Conscience Clause Left Out of Calif. Bill

CALIFORNIA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE, Sept. 13—Two bills that would require all insurance plans in the state of California to offer contraceptive coverage, without exceptions for Catholic health institutions, is before the California Senate. The bill's sponsors have rejected a version that would allow a conscience clause for Catholic institutions. The bill was scheduled to be be debated before Sept. 17 in the opposite house. An amendment containing a respectful conscience clause will be offered in the Senate before the final vote is taken.

Bishop Participates in Prayer Vigil

PRO-LIFE ACTION LEAGUE, Sept. 9—The Most Rev. Raymond E. Goedart, vicar general for the Archdiocese of Chicago, will be the main celebrant at a pro-life Mass on Sept. 25, at St. Joseph's Church in Chicago.

After the Mass, Bishop Goedart will join the congregation in a prayer vigil at a Planned Parenthood abortion facility nearby. The Mass and prayer vigil follow a method of prayer and compassion for mothers and their unborn babies developed by Msgr. Philip J. Reilly of Brooklyn, N.Y., executive director of the group “Helpers of God's Precious Infants,” which organized the Chicago event.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago led a similar event in his diocese in June, drawing a crowd of some 1,000 worshippers. Since 1989, fifty bishops and four cardinals have participated in Helpers' Prayer Vigils at abortion clinics in their respective dioceses and archdioceses throughout the country, according to a press release issued by the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League.

Bill Gates to Hear From Pro-Lifers

AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE, Sept. 18—The Washington-based pro-life organization American Life League is beginning a campaign to convince Bill Gates, the world's richest man, to stop donating money to population control groups.

The initial thrust of the campaign is an effort to obtain a personal meeting between Gates and Judie Brown, the president of American Life League, said the organization.

Brown has said that she thinks Gates has “the best of intentions,” but that he is being “misled in his philanthropic activities.” Brown intends to place ads in the East Side Journal, a Seattle newspaper, to reach Gates through the media if she can't get a personal appointment. In the ads, Brown hopes to convey to Gates that the world's population problem is one of too few children, not too many, a statement issued by the American Life League said.

The Sept. 12 New York Times featured a front page story on the William and Melinda Gates Foundation, which, with over $17 billion to give away, is the largest charitable trust in the World.

Brown might want to go through the elder Gates, however, if she wants a hearing. According to the Times article, Gates has handed control of his philanthropic work over to his father, Bill Gates Sr., because he's too busy to handle it.