Pro-Life News & World Review October 5, 2007

More shocking scandal from Catholics in Canada

Canadian Catholic Priest/Politician Says He Supports Abortion on TV Show
Also publicly supports homosexuality; local bishop still refuses to discipline priest
MONTREAL, October 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Father Raymond Gravel, the Quebec priest turned federal politician, has once again brought scandal to the Catholic Church by publicly voicing his stand in favour of abortion.

Comment from Vote Life, Canada!
This is nothing other than the pseudo-catholic church in Canada at work, enabled by the apathy and silence of too many of Canada’s “Catholic” Bishops. See Open Letter to the Catholic Bishops of Canada from Vote Life, Canada!

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Canada in the News

Stelmach talks about his faith
CanadianChristianity.com is carrying an article on Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach.
The high number of abortions in Alberta has always been a concern for the Catholic premier but he says he is limited in what he can do. "The issue with respect to abortion is a decision that has been made in the federal court; we are obligated to deliver federal programs.”

Comment and question from Vote Life, Canada!
If the federal government mandated that Albertans had to terminate the lives of all those hopelessly disabled, would Stelmach unquestioningly “deliver the program?”

Something is not squaring here. Does the Premier truly believe what his Catholic faith teaches: that abortion in every instance is the killing of a fellow human being? Is this what it means for the Premier to be a profoundly devout Catholic?

For qualifications of political candidates, see the Vote Life, Canada! voting guide.

Murder of Pregnant Woman in Toronto Ignites Debate on Recognition of Life of Unborn
TORONTO, October 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Tuesday, October 2, 2007 a young 25 year old mother and her child in the womb were murdered in the Toronto suburb of North York. The common law husband and father was charged with only one murder.

The National Post coverage from Wednesday drew a lot of attention.
Murder renews fetus debate

BigBlueWave blogger posted in-your-face commentary to the National Post story.
Unborn Victims of Crime: The Same Old Canard

Children not an option for many Canadian couples because of work stress: study.
Resulting decline in birth rate will hurt companies in the future
Many Canadians are dealing with work stress by delaying having children, having fewer offspring or deciding not to have any, says a study released Wednesday. A quarter of the nearly 33,000 people surveyed for the federally funded study say they are having fewer children than they'd like because of difficulties balancing work and family. Twenty-eight per cent said work stress caused them to delay starting a family, or resulted in the decision not to have children at all.

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National Life Chain

The 20th Annual National Life Chain is scheduled for this Sunday, Oct. 7. Pro-lifers in the U.S. and many in Canada have chosen this day to line sidewalks in more than 1,300 cities and towns to seek God's forgiveness and help to end abortion.

“Abortion Kills Children”
Annual Life Chain is this Sunday; events planned across California

Life Chain to take shape this weekend
Sunday marks seven years that people of different religious denominations have come together in Noblesville to make a stand against abortion.

Life Chain is an annual, one-hour, nationwide event that will take place 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the corner of Conner and 10th streets. Organizer Ken Waldron of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church has participated in the Noblesville Life Chain since it began. He said as many as 150 people are expected to participate.

“It’s an opportunity for folks to come and silently pray for the unborn,” Waldron said. “The spirit of this centers around abortion and the fact that there are over a million babies that are aborted every year.”

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40 Days for Life

"Come on in... you don't have to listen to these crazy people..."
40 Days for Life – Sacramento, update at Day 7
Thanks be to God! Another life was saved from abortion today while we continued our 24/7 vigil at Planned Parenthood, 29th and B St, downtown Sacramento. A young African-American couple walked up on their way for an abortion. I went out to greet them with our "Before You Choose" pamphlet, and the fetal models showing the exact size and development of an unborn baby at 7,8, 9, and 10 weeks, when 80% of abortions are done.

DAY 9 From the 40 Days for Life Blog
One of the many blessings I have experienced during 40 Days for Life is reading the 3-400 e-mails I get every day from people across America who are calling out to God and asking Him to hear our prayer, forgive our nation’s sin of abortion, and heal our land.

Catholic Audio blogger has two posts on 40 Days for Life and associated audio.
Post-Abortion Healing
Abortion

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Other News of interest today

Bishops: Abortion a human-rights issue
Quoting from the journalist: Kentucky's Catholic bishops have forcefully restated their church's opposition to abortion, casting it as "the fundamental human rights issue, for to diminish respect for the right to life of the unborn is tantamount to diminishing respect for life in all other contexts."

In the Bishops’ statement we read the following:
In a consistent ethic of life, the unborn child creates a special test for society’s moral vision since the right to life is antecedent to and the necessary condition for all other rights of the human person. Respect for unborn life is the acid test for fostering a respect-life ethos in society since protection of the unborn child is a radical symbol of society’s regard for the helpless, the dependent, the unwanted, or the powerless.

Comment from Vote Life, Canada!
The Bishops have made very strong statements here. The first page or two is particularly encouraging. However, after making a wonderful introduction they then seem to suggest that we can’t hope for the legalized killing of unborn children to end anytime soon. They seem to be saying it is a long term project, the success of which depends in large part on what we do to make it easier for women and families to welcome and cherish children.

But let’s be clear first on the answer to the following question: Is it or is it not right for the Church—and all Christians—to call for and expect an immediate end to legalized child-killing? The Bishops seem to be saying, No, that’s not realistic.

And that’s precisely the reason that over 4000 little children in the US continue to suffer the violent death of abortion. Perhaps the Bishops don’t really believe that innocent human beings created by God—and created in His image—are actually being killed every day in their cities and towns. Too many of them are certainly not acting like it.

Talk is cheap. Until we see or hear more, two thumbs down. Perhaps if we heard exceptional news from Kentucky that there were drastic reductions in the numbers of Unborns being killed, we could be more enthusiastic.

Abortion: Church teaching and political implications
In conclusion, we can see that the Church's teaching regarding Catholics and support for anti-life legislation is both clear and multi-faceted. We must first work to legally protect all life from conception to natural death from any and all attacks and harm. Secondly, we must work simultaneously to support any legislation that offers more immediate relief when total relief remains distant.

Graphic images: Abortion display visits campus
YOUNGSTOWN — An anti-abortion group that likens abortion to genocide drew some protesters when it set up a display on the Youngstown State University campus Wednesday. Campus police were out in force to ensure that any reaction to the large graphic displays set up by the Genocide Awareness Project in front of DeBartolo Hall remained peaceful. There were numerous protesters throughout the day — some carrying signs saying protesters recognized the anti-abortion group's right to free speech, and others with signs suggesting that government stay out of the issue and that women should have the right to choose. There were no confrontations, police said. The display was to remain on campus from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

Student opinion column on the GAP display here.

First Barry Manilow, Now Whoopi Goldberg Hassle The View's Hasselbeck over Pro-Life Comments
NEW YORK, October 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Once again the pro-life views of Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the only conservative woman on ABC's "The View," have landed her in trouble after a heated exchange with Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell's replacement, on Wednesday's program edition.
Goldberg, who is said to have had at least 6 abortions, says, "Americans ought to 'revere' women, who have had abortions.

Terri Schiavo Family Honored, Pro-Life Group Worries About Disabled Patients
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As pro-life advocates gathered in the nation's capital on Tuesday night to honor the family of Terri Schiavo for their diligence in protecting her life, a leading pro-life group says its worried that other disabled people may see their medical care and treatment revoked as well.

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American Politics

Clinton assails Bush's 'war on science'
Hillary: I Will Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research
WASHINGTON -- Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton cited frustrated scientists and a comedian Thursday as she assailed President Bush's record on scientific study and pledged to rescind his restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

[Attention Reader: For a solid understanding of what's at stake in the controversy over ESCR (embryonic stem cell research) Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason writes an exceptional series on The Confusing Moral Logic of ESCR]

Rev. Hillary Takes the Pulpit
National Review Online - New York, NY
Inside these churches, minister after minister laughably asserted that these political rallies were not a political endorsement. Some opted for the added touch of canonization, calling Hillary everything from “a woman of God,” to, as one reverend dubbed her at the Metropolitan AME Church in Harlem, “another Joshua.”