Good News & Bad News: Planned Parenthood Offices are Closing; Remaining Offer Medical Abortions

WASHINGTON, DC (06 March 2009) - A new report from American Life League shows that in the last two years 61 additional Planned Parenthood facilities began offering medical abortions.

While Planned Parenthood closed clinics across the United States in 2008, more of the remaining Planned Parenthood facilities are offering medical abortions - abortions involving the administration of drugs specifically intended to kill the preborn child. Some common drugs used for medical abortions are Mifepristone (RU-486) and Methotrexate.

"We're encouraged to see an overall decline in the number of facilities and its affiliates," said Marie Hahnenberg, a researcher for American Life League. "However the report shows Planned Parenthood is simply changing focus from its express clinics to more facilities offering medical abortions." Express clinics are facilities where customers can pick up birth control without having an examination.

The report shows Planned Parenthood facilities down from 855 in 2007 to 844 in 2008. The report also reveals a decrease in the number of affiliates, express clinics and surgical abortion facilities.

"These findings show conclusively that Planned Parenthood is invested more than ever in finding and providing ways to kill," Hahnenberg said. "With these results in mind, it's crucial for Americans to participate in grassroots - local, state and national - efforts against Planned Parenthood and to work to defeat taxpayer funding of the nation's largest abortion chain."

To view the full report, go to:
http://www.stopp.org/pdfs/2008/2008ReportPPFacilitiesUS.pdf
To see exactly where each of the 844 Planned Parenthood facilities are located, visit American Life League's Map Room, an online, interactive map that offers facts, figures and locations: http://www.stopp.org/maps.

"Very Bad Period of Catechesis" in Church "Bearing Bad Fruit in Our Time," says Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput

By Steve Jalsevac
TORONTO, Canada, March 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During a LifeSiteNews interview last week, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput stressed that "not nearly enough" US Catholic bishops have been speaking out strongly on the current state of the culture. He also noted that the poor instruction of Catholics over the past 40 years has to a large degree been responsible for many of today's serious problems within US Catholicism, especially the lack of "understanding of the horror of abortion."

Chaput, a prominent US bishop and recent author of "Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life.", was interviewed following his breakfast lecture to Toronto businessmen on February 24. The archbishop, who is usually upbeat and gentle mannered, nevertheless, and true to his frankness in Render Unto Caesar, did not beat around the bush on the abortion issue and the responsibilities of Catholics and Catholic leaders in the culture wars.

Asked what could be done to get Catholic pro-abortion politicians to comprehend their faith obligations on the abortion issue, Chaput did not give a reassuring response. He stated, "Apparently, very little can be done because so little seems to have been accomplished."

He conjectured a likely reason for the current situation has been negligence on the part of the Church leadership in the U.S. "I don't know if it's because we've let it go on for such a long time and haven't challenged it before now, but this attitude of being comfortable with being pro-choice and Catholic at the same time seems to be deeply set in the lives of these folks."

Chaput expanded, "It seems like there has been a very bad period of catechesis of people in the Church, not only catechesis of the laity but also catechesis of the clergy and it's bearing bad fruit in our time."

"We need to reinvigorate the Church's understanding of the horror of abortion," Chaput continued. "It seems that we have become deadened to the horror of abortion."

To the archbishop, clergy have a crucial role related to pro-abortion Catholic politicians. He stated, "I think it's very important for clergy to advise political leaders of the great scandal that they might be part of because this can lead not only to the death of the unborn but it can also lead to the spiritual death of the political leaders who vote that way."

The fact that some prominent pro-choice Catholics are even lectors or have other visible roles in parishes, Chaput calls "another sign of accommodation with the reality of abortion." He went on that, "We don't understand this horror so we can put up with people who are pro-choice or pro-abortion and not challenge their Catholic identity."

Once again, as he has recently said many times, Archbishop Chaput told LifeSiteNews that "anyone who is pro-choice or pro-abortion shouldn't receive communion as they are not in communion with the Church's teaching."

The Denver archbishop has been warning Catholics and all Americans about the dangers of the path our culture is upon, but his warnings are often not heeded. Asked about this, he replied that just as in the time of Noah and the Flood, "I think it is true about our time, that we are not taking the situation concerning the Church and the world seriously now."

Although he did not "know what we can do about it," Chaput encouraged faithful Catholics "to be persistent in our preaching and in our continuing to give the warning and that God bring fruit from that if He chooses. We shouldn't give up."

It was mentioned that many bishops spoke out strongly during the last election. However, he was clearly not impressed himself and said, there were "not nearly enough".

Chaput has himself been very outspoken and continued that reputation during the lecture, related to his book, Render Unto Caesar, the previous night.

See the complete interview:
A Conversation with Denver Archbishop Chaput

See previous LifeSiteNews report:
Denver Archbishop To Toronto Audience:
"We Can't Build a Just Society With the Blood of Unborn Children"

Anniversary of Dred Scott Case (1857), Reminder of Connection Between Race and Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 6, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Today is the anniversary of the infamous Dred Scott decision and one leading African-American pro-life advocate tells LifeNews.com that she is reminded of how some black Americans aren't considered persons today.

Day Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, notes the irony of the connection between race and abortion.

"One hundred and fifty seven years ago today, Dred Scott, a black slave, petitioned the Supreme Court for his freedom, but was denied," Gardner recounts. "In the case known as the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court ruled that slaves--even freed slaves, and all their descendants, had no rights protected by the Constitution and that states had no right to abolish slavery."

"The reasoning in Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade is nearly identical," she explains.

"In both cases the Court stripped all rights from a class of human beings and reduced them to nothing more than the property of others," Gardner says.

Gardner says the 1857 decision determined that African-Americans were not fully human and that they were the property of their owners and therefore he had no rights at all. Dred Scott was not deemed "fully human," so he could be bought, sold or even killed at the owner's discretion, she contends.

"In the Roe v. Wade case of 1973 the Supreme Court said the same thing," Gardner says.

"A baby is the property of his/her mother -- and that he/she is not fully human, therefore he/she has no rights at all. The Court stated that because an unborn baby is not deemed 'fully human' he/she can be bought, sold or even killed at the mother's whim," the pro-life black leader tells LifeNews.com.

Gardner says the Supreme Court says unborn children are now the same "beings of an inferior order" that the justices considered Blacks to be over a century ago.

She concludes: "We must all come to realize that if we are the truly an America that holds life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness so dear -- then we must obliterate the scourge of abortion from our midst otherwise we are no better than the those who perpetrate the conflict in Darfur, or any other country where human beings are enslaved, butchered or denied their rights just because they are meeker or weaker."

Gardner is the president of the National Black Pro- Life Union headquartered in Washington.


Related web sites:
National Black Pro-Life Union - www.nationalblackprolifeunion.com

Dred Scott

Brownback - Turncoat

I am not a politician, I am a priest. So I would like to give my priestly perspective about the recent endorsement of Senator Sam Brownback for the candidacy of Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services: Senator Brownback's cowardly betrayal of his Catholic faith is even more damaging than his political permission for this renegade to take office.

The situation is atrocious. An extremist abortion hack (called the most pro-abortion governor in the nation by many), who falsely calls herself "Catholic," is given the opportunity to preside over the nation's healthcare system and normalize abortion even further; this radical is then endorsed by a US senator who also calls himself "Catholic" and who, many believe, wants her job back home when she becomes the abortion queen in DC.

With pro-lifers like Senator Sam Brownback, who needs pro-aborts?

Moral theologians can work out what level of cooperation in evil the Senator's endorsement represents - he is, after all, an influential senator whose opposition, if he had given it, may very well have stopped her nomination. Yet, those of us who do not breathe the rarified air of Washington DC and who have dedicated our lives to defending the sanctity of human life understand one thing: any covenant with the abortion industry or its promoters is consent to the killing. As a convert to the Catholic Faith, Senator Brownback seems not to understand the Church's profoundly wounded heart with regard the slaughter of the innocents. The Church tells us never to participate in that slaughter, no matter what the cost; we do not give aid and comfort to the enemies of human life, we do not stand by while the innocent are being dragged off to a violent murder, and under no circumstances do we endorse the political aspirations of their executioners. Politicians who sell the lives of babies for political gains are the worst kind of turncoats.

Yet, this Catholic Senator's decision constitutes, I think, a watershed moment for all of us who want to see an end to the immoral industry of baby-killing in our country. We will never be served by the compromise of our principles in any form. Catholicism is the solution to this culture of death. If only Catholics ourselves would fully live up to our doctrine and put it into practice, there would be no "Tiller the Killer"s in Kansas, no partial birth abortions, no immoral sex education in the schools or Planned Parenthoods dominating our public life. Self-described "Catholics" like Brownback (in politics), Doug Kmiec (in academia), Hannity, Matthews and O'Reilly (in media) and others are not the solution to the problem - they are enablers of the problem. Despite their high-sounding lip service to the culture of life, they are compromisers. They will never end abortion because they don't want to end abortion.

I have often said that false Catholics, whether they be Cardinals, politicians or janitors, are the ones who have the most to account for on the Day of Judgment when they will have to account for ignoring Christ in His "least brethren," the unborn. Whether through advocacy of the evil (like Sebelius) or negligence in stopping it (like Brownback), they have blood on their hands. They've been given everything the Church has to offer: the teaching, the sacraments, the example of the saints and the grace to stand against Satan and all his works and all his empty promises. In other words, they know better, and the Biblical warning applies to them: "To whom much has been given, much will be required." Cowards and turncoats beware.

Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International www.hli.org

Catholic Church Criticized at Annual UN Conference for Strong Pro-Life Stance

By Samantha Singson

(NEW YORK – C-FAM) This week at the United Nations (UN), thousands of activists, government officials and UN officials gathered in New York for the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). While the theme for the conference is “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS,” several countries and non-government organizations (NGOs) have used the annual meeting as a soapbox to promote radical ideas on homosexual rights, abortion and sex education.

Norway and Sweden partnered with the International Planned Parenthood Federation to host a panel on “Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment.” Both governments expressed the need to prioritize “sexual and reproductive rights.” In his brief address, Norwegian State Secretary Hakon Gulbrandsen proclaimed that “sexual rights are a cornerstone to gender equality” and that “safe abortion is a crucial component of sexual and reproductive rights.”

Gulbrandson criticized “those who claim to be pro-life and yet wish to abolish abortion” as sometimes “abortion is the only solution to premature, unwanted pregnancies.” Gulbrandson advocated for homosexual rights and urged to “respect the diversity of gender identities.”

Support for homosexual rights was also a priority at an event sponsored by Human Rights Watch where organizers strategized on how to build on the non-binding European Union (EU)-led “sexual orientation” statement which was introduced in the General Assembly last fall. The EU statement called on member states to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected non-discrimination categories like race, religion or sex. Human Rights Watch confirmed critics’ fears that homosexual rights NGOs would push for the non-binding statement to appear in a more permanent form, like a General Assembly resolution to be voted upon in “three years or less.”

At more than one event, radical feminist NGOs took the opportunity to criticize the Catholic Church on its strong pro-life stance. At a meeting of the European Women’s Lobby on religions and sexual and reproductive rights, organizers called on the EU to defend a woman’s “right” to abortion at the UN against the “alliance [that] is currently being formed between the Holy See, Islamist fundamentalist regimes and Christian right-wing governments – including the former Bush administration – who work together in order to influence UN texts on women’s rights.”

Pro-life and pro-family advocates at the CSW have attempted to get their voices heard at the various NGO events but have encountered resistance and hostility. At the Center for Reproductive Rights event on HIV positive women, one of the panelists from Chile took the opportunity to denigrate the Catholic Church for wielding its “power and influence” to discourage the Chilean government from supporting widespread condom distribution. When one young pro-life advocate spoke on effectiveness of abstinence for HIV prevention, she was shouted down by the panelist.

At a youth caucus meeting, organizers refused to incorporate pro-abstinence suggestions from a group of over 20 pro-life youths. One pro-life student told the Friday Fax, “I don’t know which youth they represent, but they don’t speak for me or any of my friends that are here.”

The Commission on the Status of Women meeting concludes on March 13.

www.c-fam.org

22 Weeks: Based on a True Story

www.22weeksthemovie.com

President Obama Insults Catholics, Nominates Gov. Sebelius to be Head of U.S. Healthcare

By Deacon Keith Fournier
3/1/2009 Catholic Online

“Catholic Social thought is built upon the foundational truth that every single human life has an inherent human dignity and must be respected and protected. The unborn child, who is alive and is a member of the human family, cannot defend himself or herself. Good law defends the defenseless. Our present laws permit unborn children to be privately killed. Laws that place unborn children outside the protection of law destroy both the children killed and the common good, which is the controlling principle of Catholic social teaching. One cannot favor the legal status quo on abortion and also be working for the common good." ~ words from Francis Cardinal George

This Secretary designee, if confirmed, will make the major decisions concerning health care right when major changes in the delivery of health care services loom. She is, in my opinion, a WRONG choice for Catholics and for the true common good. Under her leadership this administration will insist that the voluntary taking of innocent human life in the first home of the whole human be considered a “medical procedure” and covered in health programs. This Governor vetoed legislation to limit abortions and held a fundraiser for notorious abortionist George Tiller who is now on trial for 19 criminal charges related to his performance of late term abortions.
Kathleen Sebelius's nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services should be strongly opposed.
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