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Does the White House know about this?

Dr. Leroy Carhart, controversial late-term abortion doctor, was spotted at the Pelosi/Reid unveiling Thursday of the final house health care bill. Dr. Carhart, currently under investigation by the Nebraska AG for unsafe medical practices, traveled to Washington and was photographed holding a sign which read “Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice”.

He was spotted by Concerned Women for America’s Wendy Wright who also snapped the photo.

According to LifeSite News,

Carhart is currently under investigation by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office after three of his former employees came forward with sworn affidavits that told of illegal activity, unsafe conditions.

All of the women said that they did not have any medical training or licensing, yet they were instructed to perform medical duties that they were not legally qualified to do, such as starting IVs, dispensing medication, and assisting with surgeries.

They claimed that drugs often came up missing, and that…

Courtesy of Pat Bond The Rev. Henry Willenborg, a Roman Catholic priest in Quincy, Ill., in 1987 performing the baptism of his son, Nathan. Courtesy of Pat Bond via The New York Times.

The New York Times ran a fascinating story on its front page today about a woman who now lives in O’Fallon, Mo. and who had a son with a Roman Catholic priest when both were living in Quincy, Ill.

That son, Nathan - now 22 - has brain cancer. And the woman, Pat Bond, has decided to come forward, according to Times religion reporter Laurie Goodstein, because she too has cancer.

Despite a confidentiality agreement Bond signed with the Franciscans, she and her son felt they had “little to lose,” and were “eager to tell their stories.”

Their story is a sad one, and, Goodstein says, not particularly uncommon. She writes:

The relationship between Ms. Bond and the priest is hardly unique.…

A certain Republican congressman yelled “You lie!” during President Obama’s

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9/9/09 remarks on illegal immigrants during his speech to a joint session of congress on health care. The shout, apologized for an hour later, had the press off and running.

Had there been no yelling, perhaps the president’s next statement, all but drowned out in the uproar, would have received the attention it deserved. Maybe.

The president said,

And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up — under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions…..

Really? The president is being roundly criticized from many quarters for that whopper.

Consider first Douglas Johnson, legislative director, National Right to Life Campaign:

“Barack Obama needs to learn that the mere repetition of a verbal formula does not change reality. The reality is that the Obama-backed House bill would explicitly authorize the federal government insurance plan to pay for elective abortions and would explicitly authorize subsidies for…

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Standing apart from the avalanche of news stories, editorials, blogs, spin, misinformation and disinformation re the House and Senate’s rapidly morphing health care reform plan(s), was a recent, feisty, fast-paced one-hour TV interview with St. Louis-based Sr. Carol Keehan, President and CEO of the Catholic Health Association.

Joining Sr. Keehan on EWTN’s The World Over Live last Friday was American Life League President Judie Brown and the show’s host, Raymond Arroyo.

The questions put to Sr. Keehan were many. Among them:

Is the official Catholic response a confused one, with the USCCB support at odds with Cardinal Rigali’s non-negotiable abortion challenge?

Why won’t CHA explicitly demand that all assaults on the human person be excluded from any proposed health plan?

Sister Keehan stated that “One non-negotiable is abortion”. How willing is she to leverage that statement? [We learned today of Planned Parenthood' confidence of abortion playing a central role in the final version of the health care bill.]

Are the…

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After Dr. George Tiller’s murder on Pentecost Sunday, much has been written about late-term abortion. Among the many comments are two you might not have run across, both from former abortion doctors, Bernard Nathanson and Mary L. Davenport.

Bernard Nathanson has previously been interviewed by Julia Duin, religion writer for the Washington Times, so in the wake of Dr. Tiller’s murder, she decided to re-interview Dr. Nathanson, a former abortionist who was at the heart of the pro-choice movement in the sixties and seventies:

Soon after late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was killed, I called one of his mentors, Bernard Nathanson. The former Jewish atheist who presided over 75,000 abortions - including that of his own child - in the 1960s and 1970s left the abortion industry upon the advent of ultrasound technology.

His now-classic video “The Silent Scream” shows an unborn child recoiling from a vacuum abortion device before being sucked to…

Mollie, over at the GetReligion blog, says Dr. George Tiller, the abortion

Martin Luther credit:The Klines

doctor recently murdered at his Evangelical Lutheran Church of America church, had once belonged to Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Wichita, Missouri Synod .

More to the point, she claims Dr. Tiller was excommunicated from Holy Cross. She provides us with this published letter, signed by three ministers, that support this claim. An internet spot check and Mollie’s comment board find other seemingly reliable parties who believe this excommunication to be true, but so far there is no statement from Holy Cross.

Says Mollie,

When the news broke, I had many people who know that I’m Lutheran ask how it was possible that his church had not disciplined him or otherwise encouraged him to stop performing abortions. I had hoped that there would be stories exploring Tiller’s religious beliefs and church membership and that the stories would explain the difference…

http://farm4.static.flickr.com

There is great power in prayer. It can change the hearts of people. Over time it can bring monumental changes in society. Two events in recent history testify to this enormous power of prayer. The prayers of Mahatma Gandhi to rid the Indian subcontinent of the scourge of colonialism were answered. So were the prayers of Nelson Mandela to bring a peaceful end to Apartheid in South Africa. So we don’t have to even look very far back in history to realize the powerful effect of prayer. It may take time, half a generation or a bit more, but prayer can bring change. Not so with abortion in this country.

One important thing is the prayers have to be sincere and the person’s life should reflect the change they are seeking. Gandhi ji said: “Be the revolution you seek to see in the world”. That is, start practicing what you are…

small baby: Legal Broadcast Network

The family of Scott Roeder, the suspect in the murder of Dr. George Tiller, has just released a statement:

“We are shocked, horrified, and filled with sadness at the death of Dr. Tiller and the circumstances surrounding it that may have involved Scott Roeder. We know Scott as a kind and loving son, brother, and father who has suffered from mental illness at various times in his life. However, none of us ever saw Scott as a person capable of or willing to take another person’s life. Our deepest regrets, prayers, and sympathy go out to the Tiller family during this terrible time.”

WIBW, to whom this statement was given, has honored the family’s request that their names not be used.

Meanwhile, denunciation of Dr. Tiller’s murder is coming from all quarters: U.S. bishops, Priests for Life, American Life League, Kansas Bishops, CatholicVote.org and Susan B. Anthony List have issued…

I’m in shock having just heard of the terrible cowardly murder of Dr. Tiller, a man who put his life on the line for women in their most desperate hour. As a clergy member of St. Louis-based Faith Aloud, I share this entry from their blog:

Faith Aloud Mourns the Murder of Dr. George Tiller
May 31, 2009

Abortion Provider Dr. George Tiller was murdered by a gunman who shot him point-blank while he was ushering in services at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas. His wife, Jeanne, watched in horror from the choir loft.

The clergy and members of Faith Aloud mourn the loss of this courageous, dedicated, and religious man. He and his clinic had been the victim of violence many times before, yet he continued to provide women with desperately needed care. As one of the few providers in the country for third trimester abortions, Dr. Tiller served many women who…

President Barack Obama (Getty)

The Rev. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame (Notre Dame)

Dozens of St. Louis Catholics will travel in a convoy of buses, cars and vans to South Bend, Ind. on May 16 to take part in campus protests against University of Notre Dame officials’ decision to award President Barack Obama - who supports abortion rights - with an honorary degree.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that since the first century…

…the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

For some American Catholics, the idea that the nation’s premier Catholic institution of higher learning will honor a politician who has supported legislation “contrary to the moral law,” is infuriating.

“The minute I heard about this, I knew I had to…

Mary Ann Glendon

Mary Ann Glendon, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican from 2007 to 2009, has just declined Notre Dame University’s prestigious Laetare Medal.  Her letter:

April 27, 2009
The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
President
University of Notre Dame

Dear Father Jenkins,

When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty.

Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you…

Shell Game/credit: The Hamptons

New York Times reporter Gardiner Harris reported this morning, with the help of St. Louis Post-Dispatch medical writer Blythe Bernhard, Wednesday’s news concerning the FDA decision to make available Plan B morning-after pills to seventeen-year-olds.

There are arguments against this FDA decision, of course, some of them outlined in the story. Harris soon reminds us, for instance, that “[s]ince November 2006, when it became widely available to women 18 and older without a prescription, Plan B has had no measurable effect on the nation’s abortion or teenage pregnancy rates.”

So, one wonders, why would seventeen-year-olds go to the trouble of getting Plan B when the eighteen-and-older crowd can’t be bothered?

Sam Lee finds it disturbing that no parental consent is needed, nor is there a prescription. No oversight, in other words. Wendy Wright (Concerned Women for America) agrees, concerned about the “safety of minors”. Minors left all alone with their rights, I…

President Barack Obama has accepted a highly controversial invitation from Notre Dame to speak at its May commencement ceremony — as well as receive an honorary doctorate in law.

The angry reaction to this invitation has been swift and growing, each day bringing new statements from bishops, pundits and ordinary Catholics.

Bishop John D’Arcy, in whose diocese this event will take place, has decided to give the commencement a miss.

He explains, “My decision is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life.”

The Center for a Just Society supports Bishop D’Arcy and expounds on his position:

Bishop D’Arcy’s position is reflective of the outrage of many in the Catholic community. Their angst is understandable since Mr. Obama has pursued a strong anti-life agenda both before and after assuming the office of President.

Indeed, Mr. Obama’s actions are at odds with the very foundations of American law and justice: a belief that…

http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html

This question was posed on a blog a few months ago with the following note:blight n. - Something that impairs growth, withers hopes and ambitions, or impedes progress and prosperity.
The question is simple - to paraphrase Bertrand Russell, is religion the dragon that needs slaying in order to facilitate the societal progress that will benefit all of humanity?

As support for this question, the blogger cited a study from a few years ago. The Study in the Journal of Religion and Society has a very academic sounding title “Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies”. It compares a variety of social factors with the level of church attendance and belief in God across most western democracies. Figure 8 above is from this article. What the study finds is disturbing. Here are excerpts from the study.

Benjamin Franklin stated that “religion will be a powerful…

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One of my favorite sayings if from the Book of James. Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds. What it means to me is that there is a religion that we profess and there is a religion that we practice. Too often the two are not the same.

The contradiction between the strong belief and getting an abortion (in some cases it is the father who is strong anti-abortion but getting an abortion for his daughter. Also 4 out of 5 abortions are performed on unmarried women, which seems to place a large responsibility on the absent male partner contributing to the decision) is hardly surprising. Most of us exhibit small and greater contradictions between what we believe and our actions. Still the study by Joyce Arthur “The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion” makes for illuminating read. Here are a couple of…

www.northernsun.com

There was a time when we called a spade a spade. There were people who had (and still do) strong feelings that abortions are wrong and they were called ‘Anti-Abortion’. And there were people who felt that it is a woman’s choice, at least in the first trimester, and they were called ‘Pro-Choice’. Enter someone from marketing saying that ‘anti’ is not good, we need to become ‘pro’ something. We need to re-label to become ‘Pro-Life’, which has the added benefit of implying those who oppose us are anti life.

And so Pro Life and Anti Abortion are most often used as synonyms. But I wonder, judging by the actions of people, if they aren’t closer to being antonyms. Consider the following question: Does a child that is born become less precious than the unborn fetus? One would think that to be Pro-Life means that a child that is born is…

Norma McCorvey, best known as “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, wrote a book a few years ago, Won by Love. I was sent the book — autographed, too –  when I made a donation to a pro-life cause.

Norma, who went from being the poster girl for abortion to becoming an adamant and outspoken pro-life speaker, tells the step-by-step tale of her journey in this well written, funny — yes, funny — poignant and thoroughly human chronicle.

As the story begins, Norma is working at an abortion clinic when she discovers to her horror that Operation Rescue has rented space next door…..

I’ve been thinking about Norma lately because of President Obama’s choice of Kathleen Sebelius, the Kansas Governor who wants the Health and Human Services post that Tom Daschle carelessly lost over neglected taxes.

Evidently President Obama is gambling that Catholic Governor Sebelius’ problems –  her political support of the killing of…

Some days ago when The pope, the Holocaust & the Lefebvrists appeared on these pages, fellow blogger Khalid Shah, a Muslim, commented:”It is always good to find out when we are wrong and this story helped correct one of my opinions. I have always thought that though the Jews suffered a lot during WW2 that they play the Holocaust sympathy card a bit too much and are a bit paranoid on this issue. Thank you for correcting this wrong opinion of mine…..”

Mr. Shah’s comment stunned me — he is a highly educated man –  much as Lefebvrist Bishop Richard Williamson’s downplaying of the Holocaust had astonished me days earlier.

How could anyone not know the full extent of what happened to the Jews in WWII?

Bishop Williamson has been booted from Argentina back to England – shoving a reporter along the way — and he has issued a cheap apology — a typical 2009-style…

Boston Legal, courtesy of ABC.

Given my crushing pessimism about how the topic of abortion is handled in public discourse, one of the last places I have ever considered looking for ambiguity and complexity turned out to be a surprising source of both: a network TV drama. Boston Legal to be exact. I recently watched an episode that ran two weeks ago (on Nov. 10); it focused on issues surrounding abortion, including parental notification laws and loopholes, how we talk about abortion in public and think about it in private, and even what a turnoff the subject matter was likely to be to viewers. I was impressed.

If you’re not a fan of this very quirky show, I’m not necessarily suggesting you rush to the ABC website and watch it. But if you happened to miss it, and you like your TV dramedy with a certain Hollywood-style social conscience and a dash of…

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Various news sources are reporting the dramatic conversion story of a former abortionist, Serbian Stojan Adasevic:

“MADRID, November 13, 2008 (CNA) -The Spanish daily “La Razon” has published an article on the pro-life conversion of a former “champion of abortion.” Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after spending 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country.”

Conversion stories of abortionists are not new. In fact there is an organization in the United States that solely serves ex-abortionists, The Society of Centurions of America. (The society is named after the centurion who took his sword to the crucified, dying Christ, then fell to his knees, dropped his sword and said, “Truly this was an innocent man.”)

What is different about Stojan Adasevic’s story is the part played by St. Thomas Aquinas. According to the Catholic News Agency:

…..In describing his conversion, Adasevic…