Nov. 17, 2009
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Dear Friends,
On Monday evening, November 9, two days after the seven-hour, late-night session of the House of Representatives of Saturday, November 7, the word "abortion" suddenly appeared on CNN's TV screen for the first time in six months. The same was true for the print media in the U.S. and Canada. Toronto's Globe and Mail, Star, National Post and Sun all were coerced into acknowledging that abortion was now an issue in the struggle around President Obama's health reform project. What happened to bring this so-carefully-disguised fact out into the open
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?
Pro-life groups and their media agencies had been reporting every day for months the pressure brought to bear on both senators and members of the House of Representatives while the Democrats' five separate bills (three in the House and two in the Senate) were discussed and amended in their respective committees.
Pro-lifers kept providing proof from the ever-changing, voluminous bills of a thousand and more pages each, that, yes, abortion was in each of the bills despite President Obama's repeated declaration that no federal funds were to be spent on it and, yes, the homosexual agenda – and, indeed, committees to consider euthanasia for the elderly -- were all there, in one or other disguise.
In the end, pro-abortion majority leader Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic, had no other choice but to surrender to the 39 "Blue" Democrats who threatened to desert her and who insisted on having a separate vote before the final roll call. So the Stupak-Pitts amendment, which removed tax funding for abortions, passed handily by 240-194 votes. Then, the amended House version of the health care legislation passed narrowly late on the Saturday night, by 220-215 votes. The largest, most powerful opposition to abortion ultimately came from the American Catholic bishops, speaking on behalf of 70 million Catholics. They were prepared to fight the entire legislation over this issue.
As most people know, the completion of health reform is still a long way off: the Senate wants different legislation; the pro-abortionists want abortion back in the final bill; and that final bill has to be a compromise merger betwe
Pro-life groups and their media agencies had been reporting every day for months the pressure brought to bear on both senators and members of the House of Representatives while the Democrats' five separate bills (three in the House and two in the Senate) were discussed and amended in their respective committees.
Pro-lifers kept providing proof from the ever-changing, voluminous bills of a thousand and more pages each, that, yes, abortion was in each of the bills despite President Obama's repeated declaration that no federal funds were to be spent on it and, yes, the homosexual agenda – and, indeed, committees to consider euthanasia for the elderly -- were all there, in one or other disguise.
In the end, pro-abortion majority leader Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic, had no other choice but to surrender to the 39 "Blue" Democrats who threatened to desert her and who insisted on having a separate vote before the final roll call. So the Stupak-Pitts amendment, which removed tax funding for abortions, passed handily by 240-194 votes. Then, the amended House version of the health care legislation passed narrowly late on the Saturday night, by 220-215 votes. The largest, most powerful opposition to abortion ultimately came from the American Catholic bishops, speaking on behalf of 70 million Catholics. They were prepared to fight the entire legislation over this issue.
As most people know, the completion of health reform is still a long way off: the Senate wants different legislation; the pro-abortionists want abortion back in the final bill; and that final bill has to be a compromise merger betwe
Image by rita banerji via Flickr
en the House and Senate bills.
In Canada, government funding for abortion was slipped in by then-justice minister John Turner 40 years ago in Pierre Trudeau's Omnibus Bill of 1969, without any debate whatsoever. Both these gentlemen were Catholics, but they had no difficulties doing what they did, even with half of Canada's population being Catholic. Their bishops at the time were flush with post-Vatican novelties, had already accepted contraception and divorce legislation as reasonable for non-Catholics and were not too interested in doing anything much about the forthcoming abortion legislation, other than to note that the Church was opposed. That was then.
Today, most bishops are aware that Catholic beliefs and Catholic culture are under massive attack, in North America as well as Europe. So let us simply begin anew.
With the American battle against paying for abortions with taxpayers' money in mind and in the news, let Canadians demand from the provinces that they cease financing abortions with health care funds; that they do not start financing in-vitro fertilization either, as Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario is proposing to do; that they remove contraception and birth control promotion from their budgets; and that all levels of government — federal, provincial, municipal — cancel any further subsidization of "gay" pride days and the homosexual agenda.
Let us stop being the patsies we have become and start fighting back.
Here are a few other items we are following …
Polygamy
In Canada, the B.C. government has referred its case against polygamy to the courts to see if it is constitutional, instead of resolutely following the Criminal Code, which prohibits polygamy. We do not want judges to order the federal government to change the Criminal Code because of their individual private opinions that polygamy is OK. It is not OK.
The Canada Family Action Coalition suggests we write to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to be prepared to apply Section 33, the "notwithstanding" legislation, and overrule any judge who rules that polygamy should be legalized. Send copies of your letters to MPs, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and opposition leader Michael Ignatieff, as well as to friends. Do not expect immediate results. PM Harper has not been willing to use Section 33 in past discussions. Let us begin changing his mind and those of his conservative MPs.
Euthanasia
The euthanasia debate in Parliament (Francine Lalonde's bill) has been postponed to December 1 and 2, enough time to write your MP and explain your opposition. A great many Canadians still do not understand the enormous dangers of legalizing euthanasia (see www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca for the latest updates).
To subscribe to the print edition of Catholic Insight, please visit: http://catholicinsight.com/online/subscribe.shtml
Our periodic e-mail Newsletters are free of charge. To subscribe, please visit: http://catholicinsight.com/online/newsletter.shtml
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In Canada, government funding for abortion was slipped in by then-justice minister John Turner 40 years ago in Pierre Trudeau's Omnibus Bill of 1969, without any debate whatsoever. Both these gentlemen were Catholics, but they had no difficulties doing what they did, even with half of Canada's population being Catholic. Their bishops at the time were flush with post-Vatican novelties, had already accepted contraception and divorce legislation as reasonable for non-Catholics and were not too interested in doing anything much about the forthcoming abortion legislation, other than to note that the Church was opposed. That was then.
Today, most bishops are aware that Catholic beliefs and Catholic culture are under massive attack, in North America as well as Europe. So let us simply begin anew.
With the American battle against paying for abortions with taxpayers' money in mind and in the news, let Canadians demand from the provinces that they cease financing abortions with health care funds; that they do not start financing in-vitro fertilization either, as Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario is proposing to do; that they remove contraception and birth control promotion from their budgets; and that all levels of government — federal, provincial, municipal — cancel any further subsidization of "gay" pride days and the homosexual agenda.
Let us stop being the patsies we have become and start fighting back.
Here are a few other items we are following …
Polygamy
In Canada, the B.C. government has referred its case against polygamy to the courts to see if it is constitutional, instead of resolutely following the Criminal Code, which prohibits polygamy. We do not want judges to order the federal government to change the Criminal Code because of their individual private opinions that polygamy is OK. It is not OK.
The Canada Family Action Coalition suggests we write to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to be prepared to apply Section 33, the "notwithstanding" legislation, and overrule any judge who rules that polygamy should be legalized. Send copies of your letters to MPs, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and opposition leader Michael Ignatieff, as well as to friends. Do not expect immediate results. PM Harper has not been willing to use Section 33 in past discussions. Let us begin changing his mind and those of his conservative MPs.
Euthanasia
The euthanasia debate in Parliament (Francine Lalonde's bill) has been postponed to December 1 and 2, enough time to write your MP and explain your opposition. A great many Canadians still do not understand the enormous dangers of legalizing euthanasia (see www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca for the latest updates).
To subscribe to the print edition of Catholic Insight, please visit: http://catholicinsight.com/online/subscribe.shtml
Our periodic e-mail Newsletters are free of charge. To subscribe, please visit: http://catholicinsight.com/online/newsletter.shtml
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