Write Your Congressperson to Support Pro-Life Legislation

As of this writing, three pro-life bills were active in the U.S. House of Representatives:

• HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act,
• HR 358, the Protect Life Act, and
• HR 361, the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2011.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops needs you, the voter, to contact your Congressperson to urge them to support Pro-Life legislation.

This will take approximate five minutes of your time at: http://www.cacatholic.org (click on “Current Alerts” at the right side).

The Church has limited influence on legislators; however, you have a tremendous influence on your representative as one of their constituents.

To read more about these three bills, go to: http://www.cacatholic.org/index.php/topics/pro-life.html

Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have been working for years now to end the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. True life imprisonment is a reality here in my home state of California -- it was established in the 1970's, I believe, and there are about 2000 people serving this sentence -- and not one has ever been released. So for those of you concerned about public safety, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is a real alternative that works.

And then there's the little issue about if you capture, convict and execute the wrong guy . . . you can recover from mistakes with life imprisonment.

There is also a fairness issue -- 12 States in the USA do not have the death penalty, Texas and California execute the most people, and gosh, if you are poor and a man of color, you are headed for death row, but if you are rich and/or white . . . you almost never end up on death row. And let's not even talk about the errors and potential for corruption.

All of this is solved by simply not executing people -- life imprisonment works, protects society, allows recovery from mistakes, is cheaper, etc.

What can you do about the death penalty?

1. Pray for victims of crime and their families, those who have been wrongly convicted, and those awaiting execution.

2. Learn about Catholic social teaching, criminal justice policies, and California policies.

3. Educate others.

4. Advocate by contacting your elected officials, and urge them to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole.

For more information, go to: http://www.usccb.org/deathpenalty/

"Ending the death penalty would be one important step away from a culture of death and toward building a culture of life.” -- A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005

The Holy Father calls recourse to the death penalty “unnecessary” and painfully reminds us that our “model of society bears the stamp of the culture of death, and is therefore in opposition to the Gospel message.” (Pope John Paul II, World Day of the Sick, Washington, DC, February 2003)

Preaching and Promoting the Gospel of Life

Does an embryo have a soul?

Isn't society justified in putting to death a criminal that has committed a capital crime?

Why should taxpayers have to support health care and schooling for undocumented children?

Why didn't Pope John Paul II agree to call President Bush's invasion of Iraq a "just war"?

When did health care become a "right"?

All of these apparently unconnected questions actually involve the same central Catholic moral principle, the consistent ethic of life. This principle is often associated with Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s 1983 proposal of the “seamless garment” analogy, a reference from John 19:23 to the seamless robe of Jesus, to provide a moral compass to help Catholics apply moral principles to life issues present in the public square.

The “consistent ethic of life,” as it is now commonly articulated, states basically that all human life is sacred from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. In his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II taught the principle clearly:

• “"Human life is sacred and inviolable at every moment of existence” (n. 61).
• “As far as the right to life is concerned, every innocent human being is absolutely equal to all others” (n. 57).

Read more about this in a great article by By Rev. Richard Benson, C.M. at http://www.cacatholic.org/index.php/news-and-analysis/life-issues/bioethics/651-gospel-life.html

Busting the Over Population Myth: Catholic Scientist Sets Record Straight

The Catholic Laboratory podcast is a wonderful program put on by a Catholic scientist.

In episode 24, Ian Maxfield systematically and logically refutes common myths about over-population. This is important for Pro-Life because all of these over-population myths are used as arguments for abortion and infanticide the world over.

http://www.catholiclab.net/TheCatholicLaboratory/Podcast/Entries/2009/12/17_Cathlab24_-_Dear_Sir_David_Attenborough_....html

Did you know that we have enough clean drinking water and food and living space on planet Earth? The key is the distribution. First world over-consumption and food waste play their part, as well. And don't forget oppressive regimes and their human rights abuses.

Ian Maxfield provides a detailed and careful analysis of this complex issue -- don't take my word for it -- go listen to episode 24 of "The Catholic Laboratory" podcast.

Walk for Life in San Francisco: 40,000 Despite the Rain!

The West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco last weekend was amazing! Imagine 40,000 people standing in the rain to listen to speakers championing life, and then walking 2.5 miles along the San Francisco waterfront -- parents with children in strollers, elderly men and women, Roman Catholic Christians, Evangelical Protestant Christians, Jews, Mormons -- everyone celebrating and praying for life.

The purpose is to stand up and say: human life is sacred and must be defended from conception to natural death.

We are supportive of mothers, of fathers, and of babies. No one was there to condemn a woman with an unexpected pregnancy. Everyone was there to help mothers, and to help fathers, and to help babies -- to give a voice to the voiceless.

Everyone was praying, singing, laughing or just quietly walking. The only frowns were from tiny knots of counter protesters, a strange mix of atheists, pro-choice advocates, and random advocates for who knows what (this was San Francisco after all).

The leaders of the procession held signs like this: "I regret my lost fatherhood", "I regret my abortion", "Women deserve better than abortion".

Some of my favorite signs read: "As a former fetus, I oppose abortion", "A person is a person, no matter how small. Dr. Seuss", "Jesus heals".

The speakers included: a woman who deeply regrets killing her baby, a former abortion clinic worker who had a conversion and now is a Pro-Life advocate, an Evangelical Protestant minister, a Pro-Life advocate from France, a Roman Catholic priest -- really inspiring.

What can you do? Please write your Congressional representative to keep abortion funding out of health care reform. I recommend this easy to use site by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops:

http://tinyurl.com/StopAbortion

Also, keep an eye out for people collecting signatures for a change to the Constitution of the State of California to change the definition of a human being to include a fetus.