Detroit, Mich., Nov 1, 2019 / 04:56 pm (CNA).- The mother of a Michigan teenager who was recently declared brain dead is asking for prayers and support, after a judge ordered a hospital to continue life support until a Nov. 7 court hearing on her son’s health status.
“We feel that human life doesn’t have an estimable value, and it’s invested with the highest dignity by God…To me, it’s very important that we allow for him to continue fighting,” LaShauna Lowery told CNA in a Nov. 1 interview.
Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan declared Titus Jermaine Cromer Jr., 16, to be brain dead, after two doctors determined that he had suffered “irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.”
The hospital had made plans to remove his life support systems on Oct. 28, and Cromer’s family challenged the decision, asking for additional medical opinions on whether he is actually brain dead.
Cromer is a junior at University of Detroit Jesuit High School, a Catholic high school in Detroit, Michigan. He was rushed to the hospital Oct. 17 after suffering cardiac arrest. Upon arrival at the hospital he could not breathe independently or regulate his own blood pressure.
After Cromer received hydration, nutrition, and body temperature regulation, his family’s lawyer says he is showing signs of improvement and can now breathe independently and regulate his own blood pressure.
“There are strong indicia that he is getting better everyday,” the family’s lawyer, Jim Rasor, told The Detroit News.
“He is currently able to breathe for short periods on his own. …That’s a dramatic improvement from when he came into the hospital.”
Lowery, who is a Baptist went to a Catholic school when she was young told CNA the family’s Christian faith is in important part of the whole situation.
“We’re Christian, right? What I would say is, in our faith, we believe that when the soul leaves the body is when we’re gone. So I think that we need to allow Titus, to allow for his brain to heal.”
Lowery said the family has received independent guidance that has suggested that for a brain injury like Titus’, it could take between two months and two years for the brain to really see healing.
“Seven days, nine days, right, is not enough time,” she said. “So we really want to be able to give a chance for him to allow for his brain to heal, and to allow for him to fight.”
She cited 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.”
While also asking for prayers for Titus’ recovery, she encouraged any other family that is going through a similar situation to reach out to her with offer support and information.
“I didn’t know I had options. I didn’t know I had rights. I didn’t find out about the patients’ rights until it was too late,” she said.
“And so when you’re going through a situation like this, you’re so overwhelmed by all the information that’s being put at you, sometimes it’s hard to digest. So I would say any family that’s going through this— learn your rights, know you have options, and don’t give up.”
Michael Vacca, an attorney and head of bioethics for the Catholic healthcare nonprofit Christ Medicus Foundation, urged Beaumont Hospital to defer to the rights of the parents.
“Despite being declared brain dead, a designation that is imprecise and inconsistent, these physical signs in Titus are objective indications of life,” Vacca said Oct. 30.
Louis Brown, Executive Director of the CMF, called for another medical facility to take Titus on as a patient.
“It is unjust that medical institutions are seeking to end life support so quickly against the wishes of the patient’s family and when patients are showing signs of life,” he said Oct. 30.
The family will go to court Nov. 7, when both sides will present their case so Oakland County Circuit Judge Hala Jarbou can decide what will happen going forward.
In the interim, Lowrey said, the family is looking for facilities that will take Titus and offer him care, both in the Detroit metro area and further afield.
Cromer’s case is similar to that of 14-year-old Bobby Reyes, who was rushed to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Michigan last month following a severe asthma attack. Repeat tests in the following days indicated that there was no blood flow or electrical activity in the boy’s brain.
The hospital declared Reyes brain dead and made plans to remove him from life support. Reyes’ family fought the decision but ultimately failed to receive relief from a court, due to a jurisdiction dispute. Reyes was removed from life support on Oct. 15.
The hospital said in a statement, “Continuing medical interventions was inappropriate after Bobby had suffered brain death and violates the professional integrity of Michigan Medicine’s clinicians.” Michigan law recognizes an individual as dead if they have undergone “irreversible cessation of all function of the entire brain, including the brain stem.”
The two Michigan cases have drawn renewed attention to the diagnosis of brain death and sparked concerns over parental rights in cases where family members question a diagnosis.
The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) maintains that cases of improvement over the course of months or years generally indicate an incorrect diagnosis of brain death in the first place.
“Stories of people continuing on a ventilator for months or years after being declared brain dead typically indicate a failure to apply the tests and criteria for determination of brain death with proper attentiveness and rigor,” said Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for the center, in a 2005 information sheet.
“In other words, somebody is likely to have cut some corners in carrying out the testing and diagnosis.”
In Cromer’s case, the family believes their teenage son has been misdiagnosed. Their lawyer cited his improvements in independent breathing and blood pressure regulation as “very strong indicia that he has not suffered brain death,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
Medical criteria for diagnosing brain death, while controversial in some circles, have been accepted by most Catholic bioethicists, provided that diagnostic tests are carried out thoroughly and carefully.
In an Aug. 29, 2000 address to the international congress of the transplantation society, St. John Paul II stated that using as a criterion for death “the complete and irreversible cessation of all brain activity (in the cerebrum, cerebellum and brain stem) … if rigorously applied, does not seem to conflict with the essential elements of a sound anthropology.”
The NCBC has also stated repeatedly that “Health care workers can use these neurological criteria as the basis for arriving at ‘moral certainty’ that an individual has died.”
The NCBC noted that determining death by these neurological criteria typically involves bedside testing to assess absence of response or reflexes, apnea testing to assess the absence of the ability to breath, and “possible confirmatory tests to further assess the absence of brain activity (for example, an EEG) or the absence of blood flow to the brain.”
Similarly, the U.S. bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services indicate that “the determination of death should be made by the physician or competent medical authority in accordance with responsible and commonly accepted scientific criteria.”
And in 2008, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences stated that “brain death … ‘is’ death,” and that “something essential distinguishes brain death from all other types of severe brain dysfunction that encompass alterations of consciousness (for example, coma, vegetative state, and minimally conscious state).”
“If the criteria for brain death are not met, the barrier between life and death is not crossed, no matter how severe and irreversible a brain injury may be,” the academy added.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences said that after brain death, “the ventilator and not the individual, artificially maintains the appearance of vitality of the body. Thus, in a condition of brain death, the so-called life of the parts of the body is ‘artificial life’ and not natural life. In essence, an artificial instrument has become the principal cause of such a non-natural ‘life’. In this way, death is camouflaged or masked by the use of the artificial instrument.”
Still, some pro-life advocates question the medical criteria used for diagnosing brain death and argue that taking organs from individuals diagnosed as brain dead amounts to homicide.
The NCBC rejects that stance as “irresponsible” and “in tension with Catholic teaching,” countering that while a body may appear to be alive due to oxygenated blood being mechanically pumped through the body, thorough and rigorous testing can confirm that an individual is truly dead.
Dr. Alan Shwemon, former chief of the neurology department at Olive View-U.C.L.A. Medical Center, is an outspoken critic of the criteria used to diagnose brain death.
Shewmon had diagnosed some 200 patients as being brain dead throughout this career, according to the New Yorker. But he began to have doubts about the condition, which were intensified when he saw the case of a 13-year-old girl in Oakland who had been declared brain dead but began to show signs of improvement after being given tube feeding and hormone replacement.
Over the next four years, the girl was able to respond to simple motor commands and underwent puberty-related physical developments before dying of unrelated conditions, Shewmon said. His analysis of the situation led him to believe that the girl had not been brain dead, but was instead in a “minimally conscious state,” with brain flow in the brain too low to be detected by imaging technology, yet sufficient to prevent the death of brain cells – a condition known as global ischemic penumbra.
“Her case challenges the claimed infallibility of diagnostic criteria for brain death and supports the hypothesis that global ischemic penumbra can mimic both clinical brain death as well as absent blood flow on radionuclide scans,” Shewmon asserted in a December 2018 article.
[…]
The only political intervention that makes sense for faithful Catholics is to leave no stone unturned to convert the minds and hearts of those voters who are living in the World of Lies.
Dear Deacon. “World of Lies”? Trump???
Nice try. A terminal case of TDS, I’m afraid.
Terminally Disinformed Syndrome?
While you are correct, think the bigger issue is the decidedly lack of or decline of faithful Catholics. As it has been said, politics is the result of culture. In the US and in most other Western countries, Christianity has been replaced by the culture of Secularism, which is a nice way of saying the culture of Neo Paganism. So what you got is the massive acceptance of abortion and everything else.
This is sickening. Horrifying.
Accepting any abortions — even a single one — is total capitulation. It undercuts any argument you try to make against any and all abortions.
Because the pro-life principle, that every single life is precious beyond measure, is destroyed.
With this development, it seems the pro-life movement is dead in America.
The issue transitions from saving the lives of a million innocent, beautiful children a year in America, to an argument about which ones it’s okay to kill.
The Republicans, as always, are playing defense. They have allowed the death cultists on the left to define the terms of the debate. They are trying to appear “moderate” so they can appeal to more voters.
They should instead be characterizing the Democrats truthfully — accurately — as the most murderous, most evil conspiracy that humanity has ever seen.
The Democrats have been waging war against children for a half century, and they are only expanding it — by sterilization and mutilation of our little ones, by grooming them with pornography, and by undermining the relationships between parents and their children.
The only good thing you can say about Republicans is that they aren’t Democrats.
And now, with this hideous development coming to pass, you can’t even say that with conviction.
One more thing.
I am utterly appalled that Hamrick is framing abortion as a federal funding issue.
As if the best reason we have to not kill our own precious, beautiful, God-given children is so that we have more money to pay off people’s college loans or fix the roads.
That is so wrong. So ugly. So vile.
When God decides He has finally had enough of us, we will deserve whatever we get.
Our thoughts are if you don’t want an abortion don’t have one. Every religion has its idea of when an embryo is a child no matter what others might believe. Some believe when it takes its first breath it is a child. Everyone has their idea and it is getting ridiculous watching the RC Church trying to force others to follow church teachings.
Maybe it’s when the blob of tissue takes its first steps or when the blob forms its first grammatically correct sentence or when it registers as a democrat voter.
It’s not a matter of belief or religion … it’s science. Of course, when one cannot fathom the science of male/female, it’s impossible to convince one about a genetically different human being in the womb.
“Our thoughts are if you don’t want slavery don’t have slaves. Every religion has its idea of when a slave is a person no matter what others might believe. Some believe because the slave’s skin is black it is not a person, entitled to freedom. Everyone has their idea and it is getting ridiculous watching the Abolitionists trying to force others to follow their teachings.”
“Our thoughts are if you don’t want adults to have pedophilic sexual relations don’t have them. Every religion has its idea of when a child should be a target of sexual predators no matter what others might believe. Some believe when it takes its first breath it is a child. Everyone has their idea and it is getting ridiculous watching the RC Church trying to force others to follow church teachings.”
Do you genuinely not understand how evil your position is?
I’ve never really considered myself a Republican. It’s simply been the only way I could vote in good conscience.
There’s little difference between the Establishment GOP & Democrats today but a GOP administration will at least leave us in more peace for the next 4 years than a Democrat one will. If we think Christian families have faced persecution under Biden, just wait until he or his replacers get back in power again.
Mscracker. After the recent debate Biden appears to be in decline and he may not be able to complete another 4 year term. And, I don’t see Kamala Harris an alternative.
Catholic voters have been placed in an seemingly imposible position.
Can’t vote for Biden because of his position on abortion.
Will not vote for Trump who shows in-your-face un-christian and un-presidential egostical hatred for Biden and Harris, “crooked Biden”, “Laffin” Kamala Harris”.
God save the land of the free.
Braden administration is the most Anti Catholic in US history.
I covered politics and elections from local to federal level in broadcast journalism for forty years. In that time I only met a single office holder I’d feel able to call a role model. We’re supposed to choose our leaders through elections, and to one extent or another all candidates have ethical, moral and social blind spots. As citizens we’re supposed to weigh and choose carefully from the available options. When I think and pray on my choice, I keep in front of me the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the effect that NOT to choose is still a choice, and G-d still holds one accountable for that decision. Just sayin’.
Your radical perspective is not grounded in practical reality and is nothing more than self-righteous posturing. There are always exceptions, there are always extenuating circumstances where an abortion might be necessary, though regretable. That’s a reality we all have to accept. If your 15 year old daughter was sexually assaulted and became pregnant, would you really force her to carry that pregnancy to term? Really? If your pregnant wife was diagnosed with cancer, would you expect her to forego chemotherapy to save the baby, at the risk of her own life? What about your marriage vow?
Athanasius, it is never morally acceptable to employ evil means to obtain a good. Or so the Church has taught always and everywhere. If you can provide definitive evidence to the contrary it would be appreciated.
Easy to pontificate about morals from the sidelines. It’s not absolute. You might think in less black and white terms if you were confronted with the actual situations I mentioned. If you are married, your first responsibility is to your spouse, according to your vows. Would you raise a rapist’s child? Would you force your wife to?
There are many infertile couples who would love to raise that child of rape. And with current DNA technology, the rapist can be identified and garnished for life to pay for the child. Thereby deterring future rape and fornication.
Morality is always absolute as only a mind that is either atheistic or faithless or profoundly foolish would fail to grasp. It is impossible for God to be as stupid as we are, which is why He is not as shortsighted as we are. Eliminating human beings has never been a solution to eliminating human problems at any time in history nor any particularity. It only expands the problems. There are no exceptions to immorality because every immoral act has the potential to weaken the collective social ethos permanently .
Ann Furedi has been an abortion activist in the United Kingdom all her life. She was chief exec of BPAS one of the two largest abortion providers in the UK.
In her book “The Moral Case for Abortion she defines it as “The intentional destruction of the fetus in the womb, or any untimely delivery brought about with intent to cause the death of the fetus.”
Intent to kill plus overt act which goes beyond mere preparation for the completion of the crime of murder is attempted murder under the law of several States and Federal law.
Yes, Susan. And feticide can be a way to hide rapes that result in a pregnancy. Sexual abuse is perpetrated more often by unrelated men that single mothers allow into their home. There’s an incentive for a mother’s boyfriend to get rid of the evidence.
Traffickers take their victims to places like Planned Parenthood because pregnant
women are less profitable.
Someone said these poor girls and women are treated like rental cars that can be used and then vacuumed out for the next customer.
One does not determine what is good or evil when it affects another life
we are not here to force people to carry out the beliefs of others. Pregnancy is fine for one and not for another. We don’t want to pay for other child-bearers’ abortions. Medical situations are different. It is not right to interfere with another choice.
“One does not determine what is good or evil when it affects another life…”
*********
From one child-bearer to another, when there are two lives involved, determining what might be good or evil for both is pretty important.
Feticide seems the only human rights violation where we completely devalue & ignore the existence of the victim. Unless they’re “wanted”. Wantedness alone appears to transform a child in gestation into a human being worthy of protection & rights. Otherwise they’re consigned to medical waste. Or spare parts.
It is not right for anyone to interfere with God’s choice, even when rendered in difficult circumstances that invite lives to turnaround from what had been a downward path to nobility as God plans it.
No reply button on your comment several levels down. Who are you to claim that you know the inner most thoughts and hidden agonies of women who underwent that which does not even exist as presented, medically necessary abortions? Were you to free yourself from establishment propaganda, and expose yourself to the reality of aborted women, and visit with those who actually work with aborted women, you would learn of the effects of institutional social mythologies that kill and rape the souls of these women.
So in your moral nihilism and civilizational anarchism, you would sit down with a bag of popcorn while watching a moral thug murdering your neighbor?
Re: Athanasius: “There are always exceptions, there are always extenuating circumstances where an abortion might be necessary, though regrettable.”
You should look up the phrase “intrinsically evil”.
I’m familiar with the phrase. I’m thinking in practical, real-world situations.
Yes, perhaps thinking as “the world” does.
You’re not “thinking” at all to embrace a moral nihilism that trashes the will of God’s call to courage and nobility and trashes the greater social ethos in pursuit of a self-serving unwillingness to answer that call.
That means that you don’t believe there’s such a thing as intrinsic evil at all.
“Practical, real world” thinking allows you to justify any evil.
The “holier than thou” attitude of the people who disagree with Athanasius represents the adage “it is safe to be brave from a distance”. If you had a wife dying on a hospital table and needed to an abortion, would you let her die? I doubt it. I have been there. It is a horror beyond belief. So, it is God who must judge the good or evil in these situations and not individuals who tell others what they must do but are not in the situation.
God has judged good and evil and has revealed objective moral truth to every honest heart, understanding of which is never dependent on circumstance, however much we demand a right to live on our mountains of self-serving delusions in support of our transgressions. We have no right to be childish in our thoughts about morality.
My deceased wife could have lived a lot longer with a medical option that would have been legal but immoral. We both understood without hesitation that it was not an option.
Thank you for your artful comments. This is the IS A CHOICE. Perhaps not RC. I know many women who have had medical abortions. None of them feel guilt, or loss, it was a medical necessity.
Mr. Morgan, NPR? “Selective reduction “?
Athanasius, I’m really shocked by your comments. And saddened if you were sincere in those.
Mrs. Cracker, have you ever faced these issues? You and others that are pontificating are typical of the adage “it is safe to be brave from a distance” and tell others what they must do in such a horrifying situation without you actually facing it. Only God will judge and only God will decide. I hope you never face one of the horrible situations that Athanasius has cited.
JML, I’m not going to share those kind of personal details in a comment box but yes, I have some familiarity with the issues you refer to, both amongst family members & close friends.
The direct, intentional taking of an innocent life is never justified. Nor should any child be executed for the crime of its father. To defend the killing of one’s own grandchild is just incredibly shocking & disheartening to me. Never, ever would I consider that. I have 16 grandchildren & #17 on the way, please God.
No one is of less value because of the circumstances of their conception. No one.
Not everyone is devoid of faith in the will of God. Everyone faces extreme hardships. Not everyone elects to be a moral coward and call those who don’t “pontificating.”
Morality comes from God, not from our corrupt, phony, selfish, self-serving sinful egos, masquerading as rarified deep thinking heroism.
Yes, “love,” as promoted by our Lord Jesus Christ, is quite radical. I love my wife and my daughter. I would not allow my daughter to kill her child and I would make a decision with my wife regarding medical treatment that would balance concern for her life and that of our unborn child. None of this would be easy but real love has always involved the Cross.
Athanasius!
I am very surprised by your questions, and even moreso by your tone. After accusing me of self-righteous posturing, you asked:
“If your 15 year old daughter was sexually assaulted and became pregnant, would you really force her to carry that pregnancy to term?”
I absolutely would. Killing her child would not in any way remove or mitigate the harm that would have been done to her by the attack.
Children are a blessing. They are not responsible for the circumstances surrounding their conception.
Saying otherwise would open up a weird new way to look at people. For example, if I were driving while intoxicated and killed a pedestrian, I could examine the circumstances of his conception as a possible way to justify a lesser sentence.
If he were found to have been born of an “unwanted” pregnancy, I would be deemed less culpable, since he would have been less worthy of life.
What you are seeking to justify — the killing a of child conceived in a rape — makes no more sense than killers examining the birth circumstances of their victims to determine the seriousness of their crimes.
You then asked:
“If your pregnant wife was diagnosed with cancer, would you expect her to forego chemotherapy to save the baby, at the risk of her own life?”
I would give my life to save my child. Absolutely and without hesitation. As my wife would give hers.
As I said, I’m shocked that the namesake of such a courageous saint would question the teachings of the Church concerning unborn children and would accuse a fellow believer of adhering to those teachings insincerely.
I will pray for you, dear Athanasius, that you will not be put to the test.
JML %%%%%%%%%%BRAVO YOU A COGENT You understand the situation.
If your 15 year old daughter was sexually assaulted and became pregnant, would you really force to be assaulted again, this time with a scalpel or curette? Really?
Drop the “Athanasius” handle. You don’t deserve to use it. He doesn’t deserve to have it sullied by appropriation.
Thank you Pitchfork. I agree. Feticide is a second act of violence committed upon a victim of rape. And upon her child. Now you have created another violation and additional victim. How does that make any sense?
Ann Furedi has been a lifelong campaigner for abortion in the United Kingdom and has worked in the abortion industry for at least 17 years. In her book “The Moral Case for Abortion” she defines abortion as “the intentional destruction of the fetus in the womb, or any untimely delivery brought about with intent to cause the death of the fetus.
Intent to kill being an element of the crime of attempted murder, all that remains is an act that goes beyond mere preparation for the commission of the crime of murder, and there is an attempted murder under Federal law and and the laws of several States.
You can’t kill a group of cells, Remember these are NOT children
they are possible humans but in utero, they are not children.
Would you want to give birth to a malformed child that would live a few minutes? I wouldn’t. Thanks but no thanks. How about spontaneous abortions? I would never turn any woman away because she needed an abortion for whatever reason. God created doctors who can do this simple procedure. Much better than back ally abortions. We are trained to help and do no harm. Think about it. We need to start all females on contraception at 15 years. There would be few abortions.
No thought at all in your thought and admonishments to “think about it.” You clearly do not think about the meaning and implications of a social ethos. Were you to do so, you might be able to delve into honest thought and soberly scan the history of how the sex revolution and the contraceptive mentality accelerates an abortion culture and its many tyrannies.
We’re all clumps of living cells with unique DNA in different stages of life.
So, since you clearly aren’t Catholic, why are you opining in a Catholic forum? If you consider yourself Catholic you are living in a state of mortal sin. I will pray for your conversion. You are in danger of being damned.
At common law, and to this day in English law, you are guilty of murder if, with intent to kill or do inflict serious bodily harm, you injure a fetus in the womb so that it dies after being born alive.
At common law, if, with intent to kill only a fetus in the womb, you accidentally kill its mother, you are guilty of murder.
The born alive rule was explained as a rule of evidence in R v Sims (1601):
“… for if it be dead born it is no murder for non constat (it does not necessarily follow) whether the child were living at the time of the batterie or not; or if the batterie was the cause of the death, but when it is born living, and the wounds appeare in his body, and then he dye, the batteror shall be arraigned of murder, for now it may be proved whether these wounds were the cause of the death or not, and for that if it be found, he shall be condemned.”
There was in England no law of attempted murder until at common law the 1850s. But by statute there now is. Every abortion is in law an attempted murder, and any agreement (contractual or otherwise) to proceed with an abortion between parties who intend to kill is a conspiracy to murder.
“If your pregnant wife was diagnosed with cancer, would you expect her to forego chemotherapy to save the baby, at the risk of her own life?”
Catholic moral teaching distinguishes between directly/intentionally murdering a child through abortion (which is always and everywhere wrong) and trying to save a pregnant woman’s life through chemotherapy with the unintended/undesired result that the unborn child is likely to die. It’s a theological principle called “double effect.”
See:
https://www.catholic.com/qa/can-a-pregnant-woman-undergo-chemotherapy-if-it-will-harm-her-child
If your pregnant wife needs chemo to survive, the position of the Church is that she should have the treatment. It has always been so. If your 15 yr old daughter is raped, it is tragic— admittedly a devastating situation. Rarely does rape result in pregnancy. According to the CDC, April, 2024, the pregnancy rate among rape victims in a relationship with rapist is (26%) compared to those raped by an acquaintance (5.2%) or a stranger (6.9%).
If a teen is raped and becomes pregnant it does require heroic emotional strength and support to carry the baby. It also causes trauma to have an abortion even when the child is conceived in rape. Tremendous love and support for the young girl to continue the pregnancy is the way forward.
It just shows that America, indeed “The West”, has completely bought the lies of modernity and is bent on destroying itself. Satan reigns in men’s hearts, for this is surely not of God. But we know he will lose, indeed has already lost.
And I believe too that it’s not enough to end the slaughter of babies. Artificial contraception is a grave sin and must be part of the pro-life agenda. God will not be mocked. Eliminating the “outs” of abortion and contraception will force people to think about sexual sin and its consequences. I dunno. Just rambling a bit.
On its current moral trajectory, how much longer can the USA last as a democracy? This noble experiment won’t vanish in the immediate term but it’s unlikely to last for much longer. All one has to do is survey the landscape. The Church, however, will last until Christ’s Second Coming.
America is not de jure a “democracy”; it’s supposed to be a democratic republic.
It is currently best described as a plutocratic administrative superstate.
However, don’t long too much for a “democracy”. It’s been famously likened to two wolves and a lamb convening to decide the evenings entre’, and for good reason.
My emphasis was less on our particular form of democracy but on the current state of our American culture as a political entity of free people.
Government is spying on its own citizens, tracking where we go, surveilling us on the internet and censoring our thoughts, interfering with the freedom of religion, we no longer gave an independent press but one controlled by government, children’s minds and bodies are being poisoned, the US government is incarcerating citizens without indicting them for crimes, and (in at least one instance we know of) murdering one of our citizens. The country is unraveling and Catholics on this site are arguing about Trump v. Biden.
In confession this past week, the Penance dispensed was that because we had just celebrated the 4th of July to say 3 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Mary’s for our government. I almost laughed.
And from some of the comments here, Catholcs are more and more comfortable with killing the unborn under a pope who, despite clumsy remarks in limited opposition, sends contrary messages by praising the work of the world’s most fanatical abortionists just as Archbishop Vigano said they would. (I refuse to recognize his excommunication given that those who declared it might be excommunicated through their actions themselves.)
You simply do not understand the real situation. The simple fact is that most women in the United States want to have the option of abortion. Most have been told all their lives that they have a right to kill their own children, and they believe it. They will vote against anyone who tries to take that supposed right away from them. You can be against abortion all you want, but if most of the women of a country are in favor of it, then the laws will permit abortion. You cannot impose an abortion ban on a country that does not believe that each child’s life is sacred. It will be rejected. You will lose everything at the polls.
So the Republicans are simply recognizing a simple fact. It does no good to reject them over this issue, since the Democrats hate everything about you. They hate your religion. They hate freedom of speech. They hate personal freedom. They are quite willing to kill as many babies as it takes to make their demonic followers happy. There simply is no alternative to Republicans at this point.
When Roe v Wade was overturned, I predicted it would take a massive 5 year program of trying to convince young women that abortion actually is killing a baby. It would take a massive effort of the pro life movement to educate young women and older women. But did they seize the moment? No, they laid back and thought they could impose abortion bans on all women, simply by seizing political power. And rather than step up their game and really begin to convince people, they backed off and thought the debate was over. What a gigantic mistake. Their work has only just begun. As it is, no political party can get elected except with the votes of those that favor abortion. We need to change minds, not laws.
Well argued. We need to win it in the trenches. Sidewalk counseling has been declining. I don’t understand why. But Catholics need to be more militant, but how can we with a Pope who doesn’t really care despite phony moods of occasional lip service when he is embarrassed into it. Thus, the cocktail party Catholic who will throw the babies onto the mountains of corpses spilling their rivers of blood before being a Fool for Christ in fromt of their “educated” liberal frieds by giving witness are only emboldened to greater levels of cowardice.
60% of ‘Catholics’ are pro-choice. This Satanic lie of language means they are actually supporters of murder in the womb. Trump was very disappointed in the lack of ‘Catholic’ vote support so he has abandoned the issue. The feckless bishops only give lip service to the pro life movement and most of them oppose Trump and all of them avoid saying what Fr Altman truly stated; “you cannot be a Catholic and vote for a DemoncRat.”
So we abandoned Trump not vice versa. He is a political animal- not a principled Christian. So we reap what we sow. Perhaps he will return to previous commitments if he can manage to survive and get re-elected again.
I am not surprised. This is actually in accordance with the Supreme Court Dobbs Decision, which sent abortion back to the states. For most of our history, abortion was an issue for the states, until Roe v. Wade made it a national issue. We are now back to our pre Roe situation.
With regards to contraception, Trump understands that to advocate for a ban on contraception would be political suicide, thus a more moderate position. Ditto IVF.
The Hard Religious Right might not be happy, but what are they going to do? Vote for Biden?
This is politics.i
I agree this is more about politics but how is a human rights reform about the hard right? Religious or otherwise? I’ve never understood why one human right is separated from the rest & labeled as right wing.
Abortion isn’t contraception.
If I was an investor in a pharma company that had a serious portfolio of contraceptives; I’d be concerned, as it seems males and females are no longer seeking each others’ company and in some cases, are actively rejecting it (i.e. MGTOW).
True Pitchfork, as far as the West & developed nations go. Young people are turning to screens more than real relationships. But contraceptives are being shipped by population control commissars to Africa in great volume.
So many of the young men today are wimps. 30 year old men living in their mother’s basement, doing odd jobs and spending most of their time on screens. Pathetic. No wonder so many young women are not interested in them.
The one strength of sending it back to the states is that no longer will a single bad decision by a court legalize killing babies throughout the while country.
Think political strategy instead of explicit content…
Has the lightning rod simply been removed from the Republican platform, temporarily? This removal renders Kamala Harris irrelevant as probably the Democrat substitute presidential candidate. In our ideological and death-spiral era, her greatest and only appeal on the Left is her grandstanding for the “right” (rite?) to fetal infanticide.
Consider the politics of former President Obama:
On the infiltration of government and society by the tribal LGBTQ religion, Obama postured as having “evolved” in the weeks following his successful re-election in 2012. Leading up to his earlier election in 2008 Obama mouthed, “‘I believe marriage is between a man and a woman; I am not in favor of gay marriage.’ This was a flat out lie according to his political advisor at the time, David Axelrod” (recounted by Thomas McArdle, “Is Al Smith Dinner Still Worthwhile,” National Catholic Register, October 30, 2016).
In our era of the Big Lie, the strategic question is not who can lead best with his chin, but who can best lead in the White House in 2025?
The Republican party platform still speaks out louder for pro-life than many bishops (including the one in Rome) who, while speaking out limply against abortion, still hobnob with (instead of excommunicating) pro-abortion politicians and other pro-abortion shakers and movers on the world stage.
Wow!
Maggie, you are damning the Republican Party with the faintest praise imaginable — that at least they’re not as bad as Bergoglio.
By that standard, we’d have to consider reassessing our views of Hitler.
…it is better to be brain-ey that briney, that is, ‘be as guileless as the dove and shrewdly wise as the snakes’, id est, divinely brain-ey or foxily prudential, like God and with Him bringing some good out from the evils while ‘ making oneself weak to save the weak, wisely becoming all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some’… God has taken things one step at a time since adam and eve until we, using our free-will rightly cooperate with Him ‘going from grace to grace until we arrive to where we ought to be at the RightHand of The Father’… this doesn’t mean God is sinful nor that He is undercutting or has undercut His Truth and Love, His Positions and Arguments/Revelations…come, let us discuss His Wisdom and Holiness, not the adversaries serpent-tree…
Hi Brineyman 🙂
I’m saying this is no time to throw a tizzy fit against Republicans because they have decided at this time they cannot be 100% pro-life and get elected. If we don’t support the Republican party whose message is still very pro-life and who will leave pro-lifers in peace to do their work, we will end up with a horrible fate: the party of death who will continue to shove abortion and infanticide down our throats and actively persecute and jail pro-lifers.
Also: If Catholic bishops are unwilling to put their heads on the chopping block and excommunicate pro-abortion politicians, how can we expect the Republican party to put their heads on the chopping block with a 100% pro-life platform?
Are there no longer rules about defaming the POPE? If you don’t like this one another one will be along shortly. Pope Francis Is a Jesuit, a group focused on those people we never notice, Social justice is part of their rules. He has been a great Pope who has made many changes and who has many changes to go. He has done much to make the church
inclusive. He has reformed the Liturgy, much needed. He has brought simplicity to church vestments. No longer a pope carried on the chair by men far above the congregants. He has traveled to more countries than any other pope. He has the hardest job in this world and he gets no pay.
Llurline – No one can really defame the pope except the pope himself. If defamation is addressed to a good and holy pope, it becomes merely a pitiable act on the part of the defamer, because the defamation is clearly false. If the Papacy itself is defamed, this can only be accomplished by the one occupying the Chair of Saint Peter. And defamed the Papacy, Bergoglio has, in no uncertain terms. So, what you call defamation, is merely another person’s efforts to point out the unfortunate but very real errors against Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium that he has committed. The one that I personally find is so insidious and tragic, is when PF rejected the title of Vicar of Christ. Well, if he is, by his own declaration, not the Vicar of Christ, whose vicar is he?
Liurline: None of the things you give him credit for are true, and sociology has no place in religion. When a priest chooses to become a Jesuit, it is usually to be assured of more years in study than most orders allow. There are no unique set of “concerns’ in the Christian life. In the case of Francis, he turned out to be a grotesquely shallow man, not very bright to bend over backwards in charity, with only the phony affectations of concen for the marginalized that revert to trivializing their lives to the expectations of cultural enslavement or life destroying Marxist tyranny.
All secular politics are fickle and pander to the masses in order to garner support and win elections. The question to what extent can a Christian compromise values in order to gain the “greater good”. It is a question we must all ask, and there is no simple, common answer. The Church can give us guidelines-and hopefully it will- but ultimately it is up to each individual to make their own choices. We must be careful, however, to not broadbrush and label those we disagree with. We must all practice charity.
At times the ambivalence of changing directions for good or for evil, for practical realities like, better to be elected than lose to an infinitely more godless opponent leaves us dismayed. Or is it realists?
Candidate Trump is a practical politician applying the mechanisms that gained success in high powered business transactions. Dannenfelser, who was previously outraged at the Court’s decision to return abortion policy to the states, and equally infuriated with Trump on this approach has apparently had a ‘practical’ change of heart. Rearing her’s and Kristi Hamrick’s favorable opinions I’m personally reassured we’re on a viable path toward doing our best to protect life.
Father, with all due respect, SCOTUS’ decision to pass the abortion decisions to the states has caused utter havoc. I said it before, it creates a “patchwork” of “Blue and RED” state conflicts.
Women with life-threatening pregnancies having to leave a restricted state, Texas and Idaho, etc. to escape political overlords. Eg. See the case of Lauren Miller, a mother now pregnant with twins which she desprately wanted was faced with the sad medical decision that one baby was dying and challenging her and the life of the other twin. Later, she testified before the US Senate to explain her plight. Please read Lauren’s ignominious sacrifice.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/02/28/1154339942/abortion-texas-laws-twins-selective-reduction
Mr. Morgan, NPR? “Selective reduction “?
Are you not familiar with National Propaganda Radio?
That’s what we used to call NPR also.
🙂
MrsC, and other naysayers on the Miller case validity.
I read several media articles including the Dallas Morning News, Lauren’s home town. Amazingly, after all that Lauren went through, Texas’ constitution contains wording that there is an exception for the life of the mother. Texas bumbling politician. Abbott and Paxton should be sued for their obvious ignorance. OBGYNS are afraid of being jailed.
Fox 4 News: URL. https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-abortion-law-lauren-miller-testimony
The messages were consistent with the CURRENT NPR article. Check your religious facts. The Church does allow exceptions for the life of the mother.
Catholicism Library: Author: Rev. E. M. Robinson, O. P.
“Never and in no case has the Church taught that the life of the child must be preferred to that of the mother”.
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/exception-to-save-the-life-of-the-mother-12052
Naturally, your responses spew from afar. I ask you to consider walking in Lauren’s shoes and that of her mother’s!!!
Sorry. Facts only, please!
Sad but true.
No, there is no havoc. Only in your mind. Each state has the right to pass whatever laws they deem reflective of the desires of the people of their states. No, I do not believe a single word some person who testifies before Congress. Usually they are sent their by activists precisely to lie about what went on, especially when the Democrats present them, as happened in this lady’s case.
I must reply!
You seem to diaparage and disdain a mother as politically motivated. “Usually they are sent their by activists precisely to lie about what went on”.
Your factless broadbrush blind assessment of a mother in danger of dying is truly disrespectful and un-Catholic.
Republican’s can’t win if they keep the pro-life platform. Perhaps if they win the presidency and the house and senate they can then do something for life. Change the minds of people. But with a nation right now for abortions the Republicans don’t stand a chance. I’m pro-life but know it is what it is now. It’s up to the states. At least Trump got the Supreme Court to do that. Patience has always been there even after 51 years. Let’s get Republicans elected and then we can do something-otherwise the Democrats still win and we have still abortions every minute.Go Trump
This should be the straw that breaks the elephant’s back for pro-life people of all persuasions. It’s time for us to desert this sinking ship and start supporting candidates who are willing to go to the mat for the pro-life cause. No more excuses and rationalizations, no more “lesser of two evils,” no more “this is the best we can do.” It looks like the Solidarity Party for me this fall.
Why not fight to reject president warp speed from the GOP so we won’t have to change the platform?
Susan, we have changed our platform. Its called Project 2025.
The “promises”
Project 2025 Snapshot – Democracy Forward:
Proposals from Project 2025, discussed in detail throughout this guide, that they claim could be implemented through executive branch action alone — so without new legislation — include:
> Cut overtime protections for 4.3 million workers
> Stop efforts to lower prescription drug prices
> Limit access to food assistance, which an average of more than 40 million people in 21.6 million households rely on monthly
> Eliminate the Head Start early education program, which serves over 1 million children annually
> Cut American Rescue Plan (ARP) programs that have created or saved 220,000 jobs
> Restrict access to medication abortion
> Push more of the 33 million people enrolled in Medicare towards Medicare Advantage and other worse, private options
> Expose the 368,000 children in foster care to risk of increased discrimination
> Deny students in 25 states and Washington, D.C. access to student loans because their state provides in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants
> Roll back civil rights protections across multiple fronts, including cutting diversity, equity, and inclusion-related (DEI) programs and LGBTQ+ rights in health care, education, and workplaces
Trump claims he doesn’t know of Project 2025. However, this “platform” was developed by many of his closest advisers…
Roger Stone, Steven Miller, doctor Ben Carson, Steve Bannon to mentiona a few.
I believe Trump. He doesen’t read!
Bringing the matter of abortion back to the states was never a truly conservative effort and most Catholics I know who subscribe to it do not have a full heart and mind in the natural law, while they lean libertarian. So what we have now is: the right to life is not inalienable, but determinable by the vote of the people. Trump is pro-IVF (clearly he wanted to get this in the platform after Alabama); he is pro-abortion (if the states decide, conscience will not intervene) and he is pro-gay marriage (Mar-a-lago, February 2024 Obergefell celebration with President Trump). Susan B. Anthony and Students for Life should be ashamed of their “this is the best we can get” attitude. How can a party which removes “the call for national law protecting unborn life from the party platform”, be said to truly “remain strong at the national level”? Why not admit that it is less strong or weakened at the national level? All natural law Catholics (authentic, reason and faith Catholics) predicted that abortion going back to the states would do what it has done (Ohio anyone!). I will remain registered “undeclared”. Here’s a bit of the downside to populism. Catholics shouldn’t hitch their wagon to it.
When priests, bishops, and archbishops can be shy about declaring the evil of abortions it is not surprising that we have secular leadership that is willing to sell their own souls to gain and/or retain political power.
I am dissatisfied with both US political parties. There is a distinct absence of honesty and integrity in both of them.
I find it disingenuous that CNA makes this out to be a huge headline. It’s obvious that CNA will do everything in its power to dissuade Catholics from voting for Trump. Let CNA report to us about Bergoglio’s courting of pro-abort Dems over the last (all too many) years he’s been heading up the Vaticanistas.
Deacon Peitler,
Stop with the conspiratorial nonsense. CNA is not engaging in a plot to dissuade Catholics from voting for Trump. CNA is merely reporting the truth of a significant change to the Republican platform regarding abortion. Are you more concerned about the unborn or Trump’s electoral prospects? And indulging in ‘whataboutism’ at the end of your comments is pretty weak tea and seems to suggest you can’t make a meaningful argument defending Team MAGA dropping the national abortion – which has been part of the Republican Party platform for 40 years.
And to echo what Inigo posted above, the Susan B Anthony leadership really disgraced itself in embracing this new and less robustly pro-life platform.
OK Vince, point me to the CNA headline that reads: Pope Francis meets with pro-abortion Pelosi, or Biden, or…” Sorry, but even Catholic media has gone woke.
Deacon, CNA is only about the same thing every other news outlet is about: ratings and money.
And, besides, I highly doubt that a Republican administration would authorize the infiltration of Catholic pro-life, Latin Mass types by the FBI or a middle of the night assault on a Catholic family whose father is an outspoken proponent of the right to life.
Well, those are my thoughts too Deacon Edward. The GOP may not be God’s chosen people but they’re unlikely to infiltrate Latin Masses or take your children away if you don’t consent to castration and mutilation.
If they weaken or remove the reference to the right to life, I will leave blank the box for president on my ballot.
This cancer has occurred also in Europe. About a week and a half ago I listened to a CNN interview with a spokesman for the French right. The lady doing the interview earnestly wanted to know if they would seek to overturn the right to an abortion law recently adopted in that country. The conservative spokesman answered NO they would NOT. Over the years I have learned not to get too excited about conservatives until I definitely know for sure what it is they really want to conserve.
I am left feeling discouraged at the hard liners here who declare they will not vote Trump. This is the same group who have toddler tantrums….the ones who will never consider temporarily settling for half a loaf but insist on all or nothing. This is not too bright. You could force the republicans to say no abortion in any case EVER. Which will gain NOTHING. At this point at least 75% of the electorate, Catholics included, say there need for a few humanitarian exceptions.And they will not compromise on that. Rape, incest, to save the life of the mother. Most thinking people find abortion unpalatable. That does not mean they will sacrifice their wives and daughters to a horrible fate for the sake of determining how many angels dance on the head of a pin. Things often sound wonderful and noble in theory..until reality smacks you in the face.
If the church or some members is fixated on this issue they have their attention fixed on the wrong place. Its too late to teach Catholic pro-life issues while staring a pregnant woman in the face. The church has FAILED utterly to preach about the prohibition on premarital sex for DECADES at least. Stopping the sex (or at least reducing it) would have the effect of stopping the issue of abortion, since fewer women might end up pregnant.Premarital sex among our young has become a yawningly frequent behavior, and unexceptional. It is now the norm in our society. hence the pregnancy/abortion issue. . What has the church done to stop this among Catholics? What is the church not preaching about it, minimally??? From what I have seen, nothing is being done to address this core issue.
Some of the posters here have also made pregnancy sound like a life or death issue to justify abortion. That happens almost NEVER, as pregnancy is a normal and natural body function, especially for those not living in the third world sans medical assistance. “Abortion saved my life” does make for a good story from leftists though, who look hard for the one in 10 million story, and who use it to gin up votes and attack conservative politicians.
I dont think the republicans had much choice in modifying their abortion position. At its most radical, a non-abortion position all but guarantees us a one party system lead by the overtly dishonest and radical democrats. It is time for pro-lifers to agree that in order to save many late term babies, there must be humane exceptions to abortion law. Absent that, NO babies will be saved.
Finally, lest anyone imagine I am pro-abortion, I will say that I am the mother of two children my husband and I were lucky to adopt. And I thank God for them every day.If you can’t save all babies, save as many as you realistically can.
LJ – If there is no more national intervention and all is punted to the state (Trump’s own words), then there will continue to be many late term abortions as determined in each state. as is the case now. It also must be considered that abortion is a footnote in the “government by the people section” meaning that once again, if the people are OK with late term abortions then you can forget any protection in that area too. The Church already allows exceptions for the life of the mother (indirect vs. direct abortion) and I believe that many pro-lifers would have accepted a platform with exceptions for rape and incest, if the ideas was still placed under a national amendment (although we would continue to encourage the protection of all new life). But this is not what the platform puts forth. It is in fact not only less, but less than less. If you were to read more conservative outlets, as I have done over the last few years, you would begin being concerned, because many conservatives are priming up to dump the abortion issue overboard in favor of, say, non-interventionism, paleo-conservatism’s pet project. I am very much for that latter, but not at the cost of a non-interventionism for the cause of life. This is not just about Donald Trump. He’s bendable because to him all is about winning while his people (his family which is socially liberal and now in charge) have determined they can risk losing some of the pro-life vote to pick up independents. I’ve heard all the arguments for supporting this new republican dynasty and listened to all the calumny against the authentic pro-life position. I am not daunted. I am also not counseling people to not vote Republican. Just don’t tell me how to vote or not vote my conscience. Catholics should to start dressing up for their heavenly citizenship because there is potential that the republican party may eventually turn on them (remember that when asked by reporters about his new state policy, he said that everyone agreed with him except those with an “agenda”; so are we now like progressives, do we have an “agenda” now and no longer a “cause”?) Catholics are being prodded to come on board in order to remain relevant. They should instead be lining up with Christ as the new remnant.
“… I believe that many pro-lifers would have accepted a platform with exceptions for rape and incest ….” And Down Syndrome babies, too — most of those who accept rape and incest exception will be fine with the deaths of babies with genetic defects.
People who do not value the lives of the innocent are simply not worthy of respect, whether they call themselves “pro-life” or not. They belong to the same class as those who oppose the abortion of white babies but not the abortion of non-white babies.
Outis – I of course agree that “pro-life” means protection of all the innocent in the womb and the child of rape or incest is innocent of the violent act. My point was only to state that there are many stages of practicality: that the Republican platform did not need to put away a “national” statement of protection and that many pro-lifers would have accepted a national platform with the exceptions of violence against the woman who did not consent to the sex act. Therefore, the Republican party could have applied its practicality without moving, as it actually has, to the pro-choice side.
I read somewhere — maybe it was the ScrewTape Letters — that the devil’s goal is to have you sell your soul and get nothing in return at all. Don’t kid yourself; this is what the GOP (and, yes, the Democrats) is up to here. And predictably, people are already saying, “Well, they’re not giving us anything, but maybe they won’t hurt us as bad as the other side, so we are still morally obligated to give them our votes. Even though we’re giving them for NOTHING.”
Why buy the cow when the GOP can get the milk for nothing?
The United States is doomed.
I place my trust solely in God.
“The United States is doomed.” That could mean several things. It is likely that the USA will continue to exist, in some form at least, for at least another century, so it might not be doomed to dissolve. As for it being doomed to suffer more than is normal, I suspect that has been true for many years, particularly since we began exporting abortion and perversion. Before we can live again, we must not only become bones, but dry bones.
“I place my trust solely in God.” This part is not, I assume, a new development.
How about substituting slavery for abortion? “While previous versions of the document said that unborn children have a “fundamental right to liberty which cannot be infringed” and called for a constitutional amendment to guarantee that right, this year’s platform uses much more moderate language and emphasizes the role of states in protecting liberty.
It reads: “We proudly stand for families and libertt. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process, and that the states are, therefore, free to pass laws protecting those rights.”
Would that be regarded as a win, in any way for the slaves? No!!!! It would simply deny the truth of the declaration once again.
President warp speed is a Democrat planted to make conservatives lockdown who would not have under an admitted democrat. Now that we know he is *not* the most prolife president ever, we should let him deal with his various prosecutions and replace him with someone like Rand Paul.
This always sounds like the claim that slavery is the ultimate evil and the most obvious evil, whereas abortion is a lesser and less obvious evil. The problem is that that is backwards. Yes, slavery is a great evil, but abortion is greater and more obvious, despite claims today to the contrary. Comparing abortion to slavery also opens the door to the observation that the Bible tolerates slavery in the same way the Old Testament tolerated divorce. “Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.” If that was true of divorce, and also of slavery, and you argue that abortion is like slavery, might it not be the case that abortion might also be permitted to accommodate human imperfections? NO, as was perhaps best explained in Evangelium Vitae. But let’s avoid the distraction of the slavery comparison altogether.
Like the SDLP in Northern Ireland under John Hume was solidly prolife now under colm Eastwood and Claire Hanna they together with sinn Fein when to Westminster and got abortion in. They still spout the lie that they’re a prolife party, when it’s obvious they’re not!
IMHO Until we begin to teach Virtue and it’s importance as the fundamental and foundational building blocks of a just and merciful society grounded in God’s laws we will never resolve abortion which issues from a total lack of virtue in our society. We have become a neo-pagan culture trying to paint ourselves as virtuous and God-fearing. It’s a lie. Only the Truth will set us free. Pontius Pilate had to ask Jesus “What is Truth?” We all must remember His answer.
If your dog poops on the bed, it is likely to be nervous about your reaction. If you immediately comfort the dog and give it a treat, the dog will poop on the bed again.
It works the same with political parties. If you give the GOP a treat for this, it’s your fault when the elephant poops on your bed again.
I agree with Father Morello, but also with the statement that America is doomed. Looking at the very near horizon, one cannot help but see the armies and nuclear weapons of Russia, China, and Iran, not to mention the innumerable terrorists Biden allowed into the country intentionally, all poised to strike at some coordinated time and date, BEFORE the election, in order to take maximum advantage of the chaos and division within our nation, which is clearly exemplified in the comments in this thread.
Pray. Pray well and often.
You forgot the dissolution of the Pac-12. What? You say that has nothing to do with the GOP removing the pro-life plank from their platform? Neither do “the armies and nuclear weapons of Russia, China, and Iran”. At least the breakup of the Pac-12 happened the same year as the new platform. The other bogeymen, not so much; they have been around for a long time, and are (at least in part) carefully nurtured,because it is very convenient for a government to keep its own population scared of hobgoblins. It keeps the good ol’ boys in power and justifies more military spending, you know.
If your argument is not actually meant to distract the moral outrage away from the GOP’s betrayal of the pro-life movement, it’s certainly odd that you produced something that looks exactly like an intentional distraction.
I was merely pointing out the distraction into which so many of you and most Americans have fallen.
Blessings and prayers, paul
Mr.Paul, it’s true that there’s polirical division in the USA but I see mostly moral agreement and unity in the comments here.
“Political” division. Sorry.
Paul Rasavage: Did you forget about the operatives for the Chicoms buying up land around military installations in the USA? Or those from the mideast entering our country illegally across our border with Mexico? Those hobgoblins seem to be epidemic.
Trump has sold out the Pro-life movement with this, the same way he has sold the anti-Child Genital Mutilation movement by calling for an end to the Bud-Lite boycott after their support for trans-“influencer” and escaped mental patient Dylan Mulvaney. Trump doesn’t care about protecting life or children, he cares only about himself, but his supporters are too blind to see it.
Why the GOP chose him over DeSantis, a reliable pro-life, pro-family and pro-biological women voice, is baffling.
It might be becaue your reading of “sold-out” ignores multitudes of factors, not the least of his actual pro-life accomplishments being greater than any individual in world history.
Reading through the comments I am disheartened to see several posters support abortion under certain circumstances. This is not a Catholic position and either these folks are not Catholic or are gravely misinformed.
The Republican party’s choice to water down Pro Life language is clearly a move to try to capture pro abortion votes and bolster chances of winning. This shows us that the current Republican Party has lost its footing and that society at large continues to disintegrate.
The Republican Party is no longer what it was and has shifted into a Populist Party.
Task #1: get elected. Actually getting elected trumps (pun intended) ideological purity.
It’s disheartening to see some pro-life leaders explicitly provide cover for Trump instead of working to hold him accountable. A platform that supports IVF (resulting in thousands upon thousands of human beings being destroyed) and purposefully, significantly removes pro-life language that has been part of the party platform for 4 decades … this cannot be considered pro-life. Combine this with Trump’s utter failure to support, even at the STATE level, things like Florida’s heartbeat bill (he called it a terrible thing) … all pro-life leaders should be calling out Trump and this platform. The fact that Iowa voted for Trump over DeSantis is just sickening. The fact that the conservative media also provided cover for Trump during the primary season is also disheartening.
AS I read thru these “arguments” I could not help but notice how little lived experience was present in many “objectified” arguments. Antiabortion is not the same thing as prolife. Criticizing the choice made by another is simply the same old focus on the splinter in the eye of another b/c of our own blindness caused by the beam in our own eye. I saw lots of carefully worded projections onto others or statements reflecting the absence of a felt sense of reality. My mother used to say “Always put yourself in the other’s place”. Her way of encouraging empathy as I grew up. I did not see much empathy for women here just the sterile arguments of men (and women who think like men) promoting intellectual dry rules for someone else to follow, justified as if the speaker was himself/herself God. Genuine compassion, care for women and children after a birth has occurred seems missing. Who feeds and cares for those children already hear? Who cheerfully relieves these children of student debt or gives them roads to drive on ? No…just resentment and narrow focus on forcing birth…with no apparent thought about when consciousness is present (aka when the soul enters the body) or whether a conscious human female is equal in all ways to a milliliter of fluid with chemicals that we now can identify. This argument is Not About Life: It is about who controls that fluid once it leaves the penis and enters a uterus. The notion of Conscious Awareness has not even been discussed. Why is that?
Yoteech I think you gave it your best shot with a mess of figuring and you missed.
“Genuine compassion, care for women and children after a birth has occurred seems missing ….. The notion of Conscious Awareness has not even been discussed.”
Once the uterus got some fluid and it will result in birth occurring, it has to go from no control to control or these comments are all ruthless ruminating?
Here’s an example of the hypocrisy that exists in regard to children conceived in rape:
In July 2011 Diane Sawyer went on “The View” to talk about het then-upcoming interview with kidnap survivor Jaycee Dugard, who had been kidnapped at a school bus stop in 1991 and was rescued in 2009. She had two children by her male captor and rapist (she was kidnapped by a married couple). During the interview Barbara Walters asked Diane how Jaycee deals with the fact that her daughters were conceived by her rapist. Diane commented that Jaycee loves them completely and Whoopi commented that it wasn’t the children’s fault how they were conceived so they shouldn’t be rejected. Of course the irony is that if Jaycee had the option of an abortion and chose it because of who her children’s father was, Whoopi would likely have been okay with it.
Reminder: No matter the circumstances of conception, it’s healthier for a woman to give birth- (rather than intake physically toxic chemicals or undergo harmful surgery!) And women who don’t murder/contracept aren’t left with lifelong debilitating guilt/nagging depression/dispair for the murder of their own offspring. (I know 4 women, age 40-60, who absolutely regret their abortions!)
Obeying God’s Commandment 5, I KNOW of 3 TRUE ADOPTION MIRACLES:
1) A Catholic teen raped overseas as a student was offered by her family to help care for the child, but she gave up her son to a loving Catholic adoptive couple who sent her a photo of her son annually! The mom had no regrets; a couple has a son, and we have a loving Christian man alive, sharing his miraculous story. And, politicians, we have another voter/taxpayer!
2) A Catholic teen couple gave away their baby son while in high school- resulting in a triple miracle! When he found his birth parents, while in his early 30’s, the parents gained their son “back”, the man was gifted with his 9 biological siblings and relatives, and they with him! And the family also “adopted” his adoptive parents, so now the couple is blessed with his 2 parents & 9 more children to love- such blessing for giving 9 months for 1 life! Now one, big, happy family!
3) My midwife thought she and husband were infertile, so they adopted 2 children. Then they conceived their own biological child!
Uninformed Catholics- not learning about Theology of the Body’s promoted practical, free biology lessons in the Creighton Model of NaPro Technology- don’t know that dangerous chemical or surgical abortifacient birth control (funding evildoers’ coffers!) isn’t necessary. Employing the simple fertility awareness proven science of charting a woman’s cycle provides power to couples. Women aren’t always fertile, and exact conception can be planned accurately for pregnancy achieving, and through abstinence during the small number of days a woman is fertile, pregnancy can be avoided.-Now that’s actual responsible, respectful, guiltless “choice”.
We needn’t chastise the National GOP. President Trump was first “Pres” to address pro-life marchers in DC & he appointed 2 Conservative Supreme Court Justices who shot down unconstitutional national law Roe v, Wade. So Chief Executive/Pres. Trump has done what he could to appropriately help send abortion back to the states.
Now our USCCB must preach against Demoncrat sinful laws. We citizens at the grassroots level must encourage our children, neighbors, etc. to stop sinful laws by registering to vote. We must immediately host community potlucks & barbecues to recruit and fund pro-life candidates statewide. (Recall for-profit $ Planned Parenthood donates millions $ to influence “their paid-for” legislators!)