Bishops in Mexico’s Hidalgo state affirm opposition to abortion after decriminalization

Attorney General of Massachusetts Andrea Joy Campbell speaks onstage during the pro-abortion EMILYs List’s 2023 Pre-Oscars Breakfast at on March 7, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California. / Credit: Araya Doheny/Getty Images for EMILYs List

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

A group of at least 17 Democratic attorneys general has formed a “reproductive rights working group” to expand abortion access and crack down on pregnancy resource centers across the country, according to reporting by The 19th, a pro-abortion news source. 

The group is being led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. She said on Thursday that the group will serve as a “united effort” to “protect access to abortion across our country.” 

In an interview with The 19th, Campbell said that the group held its first meeting this week and had 17 state attorneys general in attendance. She said they plan to use member attorney general offices’ resources to advance “reproductive health care.” 

“Every office has different resources and human capital,” she told The 19th. “If we come together across offices in this coalition and working group, we can make sure everyone has what we need as we take on this collective fight.”

Campbell said the group will be prioritizing the use of abortion “shield laws.” These laws provide legal protection to doctors and other entities that provide abortions or mail abortion pills to women in states where they are banned.

Chemical abortion pills now account for 63% of all U.S. abortions. The two-pill regimen works by a pregnant woman first ingesting mifepristone, which cuts off nutrient flow to her unborn baby, and then ingesting misoprostol, which expels the dead child.

Over half of the states in the U.S. have restrictions on chemical abortion pills, while some states — such as Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona — have prohibited mailing the drugs altogether. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, several states have passed so-called abortion “shield” laws. These laws vary in their extent and methods, but Massachusetts’ law is the only one to expressly protect chemical abortion providers from prosecution “regardless of the patient’s location.” 

Campbell and the other attorneys general in the group would like to increase the number and scope of these laws. 

She also explained that the group is aiming to increase regulation of pregnancy resource centers, like how New York Attorney General Letitia James recently did in her state. 

On May 6, James sued Heartbeat International, one of the largest pregnancy center networks in the world, and 11 other New York pregnancy centers. James is claiming that Heartbeat and the other centers are endangering and misleading women by promoting “abortion reversal” pills. 

In response, Heartbeat International has sued the New York attorney general and said that they are being “unfairly singled out” solely because they offer alternatives to abortion. 

Besides cracking down on pregnancy centers, The 19th said, the Democratic attorneys general group also plans to help attorneys general establish “reproductive justice units” within their offices to focus on providing legal expertise regarding abortion. 

[…]

Winnipeg, Canada, May 24, 2019 / 05:13 pm (CNA).- St. Vladimir died of old age in 1015, but his modern-day statue in Canada met a much more gruesome end.

The rector of Sts Volodymyr and Olga Cathedral in Winnipeg said he is “devastated” after a statue of St. Vladimir was found decapitated Tuesday.

The head, along with pieces of the statue’s staff, are still missing, church officials told the CBC.

Fr. Michael Buyachok is pastor of the cathedral of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Winnipeg. The statue was a landmark of the parish, beloved by parishioners, and created by a local sculptor, Buyachok told the CBC.

“It’s a tragic event, because the statue symbolizes something for us. Our congregation, they know the statue from memory. But that’s the way it is,” he said.

It’s especially devastating because the statue had been blessed by St. John Paul II during his visit to Winnipeg in 1984, Buyachok added.

Police have been informed of the incident, which they described as vandalism and theft, they told CBC.

St. Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev, is venerated for being baptized in 988, which resulted in the Christianization of Kievan Rus’, a state whose heritage Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus all claim.

It is yet unclear who cut off and stole the head of the statue and parts of the staff. Church officials said nearby residents of a nursing home reported teenagers playing around the statue on Monday night, while residents of an apartment complex behind the statue reported hearing a grinding sound early Tuesday morning, they told the CBC.

“I really couldn’t tell you. I think it’s just vandalism, straight vandalism,” Buyachok told the CBC. “They wouldn’t have anything against the cathedral, because the statue’s been there for years, since 1984.”

The church has informed local metal scrappers of the incident, in case they are sold the head or staff.

Buyachok said he just hoped the pieces would be returned.

“I would just simply tell them, just return the head to us. We won’t prosecute you,” he said. “Let those that prosecute people, let them do that. But we won’t do anything to you, because what’s the point?”

[…]

Panama City, Panama, Jan 28, 2019 / 10:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The 15th international World Youth Day ended Sunday with a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis attended by hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world.

At the end of the Jan. 2… […]