Another Pro-Abortion Presidential Hopeful

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Dec. 11 — Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, became the latest presidential hopeful to present a “softer” image of abortion, according to the wire service.

Although he is in favor of abortion’s legality, Vilsack said members of his party need to promote ideas that make life the best choice by encouraging adoption and providing programs for prenatal care, “family planning,” child care and health insurance.

“When you phrase it that way, you send a message to the life community that you respect but don’t necessarily always agree with their position,” Vilsack, the first Democrat to officially declare his candidacy, told about 100 Democrats at a campaign stop in Florida. “And you begin to have a conversation about issues where there might be consensus as opposed to division.”

According to LifeNews.com, Vilsack opposed legislation that would have required abortion businesses to provide women with factual information about abortion risks and alternatives prior to performing one, and a bill that would protect pregnant women and their unborn children from acts of violence.

New Orleans Has Hispanic Baby Boomlet

THE NEW YORK TIMES, Dec. 11 — Catholic Charities is helping out in New Orleans in more ways than rebuilding people’s lives after Hurricane Katrina. The Times reported on a baby boom among Spanish-speaking immigrants who came to the area to get construction jobs in the rebuilding of the devastated area.

Hundreds of babies are being born to workers, both legal and illegal, said The Times, and the phenomenon is placing a strain on area hospitals, already short-staffed and struggling to serve the local population.

Before the storm, New Orleans was mostly black and white and had a miniscule population of Hispanics. But the reconstruction following Katrina provided a construction boom that has lured Mexicans and others working in construction from Texas, Florida, California and North Carolina, as well as south of the border.

Many of the women having babies are going to charitable clinics that do not question their immigration status. One is the Latino Health Access Network, an outreach operated by Catholic Charities.

Sara Alvarado came from Honduras, was helped across the Mexican border by smugglers, and gave birth to a boy at Tulane-Lakeside Hospital. Because she could not afford the hospital bill, she had to leave after 24 hours, but the hospital wouldn’t release her son until she had a car seat for him. Health workers at Catholic Charities helped her find one and went one step further. They got her a crib, so her baby would not have to sleep on a mattress on the floor in their crowded apartment.

Students Restore Stolen Public Crèche

WTNH, Dec. 8 — Thieves thought they could take the Christ Child out of Christmas in the center of one Connecticut town, but local school children wouldn’t let that happen, said News Channel 8 of New Haven, Conn.

Kindergartners at Blessed Sacrament School in Waterbury used money normally set aside for field trips to help their city buy new crèche figures after thieves absconded with the old ones from the town’s central square.

Student Stephanie Vanduzer came up with the idea and asked her classmates to help restore the Nativity scene. The students raised $475 selling cupcakes.

Other citizens were so impressed that they chipped in, as well. The town ordered new figures and expected to have them in place by Christmas.