#320 Witnessing for all life at political conventions - July 22, 2016
Report from Actions at the U.S. Republican Convention Women from Life Matters Journal leafletted outside the Republican National Convention, and report they’ve gotten many press interviews. They’ve already got an article in Education Week, showcasing their opposition to all violence and support of the consistent life ethic. We’ll have a more comprehensive list of coverage and links to it next week.
Aimee Murphy with interviewers
Chrissy Healy and Maria Oswalt
Rosemary Geraghty and Maria Oswalt
The U.S. Major Party Platforms There’s much in both party platforms to find distressing, but we’ll focus here on positive developments:
The Republicans have strengthened their position on protecting unborn children, including a call to stop taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood.
The Democrats have for the first time added a plank calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
We would of course prefer more thought to a comprehensive consistent-life platform, such as Tony Magliano offers in an article in the National Catholic Reporter. Given its source, it has a Catholic perspective, but other religions or a secular approach can come to the same conclusions as far as a proper platform for change is concerned. Letters to the editor in response to the article, up to 250 words, can be sent to letters@ncronline.org -- include your name, email, city, state, nation, and phone number.
Our actions at the Democratic Convention A final reminder, those wishing to participate in leafletting the protesters in Philadelphia, contact Rob Arner. The plan is for leafletting on Wednesday afternoon right after the Democrats for Life luncheon, but of course those who want to leaflet at other times can contact Rob to get the leaflets to hand out. Call him at 540-742-2697.
Latest CL Blog: For the Democratic Convention Third in a series of convention commentary, Rachel MacNair expounds on the notion that “Inconsistency Sabotages the Peace Movement,” a point we’ve made many times, but now referring to the current U.S. electoral situation.
Quotation of the Week Victoria Woodhull “Slaughter of the Innocents,” Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly, June 20, 1874 Now that we have the first woman about to be nominated on a major party ticket for U.S. president, we re-visit the attitude toward abortion of the first woman to ever run for U.S. president. Victoria Woodhull ran in 1872 with the Equal Rights Party, and was a free-love advocate.
We are aware that many women attempt to excuse themselves for procuring abortions, upon the ground that it is not murder. But the fact of resort to so weak an argument only shows the more palpably that they fully realize the enormity of the crime. Is it not equally destroying the would-be future oak to crush the sprout before it pushes its head above the sod, as to cut down the sapling, or cut down the tree? Is it not equally to destroy life, to crush it in the very germ, and to take it when the germ has evolved to any given point in its line of development? . . . There is still another death method not included in its horrible details . . . Wives deliberately permit themselves to become pregnant of children and then, to prevent becoming mothers, as deliberately murder them while yet in their wombs. Can there be a more demoralized condition than this?”
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