#409 Life Matters, Pope's New Doc, New Video - May 4, 2018
Latest Issue of Life Matters Journal – Vol. 6, #3 This online consistent-life journal, put out by CLN member group Rehumanize International, has in its May 2018 edition: ∞ Mister Rogers’ Social Justice: Community and Creativity; ∞ Justice is Only Justice When it is for More that JUST US; and ∞ On the Preservation of Human Dignity: Social Justice and Sonder. For those wondering about the word “sonder” – it not being in most dictionaries – it’s a noun meaning “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” The word was first listed in 2013 in the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
Latest CLN Blog Post Of particular interest to our Catholic members, but also to those interested in what a large and influential organization is saying, Pope Francis recently produced a major document entitled Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad). Some parts have caused a stir in the press, and also caused a flurry of e-mail discussion on our board. We thought it was worthwhile to share the various ideas our board members discussed; Tony Masalonis consolidates the exchange. This is much more of a group-written product than most of our blog posts. We encourage our readers to think of things that would make good posts and write them for us, so we have a good variety of authors and topics. Please send inquiries about possible topics and writing guidelines to weekly@consistent-life.org.
Video on PP’s Poor Record on Women’s Care Our member group, And Then There Were None – which provides resources and encouragement to former abortion clinic workers – has teamed up with the Radiance Foundation to produce a 2.5-minute video called Care Le$$, No Matter What. It shows the recently retired president of Planned Parenthood (PP), Cecile Richards, claiming PP is the largest provider of women’s health care in the U.S. It shows not only that PP provides just a small portion of non-abortion services, but that services such as cancer screenings decreased dramatically under her tenure. This video fits in well with our campaign – Grassroots Defunding: Finding Alternatives to Planned Parenthood. If the services we’re finding alternatives for in our campaign are already plummeting at PP, then we’re not facing down a juggernaut – we’re riding the wave of a trend PP itself has already started. We can accelerate the trend, and educate the public, as this video does.
Graphic: Screenshots from Care Le$$, No Matter What
Quotation of the Week The Rev. Donna Schaper Senior Minister, Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan "My Choice" in Hartford Courant, February 19, 2006 Explaining her abortion, this minister has a “seamless-shroud” viewpoint -- types of violence are connected to justify the violence. I did what was right for me, for my family, for my work, for my husband and for my three children. I happen to agree that abortion is a form of murder. I think the quarrel about when life begins is disrespectful to the fetus. I know I murdered the life within me. I could have loved that life but chose not to. I did what I think men do all the time when they take us to war: They choose violence because, although they believe it is bad, it is still better than the alternatives. The "just war" theory assumes that human beings get caught in terrible choices all the time. This freedom is not just for men; it is for women also.
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