The Inauguration today

I didn't vote for Mr. Biden but here's hoping he will represent the entire country and have a unifying vision - with policies and not just rhetoric. I can't remember the last time I watched an Inauguration and I won't break my streak, but I will see the speech on youtube sometime during the day or evening. And then no doubt listen to a few pundits put their own spin on it. It will be weird having a virtual Inauguration. Very glad Trump suggested praying for Biden and his administration.

Comments

[Jessica]

It’s a sad day for America. We will have a man who is President and also frequently advertises his Catholic faith to all the world while supporting tax payer funded abortions through all nine of pregnancy on innocent babies made in the image of Christ. The vast majority of these murdered unwanted babies will be minority children. I would be surprised if the Hyde Amendment survives this administration. We will all be paying for this murder of the innocent with our tax dollars. There are many other policies he will push that will be opposite of his faith and our churches will be further marginalized in America leading more souls to go down the wrong path.
As a Catholic priest told me once when referring to Biden’s outspoken faith, there was only one kind in of person Christ had no sympathy for, and these were the hypocrites.
I too will pray for President Biden and Vice President Harris, that they value human life in all stages for it’s intrinsic value and value the importance of religion and family in America. For with out those, we will have no moral compass and lots more violence.

[Jessica]

https://www.lifenews.com/2021/01/19/joe-bidens-inauguration-committee-sends-donor-info-to-planned-parenthood-abortion-business/

Joe Biden’s Inauguration Committee Sends Donor Info to Planned Parenthood Abortion Business

[Jessica]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ncregister.com/cna/presidential-inaugural-committee-facilitates-donations-to-planned-parenthood%3famp

Presidential Inaugural Committee Facilitates Donations to Planned Parenthood

[Jessica]

Our new Catholic president automatically signing people up to donate to Planned Parenthood and get on their email list. Talk about sickening!

[Reader]

“Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us? The constitutional theory is that we the people are the sovereigns, the state and federal officials only our agents. We who have the final word can speak softly or angrily. We can seek to challenge and annoy, as we need not stay docile and quiet.”— Justice William O. Douglas

We will hope for positive and unifying measures, but will responsibly identify and respond to those that may run askew from logic and the safe-keeping and improvement of the country.

[Maria]

I am offering a different point of view, which I hope you will read with an open mind. These are difficult conversations, but the only way this country can come together and be peaceful is if we’re willing to HAVE these conversations.
My first point is short. Please don’t criticize anyone who supports Planned Parenthood. Providing abortions is a very small part of what the organization provides to women, many of whom are unable to afford decent medical care. Their services include well-woman exams, cancer screening and prevention and general health care for women who would otherwise go without care.
My second point is that you please don’t “write off” Pres. Joe Biden because of the issue of abortion. And this point will be longer, with 2 parts; there is more to “pro-life” than abortion and we should not be one-issue voters; and Pres. Biden’s position is in accordance with our Constitution, the basis of our democracy, and has no relevance to his personal beliefs.
1. A candidate needs to be examined not just for his/her position on abortion, but also as to how that person cares for people living now. Health care, social justice, equality among all people in our country, no matter race, color, religious belief, sexual orientation/gender identity, physical or mental disabilities. Does he/he respect all people? In actions as well as words? Will he/she provide for them and include them in all parts of our society? And is that person kind and honest. Yes, I’m a Democrat, but I would have voted for John Kasich (and maybe some other Republican) in the last election because I look at the person, not the party, and not just one issue.
2. Setting aside our personal feelings and beliefs about abortion, we need to look at the Constitution, which is the basis of our democracy. And living in a democracy means that we will never agree with everything, but we will accept and live with the majority rule, which I think we can all agree, is preferable to a dictatorship, yes?!
It is a fact that not everyone, and not every religion believes life begins at conception. Clearly the Catholic/Christian tradition does. But should we force our religious beliefs on others who do not share those beliefs? We are a country founded on freedom of religion, it was not founded as a Christian-only country. Abortion is a moral, ethical and personal decision-it should never have even been brought to a court.
The first right spelled out in the First Amendment of our Constitution is freedom of religion. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;...:
By allowing a woman, of any religion, of any faith, the right to choose a safe termination of her pregnancy, for reasons she believes are necessary, we are upholding the Consitution. Having a right does NOT mean one must use that right. Catholics and Christians are still free to oppose it, and do what they can to prevent a woman from having an abortion by providing counseling and support, both during the pregnancy and after, maybe helping her adopt out her child. There were homes for unwed mothers years ago. Maybe we need to start those again, without the shame.
Abortion is an extremely difficult decision, made by a woman and her doctor, and that’s as it should be. It is a medical procedure, which should be safe. I am old enough to remember the days before abortion was legal, reading about botched procedures which led to the death of the woman. I particularly remember reading about one “doctor” whose patient died, and to cover up his illegal activities, he chopped up her body and threw it into a sewer, where it was found. We cannot go back to that. Abortion will not disappear if it is made illegal; it will just go underground. We don’t have to like it, we don’t have to approve, but we should not be forcing our beliefs on other women who do not share the Catholic/Christian belief of life beginning at conception.

[Jessica]

Maria,
Have you ever heard of Dr. Kermit Gosnell and all the babies and women he murdered in his legal abortion mills? By making abortion lax and common it becomes very dangerous for mothers and babies. It actually becomes back ally abortions. In NYS today, Gosnell couldn’t even be tried for murder thanks to Cuomo passing the RHA in 2019. Thanks to that bill if a mother is attacked and her unborn baby is killed, the criminal can no longer be charged with murder for that crime. That’s how extreme our state is now. We are at the point where the Governor of Virginia supports killing a baby after its born, following a discussion with the mother. See article below.

Blackface is bad. But slaughtering deformed babies is worse, Northam

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.courier-journal.com/amp/2768277002

Another good movie to see is Unplanned to understand how the abortion industry works and profits. Abortion creates two victims, the mother and the child. Until babies are recognized as living humans in the womb, we will never have peace. Too many babies are aborted for simply being unwanted. We are up to about 60 million now. The fact that so many women show up the March For Life in DC holding signs saying they regret their abortion tells one the system is not working to educate women of the effects they will feel after the procedure.
Also Planned Parenthood says this:
Planned Parenthood president: Saying abortion is a small part of what group does is stigmatizing
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/planned-parenthood-president-saying-abortion-is-a-small-part-of-what-group-does-is-stigmatizing/2020/12/18/e85b88f6-2dd1-11eb-860d-f7999599cbc2_story.html%3foutputType=amp

So they don’t want people to say it’s a small part of what they do or that it’s rare because it makes up the bulk of their work. No Catholic should defend them or abortion. Babies have a right to be born. We all need to promote a culture that supports pro-life by helping organizations that provide care to women in crisis pregnancies. Thankfully Birthright and Good Counsel homes exist and do amazing work. Prayers are also vital for this cause.
Peace.

[maria]

Hi just want to be clear--I am NOT the Maria who posted the above.

[NW 332]

We knew that.

[Jessica]

Another interesting update on RHA in NYS:

Lawsuit Alleges New York Abortion Policy Harms Victims of Domestic Violence

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-alleges-york-abortion-policy-213516655.html

[Valeria Kondratiev]

I think we need to pray for conversion back to God on the part of those in our new administration as well as in the society in general.
When I think of Biden’s Catholic faith being brought up all the time and his showing that he carries a rosary, etc..I am reminded of the Moliere play “Tartuffe” which is about a man who poses as a religious zealot to dupe a rich man and seduce his daughter. We now have, with our “devout Catholic” president, the pro abortion administration ever. Now, all the long defense of Planned Parenthood and freedom to choose abortion by Maria above, doesn’t cover the fact that this is murder we are dealing with, and in the case of later term abortion, very painful, barbaric murder that would horrify everyone if they saw it being committed visibly on a victim in the public street. Murder cannot be justified in any situation because the victim’s life is an inconvenience. If we are decent people, we find ways to deal with hardships or inconvenience without killing anyone. This is not even what I would think of as a Catholic issue, but a moral issue that goes beyond religion. However, someone who claims to be a religious Catholic cannot ignore this issue or accept this murder of innocents without being a hypocrite.

[Jessica]

Excellent points Valerie. I especially agree that this goes beyond religion and is a moral issue. The right to life is in our constitution. Here is another good article. I think promoting a culture of life and helping women in crises situations is key. I promote and support pregnancy resource centers in our area and I pray that our leaders change their hearts and put funding into these great places. Birthright in Peekskill and Good Counsel Homes in NJ and other locations do amazing work. Look them up. It’s so nice to see the mother and babies who have benefited from them.

Pope Francis Tells Biden to Respect “Dignity Of Every Person,” Including Those Who “Have No Voice”
https://www.lifenews.com/2021/01/20/pope-francis-tells-biden-to-respect-dignity-of-every-person-including-those-who-have-no-voice/

[Maria]

Jessica and Valerie, you both make good points. Regarding “Dr.” Gosnell, I do know who he was and that he was prosecuted for what he did. He did commit murder; he allowed babies born alive to die. And under the current NY law he WOULD be prosecuted for doing that. The law as I read it hadn’t changed the practices in place regarding “late-term abortion” which is any termination after (I believe) 24 weeks; those are only allowed for legitimate medical reasons. Are there doctors who will manufacture a medical reason for a patient? Of course, but they are not the majority of doctors-there are people like that in every field and profession, including religious institutions. But if we care about people who are already living (definition of a “life”?), she is certainly safer with a dishonest, but trained and licensed doctor, than with a back alley abortionist. I think the crux of this division of opinions is the question of when life begins, and there is no universal belief. However, if we are to honor “Freedom of Religion” as set forth in the Constitution, we should allow people to follow their beliefs, even if they are not ours, even if we find those beliefs to be objectionable. We should allow a woman to make decisions for herself, by herself, with counseling from her doctor and, in the case of termination of a pregnancy, a “birth counselor” who can examine with the woman what her reasons are, and ensure that she fully understands the physical and psychological risks she is taking. (The support you wrote about, Jessica.) And there are ways to monitor doctors who would work with such a team, possibly allowing only a “specialist” to perform the procedure. It is not murder. Especially a very early fetus...how can a mass of tissues, living off another organism be a “life”? It is more like a seed planted in the dirt. It cannot survive on its own outside of the womb (or dirt) without the nutrients it is given by the mother (the soil, rain and sun). That changes at a certain point (maybe it’s at 6 or 7 months) where if there is an early birth or an emergency C-section, that baby CAN live, initially with the aid of medical equipment and machinery, but it can move on its own, and it looks like a baby, formed like one. The extreme are the faiths that believe life does not begin until the baby crowns. I don’t think anyone disagrees that certainly there is life at that point! But that is very different from those first months. You said it correctly when you stated that this is a moral issue that goes beyond religion. But if someone does not have the same beliefs, she can still be a moral person and have an abortion, because to her, especially in the early months, it is not a life, so there is no moral quandary. Morality is tied closely with religious beliefs, We can no more legislate morality than we can (or should) legislate religious beliefs.

[Jessica]

Hi Maria,
Thank you for sharing your totally valid points above. It’s all a complex issue.
I do hope even if law-makers are pro-choice they give pro-life concessions to be moderate and find a reasonable balance. Biden has voted to support the Hyde Amendment in the past every time and it survived Obama too. I’m waiting to see what happens on this. If Biden repeals it, it will be purely political because of his previous votes supporting it.
I apologize if my words in some of the posts above seemed a bit extreme. I’m just worried that all decent laws will be over turned and people who are morally opposed to abortion will be paying for it federally as we now see with the Mexico City policy being reversed. I don’t understand why we are paying for global abortions when so many Americans lack any health care here for themselves or their children. That’s a bit of a separate point but it comes to mind.
As for NY law, RHA, basically a woman can claim any reason for an abortion after 24 weeks and legally be allowed one. It’s very open and left up to individual interpretations. I think it needs a reworking. We need to understand we are talking about babies who a capable of feeling pain easily at that point. If a child in the womb needed an operation before birth they are actually given a type of pain killers to make the operation possible.
I see our law as a moral teacher. If it isn’t shouldn’t prostitution be legal too? I think we have to ask ourselves, are we a society that wants to air on the side of life or death? In closing out here I think we need to understand how Kermit Gosnell was allowed to operate for decades and what can we do to prevent others like him from doing what he did.

[Maria]

Jessica, it’s been great communicating with you on this. If only the politicians would learn to talk to one another! When people stay calm and rational, we realize how close we are in our beliefs and positions. Pres Biden and VP Harris are both moderates and that’s what gives me hope that MAYBE there can be some healing in this country, if people will give them the chance. And that’s all anyone can ask for!
I’ll see you at the CHSD meeting on Tues-virtually, of course!