#369 UN Treaty Bans the Bomb! - July 14, 2017
Good News on Nuclear Weapons As anticipated, with great excitement and loud cheers, the United Nations on July 7 adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons!
While none of the nations that actually have nuclear weapons are party to the treaty and they boycotted the negotiations, this is still a milestone. Making these weapons internationally illegal adds to their stigma, and gives pressure in the right direction. As we reported, consistent-life groups held a vigil in front of the White House in support of the treaty negotiations and joined in other large marches. It's a pleasure to have something we demonstrated for actually happen, and quickly. Unfortunately, as is common on all the issues within the consistent life ethic, press coverage was rather poor. For example, while the New York Times had a good basic article, it wasn’t a top story and took some searching to find it. Press priorities lie elsewhere.
Just Three Weeks to Conference Time! We've added two new speakers. Rosemary Geraghty is the New Media Coordinator for Rehumanize International, and a senior at the University of Pittsburgh. She is joining the panel on the LGBTQ Community and the Consistent Life Ethic. Rosemary says she and the Rehumanize International team "are excited to attend, speak, and share on the many ways in which our movement can be more inclusive, productive, and effective.” Joining our Saturday morning panel discussion about the ways in which we can meet the challenges facing the Consistent Life Movement is Greg Scheppenbach, Associate Director, Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, US Conference of Catholic Bishops. He will be talking about the challenges of opposing abortion and embracing social justice causes in a liberal environment. (We know what that’s like, and can sure use any advice and encouragement!) See our full list of fine speakers and workshops. You can still register for the conference. And don't forget to spread the word!
Blog Posts: Abortion Doctors as Executioners and Health Care Sarah Terzo has written our blog post this week, called "Abortion Doctors: We are the Executioners." She shows how abortion doctors themselves have used the idea that the death penalty is justified as a way of justifying abortion – in both cases, killing “undesirables.” Sarah has also written an excellent blog for our member group Secular Prolife called “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the Senate Health Care Bill.” While the defunding of Planned Parenthood, albeit for only one year, is the “good,” she makes the obvious point that if some women have maternity coverage taken away and therefore pregnancy and childbirth become unreasonably expensive, this will add pressure for abortion. Additionally, of course, taking coverage away from people with advanced age or disabilities increases pressures for euthanasia.
Quotation of the Week Susannah Black Symposium: Pro-life in the Time of Trump, Human Life Review, Winter, 2017 There’s a case to be made that the natural home of the pro-life movement is on the Left. With its traditional concern for the powerless, for the oppressed and exploited, why won’t the Left embrace its best instincts and protect the most vulnerable class of human beings? Why, regarding the unborn, do leftists today sound like classical liberals committed to an atomized view of society where “self-ownership” is the highest good? Why do women talk about “my right to do what I want with my body” in a way that sounds so very much like libertarians talking about “my right to do what I want with my land, with my property?”
Responses/News tips/Questions to share are all welcome.
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