In Solidarity with Refugees (USCCB Justice for Immigrants, 1/31/17)

http://justiceforimmigrants.org/action-alerts/standing-refugees-daca-youth/

FW: Please help us stop assisted suicide in PA

Sent from my Windows Phone

---

From: Maria
Sent: ‎1/‎30/‎2017 3:36 PM
To: gallagher@paprolife.org
Subject: Please help us stop assisted suicide in PA

Dear Pro-Life Leaders,

A bill that would legalize assisted suicide, Senate Bill 238, has been introduced in the PA Senate and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A copy of the bill is attached. You can also find it online at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2017&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0238

Please contact the committee chairman, Senator Stewart Greenleaf, along with the following pro-life members of the committee, with this urgent message: Please oppose Senate Bill 238. It is a dangerous bill which would legalize assisted suicide in Pennsylvania. For the safety of our senior citizens, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable citizens, I urge you to oppose Senate Bill 238!

For your convenience, I am including contact information below:

Senator Stewart Greenleaf: (717) 787-6599 sgreenleaf@pasen.gov;

Senator John Rafferty: (717) 787-1398 jrafferty@pasen.gov;

Senator Joseph Scarnati: (717) 787-7084 jscarnati@pasen.gov;

Senator Richard Alloway:  (717) 787-4651 alloway@pasen.gov;

Senator John Eichelberger:  (717) 787-5490 jeichelberger@pasen.gov;

Senator John Gordner: (717) 787-8928 (email unavailable)

Senator Wayne Langerholc: (717) 787-5400 Wlangerholc@pasen.gov;

Senator Guy Reschenthaler:  (717) 787-5839 (email unavailable)

Senator Randy Vulakovich: (717) 787-6538 rvulakovich@pasen.gov;

Senator Gene Yaw: (717) 787-3280 gyaw@pasen.gov;

Thank you for making these critical calls and sending these important emails!

All the best,

Maria V. Gallagher
Legislative Director
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
www.paprolife.org
717-541-0034


 

"I have done nothing by myself" (Don Bosco)

1/31/17, Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest

"At age nine, he had a prophetic dream in which a number of unruly young boys were uttering words of blasphemy. Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary appeared to John in the dream, saying he would bring such youths to God through the virtues of humility and charity....

"In 1841, John Bosco was ordained a priest. From that time, John was known as 'Don' Bosco, a traditional Italian title of honor for priests. In the city of Turin, he began ministering to boys and young men who lived on the streets, many of whom were without work or education....

"He established a group known as the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales, and became a kindly spiritual father to boys in need. His aging mother helped support the project in its early years.

"John's boyhood dream came to pass: he became a spiritual guide and provider along with his fellow Salesian priests and brothers, giving boys religious instruction, lodging, education, and work opportunities. He also helped Saint Mary Dominic Mazzarello form a similar group for girls.
 
"This success did not come easily, as the priest struggled to find reliable accommodations and support for his ambitious apostolate. Italy's nationalist movement made life difficult for religious orders, and its anti-clerical attitudes even led to assassination attempts against Don Bosco.

"But such hostility did not stop the Salesians from expanding in Europe and beyond. They were helping 130,000 children in 250 houses by the end of Don Bosco's life. 'I have done nothing by myself,' he stated, saying it was 'Our Lady who has done everything' through her intercession with God.....

"He was canonized on Easter Sunday of 1934, and is a patron saint of young people, apprentices, and Catholic publishers and editors" (Catholic News Agency)

I was blessed to be in Turin in 2015 for the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco.  I was struck by how very practical his love was.  

Being Practical, Like Don Bosco

• Boycott Target and boycotts/actions from America Needs Fatima and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation


• Click to Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for support of issues/legislation backed by the Pa Catholic Conference and/or the Pa Pro Life Federation. 

• Act now to stop assisted suicide (Diocese of Trenton, 11/4/16)

• Click to Email Pa's congressional delegation, regarding federal positions backed by our bishops (cf., Pa Catholic Conference, USCCB, USCCB's Justice for Immigrants, Human Life Action, Human Life Action's 12/16/16 email.)
• It should be noted that Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has NOT signed on as a co-sponsor of
  H.J.Res.27 ("Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016."),  
  H.R. 490 ("To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable."),
  H.R.586 ("To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization."), or 
• It should be noted that Neither Senator Casey NOR Senator Toomey has signed on as co-sponsor of S.J. Res.4 ("A joint resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016." )
  
• Contact and encourage President Trump on his pro life and pro marriage/family promises
  
  (cf, LifeSiteNews, 1/20/17;
  Melanie Israel of the Heritage Foundation, 1/22/17;
  "a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their wellbeing" (USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, 1/18/17).)

 Also Newsworthy

• Catholic Medical Ethics (1/29/17)
• Say, Hasn't the Church Already Said a Few Things about Marriage/Family/Sexuality (1/29/17).
• Catholic Social Teaching (1/29/17)
• "And be assured, be assured, that along with you, we will not grow weary, we will not rest until we restore a culture of life in America for ourselves and our posterity" (Vice President Mike Pence, 1/27/17)
• Call to Prayer (USCCB, 1/27/17)
• Marriage: Unique for a Reason (USCCB, 1/17/17)
• The Prenatal Care Deception (LiveAction)

Say, Hasn't the Church Already Said a Few Things about Marriage/Family/Sexuality? (1/29/17)

Say, Hasn't the Church Already Said a Few Things about Marriage/Family/Sexuality?

• "I must repeat the need for a 'new catechumenate' in preparation for marriage....the preparation for marriage should become an integral part of all the sacramental procedure of marriage, as an antidote that prevents the proliferation of null or inconsistent marriage celebrations.  A second remedy is that of helping newly-weds to follow the path of faith and in the Church also after the celebration of marriage....as I have said to you many times, it takes great courage to marry in the times in which we live. And those who have the strength and the joy to take this important step must feel the affection and the concrete closeness of the Church next to them" (Pope Francis to the Roman Rota, 1/21/17).
• Statement Calling for Constitutional Resistance to Obergefell v. Hodges (American Principles Project, 10/8/15)
• Study Guide to St. Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" (5/26/14)

Catholic Medical Ethics (1/29/17)

Catholic Medical Ethics

• From well meaning pro life sources, we hear that there have been 59 million+ abortions in the United States, since the horrific 1/22/1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decisions (cf, www.numberofabortions.com/).  Not even close!  Pharmacists for Life International reports 308 million (when chemical and mechanical means are properly counted).  Jesus' love abounds for each and every one of us - and for each and every one of those 308 million.  We do our tiny brothers and sisters an injustice, when we fail to even count them.
  Say NO to Providers of Abortifacients/Contraceptives (1/7/17)
• Fertility awareness / NaPro Technology 
• Email USCCB President Cardinal DiNardo, USCCB Pro Life Chair Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Chaput, and National Catholic Bioethics Center President John Haas, PhD, STL
• Email Archbishop Chaput about our "Catholic" hospitals
• "Please send a message to the AMA today asking them to support the dignity of every person and the need for supportive and comprehensive end of life care" (Pa Catholic Conference).
• "The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought." (Psalm 32: 22)

Catholic Social Teaching (1/29/17)

Catholic Social Teaching

• His Holiness is profoundly grateful for this impressive testimony to the sacredness of every human life. As he has made clear, 'so great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right… can justify a decision to terminate that life' (Amoris Laetitia, 83). He trusts that this event, in which so many American citizens speak out on behalf of the most defenseless of our brothers and sisters, will contribute to a mobilization of conscience in defense of the right to life and effective measures to ensure its adequate legal protection" (Vatican Radio).
• "I an Kellyanne Conway.  I am a wife, a mother, a Catholic, counselor to the president of the United States of America, and yes, I am pro life" (1/27/17)
• US Bishops Release Road Map to Improve Race Relations (National Catholic Register, 1/26/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Strongly Opposes Executive Order Because It Harms Vulnerable Refugee and Immigrant Families (USCCB, 1/26/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Responds to Trump Administration Sanctuary City Executive Order (USCCB, 1/24/17)
• Committee on Migration Chair Strongly Opposes Administration’s Announcement to Build a Wall at U.S.-Mexico Border, Increase Detention and Deportation Forces (USCCB, 1/23/17)
• USCCB Pro Life Chairman Applauds Reestablishment of Mexico City Policy (USCCB, 1/23/17) 
• "The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, fínds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination." (Pope John Paul II, 12/30/1988)

"Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

1/29/17, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

• Contact and encourage President Trump on his pro life and pro marriage/family promises:
"1. Trump promises to appoint pro-life judges....
2. Trump promises to defund Planned Parenthood....
3. Trump promises Christians can 'trust' him to defend 'traditional marriage’....
4. Trump promises religious liberty....
5. Trump promises to repeal Johnson amendment....
6. Trump promises to repeal Obamacare" (LifeSiteNews, 1/20/17)
• "a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their wellbeing" (Bishop Frank J. Dewane, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, 1/18/17).
In addition, as per Melanie Israel of the Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society (1/22/17), we should:
• seek President Trump's opposition to embryonic stem cell research, "3 parent" embryos, and the United Nations Population Fund;
• seek President Trump's enforcement of the Weldon Amendment, "the Helms amendment and other longstanding prohibitions on funding abortion in international programs....[as well as in the] federal grant process ...[NON discrimination] against faith-based, life-affirming organizations";
• seek President Trump's support for pro life legislation, "states' freedom to exclude abortion providers from state Medicaid programs," pro life updating of Title X regulations, and conscience protections

• Click to Email Pa's congressional delegation, regarding federal positions backed by our bishops (cf., Pa Catholic Conference, USCCB, USCCB's Justice for Immigrants, Human Life Action, Human Life Action's 12/16/16 email.)
• It should be noted that Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has NOT signed on as a co-sponsor of
  H.J.Res.27 ("Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016."),  
  H.R. 490 ("To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable."),
  H.R.586 ("To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization."), or 
• It should be noted that Neither Senator Casey NOR Senator Toomey has signed on as co-sponsor of S.J. Res.4 ("A joint resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016." )

• Click to Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for support of issues/legislation backed by the Pa Catholic Conference and/or the Pa Pro Life Federation.

• Act now to stop assisted suicide (Diocese of Trenton, 11/4/16)


• Boycott Target and boycotts/actions from America Needs Fatima and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Catholic Medical Ethics

• From well meaning pro life sources, we hear that there have been 59 million+ abortions in the United States, since the horrific 1/22/1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decisions (cf, www.numberofabortions.com/).  Not even close!  Pharmacists for Life International reports 308 million (when chemical and mechanical means are properly counted).  Jesus' love abounds for each and every one of us - and for each and every one of those 308 million.  We do our tiny brothers and sisters an injustice, when we fail to even count them.
  Say NO to Providers of Abortifacients/Contraceptives (1/7/17)
• Fertility awareness / NaPro Technology 
• Email USCCB President Cardinal DiNardo, USCCB Pro Life Chair Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Chaput, and National Catholic Bioethics Center President John Haas, PhD, STL
• Email Archbishop Chaput about our "Catholic" hospitals
• "Please send a message to the AMA today asking them to support the dignity of every person and the need for supportive and comprehensive end of life care" (Pa Catholic Conference).
• "The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought." (Psalm 32: 22)

Say, Hasn't the Church Already Said a Few Things about Marriage/Family/Sexuality?

• "I must repeat the need for a 'new catechumenate' in preparation for marriage....the preparation for marriage should become an integral part of all the sacramental procedure of marriage, as an antidote that prevents the proliferation of null or inconsistent marriage celebrations.  A second remedy is that of helping newly-weds to follow the path of faith and in the Church also after the celebration of marriage....as I have said to you many times, it takes great courage to marry in the times in which we live. And those who have the strength and the joy to take this important step must feel the affection and the concrete closeness of the Church next to them" (Pope Francis to the Roman Rota, 1/21/17).
• Statement Calling for Constitutional Resistance to Obergefell v. Hodges (American Principles Project, 10/8/15)
• Study Guide to St. Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" (5/26/14)

Catholic Social Teaching

• Holocaust calls us to have 'respect for the dignity of every person' (EWTN News/CNA, 1/27/17) 
• US Bishops Release Road Map to Improve Race Relations (National Catholic Register, 1/26/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Responds to Trump Administration Sanctuary City Executive Order (USCCB, 1/24/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Strongly Opposes Executive Order Because It Harms Vulnerable Refugee and Immigrant Families (USCCB, 1/26/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Responds to Trump Administration Sanctuary City Executive Order (USCCB, 1/24/17)
• Committee on Migration Chair Strongly Opposes Administration’s Announcement to Build a Wall at U.S.-Mexico Border, Increase Detention and Deportation Forces (USCCB, 1/23/17)
• USCCB Pro Life Chairman Applauds Reestablishment of Mexico City Policy (USCCB, 1/23/17) 
• "The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, fínds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination." (Pope John Paul II, 12/30/1988)

Also Newsworthy

• 9 Days for Life (USCCB, 1/21/17 - 1/29/17)
• Call to Prayer (USCCB, 1/27/17)
• Marriage: Unique for a Reason (USCCB, 1/17/17)

Kellyanne Conway at the March for Life

VP Mike Pence at the March for Life

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vp-mike-pence-full-transcript-2017-march-for-life-address

Hundreds of thousands ready to march in D.C. with new hope for pro-life gains under Trump (LifeSiteNews, 1/26/17)

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/hundreds-of-thousands-ready-to-march-in-d.c.-with-new-hope-for-pro-life-gai

US Bishops Release Road Map to Improve Race Relations (National Catholic Register, 1/26/17)

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/us-bishops-release-road-map-to-improve-race-relations/

What we should ask of the Pa delegation in DC....

Click to Email Pa's congressional delegation, regarding federal positions backed by our bishops (cf., Pa Catholic Conference , USCCB, USCCB's Justice for Immigrants, Human Life Action, Human Life Action's 12/16/16 email.):

Greetings Representatives Brady, Barletta, Boyle, Cartwright, Costello, Dent, Doyle, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Perry, Smucker, Rothfus, Shuster, and Thompson, and Senators Casey and Toomey:

Please co-sponsor/support the Conscience Protection Act and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, as well as the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act and Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act in the new Congress.

Please oppose ANY funding for Planned Parenthood, ''the Separation Wall in the Cremisan Valley,'' and cutting refugee resettlement funds. We should honor and protect immigrants and refugees. Please co-sponsor/support H.R.496 /S.128 (Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy'').

Sincerely,

In addition, you may also want to ask for co-sponsorship/support of

• H.R.586 ("To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization."),
• H.R. 490, Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017, and
• H.J. Res 27/ S. J. Res 4, to stop assisted suicide in D.C.

Call to Prayer (USCCB, 1/27/17)

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1100920568270&ca=97caa999-f849-489e-a5cc-7158bd24ae96

USCCB Pro Life Chairman Applauds Reestablishment of Mexico City Policy (USCCB, 1/23/17)

http://www.usccb.org/news/2017/17-018.cfm

HR 7, plus the BRIDGE Act and Protecting DACA Youth

Here is how the Pennsylvania delegation voted today on H.R. 7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017:

No	D	Brady, Robert	PA 1st
No	D	Evans, Dwight	PA 2nd
Aye	R	Kelly, Mike	PA 3rd
Aye	R	Perry, Scott	PA 4th
Aye	R	Thompson, Glenn	PA 5th
Aye	R	Costello, Ryan	PA 6th
Aye	R	Meehan, Patrick	PA 7th
Aye	R	Fitzpatrick, Brian	PA 8th
Aye	R	Shuster, Bill	PA 9th
Aye	R	Marino, Tom	PA 10th
Aye	R	Barletta, Lou	PA 11th
Aye	R	Rothfus, Keith	PA 12th
No	D	Boyle, Brendan	PA 13th
No	D	Doyle, Mike	PA 14th
Aye	R	Dent, Charles	PA 15th
Aye	R	Smucker, Lloyd	PA 16th
No	D	Cartwright, Matthew	PA 17th
Aye	R	Murphy, Tim	PA 18th

As per today's USCCB alert, "Please Support the BRIDGE Act and Protect DACA Youth."

Please Support the BRIDGE Act and Protect DACA Youth

http://www.capwiz.com/justiceforimmigrants/issues/alert/?alertid=74887626

"We don't offer prenatal care at Planned Parenthood."

• Contact and encourage President Trump on his pro life and pro marriage/family promises:
"1. Trump promises to appoint pro-life judges....
2. Trump promises to defund Planned Parenthood....
3. Trump promises Christians can 'trust' him to defend 'traditional marriage’....
4. Trump promises religious liberty....
5. Trump promises to repeal Johnson amendment....
6. Trump promises to repeal Obamacare" (LifeSiteNews, 1/20/17)
• "a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their wellbeing" (Bishop Frank J. Dewane, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, 1/18/17).
In addition, as per Melanie Israel of the Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society (1/22/17), we should:
• seek President Trump's opposition to embryonic stem cell research, "3 parent" embryos, and the United Nations Population Fund;
• seek President Trump's enforcement of the Weldon Amendment, "the Helms amendment and other longstanding prohibitions on funding abortion in international programs....[as well as in the] federal grant process ...[NON discrimination] against faith-based, life-affirming organizations";
• seek President Trump's support for pro life legislation, "states' freedom to exclude abortion providers from state Medicaid programs," pro life updating of Title X regulations, and conscience protections

• Click to Email Pa's congressional delegation, regarding federal positions backed by our bishops (cf., Pa Catholic Conference, USCCB, USCCB's Justice for Immigrants, Human Life Action, Human Life Action's 12/16/16 email.)
• It should be noted that Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has NOT signed on as a co-sponsor of
  H.J.Res.27 ("Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016."),  
  H.R. 490 ("To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable."),
  H.R.586 ("To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization."), or H.R.354 ("To provide for a moratorium on Federal funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.").
• It should be further noted that while reliably pro life members of the Pa delegation like Keith Rothfus have signed on to H.R. 354, the Lepanto Institute (1/13/17) finds its wording  entirely too weak and unacceptable.
• It should be noted that Neither Senator Casey NOR Senator Toomey has signed on as co-sponsor of S.J. Res.4 ("A joint resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016." )

• Click to Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for support of issues/legislation backed by the Pa Catholic Conference and/or the Pa Pro Life Federation. 
• "3801 Lancaster" and Pa's Act 122 of 2011 (1/14/17)


• Act now to stop assisted suicide (Diocese of Trenton, 11/4/16)


• Boycott Target and boycotts/actions from America Needs Fatima and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Catholic Medical Ethics

• From well meaning pro life sources, we hear that there have been 59 million+ abortions in the United States, since the horrific 1/22/1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decisions (cf, www.numberofabortions.com/).  Not even close!  Pharmacists for Life International reports 308 million (when chemical and mechanical means are properly counted).  Jesus' love abounds for each and every one of us - and for each and every one of those 308 million.  We do our tiny brothers and sisters an injustice, when we fail to even count them.
  Say NO to Providers of Abortifacients/Contraceptives (1/7/17)
• Fertility awareness / NaPro Technology 
• Email USCCB President Cardinal DiNardo, USCCB Pro Life Chair Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Chaput, and National Catholic Bioethics Center President John Haas, PhD, STL
• Email Archbishop Chaput about our "Catholic" hospitals
• "Please send a message to the AMA today asking them to support the dignity of every person and the need for supportive and comprehensive end of life care" (Pa Catholic Conference).
• "The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn  the deliverance you have brought." (Psalm 32: 22)

Say, Hasn't the Church Already Said a Few Things about Marriage/Family/Sexuality?

• "I must repeat the need for a 'new catechumenate' in preparation for marriage....the preparation for marriage should become an integral part of all the sacramental procedure of marriage, as an antidote that prevents the proliferation of null or inconsistent marriage celebrations.  A second remedy is that of helping newly-weds to follow the path of faith and in the Church also after the celebration of marriage....as I have said to you many times, it takes great courage to marry in the times in which we live. And those who have the strength and the joy to take this important step must feel the affection and the concrete closeness of the Church next to them" (Pope Francis to the Roman Rota, 1/21/17).
• Statement Calling for Constitutional Resistance to Obergefell v. Hodges (American Principles Project, 10/8/15)
• Study Guide to St. Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" (5/26/14)

Catholic Social Teaching

• "The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, fínds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination." (Pope John Paul II, 12/30/1988)

Also Newsworthy

• 9 Days for Life (USCCB, 1/21/17 - 1/29/17)
• January 24th: St. Francis de Sales and Deaf People
• Call to Prayer (USCCB, 1/20/17)
• FridayFax (C-Fam, 1/19/17)
• Marriage: Unique for a Reason (USCCB, 1/17/17)

Pope Francis to the Roman Rota, 1/21/17 (excerpts)

"I must repeat the need for a 'new catechumenate' in preparation for marriage....the preparation for marriage should become an integral part of all the sacramental procedure of marriage, as an antidote that prevents the proliferation of null or inconsistent marriage celebrations.  A second remedy is that of helping newly-weds to follow the path of faith and in the Church also after the celebration of marriage....as I have said to you many times, it takes great courage to marry in the times in which we live. And those who have the strength and the joy to take this important step must feel the affection and the concrete closeness of the Church next to them" (Pope Francis to the Roman Rota, 1/21/17).

No Taxpayer funding for Abortion Act, (H.R. 7).

As per Human Life Action, please "advocate for the passage of an important pro-life bill: The No Taxpayer funding for Abortion Act, (H.R. 7). Please urge your member of the House of Representatives to support and help to enact this bill today! Congress may consider this legislation as soon as Tuesday, January 24."
 

https://www.humanlifeaction.org/take-action

No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion

https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/PACC/Campaigns/49347/Respond

No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, HR 7

Human Life Action, a USCCB associate is urging support for Congressman Chris Smith's HR 7:
https://www.humanlifeactioncenter.org/take-action

As of this writing, Rep Keith Rothfus is the ONLY co-sponsor from Pennsylvania.

The 44th Anniversary of the Horrendous Roe v Wade Decision

From well meaning pro life sources, we hear that there have been 59 million+ abortions in the United States, since the horrific 1/22/1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decisions (cf, www.numberofabortions.com/).  Not even close!  Pharmacists for Life International reports 308 million (when chemical and mechanical means are properly counted).  

Jesus' love abounds for each and every one of us - and for each and every one of those 308 million.  We do our tiny brothers and sisters an injustice, when we fail to even count them.

Also Newsworthy

• 9 Days for Life (USCCB, 1/21/17 - 1/29/17)
• Call to Prayer (USCCB, 1/20/17)
• FridayFax (C-Fam, 1/19/17)
• Marriage: Unique for a Reason (USCCB, 1/17/17)

• Urge President Trump to stay true to his word 
"1. Trump promises to appoint pro-life judges....
2. Trump promises to defund Planned Parenthood....
3. Trump promises Christians can 'trust' him to defend 'traditional marriage’....
4. Trump promises religious liberty....
5. Trump promises to repeal Johnson amendment....
6. Trump promises to repeal Obamacare" (LifeSiteNews, 1/20/17)
• "a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their wellbeing" (Bishop Frank J. Dewane, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice andHuman Development, 1/18/17).

• Click to Email Pa's Congressional Delegation, regarding positions backed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, including Justice for Immigrants (cf., also see Human Life Action's 12/16/16 email.)
• Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has NOT signed on as a co-sponsor of H.J.Res.27 ("Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016."), H.R. 490 ("To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable."), or H.R.354 ("To provide for a moratorium on Federal funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc."). 
• While reliably pro life members of the Pa delegation like Keith Rothfus have signed on to H.R. 354, the Lepanto Institute (1/13/17) find its wording to be entirely too weak and unacceptable.
•  Neither Senator Casey NOR Senator Toomey has signed on as co-sponsor of S.J. Res.4 ("A joint resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016." )

• Click to Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for support of issues/legislation backed by the Pa Catholic Conference and/or the Pa Pro Life Federation. 
• "3801 Lancaster" and Pa's Act 122 of 2011 (1/14/17)


• Act now to stop assisted suicide (Diocese of Trenton, 11/4/16)


• Boycott Target and boycotts/actions from America Needs Fatima and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation

  Catholic Medical Ethics

• Say NO to Providers of Abortifacients/Contraceptives (1/7/17)
• Email USCCB President Cardinal DiNardo, USCCB Pro Life Chair Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Chaput, and National Catholic Bioethics Center President John Haas, PhD, STL
• Email Archbishop Chaput about our "Catholic" hospitals
• "Please send a message to the AMA today asking them to support the dignity of every person and the need for supportive and comprehensive end of life care" (Pa Catholic Conference).

Say, Hasn't the Church Already Said a Few Things about Marriage/Family/Sexuality?

• Study Guide to St. Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" (5/26/14)
• Statement Calling for Constitutional Resistance to Obergefell v. Hodges (American Principles Project, 10/8/15)
• Fatima visionary predicted 'final battle' would be over marriage, family (Catholic World Report, 12/31/16)

Catholic Social Teaching

• "The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, fínds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination." (Pope John Paul II, 12/30/1988)

"He said to them,
"'Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" (Matthew 4:19)