Obama and abortion -- any hope?

As was widely expected by those on both sides of the abortion debate, on January 23rd President Obama rescinded The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (known as the "Mexico City Policy") which prohibits nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive Federal funds from using those funds "to pay for the performance of abortions as a method of family planning, or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions."

In response, the USCCB issued a statement by Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities:
President Obama's Reversal of Mexico City Policy 'Very Disappointing,' Says Pro-Life Committee Chair

For those of us longing for a widespread awakening to a Consistent Ethic of Life approach that cherishes life "from womb to tomb" -- is there any hope?

To probe deeper, read what President Obama stated after he signed the order:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/statement-released-after-the-president-rescinds/

Here is a Catholic New Service story about the issue, expressing some varying perspectives:
Obama signs order reversing Mexico City policy

And two New York Times articles with additional views:
Obama Reverses Rules on U.S. Abortion Aid
Family Planning and the Path to Progress


And on his blog, Jim Wallis, of Sojournors (a long-time social justice advocate from a faith-based perspective) offers some thoughts with a glimmer of hope:

I am encouraged that President Obama’s first action on abortion was to release a statement supporting a common ground approach to reducing abortion, even as he also reiterated his policy of supporting legal choice. Even more significant was his decision not to issue an executive order rescinding the “Mexico City policy” on the day of the anniversary of the Roe decision and the annual March for Life. For the past two decades, this particular rule has become a back-and-forth of instituting and repealing as administrations have changed—almost as a partisan tit-for-tat.

In breaking the symbolic cycle, President Obama showed respect for both sides in the historically polarized abortion debate, and called for both a new conversation and a new common ground. I hope that this important gesture signals the beginning of a new approach and a new path toward finding some real solutions to decrease the number of abortions in this country and around the world.

Read Jim Wallis full blog post here:
President Obama’s Call for Common Ground on Abortion Reduction


As always . . . let us bring this issue to prayer:

A PRAYER FOR LIFE SOURCE

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life..."
-Deuteronomy 30:19

We believe in you, Holy Spirit, Giver of Life.

We lay before you the prayers of those who are deprived of life;
the unborn, who never saw the love in a mother's eyes;
the aged and infirmed, who became another's "burden";
the suicides, who lost all hope;
the criminals, who invited scorn and revenge;
the victims of war, poverty, and other crimes of violence, who were unprepared for death.

We worship and glorify you, Holy Spirit, Divine Wisdom.

We lay before you the prayers of those who struggle with questions of life and death:
women unprepared for motherhood;
healthcare professionals;
child and adult caregivers;
the chemically and emotionally dependent;
justice, legal, and military personnel;
all abused or underprivileged seekers of acceptance.

Holy Spirit, Speaker of Truth, we lay before you our hearts of flesh that we may both heed and be your prophets of holy and revered life:

to defend with your passion and zeal those who have never tasted life and those whose lives seem to drag on interminably;
to uplift the lives of the hopeless and of the despised with your
compassion and love;
to bless the good in every person and curse the bad in every evil.

Living Spirit of God, all of life comes from you and has meaning and purpose. May all the peoples of the world unite in solidarity and unconditionally choose life.

Amen

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ACTION ALERT: Children's Health Bill (SCHIP)

USCCB ACTION ALERT:

Urge Support and Improvements to Children’s Health Bill (SCHIP)

TAKE ACTION NOW! (Bill may be considered on Monday Jan 26)

Call your senators about the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and urge them to support:

· increased funding to reduce the number of uninsured children by nearly half, maintaining and expanding coverage, reducing enrollment barriers, and expanding outreach, and respecting the roles of families;

· provisions in the legislation allowing states to interpret the word “child” to include the period from conception to birth;

· coverage for legal immigrant children and legal immigrant pregnant women.

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NOTE: Urge your senator to support improvement and expansion of SCHIP, provisions covering children from conception to birth, and coverage for legal immigrant children and legal immigrant pregnant women.

Several Senators will be particularly important on the provisions covering legal immigrants, including Sen John McCain.

An amendment is expected that would eliminate current provisions that limit access to SCHIP for legal pregnant immigrant women and legal immigrant children during their first five years in this country even if they meet all the other requirements for the program and have no other source for health care coverage. Please urge the Senators to support this amendment eliminating the 5-year rule for legal immigrant children and pregnant women.

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WHY IS THIS ACTION IMPORTANT NOW?

More than 9 million children in our country are uninsured. Through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), states receive federal funds to provide health insurance for millions of low-income children throughout the United States. Today the U.S. House of Representatives is voting on an expansion of SCHIP. The Senate vote will take place in the next few days. This is an important opportunity to promote several key improvements to the program—coverage of currently uninsured children, coverage of children before birth, and coverage of legal immigrant children and legal immigrant pregnant women.

WHAT DOES THIS ISSUE HAVE TO DO WITH MY FAITH?

Catholic teaching tells us that everyone has “the right to live” as well as “the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services” (Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, #11).

Catholic teaching affirms the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death and the inherent dignity of every human being. We insist that access to adequate health care is a basic human right, necessary for the development and maintenance of life and for the ability of human beings to realize the fullness of their dignity. A just society protects and promotes fundamental human rights and dignity, with special attention to the basic needs of children and the vulnerable, including the need for safe and affordable health care for all.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Contact your Senators now to urge support and improvements to SCHIP. Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121 or find your Senators’ contact information at http://www.congress.org/.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathy Saile, Director, Domestic Social Development, USCCB, ksaile@usccb.org, (202) 541-3134

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Day of Repentence and Prayer for Life

"Pray that every child in the womb will be loved and cherished"

January 22nd was the thirty-sixth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion:

"Today, we perform acts of penance both in reparation for crimes against human dignity caused by abortion and in intercession to God to grant wisdom to our nation and civil leaders, that they might know and protect life from conception to natural death."

Given the events of this week, it is an important time to pray and act in support of the first principle of Catholic Social Teaching:

The Life and Dignity of the Human Person

Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. In our society, human life is under direct attack from abortion and euthanasia. The value of human life is being threatened by cloning, embryonic stem cell research, and the use of the death penalty. Catholic teaching also calls on us to work to avoid war. Nations must protect the right to life by finding increasingly effective ways to prevent conflicts and resolve them by peaceful means. We believe that every person is precious, that People are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person. SOURCE

Visit the USCCB's People of Life site to learn, reflect, pray, and act in support of a Consistent Ethic of Life.

Some additional links for reflection:

January 2009 Roe v. Wade Commemorative Events

Current Abortion Statistics

The Catholic Church is a Pro-Life Church

"4 Out of 5 Adults Surveyed... Would Limit Abortion"

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Inauguration Day: A Prayer

A prayer written by Jane Deren
from the Education for Justice site:

"The swearing in of a new president is a momentous occasion in a nation's history and an appropriate time for prayer. Use this prayer to pray for the newly elected president, Barack Obama, for the needs of the country and for all those who hold public office and serve the common good. "

Prayer for the Inauguration

The common good calls us together on this day.
As winter’s dark hours reveal a new horizon of hope,
We gather to renew a shared purpose
And embark on a new beginning.

We are challenged to move beyond the differences and divisions
Of the past year, the past decades, even the past centuries.

It is time for a new beginning, a time to move into a new future.
Help us all, Lord, to glimpse the grace that marks this day.
Help us to touch the hope that springs from a deep source.

We ask Your blessings on our new president
and the new administration.
May they work with integrity, discernment and a united purpose.

You call us today to renew our vision of a hopeful future.
We ask Your blessings on us all, that we may summon the will
To live as a nation united, with consideration for every citizen,
Concern for the global community and care for God’s Creation.

Guide us as we move forward grounded in care
for the common good
Like a river moving from its source
to green a parched and brittle land.
We ask this of You, Source of All Being,
Eternal Word and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

-Jane Deren
http://www.educationforjustice.org/

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Words of wisdom from
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
that are timeless,
yet fresh with new meaning
on the eve of this Inauguration Day:

Now let me suggest first that
if we are to have peace on earth,
our loyalties must become ecumenical
rather than sectional.

Our loyalties must transcend
our race,
our tribe,
our class,
and our nation;
and this means
we must develop a world perspective.

No individual can live alone;
no nation can live alone,
and as long as we try,
the more we are going to have war in this world.

Now the judgment of God is upon us,
and we must either learn
to live together as brothers and sisters
or we are all going to perish together as fools.

-from Dr. King's Christmas Sermon on Peace 1967

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Support an End to Torture

An ACTION ALERT [pdf] from the USCCB:

TAKE ACTION NOW!

The inauguration is around the corner. Send emails to the Transition Team http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople” encouraging President-elect Obama to issue an executive order ending torture soon after taking office.

WHY IS THIS ACTION IMPORTANT NOW?

On January 14, John Carr, USCCB’s Executive Director for Justice, Peace and Human Development, participated in a press conference urging the incoming administration to set a new tone and act to end torture. That same afternoon, USCCB joined with other faith groups in a meeting with members of President-elect Obama’s Transition Team. They presented a letter signed by 34 religious leaders, including Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, Chairman of USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, and discussed the need for quick action by the president-elect to issue an executive order ending torture as a way to restore America’s moral credibility in the world.

The Transition Team was very receptive and cited President-elect Obama’s statement last week that “under my administration, the United States does not torture, we will abide by the Geneva Conventions.” Action now would affirm this position, reinforce the message sent at the January 14 press conference and meeting, and encourage Mr. Obama to act quickly.

WHAT DOES THIS ISSUE HAVE TO DO WITH MY FAITH?

The Church teaches that torture is morally wrong and can never be justified. Pope Benedict XVI said that “the prohibition against torture ‘cannot be contravened under any circumstance.’” The U.S. bishops in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship [pdf] labeled torture as “intrinsically evil.” The attached remarks by John Carr [pdf] lay out the arguments against torture in further detail.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Write emails calling for President-elect Obama to issue an executive order banning torture as soon as possible. Go the http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople, fill out your contact information, and write “torture” in the “another issue” box. When the “Your ideas” box comes up, write something like “As a Catholic, I call on the President to act quickly to end torture by issuing an executive order based on the Declaration of Principles endorsed by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.” You may also contact your members of Congress through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or http://www.congress.org/ to have them endorse this Declaration of Principles [pdf].

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Virginia Farris, Foreign Policy Advisor, International Justice and Peace, USCCB, vfarris@usccb.org, (202) 541-3182.

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Take action: Save Darfur Campaign & the USCCB

The USCCB is collaborating with the Save Darfur Campaign to urge President-elect Barack Obama give priority to ending the violence in Darfur when he takes office. As you may know about 300,000 people have died, 2 million are displaced from their homes, and hundreds of thousands go hungry every day. As Catholics we must work to protect human life and promote human dignity whenever they are threatened.

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged "unstinting resolve" to promote peace and security for Darfur and all of Sudan. Catholics around the U.S. can urge the President to end the tragedy in Darfur by completing electronic messages, which will be delivered on inauguration day, January 20, 2009.

USCCB is working with Save Darfur and other organizations to collect one million electronic postcards urging the president to follow through on this promise. Sign the electronic postcard now to ensure that Darfur is a day one priority for the president.

Background about the situation in Darfur can be accessed at: www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/callafrica/sudan.shtml.

SOURCE: Steve Hilbert, Policy Advisor, Africa and Global Development, Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

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