputy chiefs of mission, and country ambassadors. This training would ensure that our diplomats fully understand and can effectively defend the free expression of religion worldwide, the enduring value of religious freedom and its relationship to national security, and how to advance the cause of religious liberty in our foreign policy...."

Also,

• "....the PA House of Representatives could soon vote on a proposed Constitutional Amendment which would strip away your right to vote for appellate judges.  House Bill 1336...would take away your right to vote for judges for the PA Supreme Court, the Superior Court, and the Commonwealth Court....Please contact your state representative and tell him or her you don't want your right to vote for judges taken away....." (Pa Pro Life Federation, 10/21/15) 

 

Materials absent from most parish bulletins, websites, and bulletin boards:

• The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference's "alerts"
• The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' "Alerts Central" 

(The USCCB 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 following sites also deserve your consideration:

• Family Reseach Council Action Page
• National Organization for Marriage's Advocacy Center
• National Center on Sexual Exploitation (nee Morality in Media)
• Pennsylvania Family Council voter guide