Prolife Victories
Young, Pro-Life & Generous
CATHOLIC ONLINE, Oct. 20 — Chicago's Cardinal Francis George recently drove past an abortion facility and noticed members of the St. Mary of the Angels young-adult group praying and offering sidewalk counseling.
In a note of thanks to the group, the cardinal noted that, instead of pursuing other activities, “you chose to give an hour of your time to standing up for the dignity of the unborn, opposing the culture of death.”
One member, Tessa, told the Catholic website that she does not find the pro-life witness discouraging or depressing. “I would like to encourage people to come out to pray with us,” she said. “Oftentimes we think of the abortion clinic as Calvary. Praying in front of clinics has changed my life, and I think it is a great way for people to grow closer to Christ.”
Those in the Chicago area interested in joining the young adults can contact the group at [email protected].
Doctor Discerns the Divine
In her new syndicated column, “The Faith/Health Connection,” Toye draws on a multitude of studies, including those pointing to greater longevity for believers — a 25% reduction in mortality that cannot be accounted for after adjusting for greater social support and more healthy choices that usually accompany religious practice.
In addition, there is Toye's own experience and her recognition that “my spiritual life has moderated the course of (my) illness.”
Brazil Chooses Life
LIFESITE, Oct. 22 — The Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal has outlawed abortions for anencephalic babies. The practice had become legal in July as an expansion of existing laws that allow abortion only for women whose pregnancy is the result of rape, or if a pregnancy endangers the mother's life.
Authorization for the abortion of these babies, who are born with undeveloped brains and cannot survive long after birth, was introduced by the health ministry of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's leftist government, but was opposed by Attorney General Claudio Fonteles.
A Catholic, Fonteles argued to the high court: If “there is life within the womb, it is not legal to kill it.”
Ten Commandments Stay Put
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct 21 — Federal District Judge Dee Benson has ruled that Duchesne City, Utah, acted constitutionally when it sold land on which a Ten Commandments monument sits in order to keep from having to remove the display.
This is the second case within the past five months in which two public-interest law firms — the Thomas More Law Center and the American Center for Law and Justice — have collaborated to prevent the removal of such monuments in Utah.
