May 13th; Sixth Sunday of Easter
For all mothers:
that their children will honor their many sacrifices by lives of service and virtue;
We pray to the Lord:
Respect Life
Happy Mothers Day!! This first reading records the descent of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of a Gentile, the Roman Centurion Cornelius, and his household, the forerunner of us non-Jews in Faith. Johns Epistle and Gospel speak of love, calling on us to love one-another just as God has loved us. So we are called to love especially the least of our brothers and sisters, the pre-born humans, by saving them from abortion and lethal experimentation.
On May 1st we traveled to Albany for Lobby for Life day, sponsored by our Long Island Coalition for Life (LICL) www.proLifeLI.org and the NYS Right to Life Committee (NYS RTL) www.nysRightToLife.org . We were picked up by their bus at LIE Exit 49 parking lot at 5 AM and arrived at the Well in the Legislative Office Building (LOB) before 9 AM. We picked up more lobbying materials, socialized with familiar pro-lifers, and, at 10 AM, listened to a number of speakers; NYC RTL staffers, Burke Balch of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics www.nrlc.org/medethics who spoke about the rationing dangers in Obamacare, and a number of pro-life Senators and Assemblymen. Our main purpose was to distribute the LICL Position Paper to every legislators staff on our assigned 7th floor of the LOB. When we visited officials not from LI, we handed out the NYS RTL Position Paper too, since LICL is a member. Here are thumb nail summaries of the issues. We begin with legislation we OPPOSE:
Reproductive Health Act S.2524 (Klein), S.2844 (Stewart, Cousins), A.6112 (Glick) will make abortion a basic right, ensuring its legality throughout all nine months of pregnancy (think partial-birth abortion), allow post-viability abortions in out-patient clinics and non-physicians to perform them, and eliminate conscience protection for religious hospitals, ensuring NY is the countrys abortion capital.
Healthy Teens Act S.1532 (Oppenheimer), A.808 (Gottfried) sets up a new state-funded sex education grant program to enable groups like Planned Parenthood to go into classrooms promoting contraception and abortion. NY already had plenty of sex ed; another dedicated funding stream will encourage outside advocacy groups to promote their extreme agenda in our classrooms.
NYS RTL asks us to OPPOSE:
Organ Donation- Presumed Consent A.2952 (Ortiz) would make NY the first state in the US to harvest organs without explicit consent. Recall that now we are encouraged to donate our organs every time we renew our drivers license, etc. This Act requires us to explicitly opt out.
Conscience Rights of Pharmacists S.894 (Kruger) actually strips conscience protection from pharmacists who object to dispensing certain medications such as emergency contraception.
Here is legislation we SUPPORT:
Unborn Victims of Violence Act S.4347 (Ritchie) A.1673 (Cusick) protects wanted babies carried by pregnant women from acts of violence intended to destroy them. Currently there is no such protection in NYS law, in spite of increasing number of such assaults intended to harm the babies.
Sex Selection Abortion Ban S.50333 (Ball) A.7610 (Crespo) prohibits sex-selection abortion which is used to prevent the birth of a child of an unwanted sex.
Parental Notification S.4348 (Zeldin) A.2128 (Reilich) requires that at least one parent or legal guardian of a minor (under 18) receive written notification from a physician or their agent within 48 hours prior to the scheduled abortion. (you will appreciate the irony that the physician is usually the abortionist!)
The NYS RTL asks us to SUPPORT:
Pain Management Bill A.732 (Gottfried) directs health care professionals to provide pain-relieving meds, to the extent authorized by accepted professional guidelines. Studies show that unbearable pain and depression lead to active or passive euthanasia.
Unfortunately, we didnt have time to visit our local legislators, Senators John Flanagan and Carl Marcellino, on the 8th floor, or Assemblyman Andrew Raia, on the 6th. We strongly urge you to make your voice heard on these issues by telephoning, e-mailing, writing, or visiting them. Every contact represents the opinions of many more constituents, multiplying your influence! Background information, sample letters, office and e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers can be found at www.nysRightToLife.org and the NYS Bishops website www.nyscatholic.org .Our next LICL-sponsored Lobby Day is Tuesday, June 5th; e-mail maryannedumas@yahoo.com if you can participate- the babies will thank you! We invite you to become active in this great Civil Rights movement: call Joan & John Peters on 754-4522 to join the parish Respect Life committee.
May 6th; Fifth Sunday of Easter
For those who are terminally ill:
that on their journey to eternal life,
they will be strengthened by the presence of loved ones;
We pray to the Lord:
Respect Life
Todays first reading tells us about Pauls entry into the Christian community; the second tells us to keep Jesus command to love in deed and truth; the Gospel cautions us to be at one with Jesus and his Church, to accomplish His Will, or face separation and punishment. The Church is engaged in a great battle between the Culture of Life and the Culture of Death; the world must see which side we are on!
Pro-life activism always involves prayer and fasting, witnessing and outreach. Letter-writing to our elected officials has been our strong recommendation to you, since communicating our concerns, particularly our Catholic concerns, is a charism of the laity (thats us!). We usually include links and e-mail/ USPS addresses to make this task easier. Two weeks ago we attended a Pro-Life Lobbying workshop sponsored by the LI Coalition for Life www.ProLifeLI.org and the NYS RTL Committee www.NYSRighttoLife.org to review pro-life lobbying techniques. We learned a lot and will use our renewed skills at Lobby For Life Day in Albany on May 1st. We pray you are continually writing for the pro-life cause, but you can be even more effective. You may know that legislators weigh your contacts; the Rule of Thumb is 1 telephone call = 10 unexpressed constituents; 1 letter = 20 who didnt write; 1 District Office visit = 50 supporters; and 1 Albany visit = 100 constituents opinions. Personalized and group efforts are even more valuable.
Legislators need reliable information as well as your input on the Life Issues to form their opinions; they need your input and support to justify their votes and to get re-elected. You know that supporters of the Culture of Death: Planned Parenthood and other abortionists, groups sponsoring euthanasia, GLBT activists, etc, are making forceful, frequent contacts; you provide some balance to this onslaught. We encourage you to make use of reliable sources to form your arguments: Diocesan http://drvc.org/respectlife ; NYS Conference http://www.nyscatholic.org/pro-life-information; US Conference http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/ . The Bishops websites, as well as the RTL Committees; eg National RTL http://www.nrlc.org , have Action buttons which will direct you to prepared letters and back-up materials to use in contacting your legislators. We urge you to personalize your letters; a personal witness story is even more powerful.
Consider making a visit to a legislators District Office; their addresses can be found at www.NYSCatholic.org and in your telephone book. Make an appointment with the official (or the person in the office who deals with your issue) and limit your discussion to a single topic; you should leave a Position Paper for reinforcement; and press them for a favorable response. Recall that 60% of your message is your appearance, 30% your voice, and only 10% your words! Language is important; examples are: say mother, never woman; baby, never fetus; he/she, never it; abortionist, not doctor; extreme, not permissive; abort, not terminate pregnancy.
Are you ready to become a pro-life activist yet? Call Joan & John Peters on 754-4522 to join the parish Respect Life Committee.
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