Pro-life

Yes the hagiographies are available at
USA Today.

When I asked Drinan the inevitable tombstone question — how
would he like to be remembered? — he shrugged it off, saying that this
was not for him to judge. But he did allow himself one bit of self-appraisal:
that in the wake of all the scandals about priestly conduct in recent years,
perhaps he had been a priest "who brought some glory to the church."

One of the many "glories" he supported.

The whole post is about as one-sided as you can get. I do hope and have prayed
that he has received the mercy that he would have denied the unborn.

Update: Father Joe posts something a friend send his sent him of a comparison
between Fr. Drinan and Davros from Dr. Who. The last line is all too familiar with anyone familiar with Daleks and the Culture of Death.

I think in many cases it becomes the right decision and the only
choice.

So says Bishop Paul Coakley of Salina regarding Obstinate Pro-Abortion
Catholic Politicians. Roman
Catholic Blog has more on a story form LifeSite news.

Roman Catholic Blog also
posts an open letter to nancy Pelosi
from Fr. Malloy.

Nancy, you are fooling yourself and I fear fooling many good
Catholics. You are simply not in sync with the Catholic Church. Until you change
your non-Catholic positions, you should stop calling yourself Catholic. Your
record shows that you support embryonic stem cell research, Planned Parenthood,
contraception, family planning funding, allowing minors to have an abortion
without parental consent, and are against making it a crime to harm a fetus,
etc. etc.

The fact that you favor married priests and women priests certainly would
not classify you as conservative, but your answer to the question are you a
conservative Catholic was:
“I think so. I was raised in a very strict upbringing in a Catholic home
where we respected people, were observant, were practicing Catholics, and that
the fundamental belief was that God gave us all a free will, and we were accountable
for that, each of us. Each person had that accountability, so it wasn’t
for us to make judgments about how people saw their responsibility and that it
wasn’t for politicians to make decisions about how people led their personal
lives; certainly, to a high moral standards, but when it got into decisions about
privacy and all the rest, then that was something that individuals had to answer
to God for, and not to politicians.”

That sounds fair and tolerant, but your record belies high moral standards.

The NARL rates you 100% pro-abortion. Your statement: “To me it isn’t
even a question. God has given us a free will. We’re all responsible
for our actions. If you don’t want an abortion, you don’t believe
in it, [then] don’t have one. But don’t tell somebody else what
they can do in terms of honoring their responsibilities. My family is very
pro-life. They’re not fanatics and they’re not activists. I think
they’d like it if I were not so vocally pro-choice.”

Do we not elect politicians to make laws that help people
honor their responsibilities, such as protecting life itself? Can politicians
not tell someone else not to
kill? If you can kill a baby in the womb, Nancy, why not outside of it? Oh
wait, you are in favor of partial birth abortion, so-called because the baby
sticks out of the “mother” about halfway, while the “doctor” sucks
out the baby’s brain. That seems comparable to the choice the Nazis made killing
six million Jews.

Yes, Nancy, we (together with your pro-life family) would all like it if
you were not so vocally pro-choice, i.e. pro-death. Until your choice is in
line with Catholic doctrine, please, Nancy, do not receive the Eucharist when
you attend Mass.

Rev. John Malloy, SDB
San Francisco, CA

"LifeSiteNews called the Knights of Malta office in Washington,
where it was confirmed that Terry McAuliffe has indeed submitted an application
to the Knights of Malta, which is currently under review. A director told LifeSiteNews
that the Knights have no control over whom submits an application, but do make
the decision whether a candidate fulfills all the requirements to join their
ranks.

"According to the Knights own website, McAuliffe fails
to be a candidate to their order by their own requirements since an applicant
must be ‘in good
standing with the church’; an impossible situation on account of McAuliffe’s
pro-abortion views. A candidate also must have ‘a record of service to the
Catholic Church and to Catholic-related causes by lending professional expertise
or ‘hands-on’ volunteer service to the poor,’ a record which is tarnished by
McAuliffe lending his expertise to push the anti-life agenda of the Democratic
National Committee.

"Currently, the fault lies not with the Knights of Malta,
but with McAullife’s two sponsors and pastor, who ‘to avoid possible embarrassment’
have the responsibility
to make sure that the applicant satisfies the criteria for admission…"
[Via
Kathy
Shaidle]

Well just maybe the Knights of Malta will refuse him membership,
though you do wonder what would have happened if the story had not been picked
up after McAuliffe mentioned it on Hugh Hewitt show.

Though maybe he could join some organization of knights who support
abortion – like considering the methods of abortion – Knights of the Ground
Table.

Dale Price posts:

The Knights have a membership requirement mandating a year of
formation:

Every candidate must attend the Day of Formation in Washington and over the
following twelve months will be required to attend at least two of the Association’s
spiritual activities and participate as a volunteer at two of the Association’s
personal service projects.

Since it is almost certainly a fait accompli that he will become a member
(btw, notice how much jack it takes to get in?), how about assigning him to
work in a crisis pregnancy center? That, and a couple of mea culpas for screwing
over Democrats for Life and his cavalier attitude toward life issues and we
might be getting somewhere.

Via Jill Stanek

Calling herself the "pro-life executive director" of the Emma Goldman Clinic abortion mill in Iowa City, Iowa, Karen Kubby took the occasion of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade to reflect in a Jan. 25 opinion piece in the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Highlights:

I am pro-life. I believe strongly in the value of living beings on this planet. I celebrate life in a variety of ways through my daily activities and spiritual life. I recognize the lives gained through abortion. I see the lives of women and their children who are stronger and more stable because of a decision toward abortion….

A decision about abortion is decidedly pro-life. It is a respectful and moral option….

If she is pro-life I would hate to hear her definition of pro-death after hearing her Orwellian definition of pro-life.

SANTA CRUZ, California, January 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The City Council of Santa Cruz wants the city to be know as a pro-abortion center, passing a resolution earlier this week to join the Pro-Choice City Campaign, Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink reported yesterday.

In a 5-2 vote, the council adopted the “pro-choice” title Tuesday, aligning the once-Catholic city with a network of US cities dedicated to abortion activism under the banner of “reproductive health choices.”

Council member Ryan Coonerty, who supported the measure, said the council had to take a stand in response to the growing anti-abortion challenge in the country.

“I’d be happy if the council didn’t have to take these positions,” he said. “But the right to choose is being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court, and it’s a politicized issue.”

The resolution was proposed by Santa Cruz mayor Emily Reilly and council members Mike Rotkin and Cynthia Mathews, who founded the local branch of Planned Parenthood, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.

Two women on the council voted against the proposal. Lynn Robinson said she didn’t support city council’s involvement in the issue.

What a shame for a city named after the Holy Cross to declare itself this way. Though I doubt if its new affiliation will make its way into tourism literature. Maybe they can add a scalpel and a vacuum aspirator to the city’s seal.

TALLAHASSEE – The state would pay for stem cell research, including studies using cells harvested from embryos, under a bill filed Tuesday in the Florida Legislature that may have new hope because of backing from Gov. Charlie Crist.

The proposal has failed before, but its chances may be enhanced this year with the support of Crist, who said Tuesday the issue is one of his budget priorities.

"I think it’s important, and we talked about it during the campaign, because of the promise it has for maybe the curing … of many diseases and maladies that exist for a lot of our citizens," Crist said.

The bill (HB 555), filed by Rep. Franklin Sands, D-Weston, would require the state spend at least $20 million a year for 10 years on grants to researchers doing studies using several different types of stem cells, including adult stem cells, amniotic stem cells and embryonic stem cells, the most controversial type.

Researchers say embryonic stem cells hold the promise of medical breakthroughs because they have the ability to become any tissue in the body. But the research involves the destruction of frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization, which stirs passionate debates over when life begins. Opponents say embryos are human beings, and it’s wrong to destroy them. Supporters counter that embryos that go unused by in vitro fertilization clinics are discarded anyway.

The idea was proposed last year in the Legislature, but failed to get a floor vote. Gov. Jeb Bush had opposed the bill, as had many Republicans.

Now the idea is personally supported by Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, but he insists he won’t push his chamber in any direction over the issue and expressed concern Tuesday that the "political" arguments over embryonic research threatened stem cell research in general.

House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Coral Gables, opposes the idea. But he, too, has said he won’t stand in the way of proposals that gain traction just because he opposes them.

Well I am not exactly surprised. I had about zero hopes that Crist would be as pro-life as his campaign touted him. I certainly miss Jeb Bush already.

SARASOTA — Restoring the visibility that diminished in his predecessor’s final years, the leader of Southwest Florida’s Catholic Church spent his first days as bishop in prayer walks outside abortion clinics across the region, stopping in Sarasota on Monday.

The walks coincided with similar events across the nation to mark Monday’s 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.

The Vatican installed Dewane, 56, as bishop of the 10-county Diocese of Venice on Friday, the day former Bishop John J. Nevins turned 75 and retired. That same day, Dewane led a group in a walk outside a Fort Myers abortion clinic. On Saturday, he walked with an anti-abortion group outside a clinic in Port Charlotte.

Although the diocese sponsored only the vigil at Planned Parenthood’s health clinic in Sarasota, the bishop attended all three.

"I was very pleased with that," said Jim Styer, president of Sarasota-Manatee Right to Life. "And it encouraged me as to the probable emphasis that he would give as bishop to the pro-life cause."

Tom links to a 18 minute video of on the experiences of Dominicans at the 2007 March for Life.

This article contains a couple of stories of what happened after the Knights of Columbus put up a billboard by Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.

We also heard from a pro-life friend of a young pregnant lady who was driving down to Madison for her appointment at the Planned Parenthood abortion center. When turning into the clinic parking lot, she saw the "I REGRET MY ABORTION" message and turned around, went back home, and made an appointment at the local crisis pregnancy center. She gave life to her baby!

Each year there is a virtual media blackout when it comes to the March for Life. Googling Google News the only news stories come from Life Site. Catholic World News and then local newspaper and TV outlets mainly reporting on locals who are participating in the march. This is of course no surprise that the media will ignore the longest and most populous annual march.

Newsbusters notices the Wash Posts’ lack of coverage.

The Washington Post published no preview story for the March for Life on Monday, despite its massive annual size. But it did have room on the front page of the Metro section to review "Macaca" and how Virginia Republicans "might" (the Post hopes) be ruined in state elections this fall for their insensitivity.

On Page B-4, the Post did have a traffic diagram with the headline "Streets to Close for Antiabortion March." The March is rebutted right underneath the diagram, listing ”ABORTION RIGHTS EVENTS." They reported Planned Parenthood will "toast the Roe vs. Wade anniversary with a benefit tonight featuring actress Kathleen Turner," and NARAL Pro-Choice America "plans a benefit Thursday at the Omni Shoreham Hotel."

I am sure the coverage will be much different for the upcoming anti-war march.