Pro-Life

January Pilgrimage for Life, click here

- Under Opportunities for Youth, click on Pilgrimage for Life

Pro-Life/Health Care Alerts:

Wisconsin Assembly Bill 458 “Healthy Youth Act” click here

U.S. Bishops' Action Alert on Health Care Reform, click here

For USCCB Respect Life Packet, click here

Regis High School

students attending

2009 Right to Life
Legislative Day

Madison,

Wisconsin

A Diocesan Plan to Counter the Culture of Death

“Thus says the LORD: In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning, of bitter weeping! Rachel mourns her children, she refuses to be consoled because her children are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15).

These words have never seemed to me more appropriate or heart-wrenching than now, as President Barack Obama leads our nation in an almost daily attack on the tiniest and most vulnerable members of the human family. I wish that were hyperbole, but it does not overstate the case. In these treacherous times for life, we of the Diocese of La Crosse must come together to be a voice for the voiceless. With the blessing of Bishop Jerome Listecki, I will introduce a plan to do that, which I will sketch shortly.

But first, let’s look at President Obama’s actions relative to the life issues in the short time since his election. Obama, who as a senator received three consecutive 100% ratings from NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) and co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) has so far done the following:

· November 5, 2008 – Selected aggressive abortion advocate Rep. Rahm Emanuel (100% NARAL voting record) as his White House Chief of Staff.

· November 20, 2008 – Chose former NARAL legal director Dawn Johnsen to serve as a member of his Department of Justice Review Team, and to be his administration’s Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel.

· November 24, 2008 – Appointed Ellen Moran, the former director of the pro-abortion group Emily's List as his White House communications director.

· November 24, 2008 – Put former Emily's List board member Melody Barnes in place as his director of the Domestic Policy Council.

· December 10, 2008 – Obama transition team published a pro-abortion “wish list” assembled by dozens of pro-abortion groups, outlining a radical abortion agenda that includes forcing taxpayers to fund abortions and pro-life doctors to assist in them.

· January 6, 2009 – Chose Thomas Perrelli as the third highest attorney in the Justice Department. Perrelli is the lawyer who represented Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael in his efforts to end his wife’s life.

· January 23, 2009 – Overturned the Mexico City Policy, forcing taxpayers to fund pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations.

· January 29, 2009 – Nominated David Ogden as Deputy Attorney General. Ogden has fought to negate parental consent laws for minors seeking abortion and has repeatedly defended the pornography industry.

· February 27, 2009 – Started the process of overturning pro-life conscience protections President Bush had enacted to safeguard medical staff and centers from being forced to be complicit in abortions.

· February 28, 2009 – Nominated Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services. As Governor of Kansas, Sebelius repeatedly vetoed pro-life legislation and has been the recipient of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Planned Parenthood and notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller, who currently faces 19 criminal charges for illegal abortion practices.

· March 9, 2009 – Signed an executive order permitting federal tax dollars to fund stem cell research that destroys human embryos (thus overturning the policy of President George W. Bush). Furthermore, though he voiced opposition to cloning for reproduction, Obama, with this ambiguous wording, left an opening to what is called “therapeutic cloning,” in which human life is cloned to be killed through the harvesting of embryonic stem cells. This would open the floodgates to millions more little murders.

Thus does a man elected in the hope that he could fix the economy and end the war in Iraq usher in a world of government officials and policies deadly to the most helpless among us. And to make matters doubly painful and perverse, in making key appointments he has shown a predilection for Catholics who oppose the Church on the sanctity of innocent human life.

Yet even as we cry to heaven and weep for the children, even as we try to imagine what it is for a loving God to see the gift of human life thrown back at him like worthless trash, we must also say that we saw this coming.

So, what do we do now?

We don’t lie down. We know from numerous surveys that people increasingly identify themselves as pro-life and that Obama was elected in spite of his views on abortion, not because of them. We must act on every front to foster a culture of life—religious, social and political. We must pray for this cause like we’ve never prayed before. We must become bolder prophets of the culture of life first to our own families and neighbors. We must engage the political process, educating ourselves about laws and policies that impact the right to life for good or for ill, and letting our elected officials know where we stand. We must work together so that we are united, strong and effective. This needs to be a coordinated effort. A recent good example was the Anti-FOCA (“Freedom of Choice Act”) postcard campaign that received an enormous response in parishes all over the Diocese and the nation. Through that campaign we let Washington know in no uncertain terms how passionately we feel about the sanctity of human life, and that we are watching them to see how they vote.

In order to achieve this coordinated effort, I am writing to every pastor in the Diocese, asking that they appoint two pro-life coordinators for each parish. These coordinators will constitute a network of people with whom I can communicate and who can help educate and mobilize others. If at all possible, the coordinators will be asked to establish a committee to help with their efforts in the parish. The pro-life coordinators’ will be asked to meet with me once or twice a year by region. This will be for encouragement, for updates, to listen to a pro-life speaker, and to build community and a shared plan and sense of mission.

In the end, we need all faithful Catholics to do their part in helping the world to know and honor the dignity of the human person at every stage of development. Please pray about what you can do. Our skies appear dark with storm clouds right now. But we know the sun (the Son) is shining and the final victory is won. In this chapter of history God calls on us once more to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He needs us to be men and women of backbone, action and prayer. Let us rise to meet this challenge. The lives of so many little ones depend on it.

If you would like to receive periodic pro-life news and alerts, email me at cruff@dioceseoflacrosse.com and I will add you to my list.

Christopher Ruff
Director of the Office of Ministries and Social Concerns