Tell CBS You Support Focus on the Family Tim Tebow Ad!

As you probably already know, CBS has come under fire from pro-abortion groups for agreeing to run a Focus on the Family ad during next week's Super Bowl featuring the story of homeschool graduate and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. Tebow's mother had received pressure from her doctor to abort but her Christian faith led her to continue her pregnancy. It's a heartwarming story, and one so compelling that it's really frightened the pro-abortion lobby.

The folks over at Catholicvote.org have put together a petition to CBS in support of their decision to run the ad. Please consider signing it to let the network know you stand with the Tebows and Focus on the Family in defense of those innocent unborn babies whose very lives are at stake.

George Weigel 1, Catholic Apologists for Obama 0

Boy, do I wish I had the disposable cash to make photocopies of the article by George Weigel in this week's issue of Newsweek to put on each car at my parish this weekend during Mass. The article is entitled "Can Catholics Back Pro-Choice Obama?" and it's a brilliant critique of the flaws in the arguments of several well-known Catholic supporters of Sen. Obama such as Douglas Kmiec and Nicholas Cafardi.

It's a message that many of my fellow parishioners would likely not want to hear, but as St. Paul wrote two millennia ago to the Galatians:

"Am I now seeking human approval or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of God." (Galatians 1:10, NRSV Cath. Ed.)

Despite House Speaker Pelosi's recent assertions to the contrary, the Catholic Church has had a clear and consistent record of opposing abortion dating back to the 1st century A.D. teachings of the Church Fathers in the Didache.

Pope Benedict XVI, back when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, wrote that a Catholic can vote for a pro-abortion candidate for other reasons only when those reasons are "proportionate". Under Catholic teaching, the taking of innocent life is considered the most serious sin prevalent in society today. For that reason, none of the commonly suggested reasons for voting for a pro-abortion candidate like Sen. Obama such as peace, health care, poverty reduction, etc. are considered proportionate.

Extremist Legislation Would Bar ANY Abortion Regulation

I had never heard of bills S.1173 and H.R.1964, the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act", until I received a couple of email alerts today about them from Catholics for the Common Good and Trinity Communications (who run the CatholicCulture.org website). S.1173 is sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and co-sponsored by 17 other Democrats including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry plus 2 liberal-leaning "Independents". The corresponding House bill is sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and co-sponsored by 109 other Democrats

So what exactly would this proposed legislation do? It would create a "fundamental right" to abortion THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE NINE MONTHS OF PREGNANCY. It would eliminate ALL limits on abortion and force all Americans to SUBSIDIZE ABORTIONS WITH THEIR TAX MONEY.

The abortion regimen imposed by FOCA would be MUCH MORE EXTREME than the implications of Roe v. Wade. FOCA would RULE OUT ANY possibility of limiting or regulating abortion.

FOCA would apply to EVERY FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL regulation pertaining to abortion.

The measures that would be overridden by FOCA include informed consent laws, parental involvement laws, laws promoting maternal health, conscience protection laws, laws prohibiting a particular abortion procedure (e.g., partial birth abortion), laws requiring that abortions only be performed by a licensed physician, abortion clinic regulations, government programs that pay for or promote childbirth and other health care without subsidizing abortion.

As the legal analysis done by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes:

"If FOCA were enacted, it would wipe out a very large number of existing state laws on abortion, substantially impede the ability of states to regulate abortion, and override nearly 40 years of jurisprudential experience on the matter of abortion."

FOCA states that the decision whether to have an abortion is a "fundamental" right, even though in 1992 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Casey decision that states may regulate abortion so long as the regulations do not impose an "undue burden" on women. FOCA does not bar "substantial" regulations as Casey does but rather ANY interference with the decision whether to have an abortion.

As the USCCB analysis puts it,

"FOCA is a radical measure....It is difficult to recall any other single piece of legislation that, in a single stroke, would have such a comparable destructive impact on the government's ability to regulate abortion."

Pro-abortion groups are pushing the 110th Congress to enact this legislation soon. Those of us who oppose the expansion of the "culture of death" in this country must speak out for the voiceless potential victims of this heinous act!

Why Isn't There More Attention Given to Maternal Mortality?

*HALF A MILLION* women this year will die as a result of pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications. While we moms fortunate enough to live in developed countries face a lifetime risk of maternal death of around 1 in 8,000, those in developing world face a risk of 1 in 76. In the worst countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the rate is a jaw-dropping 1 in 7. The majority of these moms die because they lack access to skilled birth attendants, proper pre- and post-natal care, and emergency obstetrical care.

Noting that the global epidemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis now receive lots of international attention and billions of dollars in funding, UNICEF's chief of health Peter Salama called for a similar effort for reducing maternal mortality:

"The time is right. We now know exactly what to do for maternal mortality reduction to make this one of the next big issues in global health."

I can't help but wonder how much racism plays a role in the neglect of attention paid to the problem of maternal mortality. 99% of the maternal deaths occur in the Third World, with over half occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

I don't mean to belittle breast cancer activism, but that disease claims around the same number of women annually (the World Health Organization estimates there were 548,000 deaths from breast cancer worldwide in 2007) yet it receives far more attention than maternal mortality does. When's the last time you saw a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness? When's the last time that you heard anyone talking about all the moms dying needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth?

Help Protect Our Daughters- Support "Sarah's Law"

"Sarah" was 15 years old, pregnant and scared. Without her parents' knowledge, she underwent an abortion and the butcher abortionist Dr. Moshe Hachamovitch tore her cervix. Four days later she was admitted to the hospital with fever, chills, nausea, pain, and foul-smelling discharge. Sarah's body was wracked with abscesses, spreading infection that had entered her body through the damage the abortion had done to her uterus. Her brain was swollen. Her fetid fluids made their way up through her damaged bowels and into her lungs. The infection eventually claimed her young life.

When the authorities performed an inspection of the abortion mill clinic after Sarah's death, they found the staff was inadequately trained in how to properly sterilize instruments. The administrator, was evidently aware of the fact that the autoclave used to sterilize instruments was not functioning properly. As for the instruments themselves, "two loop forceps, two tenaculums and one curette were found to have small particles of dried brownish-dark red material on them. Three speculums were found to have small particles of dried clear material on them." "The only sterilized abortion tray in the procedure room was found to contain a curette with a loop whose edge was visibly jagged instead of smooth."

Five other women also died as a result of abortions performed by Dr. Hachamovitch or his henchmen employees. As of 1999, he had been named in at least 28 medical malpractice lawsuits alleging negligence and other problems. Two of his minions employees were convicted of manslaughter after 26 year old Lisa Bardsley was left to slowly bleed to death in one of his slaughterhouses clinics.

How can we protect our daughters?

"Sarah's Law" would help protect young girls from butchers like Dr. Hachamovitch and also from sexual predators. If approved by California voters, Sarah's Law would require abortion providers to notify one parent in writing 48 hours before performing an abortion on a girl under 18. In cases of an abusive parent, an adult family member such as an aunt or uncle, grandparent or adult sibling over 21 may be notified. A girl would also have the option of seeking confidential approval for the abortion from the juvenile court.

Under current law, a minor needs parental consent to take an aspirin from a school nurse or attend a class field trip yet a child as young as 12 can be taken for a secret abortion that often has long-term physical and mental consequences. As we've seen from Sarah's tragedy, it can even be fatal.

A study of over 46,000 pregnancies of school-age girls in California found that over two thirds were impregnated by adult men who were an average of seven years older. Abortion mills clinics routinely ignore laws mandating they report cases of sexual abuse and statutory rape. 89% of minors undergoing abortions who reported that neither parent knew about it said that their sexual partner had arranged for the abortion. The number was 93% for those aged 15 or younger.

Family Notification will help parents and law enforcement in their struggle to protect our state’s minor daughters from sexual predators. It has also been shown to reduce the risk of teen girls contracting an STD (a proxy for risky sexual behavior) by an average of 20% for Latinas and 12% for Caucasian girls.

What you can do to help

From now until the end of March, supporters are gathering signatures of registered California voters to place Sarah's Law on the November 2008 ballot. You can request a petition by calling (866) 828-8355 or emailing petitions@FriendsofSarah.com. If you are technically savvy enough, you can even download one to print here.

R.I.P. Emilio Gonzales

Emilio Gonzales died in his mother Catarina's arms yesterday evening. May God have mercy on his soul and may He bring comfort to those who mourn.

The silver lining of this whole tragedy is that it has brought renewed attention to the Texas "futile care" law. The Texas state senate has passed legislation to give families more time to find an alternate facility willing to accept the patient.

Positive Development in the Emilio Gonzales Case!

Texas judge Guy Herman has granted the Gonzales' family's request for a restraining order against Children's Hospital of Austin to prevent them from removing little Emilio from his ventilator! The next step is a hearing scheduled for April 19th.

Catarina Gonzales stated today that they have several promising leads on a facility willing to accept Emilio as a transfer patient. Let's all pray that one can be located!

May God continue to watch over little Emilio and protect him from those who would put aside their oaths to "first, do no harm".

Time Running Out for Little Emilio Gonzales

Please keep seventeen month old Emilio Gonzales and his mother Catarina in your prayers as Children's Hospital of Austin is scheduled to take him off his respirator tomorrow, April 10th!

A nationwide search for a hospital willing to accept him as a transfer patient has resulted in refusals by more than 30 hospitals.

Lawyers for the Gonzales family are making a last-ditch appeal to Travis County judge Guy Herman for a restraining order blocking the hospital from removing Emilio from the respirator while they continue working to locate a facility for Emilio.

According to lawyer Joshua Carden, Emilio's death by asphyxiation would be painful: "It's not like he'll just drift quietly off." Texas law prohibits doctors from giving Emilio the type of medications that death row inmates receive to make their executions more humane. Only in Texas would an innocent little boy be forced to endure more suffering than a convicted murderer!

Not that I support capital punishment or feel that Emilio's life matters more than someone else's. The death penalty and euthanasia are both part of the "culture of death" in our society, along with abortion, unjust war, and so on. All human life is sacred from conception through natural death and we should not "play God" in deliberately cutting it short prematurely.

My heart goes out to little Emilio and his mom Catarina. I can't imagine the anguish she must be feeling right now. May God watch over them both!

Temporary Reprieve for Emilio Gonzales Until April 10th

After attorneys for the family of Emilio Gonzales filed for a restraining order against Children's Hospital of Austin to stop them from removing him from his respirator on Friday, hospital administrators announced that they would keep providing treatment until April 10th.

Please keep Emilio and his mom Catarina in your prayers!

Urgent Prayers Needed for Little Emilio Gonzales!

Urgent prayers are needed for 16 month old Emilio Lee Gonzales of Texas!

Administrators at Children's Hospital of Austin are planning to remove little Emilio from his respirator on Friday over the objections of his mother Catarina. Emilio is a Medicaid patient who has been diagnosed on the basis of symptoms alone with Leigh's disease. There is no definitive test for Leigh's disease and the results of tests that might support the diagnosis are not yet complete. At the present time there is no cure for Leigh's disease and it typically kills the child by age 6 or 7; however a few patients have survived into their teens. Little Emilio is only 16 months old and God willing it's possible that with continued treatment he might live to see a cure.

Children's Hospital decided on March 12th that providing further care to Emilio would be "futile" and gave Ms. Gonzales only 10 days to find him a place at another facility before they would forcibly remove him from the respirator. Ms. Gonzales is a single mom who worked as a Wal-Mart cashier until Emilio became seriously ill. She struggles with English and feels that the healthcare staff and administrators have ridden roughshod over her.

Children's Hospital is a Catholic hospital and Bishop Gregory Aymond of the Diocese of Austin has been asked to intervene upon little Emilio's behalf. Unfortunately, neither the hospital nor Bishop Aymond are choosing to act in accordance with Catholic doctrine forbidding Euthanasia. While it is certainly morally acceptable to discontinue "extraordinary" medical treatment when the expended burdens are disproportionate to the expected benefits, CCC section 2278 states that it is the patient or next-of-kin who need to make that decision. Emilio's mother Catarina strenuously objects to discontinuing treatment at this time!

As the mom of a 16 month old myself, my heart goes out to Catarina Gonzales. I can't help but wonder if it were my DS who were ill would the hospital be pushing to take him off the respirator? Or would DH's and my socio-economic status, education, occupation (former in my case), marital status, private insurance coverage, and ethnicity cause the physicians and administrators to treat our DS better than little Emilio?

Please keep little Emilio and his mom Catarina in your prayers!