Warsaw, Poland, Jun 17, 2019 / 10:25 am (CNA).- A young Polish priest who was ordained last month following a terminal cancer diagnosis has died, his community announced Monday.
Fr. Michal Los, FDP, died June 17 in the morning, the Congregation of the… […]
Baltimore, Md., Jun 17, 2019 / 03:01 am (CNA).- There are bishops who may or may not tweet with any regularity, and then there’s “Amigo de Frodo”, who provides daily Gospel verses, bits of art and literature, and maybe a Lord of the R… […]
Something both theatrical and absurd happened in front of the General Post Office of Dublin on Easter Monday in 1916. An Irish schoolteacher named Patrick Pearse proclaimed to the passersby that Ireland was no longer […]
Recently, Democratic Senator and Presidential hopeful Kristen Gillibrand equated pro-life beliefs with racism. This is of a piece with the emerging progressive narrative that deems traditional religious believers bigots, loony fanatics, and science deniers. Unfortunately, […]
Cincinnati, Ohio, Jun 16, 2019 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- Pro-life groups are cheering an initiative from Pampers which is seeking to place 5,000 diaper changing tables in men’s restrooms throughout the United States and Canada.
“Picture this…dad is out and about, enjoying quality time with his baby and the inevitable hits – diaper duty. Cue the search for a changing table, only for dad to find there’s nowhere for him to change that stinky booty in the men’s restroom,” the Pampers company, a popular brand of baby and toddler products, said in an announcement of the initiative.
“It’s an all too familiar story that’s happening across the country, with new Pampers research revealing that 9 out of 10 dads have gone into a public restroom that has not had a baby changing table,” Pampers added. “As part of its ‘Love the Change’ campaign, Pampers is proud to announce they’re providing 5,000 changing tables for public restrooms across North America by 2021, so more dads and babies can #LoveTheChange together when they’re out-and-about.”
The initiative was inspired largely by the #SquatforChange campaign, which started after frustrated Florida father Donte Palmer posted a photo of himself, squatting on the floor of a public restroom and balancing his child on his knees while trying to change the child’s diaper.
The photo, which Palmer posted to Facebook and Instagram, went viral, and Palmer told the Washington Post he was encouraged by the response, which indicated that it was a widespread issue for dads across the country.
Kristi Hamrick, a spokesperson for the pro-life group Students for Life of America, applauded the Pampers initiative, and told CNA that it points out an age-old “discrepancy” that assumes mothers are always the ones changing their children’s diapers.
“Students for Life has always been an advocate for helping both mothers and fathers take care of their children,” she said. “In fact, we’ve been pointing out the discrepancy for years, because moms can use a break, and I know from experience that my husband was just as good as I was at helping our children on diaper duty.”
“A pro-life/pro-family society puts policies and infrastructure in place to help young families succeed in raising happy, healthy children. We may pursue different programming ideas, but helping families should be a goal for all of us as we all need the next generation to do well,” she added.
Hamrick noted that the initiative is similar to other efforts of Students for Life groups throughout the country, including the 2018 installment of diaper decks at the University of Wyoming, after the encouragement of the local Students for Life group, as well as efforts to support paid family leave acts in Congress.
Carol Tobias, a spokesperson for the pro-life group National Right to Life, told CNA that she welcomed the Pampers initiative, and that she imagined most mothers did too.
“Fathers seem to be more involved in the care of their children than previous generations so it makes sense that diaper-changing stations are available to help them provide that care,” she said.
According to Pampers, the installation of the diaper decks will take place over the next two years, in partnership with Koala Kare.
The companies “will identify high-need public locations and provide baby changing tables for installation in the men’s restrooms. Dads and babies visiting places such as parks and recreation centers, community centers and libraries in cities such as Cincinnati, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, and many others across the U.S. and Canada, are in line to benefit from Pampers’ commitment,” Pampers announced.
Pampers noted that the first 500 locations for the installation of diaper decks have already been selected, and will be installed in the coming weeks.
Camerino, Italy, Jun 16, 2019 / 06:09 am (CNA).- Hope, which is more than mere optimism, gives one a deep-rooted confidence in the love and care of God, no matter what has happened, Pope Francis said Sunday.
Hope “does not expire, because it is … […]
In his verse memoir, The Prelude, William Wordsworth wrote: “I began/ My story early, feeling, as I fear, / The weakness of human love for days/ Disowned by memory.” He was anticipating the objection that […]
Nairobi, Kenya, Jun 15, 2019 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- Kenya’s High Court ruled Wednesday that rape victims whose pregnancy threatens their life or health have a right to procure abortion.
The June 12 ruling regarded a case brought on b ehalf of a young woman who died in June 2018 from complications related to a back-alley abortion she procured in 2014.
“Pregnancy resulting from rape or defilement, if in the opinion of a trained medical profession poses a danger to life or the health – that is physical, mental and social well-being of the mother – maybe terminated under … sections of the constitution,” said Justice Aggrey Muchelule, the Thompson Reuters Foundation reported.
The Standard, a Nairobi daily, reported that the judges ruled: “The apparent blanket prohibition of abortion in the penal code cannot stand while the Constitution gives the right to a woman to abort when their life and health are in danger.”
The 2010 Kenyan constitution made abortion legal in certain circumstances – in the cases of emergencies and when the woman’s health is in jeopardy.
The girl at the center of the case, known by her initials JMM, was raped in 2014 at the age of 15. In December of that year, her guardian was told by a relative that JMM was vomiting and bleeding heavily at a clinic where she had gone for treatment.
JMM had told clinic staff she had procured an unsafe abortion and that she had been sent to a variety of hospitals for post-abortive care.
In 2015, JMM’s mother, along with the Federation of Women Lawyers and the Centre for Reproductive Rights, filed a suit against the Ministry of Health claiming JMM was not provided with proper post-abortion care and calling on the government to provide access to safe abortions.
JMM developed kidney failure, and died June 10, 2018.
The suit filed on JMM’s behalf maintains that the poor care she received following her abortion was a result of the lack of safe abortion services.
In its ruling, the court awarded JMM’s mother damage of 3 million Kenyan shillings ($29,500).
The court also ordered the health ministry to reinstate guidelines on conducting ‘safe’ abortions. In 2013 the ministry had withdrawn the guidelines, and banned health workers from training in the procedure, after it emerged they were being used to unintended purposes.
The court had heard three days of testimony in the case in July 2018. It had been expected to deliver a verdict before January 2019.
Among the testimonies heard by the court was that of Dr. Wahome Ngari, who said that figures on the number of back-alley abortions procured, which are used to argue for the expansion of abortion rights, are wildly inflated, and that similar inflation was used to push the Malawian government to repeal its abortion law.
Ngari said the focus on health care for pregnant women in Kenya should begin with blood loss.
“The reason pregnant mothers die in the country is haemorrhage, followed by infections, hyperactive disorders, prolonged or obstructed labour and lastly abortion. Anyone who wants to offer a solution should follow that order.”
Mendoza, Argentina, Jun 15, 2019 / 06:01 am (CNA).- Two priests accused of sexually abusing minors at a school for deaf children in Argentina will stand trial Aug. 5.
The priests and a former employee at the Antonio Provolo institute will face charges… […]
This Sunday, we celebrate Father’s Day in addition to the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. One of the most important things a Father does is to share something of himself with his children. Rod […]
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