#605 - Peace & Life: Vitriol / Legislation / Nukes & Ukraine - April 1, 2022
Responding to Vitriol
Our member group Rehumanize International held its West Coast Week of Action in March. Executive Director Herb Geraghty reports what happened at a counter-protest of an abortion defender group:
At one point, a demonstrator ripped my sign out of my hand and ran with it down the block to throw it away. Several moments later, a man grabbed my megaphone out of my hand and slammed it down on the ground in front of me, breaking it. One person from our side was threatened with a knife . . . As we were pulling away to safety, someone slammed a megaphone into our friend AJ's van, nearly breaking the window.
Of course, I and the rest of the Rehumanize team present responded to each attack with nonviolence and attempts at de-escalation. As punches were thrown at us, we put our hands in the air and continued our chants for "Equality, Nonviolence, and Nondiscrimination" for all human beings.”
The week included a protest of unethical fetal tissue research, pictured below.
Good News on Legislation
President Biden has now signed the appropriations bill for 2022, and the Hyde amendment is still safely in it. We still have to be concerned about its removal in the future. See our post, Why the Hyde Amendment Helps Low-Income Women.
We reported earlier on a proposal in Maryland to place a state constitutional amendment on the ballot to protect abortion. It passed the state House, but it’s not being considered in the Senate, so apparently it’s not happening this year (though the legislative session isn't over yet).
With varying chances of success, several states have bills introduced to abolish the death penalty. The Death Penalty Information Center keeps track of all death penalty legislation.
The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act becoming law, making lynching a federal crime.
From our Member Groups
Feminists for Life of America reports a new article on Women Deserve Better, "10 Tips for Your Second Trimester," which is the sequel to "Your Pregnancy Test Is Positive: Now What?"
Our member group, Feminists Choosing Life Of New York is holding an on-line event that you can register for at FCLNY's Book & Film Club Tickets, Thu, Apr 7, 2022 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite
Our Latest Blog Post
John Whitehead explains: A Hidden Cost of the Ukraine War: How Russia’s Invasion Encourages the Spread of Nuclear Weapons.
Quotation of the Week
Claire Giangravé
Religion News, March 28, 2022
The consistent life ethic, a concept born in the early 1970s and sometimes called the “seamless garment philosophy,” suggests that [those] committed to protecting human life must do so consistently wherever life is threatened — standing up for migrants, prisoners on death row and indigenous peoples struggling due to climate change — with the same passion with which they defend the unborn. . . . this holistic view could provide Americans an alternative to their entrenched positions on life issues.
[Archbishop Paglia said] “Us believers are all against abortion of course, but to be credible we must state that we are against the killing of children, against the death penalty, against war, against abandonment and the discarding of the elderly . . . You cannot defend a foot without defending the entire body. You can’t defend a part without defending the whole."