National Eucharistic Revival continues Year of Mission with bilingual outreach

Topeka, Kan., Feb 2, 2021 / 08:01 pm (CNA).- The Kansas Senate on Jan. 28 passed a measure that, if approved by voters, would amend the state’s constitution to exclude a “right to abortion” and reserve the right to regulate abortion in the state to the legislature.

The proposed “Value Them Both” amendment would codify that “the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion.” The Kansas House had passed the amendment Jan. 22.

The impetus for the amendment is an April 2019 ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court blocking a law that would have banned dilation and evacuation abortions, which found that the state constitution protects a woman’s right to have an abortion.

If voters approve the amendment by a simple majority during the primary election in August 2022, it will nullify that ruling.

The amendment’s supporters have said that the amendment is not intended to be a ban on abortion, but rather will allow bipartisan laws restricting abortion passed before the 2019 ruling to take effect. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly is opposed to the amendment.

The Kansas Catholic Conference has supported the amendment, saying that because the measure did not pass the legislature in 2020, “it will be the legislative priority” for the state’s bishops in the 2021 session.

Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, told CNA that while the amendment’s passage is an “unprecedented legislative achievement,” getting the measure to pass when placed before voters will be a challenge.

Weber said he expects strong opposition to the amendment from the abortion industry.

“Without the financial resources that the abortion industry enjoys, ours will be a grassroots, shoe leather effort. It really is David versus Goliath,” he told CNA.

Weber said the KCC is preparing a statewide grassroots educational campaign which will involve Catholic churches in the state, diocesan Respect Life coordinators, parishes, Knights of Columbus, college students at Newman Centers and Catholic colleges and universities, and Catholic schools. The group is also reaching out to non-Catholic partners, including the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, Weber said.

He urged prayers for the amendment’s passage.

“We already have in place a robust spiritual effort that includes leaning on Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn, who is the Patroness for our effort,” he said, adding that all four of Kansas’ Catholic bishops have encouraged the faithful to pray the rosary together.

The Kansas amendment mirrors an ongoing legal effort in Iowa, another state whose Supreme Court has ruled that a “right to abortion” exists in its constitution. That state’s house on Jan. 27 passed House Joint Resolution 5, which would amend the Iowa state constitution to clarify that it “does not recognize, grant, or secure a right to abortion or require the public funding of abortion.”

Similarly, in Louisiana, voters in November 2020 approved an amendment excluding a right to abortion from that state’s constitution. State Senator Katrina Jackson, a pro-life Democrat, authored the Louisiana amendment when she was a state representative, along with dozens of co-sponsors from both parties.

Tennessee, West Virginia, and Alabama have also passed similar amendments.

Kansas’ abortion policy is prescient not only for its own residents but also for residents of its neighbor Missouri, which currently has only one clinic licensed to preform abortions, located on the far east side of the state in St. Louis.

As a result, many Missouri residents living near the Missouri-Kansas border avail themselves of abortions from clinics located in Overland Park and Wichita.

Nearly half of all abortions performed in Kansas in 2017 were on Missouri residents, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Data from 2019, the latest available, show that Missouri residents accounted for roughly 94% of the out-of-state residents having abortions in Kansas, the Witchita Eagle reports.

A report from the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services shows 39 surgical abortions took place in Missouri from Jan. 1 through Nov. 15, 2020, compared to 1,362 performed in 2019. The state recorded zero abortions in December 2020, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

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Washington D.C., Apr 27, 2017 / 05:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A leading U.S. bishop expressed grave concerns Thursday about a revised health care bill which the House may vote on within days.

The bill is an effort replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obam… […]

Juneau, Alaska, Jul 29, 2019 / 03:41 pm (CNA).- Recent budget cuts resulting from the governor’s budget vetoes are having a “direct negative impact” on the homeless, poor, and vulnerable in Alaska, the state’s bishops said Thursday.

“Our Catholic social services agencies, along with other faith-based denominations and private nonprofits, can barely keep up with the current needs of people who live on the margins,” the July 25 statement reads.

“Across Alaska, thousands of low-income families now face new struggles through funding cuts to agencies that operate food pantries, shelter programs, and early childhood education. The millions of dollars cut statewide to homeless services will force the most vulnerable onto the streets. Cuts to senior housing grants and to the senior benefits program adversely affect our elders,” it adds.

The statement, published by the Alaska Catholic Conference, was signed by Bishop Andrew Bellisario, C.M, of Juneau and Apostolic Administrator of Anchorage; Bishop Chad Zielinsk of Fairbanks; and Bishop Roger L. Schwietz, OMI, Archbishop Emeritus of Anchorage.

It follows budget cuts made this month by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

According to Anchorage Daily News, the governor cut $444 million from a proposed $8.7 billion state operating budget. The cuts will affect multiple education initiatives and Medicaid services, including adult dental coverage. A senior benefits program which paid cash to elders in need was cut from the budget, and millions were cut from services that aid the poor, blind, special-needs, or homeless populations, Anchorage Daily News reported.

The cuts were part of a plan to rebalance the budget without raising taxes or cutting the Permanent Fund dividend, an annual payout to permanent citizens of Alaska, funded by oil revenues.

The cuts will end daytime shelter at multiple Catholic homeless shelters and will drastically reduce the number of beds available, the bishops said.

“In Anchorage, Brother Francis Shelter will be forced to reduce its capacity from 240 beds to 100. Where will the other 140+ homeless go? The Shelter has now closed during the day to cut costs, forcing more people to wander the streets,” the bishops said.

“Clare House, which provides shelter to 90 at-risk women with children and to expectant mothers, 24/7, will be forced to reduce services to nighttime only. Where will these moms and their children go? Currently the shelter also provides day-care for their children allowing these women to work.”

The bishops also expressed their concerns for the livelihoods of the employees at these shelters, who face layoffs after the budget cuts. Anchorage Daily News reported that 14 people could be laid off from the Brother Francis shelter alone due to the cuts.

“We need to support these dedicated servants of the poor, not penalize them by laying them off from their jobs. After all, they work on our behalf. They assist those who are clinging to the last rung of the ladder in our society, many of whom, without assistance, have only to look forward to destitution and despair,” the bishops said.

“As the Catholic Bishops of Alaska, we are called to advocate and defend or speak against government policies and programs that directly affect the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable,” they said.

“We call upon all our elected officials to restore funds to agencies and services that provide for the needs of our children, our elders, the poor, the vulnerable, and the homeless. We ask Alaskans to reach out and contact their elected officials in support of restoring funds for services to the poor and vulnerable in our State,” the bishops added.

“We will continue to do our part to fund our agencies as best we can with our resources, our time and our talent, together with all those willing to support us. We will continue to collaborate with our local and state governments because we realize it is all of us, working together, who contribute to the solution of taking care of the most vulnerable in our State.”

Dunleavy’s vetoes met with strong opposition, and the Alaska House of Representatives voted July 29 to restore some of the vetoed funding.

In a 31-7 vote, the House voted to restore funds for college scholarships and infrastructure projects, among other things. The funds will come from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve.

The House bill will now go to Dunleavy.

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