Court upholds Alabama ban on child sex-change treatments

Harrisburg, Pa., May 7, 2019 / 03:06 pm (CNA).- Brian Sims, a Pennsylvania state legislator who confronted a woman praying outside Planned Parenthood last week, said in a video posted to social media Tuesday that he was aggressive, and he reiterated his intention of “pushing back” against those who pray or protest outside abortion clinics.

Sims had livestreamed a video May 2 in which he can be seen approaching a woman outside of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The woman, by herself, can be seen praying the rosary across the street from the Planned Parenthood.

He aggressively questioned her for several minutes, and addressing livestream viewers he solicited the woman’s name and address, saying, “we’ll protest outside of her home. Let’s go protest out in front of her house and tell her what’s right for her body.”

The lawmaker posted a video May 7 discussing the prior week’s video.

I will fiercely protect a woman’s right to make the best choices for her health & her body, unimpeded. I also know that two wrongs don’t make a right, especially on the front lines of a civil rights battle. I can do better, and I will do better, for the women of Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/jURL1UX9qE

— Brian Sims (@BrianSimsPA) May 7, 2019

“I’ve lived across the street or next door to this particular Planned Parenthood … for the last 15 years,” he said. “I’ve seen men and women and teens try to go there for routine healthcare … and, yes, for abortions.”

“I’ve also spent the last seven years serving as a volunteer patient escort at this Planned Parenthood, and I have seen first hand the insults, the slurs, the attacks, and the racism that those protesters aim at mostly young girls … and last week was no different.”

“What I should have shown you in that video was protestors gathered together to pray at, not to silently pray for, people coming in and out of Planned Parenthood as they intercepted them and harassed them,” he stated.

“In my years with Planned Parenthood I’ve seen women and girls circle that block, two, three, four times before finally driving away because they know they weren’t going to get in because of those protesters.”

Sims said that “as a Planned Parenthood volunteer and as a supporter, I fully understand, respect, and appreciate the non-engagement policy that they have, and I would never want to do anything that interfered with the care that they’re providing to their patients. As an activist and an advocate I know why pushing back against harassment and discrimination are a must, even when they’re uncomfortable.”

“But last week, I wasn’t a patient escort, I was a neighbor and a concerned citizen, and I was aggressive. I know that two wrongs don’t make a right, and I can do better, and I will do better, for the women of Pennsylvania.”

Sims did not apologize to the woman he confronted in the video.

In a tweet accompanying the video, Sims wrote, “I will fiercely protect a woman’s right to make the best choices for her health & her body, unimpeded. I also know that two wrongs don’t make a right, especially on the front lines of a civil rights battle. I can do better, and I will do better, for the women of Pennsylvania.”

Sims has represented District 182, a heavily-Democratic area of Philadelphia, in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 2013. Sims is an LGBT activist and was the first person to identify as gay elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

He has been seen in other videos approaching people outside the same Planned Parenthood location as in his May 2 post. Many of those he approached, whom he characterized as “white people” and “psuedo-Christian protestors who have been out here shaming young girls for being here”, appear to be teenagers.

Sims have been the subject of an investigation by Pennsylvania’s State Ethics Commission, after questions were raised in 2017 regarding speaking fees he received while in office. He is accused of accepting honoraria, including fees and free travel and accommodation, in violation of policies governing state legislators.

A consortium of pro-life groups will hold a rally at the same Planned Parenthood location May 10. They have invited Sims to attend.

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Washington D.C., Jul 3, 2019 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- Economic sanctions are often seen as a more humane alternative to military conflict. But as some observes warn that sanctions on Iran are beginning to restrict the availability of daily necessities, quest… […]

Minneapolis, Minn., Jul 6, 2020 / 03:01 pm (CNA).- Last week, 8 year old Rosie Sajevic was riding her bike a couple blocks from her house in Hibbing, Minnesota, when a FedEx truck hit her, severely damaging her legs.

“I was riding my bike and I saw the FedEx truck and then it went black out, and then I woke up on the ground,” Rosie told CNA.

Rosie’s mom, Teresa Sajevic, heard sirens and wondered what they were responding to. She soon received a call from the police, dropped the laundry she had been folding, and ran to the scene of the accident.

“Her legs were totally mangled,” Teresa told CNA. “Her femurs were totally broken. I couldn’t see her moving and I was just really afraid that she was dead.”

But when she got closer to her daughter, she realized that the girl was praying the Hail Mary.

The Catholic faith is very important to the Sajevics, and homeschooling allows the faith to be built into Rosie’s curriculum. Teresa said that Rosie recently did a consecration to the Virgin Mary, and now thinks of Mary as her heavenly mother.

“She likes to read stories of the saints in comic book style, she is your average kid. But she knows that this world has more,” said Teresa.

Rosie credits Christ, her guardian angel, and the intercession of her five deceased siblings with her life.

“Mom, they must have all come around me like a bubble with my guardian angel,” Theresa recalled Rosie telling her after the accident. Rosie told her mom that her guardian angel must be “really tired.”

Christ “has been with me so much. He could have let me get run over but He didn’t, which is really helpful to me, and I’m so thankful,” Rosie told CNA.

The Catholic community of Hibbing and the neighboring town of Virginia, Minnesota, immediately reached out to the Sajevics with help and prayers.

When Father Brandon Moravitz, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Virginia, heard about Rosie’s accident, he quickly rallied his parishioners to offer aid.

“It took a couple days but I realized they were going to need some kind of ramp to get into their house,” said Moravitz. 24-hours later, it was built, in part due to the contributions of local Catholic-owned small businesses such as Pohaki Lumber.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Teresa. “We’re united in the Eucharist as brothers and sisters, but we’re not their parishioners. Just that they reached out like that, it’s so overwhelming.”

The ramp will allow Rosie, who just returned home from the hospital, to go outside during Minnesota’s summer months. The parish will also install a door that will allow her to go outside on her own.

“If we didn’t have that ramp, I don’t know how she would handle being home, you know, being locked up inside,” said Teresa. It was a financial burden that she and her husband would never have dreamed of making a reality.

Helping those in need is nothing new for Holy Spirit parish.

Last year, Holy Spirit rented and furnished an apartment for a single mother whose house burnt down. They also bought a car for a young woman with cancer.

“(The parishioners) are just big hearts and want to help people in need, and they really rise to the occasion every time that I tend to ask. And it has done some really life changing things for families in our area,” said Moravitz.

The Catholic small business owners in his parish have been especially generous.

“I think, like all economic situations in our country right now, people are struggling,” said Moravitz. “I think they witness Catholic small businesses in such a beautiful way. They’ve got a heart for the Lord, and they’re using their businesses to build up the kingdom of God.”

Moravitz said that although we often think that “we’re going to be the hands and feet of the Lord,” we rarely actually put our prayer into action.

“I hope this might be an example to other parishes, other priests, other lay people, not just to talk about doing it but actually stepping out and doing it. Because there are people in every community across this country that are in need of the light of Christ and the light of the faith and we can bring that to anybody through the gift of service,” said Moravitz.

Teresa is acutely aware of how much these parishioners sacrificed to build the ramp, in resources and time.

“They gave up a Saturday in Minnesota, and we don’t have a lot of nice summer (days). They could have been fishing, but they came together to work for my baby. And that means so much,” Teresa said.

Over the course of her accident and hospitalization, Rosie herself has thought of others first.

Teresa said that Rosie’s first concern was if the driver was okay.

“Mom, they have to feel so much worse than you did,” Teresa recalled Rosie saying after the incident. They have been keeping the driver in their prayers.

And although Rosie was excited to use the new ramp, her first thoughts were for her three brothers, who she said would have fun sledding and riding their bikes down the slope.

Rosie, who sometimes tells her mom to “trust more,” is confident in the future. She is excited to be able to walk on crutches in a few months, and is even more excited to meet her new baby brother or sister around Thanksgiving.

When asked what she would tell any kid who complains about his or her life, Rosie said, “I’d be like, you’re alive!”

Teresa also trusts that God has a plan for Rosie’s future. Rosie will turn 9 years old this month.

“Even though there are so many bad things that happened, and she has such a long road ahead, God is already there. He’s already in the future, he has already got it,” said Teresa.

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