PENNSYLVANIA: Urge Gov. Wolf to Veto the Gambling Expansion Bill! (Family Policy Alliance, 10/27/17)

https://secure2.convio.net/cl/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=693

Free to Serve (USCCB, 10/31/17)

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1100920568270&ca=3d2b7506-9409-48eb-8a7b-a305f1c5c7ba

It's WRAP Week! Get Involved! (NCOSE, 10/30/17)

https://t.e2ma.net/message/hscrid/lj8c3cb

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

• Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton) 

• 2017 Judicial Guide for November 7th Election (Pa Family Institute, 10/9/17 update)

• 11/5/17, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (links to readings in print/audio and a signed homily)

• 11/2/17 The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

• 11/1/17, Solemnity of All Saints

 On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/29/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/29/17 update).

• White Ribbon Against Pornograhy Week... (NCOSE, 10/28/17) 
• Taking a stand against the harms of p*rnography and prostitution (NCOSE, 10/25/17)

• Support HB 1388 as amended (10/27/17)

• Clamoring for Hippocrates (Judie Brown, American Life League, 10/27/17)
• Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17)  God Help Us!
• re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17) (10/22/17)  God Help Us!
• So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
  
  • Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)

• Irish Catholics Planning Massive Rosary Rally (Women of Grace, 10/25/17) 
  
  
• Beware of the Cult of Santa Muerte (National Catholic Register, 10/20/17)

• Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (Catholic Standard, 10/17/17)
• USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)

• "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17) 
•  United Nations Petition Drive (Human Life International, 9/28/17)

Federal Issues, 10/29/17 update

USCCB's Action Center

• Help Persecuted Christians/Religious Minorities in Middle East [added around 11/1/17]
• Tell Congress to support disaster relief for houses of worship
• Tell the White House that it's time to drop the HHS mandate [deactivated]
• Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act: Contact your Representative and Senators today!

USCCB's and CRS' Catholics Confront Global Poverty / Action Center 

[We can ensure safety for refugees, as well as their host communities.  As our noble efforts at assistance must not be hijacked, this blogger believes that our communications MUST specifically state that contraceptives/abortifacients MUST be excluded from "assistance."]
• Speak up for the 1% that does a world of good.
• Use Your Voice to Combat Human Trafficking
• Speak Out to Protect DREAMers 
• Urge Our Nation to Care for our Common Home

USCCB's Justice for Immigrants' Action Alerts 

• Extend TPS for the countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti [added around 11/1/17]
• Migration Campaign Action Alert: DACA
• Support for Refugees and the U.S. Resettlement Program
• Action Alert to Support DREAM Act of 2017
• Action Alert: Urge Congress to Continue to Protect Trafficking Victims
• Stand with Refugees Action Alert
• Action Alert to DHS: Extend TPS for Haitians
  [PLEASE NOTE: "The Trump administration’s decision to allow 50,000 Haitian earthquake victims to remain in the United States prompted gratitude from the U.S. bishops’ conference, which stressed the need for continued work to aid Haitians here and in their home country.  'While this extension is helpful, it still leaves many Haitian families in the United States in an insecure and vulnerable position, particularly with respect to ensuring legal work authorization,' Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee, said May 23.  The Department of Homeland Security’s decision extended the Obama administration’s protections for Haitians who had arrived in the U.S. within a year of the massive 2010 earthquake. They may remain with work authorizations until January 2018....Temporary protected status may be provided to citizens of countries that are suffering from severe violence, disease and natural disasters. At present countries designated for that status include Sudan, Somalia, Syria, El Salvador, Nepal, and Yemen, Reuters reports" (CNA/EWTN, 5/23/17)]
• Voice Your Support for Vulnerable Immigrants and Refugees
• Easter Recess In-District Meetings: JFI Asks
• Phone-in Fridays
• Please Support the BRIDGE ACT and DACA Youth
• In Solidarity with Refugees
• Creating a Culture of Encounter

USCCB's Marriage Unique for a Reason

• "The USCCB continues to support the First Amendment Defense Act, the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, and the Healthy Relationships Act in Congress." (USCCB, 11/3/17)
• "The USCCB continues to support the First Amendment Defense Act and the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act in Congress....In September, Archbishop Chaput, Chairman of the Bishops' Committee for Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, sent a letter of support to Representative Randy Hultgren for the Healthy Relationships Act of 2017. The act would authorize the federal government to award grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities providing education in sexual risk avoidance (voluntarily refraining from nonmarital sexual activity)" (USCCB, 10/2/17).

Pa Catholic Conference's Current Alerts
(two federal)

• Reauthorize CHIP
• No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion
  "Urge our Senators to support H.R. 7 to permanently protect our tax dollars from paying for or promoting elective abortions."

National Center on Sexual Exploitation

• On EWTN News Nightly (9/20/17), the National Center on Sexual Exploitation's Haley Halverson explained why Congress must amend Communications Decency Act, Section 230.
  
  Kudos to Brian Fitzpatrick, who is joined by fellow U.S. Representatives from Pennsylvania Barletta, Brady, Evans, Kelly, Rothus, Shuster, and Smucker as co-sponsors of HR 1865 (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017), while Senator Casey (but NOT Senator Toomey) is a co-sponsor of S 1693 (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act)
• "'Expeditious passage of H.R. 1865 Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA) and S. 1693 Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) will move the country closer to striking a blow against the online havens that facilitate sex trafficking'" (National Center on Sexual Exploitation, 9/7/17). 

Human Life Action Action Alerts

Current Action Alerts

• Urge Senators to Pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act [added by blogger on 10/21/17]
• Assisted Suicide is Not Healthcare
• Urge Congress to Enact the Conscience Protection Act of 2017!
  [As per a 9/20/17 email from Human Life Action: "This is 'appropriations season' on the Hill. That means Congress must pass funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2018.... Last Thursday, the House of Representatives approved HR 3354, Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018. It includes the full text of the Conscience Protection Act (CPA) of 2017! It also includes other provisions which we have taken action on such as the nullification of the DC law that legalized assisted suicide and the DC Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA), a DC law....There are many other pro-life provisions (both longstanding and new) in the funding bill as well, such as a prohibition on funding elective abortions for detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and against funding for research involving human fetal tissue from abortions....Of the new provisions, our top priority is to ensure that the CPA is included.... rather than finalizing the FY 2018 appropriations legislation by the end of the fiscal year (September 30), both the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government at its current levels with current policies until December 8, 2017....continue contacting your members of Congress...."]

Previous Action Alerts

• Vote Expected Soon on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
Last Updated: 09/29/2017
• Urge Senators to Protect Life and Liberty of Conscience in Health Care Reform Bill
  Last Updated: 06/23/2017
• Urge Your Senators to Disapprove Planned Parenthood Title X Funding Rule
  Last Updated: 03/13/2017
• Contact the President and Vice-President Today and Urge Them to Support Religious Liberty!
  Last Updated: 02/03/2017
• Follow Up for Vote on The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7)
  Last Updated: 01/26/2017
• Urge Support for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
  Last Updated: 01/19/2017
• 44th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
  Last Updated: 01/04/2017
• Urgent Action Needed on Contraceptive Mandate
  Last Updated: 09/09/2016
• NIH PROPOSES TAXPAYER-FUNDED RESEARCH ON ANIMAL-HUMAN CHIMERAS
  Last Updated: 09/06/2016

State Issues, 10/29/17 update

Support HB 1388 as amended

Pa Catholic Conference

• Support Expanding Educational Opportunity!

• Reauthorize CHIP (Federal)

• Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Religious Liberty
  "Changing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious beliefs....proposals like these expose even more Pennsylvanians to discrimination based solely on their religious beliefs. Simply put, this legislation is intolerant and prejudiced against people of faith." 

• Act Now to Support Expansion of Education Tax Credit Program!

• Should Doctors Be Neutral on Suicide?

• Prioritize Funding for Women's Primary Health Care

• Support Positive Reform for Sexual Abuse Statutes of Limitation

• Support a Better Life for Human Trafficking Victims 
  [While the Pa Catholic Conference is supporting SB 554, doesn't the  fact that Senator Daylin Leach is one of its prime sponsors suggest that there should be careful assessment of  whether this legislation and its implications are truly consistent with Catholic teaching?]

• Act Now to Support Increasing Education Tax Credits!

• End Brutal Dismemberment Abortions
  [After passing both chambers, are we shamefully seeing SB 3 stalemated and HB 77 stalemated?]

• No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion (Federal)

Pa Pro Life Federation 

As per the 9/29/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,

"Please call and email your state Senators and urge them to support House Bill 1139, which strengthens our Newborn Protection Act."

As per the 9/7/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,

• Support Senator Scott Martin's resolution to condemn the abortion of babies who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome.
• Support Senate Bill 3.
• Oppose House Bill 111.
• Oppose Senate Bill 238.

Pa Family.org Citizen Action Center

11/5/17, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110517.cfm

http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_11_05.mp3

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VLOP36umSsg

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

• Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton)

• White Ribbon Against Pornograhy Week... (NCOSE, 10/28/17) 
• Taking a stand against the harms of p*rnography and prostitution (NCOSE, 10/25/17)

• Support HB 1388 as amended (10/27/17)

• Clamoring for Hippocrates (Judie Brown, American Life League, 10/27/17)
• Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17)  God Help Us!
• re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17) (10/22/17)  God Help Us!
• So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
  
  • Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)

• Irish Catholics Planning Massive Rosary Rally (Women of Grace, 10/25/17) 
  
  
• Beware of the Cult of Santa Muerte (National Catholic Register, 10/20/17)

• Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (Catholic Standard, 10/17/17)
• USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)

• "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17) 
•  United Nations Petition Drive (Human Life International, 9/28/17)

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

White Ribbon Against Pornograhy Week Starts Tomorrow (NCOSE, 10/28/17)

https://t.e2ma.net/message/pawoid/lj8c3cb

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

• Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton)

• Support HB 1388 as amended (10/27/17)

• Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17)  God Help Us!
• re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17) (10/22/17)  God Help Us!
• So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
  
  •  Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)

• Madeleine P. Jones, defender of pre born children, RIP (10/27/17)
   
• Taking a stand against the harms of p*rnography and prostitution (NCOSE, 10/25/17) 

• Irish Catholics Planning Massive Rosary Rally (Women of Grace, 10/25/17) 
  
  
• How could The Los Angeles Times dodge faith in a story about Kershaw family, mission work? (Terry Mattingly, 10/25/17)
  
  
• Beware of the Cult of Santa Muerte (National Catholic Register, 10/20/17)

• Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (Catholic Standard, 10/17/17)
• USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)

• "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17) 
•  United Nations Petition Drive (Human Life International, 9/28/17)

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

Congress Urged to Remember the Poor and Strengthen Families in U.S. Bishop’s Letter on Tax Reform (USCCB, 10/25/17)

http://www.usccb.org/news/2017/17-194.cfm

Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/catholic-hospital-group-grants-euthanasia-to-mentally-ill-defying-vatican-1509096600

Madeleine P. Jones, defender of pre born children, RIP

http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/obituaries/bcct/madeleine-p-jones/article_063d152e-b7a7-5812-bf51-435f68c74bc3.html

Irish Catholics Planning Massive Rosary Rally (Women of Grace, 10/25/17)

http://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=61105

Support HB 1388 as amended

Does Your Senator Want to End Your Funding of Child "Sex Change" Surgery? [Roll Call] (PaFamily.org, 10/26/17)
https://pafamily.org/2017/10/hb1388rollcall/


Senate Committee Approves Bill to Reauthorize CHIP; Maintains Funding is Used for Intended Purpose (Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, 10/18/17)
http://www.pacatholic.org/advocates-lawmakers-stand-up-for-safe-harbor-at-state-capitol-2/

Taking a stand against the harms of p*rnography and prostitution (NCOSE, 10/25/17)

https://t.e2ma.net/message/pubmid/lj8c3cb

RE: Action Alert: Call for Public Comment to HHS by Thursday

________________________________________
From: NCHLA: Human Life Action [info@nchla.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 4:32 PM
To:
Subject: Action Alert: Call for Public Comment to HHS by Thursday

Call to ActionDear Friend, I write today to encourage you to respond to a call for public comments. Every four years, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS), updates its strategic
[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/hla_banner.png]

Call to Action
[https://humanlifeaction.org/contribute]
Dear Friend,

I write today to encourage you to respond to a call for public comments. Every four years, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS), updates its strategic plan to define its mission, goals, and how it will measure its progress in addressing specific national problems over a four-year period. There are some solid, pro-life provisions in the recently released plan and we should thank the Administration encourage them to adopt them. Time is short, as comments will close this Thursday, October 26. Won't you take action now to support this pro-life plan?

[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/action_take_action_button_large_red.png]<https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/SrjxlGZOja7JlbaY7wtZJQ>

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has recently submitted comments in support of this HHS mission statement calling them "commendable and important goals" and notes that there are several praiseworthy elements:

First, the Plan helpfully recognizes and endorses the need to promote the health of human beings at every stage of life, "from conception to natural death."

Second, the Plan helpfully recognizes the need to reduce burdens on the free exercise of religion, and to promote the equal participation of individuals and organizations of faith in the delivery of health care and other services and in HHS programs.

Third, the Plan helpfully supports the implementation of programs to protect and strengthen marriage and family.

Fourth, the Plan includes many praiseworthy features intended to extend the reach of health services to underserved populations. However, the Plan would benefit from additional clarity on care for those in poverty, especially in ensuring the integrity and reach of existing poverty-related programs.

You can see the USCCB comments in full here<https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/JRzhhiZbUe3Wj-1Jbx137g>. Thank you for always standing with us. Together we will be heard.

[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/amci_sig_121516.png]
Amy McInerny
Executive Director

[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/dh2.png]<https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/B3CUas4_ACN7QkdMy6lO1w>
________________________________

How could The Los Angeles Times dodge faith in a story about Kershaw family, mission work? (Terry Mattingly, 10/25/17)

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2017/10/25/how-could-the-los-angeles-times-dodge-faith-in-a-story-about-kershaw-family-charity-work

10/29/17, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102917.cfm

http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_10_29.mp3

Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (10/17/17)

http://www.cathstan.org/Content/News/News/Article/Text-of-Cardinal-Wuerl-s-letter-urging-solidarity-with-persecuted-Christians/2/2/8163

re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17)

God help us!

"....The multibillion-dollar fertility industry is booming, and experimenting with business models that are changing the American family in new and unpredictable ways. Would-be parents seeking donor eggs and sperm can pick and choose from long checklists of physical and intellectual characteristics. Clinics now offer volume discounts, package deals and 100 percent guarantees for babymaking....

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 percent of American women 15 to 55 — 7.3 million — have used some sort of fertility service; the use of assisted reproductive technologies has doubled in the past decade. In 2015, these procedures resulted in nearly 73,000 babies — 1.6 percent of all U.S. births. The rate is even higher in some countries, including Japan (5 percent) and Denmark (10 percent)....

"The donor-egg industry, in particular, has taken off in the past decade....The number of attempted pregnancies with donor eggs has soared from 1,800 in 1992 to almost 21,200 in 2015.

"Yet in the United States, the industry remains largely self-regulated. Questions abound about the recruitment of donors; the ethics of screening and selecting embryos for physical characteristics; the ownership of the estimated millions of unused eggs, sperm samples and embryos in long-term storage; and the emerging ability to tinker with embryos via the gene-editing tool CRISPR.

"Earlier this year, a group of donor-conceived adults documented numerous ethical lapses in the industry, including donors who lied to prospective parents about their health histories and other qualifications, and clinics that claimed to have limited donations from some individuals — while permitting those individuals to submit hundreds of samples. They called on the Food and Drug Administration to provide more oversight of the 'cryobanks' that gather, store and sell the most precious commodities in the industry — sperm and eggs.
The agency said it is reviewing the matter, but cannot predict when it will have a response 'due to the existence of other FDA priorities'....

"the California IVF Fertility Center is pioneering what some refer to as the 'Costco model' of babymaking, creating batches of embryos using donor eggs and sperm that can be shared among several different families.

That model has served to highlight a preference among many would-be parents for tall, thin, highly-educated donors....

"Prospective parents can filter and sort potential donors by race and ethnic background, hair and eye color, and education level. They also can get much more personal information: audio of the donor’s voice, photos of the donor as a child and as an adult, and written responses to questions that read like college-application essays....

"A prescreened vial of sperm sells for as little as $400 and can be shipped via FedEx. A set of donor eggs — as many as 30, depending on the donor — can cost $10,000 or more to compensate for the risky and invasive medical procedure required to harvest eggs from the donor’s ovaries.

"Fertility companies freely admit that specimens from attractive donors go fast, but it’s intelligence that drives the pricing: Many companies charge more for donors with a graduate degree.

"Talent sells, too....


"When the time is right, ...[one woman] will explain [to the children] that they are 'high-tech babies' and impress on them the importance of memorizing their donor number, in case they happen to 'run into another donor-egg kid.'

“'I know it’s a really slim chance,' she said. 'But I want them to be aware, just in case'” (Washington Post, 10/21/17).

God help us!

Beware of the Cult of Santa Muerte (National Catholic Register, 10/20/17)

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/beware-of-the-cult-of-santa-muerte

"....I am the Lord and there is no other...."

• Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton)

• World Mission Sunday ~ October 22 (Diocese of Harrisburg)

• So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
  

  •  Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)

• "The Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment 'would appear to have long since made up its mind' on repealing the constitutional ban on abortion, Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran has said....Earlier Bishop Doran told the conference that the manner in which conscientious objection was being interpreted 'in the so-called Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act gives rise to real concern'.  Doctors and nurses 'are allowed under the Act to opt out of providing or participating in abortion, provided they refer the patient to someone else who will perform the procedure', he said. 'In other words, they are still required to participate in what they believe to be fundamentally immoral. Healthcare administrators have no recourse to conscientious objection.'.... (The Irish Times, 10/20/17)
• Our Lady of Knock and Marriage/Family (3/5/16)

• Vatican hosts conference on Disability and Catechesis (News.Va, 10/19/17)
• App developed by Phila. nun teaches how to pray in sign language (CatholicPhilly.com, 10/20/17)

• Webinar for parents, parishes aims to combat porn usage (CatholicPhilly.com, 10/19/17)

• Pope Appeals for Somalia (Zenit, 10/18/17)

• USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)

• Pope Marks 800 Years Franciscans in Holy Land (ZENIT, 10/17/17) 

• "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17) 
•  United Nations Petition Drive (Human Life International, 9/28/17)

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers

Some reminders from the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers:

Dáil committee not open-minded on Eighth Amendment, says bishop (The Irish Times, 10/20/17)

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/d%C3%A1il-committee-not-open-minded-on-eighth-amendment-says-bishop-1.3263547

App developed by Phila. nun teaches how to pray in sign language (CatholicPhilly.com, 10/20/17)

http://catholicphilly.com/2017/10/news/world-news/app-developed-by-phila-nun-teaches-how-to-pray-in-sign-language/

"Help them get the joy missing from their lives" (?????).

• The above ad was spotted this morning on the northbound platform of the Metro Park, NJ train station.  In 2008, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith provided us with Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions, which certainly made clear the absolute moral wrongness of IVF procedures.  Compounding this wrongness is when sperm or eggs of non-spouses are "donated"!  Why is no one talking about the IVF industry's shameful exploitation of young women? (cf, https://www.eggsploitation.com/story-cb.htm )

 

(Click image for additional information.)

• 10/22/17, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (with links to readings in text/audio and a signed homily)

• World Mission Sunday ~ October 22 (Diocese of Harrisburg)

• Vatican hosts conference on Disability and Catechesis (News.Va, 10/19/17)

• Webinar for parents, parishes aims to combat porn usage (CatholicPhilly.com, 10/19/17)

• Pope Appeals for Somalia (Zenit, 10/18/17)

• Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17) 

•  USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)

• Pope Marks 800 Years Franciscans in Holy Land (ZENIT, 10/17/17) 

•  "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17) 
•  United Nations Petition Drive (Human Life International, 9/28/17)

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

Pope Appeals for Somalia (Zenit, 10/18/17)

https://zenit.org/articles/pope-appeals-for-somalia/

Feast of St. Luke [10/18/17] the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers

• Feast of St. Luke [10/18/17] the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17) - This is BIG!

• World Mission Sunday ~ October 22 (Diocese of Harrisburg)

• Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs (10/19/17)
  
• Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, Auriesville, NY (9/9/16) 

• USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)

• Pope Marks 800 Years Franciscans in Holy Land (ZENIT, 10/17/17)
• "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17) 
•  United Nations Petition Drive (Human Life International, 9/28/17)

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

• Respect Life 2017 (Archbishop Chaput, 10/12/17)

 

(Click image for additional information.)

Pope Marks 800 Years Franciscans in Holy Land (ZENIT, 10/17/17)

https://zenit.org/articles/pope-marks-800-years-franciscans-in-holy-land/

"giving you a title, though you knew Me not" (10/22/17)

• World Mission Sunday ~ October 22 (Diocese of Harrisburg)

• Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs (10/19/17)
  
• Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, Auriesville, NY (9/9/16) 

• Feast of St. Luke [10/18/17] the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)

• Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (10/17/17)

• USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)

• "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17) 
•  United Nations Petition Drive (Human Life International, 9/28/17)

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

• Respect Life 2017 (Archbishop Chaput, 10/12/17)

 

(Click image for additional information.)

State Issues, 10/17/17 update

Pa Catholic Conference

• Reauthorize CHIP (Federal)

• Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Religious Liberty
  "Changing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious beliefs....proposals like these expose even more Pennsylvanians to discrimination based solely on their religious beliefs. Simply put, this legislation is intolerant and prejudiced against people of faith." 

• Act Now to Support Expansion of Education Tax Credit Program!

• Should Doctors Be Neutral on Suicide?

• Prioritize Funding for Women's Primary Health Care

• Support Positive Reform for Sexual Abuse Statutes of Limitation

• Support a Better Life for Human Trafficking Victims 
  [While the Pa Catholic Conference is supporting SB 554, doesn't the  fact that Senator Daylin Leach is one of its prime sponsors suggest that there should be careful assessment of  whether this legislation and its implications are truly consistent with Catholic teaching?]

• Act Now to Support Increasing Education Tax Credits!

• End Brutal Dismemberment Abortions
  [After passing both chambers, are we shamefully seeing SB 3 stalemated and HB 77 stalemated?]

• No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion (Federal)

Pa Pro Life Federation 

As per the 9/29/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,

"Please call and email your state Senators and urge them to support House Bill 1139, which strengthens our Newborn Protection Act."

As per the 9/7/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,

• Support Senator Scott Martin's resolution to condemn the abortion of babies who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome.
• Support Senate Bill 3.
• Oppose House Bill 111.
• Oppose Senate Bill 238.

Pa Family.org Citizen Action Center

Federal Issues, 10/17/17 update

USCCB's Action Center

• Tell Congress to support disaster relief for houses of worship
• Tell the White House that it's time to drop the HHS mandate
  [???: "Today's decision to expand the HHS mandate exemption is a 'return to common sense, long-standing federal practice, and peaceful coexistence between church and state,' according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and President of the USCCB, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, Chairman of the USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, are hailing the Trump Administration's announcement to provide a broad religious and moral exemption from the mandate requiring health insurance coverage of sterilization, contraception, and drugs and devices that may cause abortions" (USCCB, 10/6/17)
  As per Robert George, "we need to hold off cheering until we see how the guidance is actually interpreted and applied by public officials" (10/11/17)]
• Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act: Contact your Representative and Senators today!

USCCB's and CRS' Catholics Confront Global Poverty / Action Center 

[We can ensure safety for refugees, as well as their host communities.  As our noble efforts at assistance must not be hijacked, this blogger believes that our communications MUST specifically state that contraceptives/abortifacients MUST be excluded from "assistance."]
• Speak up for the 1% that does a world of good.
• Use Your Voice to Combat Human Trafficking
• Speak Out to Protect DREAMers 
• Urge Our Nation to Care for our Common Home

USCCB's Justice for Immigrants' Action Alerts 

• Migration Campaign Action Alert: DACA
• Support for Refugees and the U.S. Resettlement Program
• Action Alert to Support DREAM Act of 2017
• Action Alert: Urge Congress to Continue to Protect Trafficking Victims
• Stand with Refugees Action Alert
• Action Alert to DHS: Extend TPS for Haitians
  [PLEASE NOTE: "The Trump administration’s decision to allow 50,000 Haitian earthquake victims to remain in the United States prompted gratitude from the U.S. bishops’ conference, which stressed the need for continued work to aid Haitians here and in their home country.  'While this extension is helpful, it still leaves many Haitian families in the United States in an insecure and vulnerable position, particularly with respect to ensuring legal work authorization,' Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee, said May 23.  The Department of Homeland Security’s decision extended the Obama administration’s protections for Haitians who had arrived in the U.S. within a year of the massive 2010 earthquake. They may remain with work authorizations until January 2018....Temporary protected status may be provided to citizens of countries that are suffering from severe violence, disease and natural disasters. At present countries designated for that status include Sudan, Somalia, Syria, El Salvador, Nepal, and Yemen, Reuters reports" (CNA/EWTN, 5/23/17)]
• Voice Your Support for Vulnerable Immigrants and Refugees
• Easter Recess In-District Meetings: JFI Asks
• Phone-in Fridays
• Please Support the BRIDGE ACT and DACA Youth
• In Solidarity with Refugees
• Creating a Culture of Encounter

USCCB's Marriage Unique for a Reason

• "The USCCB continues to support the First Amendment Defense Act and the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act in Congress....In September, Archbishop Chaput, Chairman of the Bishops' Committee for Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, sent a letter of support to Representative Randy Hultgren for the Healthy Relationships Act of 2017. The act would authorize the federal government to award grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities providing education in sexual risk avoidance (voluntarily refraining from nonmarital sexual activity)" (USCCB, 10/2/17).

Pa Catholic Conference's Current Alerts
(two federal)

• Reauthorize CHIP
• No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion
  "Urge our Senators to support H.R. 7 to permanently protect our tax dollars from paying for or promoting elective abortions."

National Center on Sexual Exploitation

• On EWTN News Nightly (9/20/17), the National Center on Sexual Exploitation's Haley Halverson explained why Congress must amend Communications Decency Act, Section 230.
  
  Kudos to Brian Fitzpatrick is joined by fellow U.S. Representatives from Pennsylvania Brady, Evans, Kelly, Rothus, Shuster, and Smucker as co-sponsors of HR 1865 (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017), while Senator Casey (but NOT Senator Toomey) is a co-sponsor of S 1693 (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act)
• "'Expeditious passage of H.R. 1865 Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA) and S. 1693 Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) will move the country closer to striking a blow against the online havens that facilitate sex trafficking'" (National Center on Sexual Exploitation, 9/7/17). 

Human Life Action Action Alerts

Current Action Alerts

• Urge Senators to Pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act [added by blogger on 10/21/17]
• Assisted Suicide is Not Healthcare
• Urge Congress to Enact the Conscience Protection Act of 2017!
  [As per a 9/20/17 email from Human Life Action: "This is 'appropriations season' on the Hill. That means Congress must pass funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2018.... Last Thursday, the House of Representatives approved HR 3354, Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018. It includes the full text of the Conscience Protection Act (CPA) of 2017! It also includes other provisions which we have taken action on such as the nullification of the DC law that legalized assisted suicide and the DC Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA), a DC law....There are many other pro-life provisions (both longstanding and new) in the funding bill as well, such as a prohibition on funding elective abortions for detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and against funding for research involving human fetal tissue from abortions....Of the new provisions, our top priority is to ensure that the CPA is included.... rather than finalizing the FY 2018 appropriations legislation by the end of the fiscal year (September 30), both the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government at its current levels with current policies until December 8, 2017....continue contacting your members of Congress...."]

Previous Action Alerts

• Vote Expected Soon on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
Last Updated: 09/29/2017
• Urge Senators to Protect Life and Liberty of Conscience in Health Care Reform Bill
  Last Updated: 06/23/2017
• Urge Your Senators to Disapprove Planned Parenthood Title X Funding Rule
  Last Updated: 03/13/2017
• Contact the President and Vice-President Today and Urge Them to Support Religious Liberty!
  Last Updated: 02/03/2017
• Follow Up for Vote on The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7)
  Last Updated: 01/26/2017
• Urge Support for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
  Last Updated: 01/19/2017
• 44th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
  Last Updated: 01/04/2017
• Urgent Action Needed on Contraceptive Mandate
  Last Updated: 09/09/2016
• NIH PROPOSES TAXPAYER-FUNDED RESEARCH ON ANIMAL-HUMAN CHIMERAS
  Last Updated: 09/06/2016

Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers

Apparently just in time for the Feast of Saint Luke (10/18/17), an English translation of the updated Charter for Health Care Workers is now available.  In its original and beautiful Charter for Health Care Workers, the Vatican had made clear that

this noble calling applies to "doctors, nurses, hospital chaplains, men and women religious, administrators, voluntary care givers for those who suffer, those involved in the diagnosis, treatment and recovery of human health....

"To serve life is to serve God in the person: it is to become 'a collaborator with God in restoring health to the sick body'[16] and to give praise and glory to God in the loving welcome to life, especially if it be weak and ill.[17]....

"the therapeutic ministry of health care workers is a sharing in the pastoral[21] and evangelizing[22] work of the Church....

"In fidelity to the moral law, the health care worker actuates his fidelity to the human person whose worth is guaranteed by the law, and to God, Whose wisdom is expressed by the law....

"The present charter wants to guarantee the ethical fidelity of the health care worker: the choices and behavior enfleshing service to life."

In reporting on the update earlier this year, Vatican Radio (2/6/17) noted that "The new references of the Magisterium, after 1994, that appear in the Charter are:

John Paul II’s Encyclical letter Evangelium vitae (1995);
John Paul II, Discourse to participants in the International Congress on transplants (29 August 2000), no. 4: AAS 92 (2000), 823-824;
The Encyclical Letters of Benedict XVI, Spe salvi on Christian hope (2007) and Caritas in veritate (2009);
Benedict XVI, Discourse to participants in the International Congress promoted by the Pontifical Academy for Life on the theme of organ donation (2008);
Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, on the proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World (2013);
Pope Francis, Message to the participants in the General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of its institution (2014);
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Responsa ad quaestiones ab Episcopali Conferentia Foederatorum Americae Statuum propositas circa cibum et potum artificialiter praebenda [English translation](2007);
The Instruction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas personae (2008);
Pontifical Academy for Life, Prospects for Xenotransplantation - Scientific Aspects and Ethical Considerations (Vatican City, 2001);
Pontifical Academy for Life, Moral reflections on vaccines prepared from cells derived from aborted human foetuses (2005)."

The Charter for Health Care Workers and Conscience Protection (9/24/17)

What's happening with the English translation of the Vatican's Charter for Health Care Workers? (8/13/17) 

The Revision and Updating of the Charter for Healthcare Workers (Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, 5/6/15)

Vatican: Revised charter for health care workers to be out next year (CNS, 11/13/12)