Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 28, 2022 / 13:54 pm (CNA).
As some states ban or regulate abortion following the Dobbs decision, numerous companies have announced they will provide financial assistance to employees traveling for abortions.
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court ruled June 24 that the right to an abortion is not protected under the U.S. Constitution; states are thus now able to ban abortion.
Many states already have enacted trigger laws to ban abortion immediately, while the practice remains legal in others.
Some prominent corporations have announced they will support employees in states where they cannot procure abortion by covering travel costs associated with the procedure through their health insurance.
Dick’s Sporting Goods announced June 24 that it will provide up to $4,000 in travel reimbursements to any employee, spouse, or dependent enrolled in its medical plan seeking an abortion in states where it is illegal.
“We recognize people feel passionately about this topic– and that there are teammates and athletes who will not agree with this decision,” the company said. The statement also noted that it believes these decisions are “deeply personal.”
Some companies, including Starbucks and Levi Strauss and Co., will fully reimburse expenses for women seeking legal access to abortion. A Starbucks statement says, “We will provide partners enrolled in Starbucks healthcare plan a medical travel reimbursement benefit to access an abortion.”
Other companies making similar offers, The Hill reported, include Amazon, Yelp, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Mastercard, Lyft, Disney, Meta, Comcast, Airbnb, Patagonia, DoorDash, PayPal, Reddit, Meta, Zillow, and Uber.
Some of the firms had announced travel assistance for abortion before the Dobbs ruling was released, in reaction either to the May 2 leak of a draft of the decision, or the Texas law banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
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Volunteers at Mount Saint Mary College collected more than 800 toys for their annual toy drive in Newburgh, New York, in December 2024. / Credit: Lee Ferris
CNA Staff, Dec 25, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Multiple Catholic groups and organizations th… […]
A large crowd gathered for the ceremony welcoming Patriarch Gregory Peter XV Agagianian’s remains to Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square on Thursday, Sept 12, 2024. / Credit: Romy Haber/ACI Mena
ACI MENA, Sep 15, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
On Thursday, Sept. 12, the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate held a grand ceremony in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to welcome the remains of cardinal and patriarch Gregory Peter XV Agagianian from Rome. His body will be laid to rest in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of St. Elias and St. Gregory the Illuminator in downtown Beirut.
Agagianian, known for his strong opposition to communist rule during the Cold War era, became a prominent figure in Catholic Church history. He was a leading candidate for the papacy on two occasions. The process of his beatification, a step toward sainthood in the Catholic Church, began in Rome on Oct. 28, 2022.
The late Armenian Catholic patriarch’s remains arrived in Lebanon in a glass casket carried by 12 young Lebanese men from various religious denominations, symbolizing interfaith unity.
As the Armenian scouts’ band played, attendees reached out to touch the casket for blessings. Some threw rice and rose petals on the casket — a Middle Eastern tradition symbolizing a joyful welcome.
The ceremony, attended by various political and religious figures, began with a documentary about the late patriarch’s life.
In a heartfelt speech, the current Armenian Catholic Patriarch, Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, said: “We brought him to Lebanon to show the world our unity, solidarity, and mutual love among denominations and all parties. Young men from various denominations carried the casket, representing a true reflection of what a Lebanese family looks like.”
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian community, confirmed that Aghajanian’s tomb would be in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of St. Elias and St. Gregory the Illuminator in Dabbas Square, Beirut.
“He is among the incorruptibles of the Church,” he added. “We hope that this miracle will facilitate the plea for his beatification. In any case, he will be a blessed and great saint. We congratulate the Armenian Catholic Church, all churches, and all of Lebanon. God’s wonders are great in his saints.”
Bishop Krikor Badishah, auxiliary bishop of the patriarchal Diocese of Beirut, stated: “Thanks to the magnificent presence of numerous participants, Martyrs’ Square is once again not a mere location but a national symbol that unites all Lebanese, regardless of their affiliations. It is a beacon of hope shining over our beloved homeland, constantly reminding us of our shared values and our unbreakable unity.”
During the ceremony, singer Layal Nehmé Matar performed, accompanied by the Lebanese army’s band, adding an atmosphere of reverence and solemnity.
The beatification process
The initiative to beatify Agagianian began with former Armenian Catholic Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Ghabroyan. It gained momentum when the current patriarch, Minassian, requested the opening of Agagianian’s tomb about two years ago, revealing his apparently incorrupt body.
While there is no official protocol in the Church for determining whether a body is incorrupt and incorruptibility is not considered an indication of sainthood, many saints are considered to be incorrupt. The formal process for his possible canonization was launched in Rome on Oct. 28, 2022.
This stage involved a thorough investigation, examining all aspects of Agagianian’s life and virtues. Information was gathered from written documents and contemporary witnesses, as well as accounts of miracles attributed to his intercession. The process is now progressing rapidly.
A large crowd gathered for the ceremony welcoming Patriarch Gregory Peter XV Agagianian’s remains to Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square on Thursday, Sept 12, 2024. Credit: Romy Haber/ACI MENA
The legacy of Patriarch Agagianian
Agagianian was renowned for his virtue. The Virgin Mary held a special place in his spirituality, and he was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Eucharist. He was an advocate for justice and served the marginalized, including the elderly, orphans, and people with disabilities. Even after becoming a bishop, he continued to visit the Armenian diaspora worldwide.
Agagianian held several significant positions in the Church. Named a cardinal by Pope Pius XII in 1946, he was head of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide), the future Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, from 1958 to 1970 and presided over the papal commission responsible for drafting laws for Eastern Catholic Churches. He was also appointed by Pope Paul VI to serve as one of the four moderators of the last years of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), a landmark event in modern Catholic history. At a time when the pope rarely left Rome, Agagianian served as an envoy of the Holy See, visiting many countries across multiple continents. He was twice considered “papabile,” a serious candidate for the papacy, in 1958 and 1963.
Agagianian’s connection to Lebanon
Agagianian was of Georgian-Armenian descent but acquired Lebanese citizenship after coming to the country as an apostolic visitor in 1935. A year later, at the age of 42, he became patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church.
He developed close relationships with various segments of Lebanese society and worked to bring politicians together. He would often gather them at the Armenian Catholic monastery in Jounieh (Mount Lebanon) for private meetings. Agagianian played a role in reconciling Maronite Patriarch Paul Meouchi with then-Lebanese President Camille Chamoun. He also helped appoint Charles Helou (who later became president of Lebanon) as the first Lebanese ambassador to the Vatican.
Agagianian was known as the “builder patriarch” due to his numerous architectural projects, including a school and an orphanage in Anjar, Lebanon. His remains were laid to rest in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of St. Elias and St. Gregory the Illuminator, which he built in the heart of Beirut.
This article was first published by ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.
The partial LIST from A to Z: Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Levi Strauss & Co., Starbucks, Yelp, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Mastercard, Lyft, Disney, Meta, Comcast, Airbnb, Patagonia, DoorDash, PayPal, Reddit, Meta, Uber and Zillow. The embedded link adds three more: Condé Nast, Buzzfeed, and Apple.
An earlier LIST: Overlapping this partial Dishonor Roll were the more than 400 corporations who in 2015 filed amici briefs in favor of gay “marriage.” Together they spontaneously (!) filed their legal argument on separate letterheads, asserting a constitutional right to the oxymoron same sex “marriage.” As broadly reported and rewarded in the media, AT&T and Verizon, Dow Chemical, Bank of America, General Electric, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft, and the San Francisco Giants, were among nearly four hundred agenda-assimilated corporations and business organizations that weighed in.
The SCAM in 2015: stock market numbers might benefit infinitesimally from spending patterns! So, the business world gave an entirely new meaning to the term: bottom line! The blip of one billion dollars pencils out as 1 in 6,620 of one percent of the federal budget in 2021 ($6.82 Trillion, while the GNP is nearly four times this figure at $25 Trillion).
Today, the reasoning will be the avoided cost of treating pregnant women like women who are carrying a child.
The most egregious example of this I have seen in Hello Bello, which offer “premium” baby itesm (diapers, wipes, suncreen, etc) direct to your door (I guess they do have store fronts in a few locales). Buy diapers, pay for abortions.
.
It is cheaper to pay for the elimination of an employee’s baby than to give them Family Leave/Maternity Leave or whatever. And much cheaper than to help pay for FL/ML after IVF treatments, so yeah, I suspect nearly any company with (gov’t mandated) health insurance will pay for abortions. It is simply looking out for the bottom line.
. https://notthebee.com/article/hello-bello-is-the-latest-company-offering-to-pay-for-their-employees-abortionswith-money-made-selling-diapers
The fact is that this is purely a money-saving move cloaked in politically correct garments. Now they can be praised in all the right quarters for saving significant expenditures on things like insurance and parental or sick leave.
Business people aren’t stupid. Why would they pay for the mass murder of what would soon become paying customers if there wasn’t some immediate incentive to do so?
Ugh.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Amazon, Yelp, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Mastercard, Lyft, Disney, Meta, Comcast, Airbnb, Patagonia, Doordash, Paypal, Reddit, Meta, Zillow and Uber, with more probably to come.
Now the lines are truly drawn – let the battle begin.
We won’t be buying that treadmill ($1000+) from Dick’s after all. We wrote the Investor Relations contact to inform them of why.
The partial LIST from A to Z: Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Levi Strauss & Co., Starbucks, Yelp, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Mastercard, Lyft, Disney, Meta, Comcast, Airbnb, Patagonia, DoorDash, PayPal, Reddit, Meta, Uber and Zillow. The embedded link adds three more: Condé Nast, Buzzfeed, and Apple.
An earlier LIST: Overlapping this partial Dishonor Roll were the more than 400 corporations who in 2015 filed amici briefs in favor of gay “marriage.” Together they spontaneously (!) filed their legal argument on separate letterheads, asserting a constitutional right to the oxymoron same sex “marriage.” As broadly reported and rewarded in the media, AT&T and Verizon, Dow Chemical, Bank of America, General Electric, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft, and the San Francisco Giants, were among nearly four hundred agenda-assimilated corporations and business organizations that weighed in.
The SCAM in 2015: stock market numbers might benefit infinitesimally from spending patterns! So, the business world gave an entirely new meaning to the term: bottom line! The blip of one billion dollars pencils out as 1 in 6,620 of one percent of the federal budget in 2021 ($6.82 Trillion, while the GNP is nearly four times this figure at $25 Trillion).
Today, the reasoning will be the avoided cost of treating pregnant women like women who are carrying a child.
The pygmies and cannibals are in charge.
This is a throwback to the fugitive slave acts.
Aren’t they being a little presumptuous?
Are they offering an equivalent amount to women who want to keep their babies? Choice and all that.
The most egregious example of this I have seen in Hello Bello, which offer “premium” baby itesm (diapers, wipes, suncreen, etc) direct to your door (I guess they do have store fronts in a few locales). Buy diapers, pay for abortions.
.
It is cheaper to pay for the elimination of an employee’s baby than to give them Family Leave/Maternity Leave or whatever. And much cheaper than to help pay for FL/ML after IVF treatments, so yeah, I suspect nearly any company with (gov’t mandated) health insurance will pay for abortions. It is simply looking out for the bottom line.
.
https://notthebee.com/article/hello-bello-is-the-latest-company-offering-to-pay-for-their-employees-abortionswith-money-made-selling-diapers
The fact is that this is purely a money-saving move cloaked in politically correct garments. Now they can be praised in all the right quarters for saving significant expenditures on things like insurance and parental or sick leave.
This is very revealing. And damning.
The culture of death writ large. Support death but disappear when life makes demands.
STOP! HATING! BABIES!
Business people aren’t stupid. Why would they pay for the mass murder of what would soon become paying customers if there wasn’t some immediate incentive to do so?