Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Priests for Life Wins Emergency Relief From the Unjust HHS Mandate



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Leslie Palma - 347-286-7277

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- 4:58pm  An emergency injunction granted just moments ago in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit means that Priests for Life will not have to obey the contraception mandate contained in the Affordable Care Act as its appeal is being heard. It also means that, tomorrow, Priests for Life will not have to cancel health insurance for its employees.

Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, said he is grateful  his organization is free, temporarily at least, from having to comply with the unjust mandate or face steep fines by failing to comply when the ministry’s new insurance policy goes into effect on Wednesday.

“We would not have complied with this mandate in any case, as it promotes the very culture of death that Priests for Life works to combat,” Father Pavone said. “We are grateful for this temporary relief and look forward to a permanent injunction once the appeal is fully heard.”

“Our lawsuit was among the very first ones in the country and the necessity to launch it shows that religious freedom in America is in grave danger.  We have to take action.”

On Dec. 19, Priests for Life learned that the judge in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had ruled in favor of the government. Within an hour Priests for Life filed for the emergency injunction that was granted today.

Father  Pavone said that what the Obama administration has tried to do through the HHS mandate – which he called a “blatant act of tyranny” – is to give the federal government the power to determine what is and what isn’t important in an individual’s religion; that is not the government's role.

Father Pavone concluded, “There have already been significant victories in the courts against the HHS mandate, and we have no doubt that Priests for Life ultimately will prevail in this historic fight.”

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visitwww.priestsforlife.org


Wishing You a Filthy New Year?

By Judie Brown

FILTHY: obscene, vile, impure, indecent, lascivious, lewd, pornographic, raunchy, vulgar

 In other words, not a very nice wish for the new year. But that is exactly what Planned Parenthood is offering our children.

Not too long ago a mother wrote to me: “I am very concerned that, by using an abstinence-only approach to educating our young people, we are doing them an extreme disservice and they will be unprepared for the real world. How do you feel?”

My answer usually ruffles feathers, but it goes something like this

The teaching of virtue in today’s society is rare but as we know, when purity is the cornerstone of a young person’s practices with himself or with others, there is no need to sink to the level of teaching sex in the classroom. 
The problem is many parents sell their kids short, believing that a young person cannot practice self control, and thus on their behalf such parents fall into the Planned Parenthood trap. Shame on those parents who do this.

Planned Parenthood is, without a doubt, the single most threatening force in the nation today when it comes to family stability, sexual health, and self respect among young people. Take, for example, the Hawaiian Pono Choices curriculum, “a culturally responsive teen pregnancy and STI (sexually transmitted infection) program.”

This program is one of many Planned Parenthood-inspired school programs, yet it does anything but inspire healthy attitudes toward the sexual identity of the human being. Indeed, among the consultants working on the program with Planned Parenthood and the University of Hawaii is Making Proud Choices. According to the Wednesday STOPP Report, “Making Proud Choices is a curriculum that targets African American youth, ages 11 to 13, and pays them to participate in the program. Making Proud Choices teaches children that sex is ‘fun and pleasurable when a condom is used and [students] are taught how to incorporate this belief into role-play scenarios.’”

 continue reading at http://www.all.org/article

 American Life League exists to serve God by helping to build a society that respects and protects individual innocent human beings from creation to death—without compromise, without exception, without apology.

The distinguishing mark of American Life League, by which we will be recognized, is our absolute commitment to the sacredness of every innocent human being's life.

HAPPY NEW YEARS :

FROM ALL OF US HERE AT VOICES FOR THE UNBORN

If you have the first baby of the new year, you often get a few gifts from the local hospital or  other organizations.  But what do you do for a baby name to celebrate being born on the first day of a new year? What would you name a New Year's Day baby?

Angels Have Red Hair




Note:  This article first appeared in the Nov/Dec 1996 issue of the American Life League’s Celebrate Life Magazine.   The Northeast Women’s Center was at that time located at 9600 Roosevelt Blvd.  Through the efforts of the NE Philadelphia Chapter of the Pro-Life Coalition of Pa,they lost their lease and were forced to move to another location on Roosevelt Blvd. at Comly Road, a few miles up the road.  It is now a Planned Parenthood facility and pro-life activists remain ever vigilant in their constant witness outside this killing center.  I thought it a fitting story to post during this Christmas season.





By Joseph Wall

WHADDAYA TALKING ABOUT? Angels have red hair?  What kind of nonsense is this?  Explain yourself?  

Patience, dear reader.  There is logic here. There is also a charming (and true) little tale behind it.

There was, and alas still is, (see note at top of article) in our city an abortion clinic – the Northeast (Philadelphia) Women’s Center.  Since its opening in the mid-1970’s it has been picketed regularly by neighborhood pro-life people.  We have conducted prayer vigils, sidewalk counseling and, in later years, occasional rescues.

One of our activities was a visit to the clinic on Christmas morning.  Incidentally, the clinic closed for only two holidays during the year – Christmas and Yom Kippur! The purpose of our pilgrimage on Christmas day was to offer a kind of present to all the little ones who had died there during the preceding year.  Our present was a simple one:  A few of us would kneel on the sidewalk outside the front door of the multipurpose building housing the abortion clinic.  We would pray the Rosary for God’s precious infants who had been put to death there since the previous Christmas.  Then we would place a present; a doll, or a teddy bear in holiday wrappings, inside the vestibule of the building, in front of the elevator to the third floor – the clinic floor.  

When the clinic personnel arrived the next morning, they would see this present with its gift tag and would know that at least some people cared for the little babies they had killed. More important, we hoped and believed that the babies themselves would know that there are those who loved them enough to help them celebrate on earth what they were celebrating in heaven; the birthday of the baby Jesus.  

And so it was that on a cold, rainy Christmas morning a dozen years ago, a handful of pro-lifers; Stephanie Morello, Nancy Long, Susan Silcox, Patricia Dowling and myself, made our way to the Northeast Women’s Center abortion clinic.  We knelt in prayer, saying the Holy Rosary for the 4,000 babies whose lives were so abruptly terminated there since the last Christmas.  Having completed our prayers, we went to the front door with the intention of opening it and placing our gift for the unborn babies inside, out of the rain; alas, it was locked!  All the other doors to the building were locked as well.  What to do?  We did not want to leave our gift on the walkway outside, where it would become sodden with rain; a soggy mess would be a poor gift for these little ones.  And it would be the only gift they would ever get.

As we stood there trying to figure out what to do, a young man with bright red hair came up the walk from the parking lot.  When he saw us, he asked what our problem was.  We explained our dilemma.  “Oh”, he said, “I have keys to the door.” With that, he proceeded to unlock the door and let us into the vestibule.  We laid the Christmas present for our pre-born brothers and sisters in front of the elevator and turned to thank him.  That quickly, he had vanished.  We never saw him again.

Now you, dear reader, can believe what you wish about this; that it was happenstance, simply a coincidence, whatever.  Personally, I believe that the Good Lord, seeing our confusion, sent one of His red-haired angels to bail us out.

Incidentally, this is not the only case of a red-haired angel going about the world doing the Lord’s work.  I know of another one…but, then, that’s another story!

Joseph Wall is a long-time pro-life activist from the Philadelphia area and a freelance writer.



Priests for Life Plans for 2014



 From Father Frank Pavone, National Director
Priests for Life
 
Introduction

Priests for Life, the largest Catholic ministry focused on ending abortion, is actually a family of interrelated apostolates, including Deacons for Life, Seminarians for Life, Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, Rachel's Vineyard, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, African-American Outreach, Hispanic Outreach, Youth Outreach, Political Responsibility, Prayer Campaign, Life on the Line Media Outreach, and the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues. All of these are organized under a larger umbrella of Gospel of Life Ministries.

The pastoral team has put into place a series of activities, plans, and goals for the year 2014. Some of these are public; some are confidential. The following report is a partial summary of some of those plans. Our Pastoral Team, includes Dr. Alveda King, Marie Smith, Dr. Theresa and Kevin Burke, Janet Morana, Bryan Kemper, Fr. Victor Salomon, Fr. Frank Pavone, Fr. Denis Wilde, OSA, and others who work with the ministries that comprise the Priests for Life/Gospel of Life Family.

Recall Abortion -- and Let the Healing Begin

Abortion kills children and hurts women and men, and Priests for Life will continue to connect those realities during this year, as we demonstrate that abortion is a failed and dangerous "product" which, like is done with other harmful products, should be "recalled from the market" and no longer made available to the American public.

Raising awareness of the damage abortion does will be accomplished through the continued growth of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign (www.SilentNoMore.com), the world's largest mobilization of those who have lost children to abortion and speak about their experience. We will start the year strong with a renewed effort to bring men and women to Washington, DC for the March for Life and to San Francisco for the Walk for Life, and share their testimonies and/or hold signs saying "I Regret My Abortion" and "I Regret Lost Fatherhood."

During the year, the testimonies we have collected will be made even more widely available, and a database index will be further developed so that people with specific experiences (for instance, late-term abortion, or abortion without parental involvement) can be more easily identified and can therefore help with educational or legislative efforts that focus on those particular experiences.

Another key tool for this overall effort is Janet Morana's book Recall Abortion, which shows how moms and dads recall their abortion and the damage it does, and makes the case for a government recall of this harmful procedure. The book also calls people to sign a petition for the recall of abortion, at RecallAbortion.com.

The Silent No More Awareness Campaign, as well as Recall Abortion  is also a call to healing, and we carry out that healing primarily by administering the world's largest ministry for healing after abortion, Rachel's Vineyard. This year will see improved and streamlined methods for setting up new Rachel's Vineyard retreat sites around the world, and new online training courses for those who run the retreats. We will also more widely disseminate the new Rachel's Vineyard manual in Spanish.



Monday, December 30, 2013

Despite Judge’s Decision, Priests for Life WILL NOT COMPLY!!!


From Father Frank Pavone, National Director
Priests for Life



On Thursday December 19 U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan took a sledge hammer to the Constitution and ruled that the government has the authority to force you and every other American to violate your conscience and act in ways that go directly against your religious beliefs.

In other words, he said your First Amendment right to freedom of religion is subject to the government’s approval. He did so when he ruled against Priests for Life in our lawsuit against the HHS abortion mandate of ObamaCare.

This is a sad day for all Americans. But the fight has only just begun.

Your help is critically needed because, even as you read this, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is considering our emergency appeal for an injunction that would protect us from the ObamaCare abortion mandate.

Immediately after Judge Sullivan handed down his ruling, our attorneys began writing our appeal and worked through the night this past Thursday so that they could file our appeal with the court on Friday.  They did so around 4:00 Friday afternoon.  They did this because Priests for Life’s health insurance policy is up for renewal on January 1 and we need the court to uphold and protect our right to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.

Our case is only the second one to be decided on the merits of the so-called "accommodation" that has been offered to groups like ours, which are religious but are not Churches. And it will be the first of its kind to go to the Appellate level.

Here is the notice Robert Muise, Co-Founder of The American Freedom Law Center and Senior Counsel in the Priests for Life lawsuit, sent me when the court notified him of Judge Sullivan’s ruling:

Father Pavone,

Bad news.  The judge just ruled against us.  Attached is the order and the opinion. We just filed our notice of appeal.  I called and spoke with the emergency motion’s clerk at the Appellate Court.  I will be filing our emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal (and having it hand delivered) by 4 pm (at the latest) tomorrow (hopefully sooner—David and I will be working through the night).  They know we need a decision by December 31.  The appeal is docketed . . . .  Fight continues . . . .

In the short-term, we’re asking the Appeals Court to issue an injunction that will keep Priests for Life protected from the mandate (as we are right now) until our appeal to the same court can be heard and decided.

In the long-term, our attorneys will ask the Appeals Court to overturn Judge Sullivan’s ruling.  I remain confident of victory because it was just this past November that this same court overruled another ruling by the same judge on the HHS mandate of ObamaCare.  That case was Gilardi v. U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services.

Of course there’s no guarantee we’ll win at the Appellate level.  But as you can see, we have some history on our side.

Plus, Judge Sullivan’s decision is a complete contradiction to the one Judge Brian Cogan issued just a few days ago in New York for organizations situated similarly to us and using the exact same arguments.  Judge Cogan recognized that these religious groups were being forced to cooperate with evil.

Incredibly, operating in some mythical world, Judge Sullivan said we’re not being forced to cooperate with evil. In other words, he's allowing the government to decide what is and is not an evil act according to our Faith.

His decision is wrong and we are confident of victory in our appeal.

Meanwhile, injunction or not, as I’ve told you in prior communications:

We will absolutely NOT obey, cooperate with, or tolerate in any way ObamaCare’s unjust abortion mandate.

As Scripture says, we will obey God rather than men.

As for our appeal itself, we’re going to need your financial help big time because, while our funds are extremely limited, the government has the entire U.S. treasury to pull from.

And no matter how the Appeals Court rules, one way or another, our lawsuit seems headed to the Supreme Court.  So this is going to be a long, drawn out court battle.

In the meantime, we’ve got to raise a lot of money before the end of the year in order to keep our lawsuit moving through the Appeals process ... and on to the Supreme Court.  So please ...

CLICK HERE and make as large a contribution to our Priests for Life Legal Fund as you can.

Nothing less than freedom of religion is at stake.

And time is quickly running out on us if we are to preserve what our Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, rightly called our “most cherished of American freedoms,” namely, freedom of religion.

What the Obama administration is trying to do through the HHS mandate – an attempt now sanctioned by Judge Sullivan – is give the federal government the power to determine what is and what isn’t an action that violates our conscience.

That’s not how our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution.

In fact, what the President wants to do flies in the face of the freedoms our Constitution guarantees all Americans.

When it comes to practicing our religion, Priests for Life dictates to the government what our beliefs are and how we are required to act.  Not the other way around.

Please help us make that point in court!

Thank you for doing this.  I’ll keep you posted on developments in our appeal as they occur.

In the meantime, keep our lawsuit, our attorneys, and the Court of Appeals judges who will hear our case in your prayers.  God bless.