Planned Parenthood responds to O’Malley

I find it very interesting that planned parenthood does it's best to completely ignore its racist origins. Margaret Sanger was extremely anti-black, and anti-poor. How PP has morphed itself into the alleged best-friend of minorities and those in need is beyond me. I wish they would forthrightly answer these accusations rather than ignoring them and answering questions of their own making

What a bunch of bunk. Planned Parenthood and Obama support making Americans pay for abortions through their tax dollars and want to overturn laws such as parental notification, informed consent, and the ban on partial-birth abortions. If anyone is out of step with anyone else, it is Planned Parenthood and their new lap dog president. Yes, Americans and Catholics favor the use of contraception. But that's not the issue. It's promote abortion for any reason throughout pregnancy and paid for at taxpayer expense. Obama and PP say yes, 95% of Americans say no.

It's interesting that Colin accuses Planned Parenthood of ignoring the Cardinal's accusations, just after he ignores what PP has to say and raises the red herring of PP's origins. Even if his assertions are true, they have little relevance to what PP has become, and is now. If the change in PP is "beyond (him)", maybe he ought to take off his political blinders and take another look.

Rather than raise irrelevancies, would it not be better to note that PP and the Cardinal are in agreement on the need, as the statement said, to reduce abortion and the incidence of risky behavior among young people? If we can work together on those goals, we all win.

Colin, because it's ridiculous! Many organizations have roots in, shall we say, unsavory ethical ground, but they wise up and move on. Heck, the Democratic party was pretty darn racist 100 years ago. PP is an invaluable institution for so many people; the poor, the young, the uninformed, the desperate. As Ms. Luby says, the goal is to educate, to provide health care and awareness, not to perform abortions unless necessary. I think PP and the catholic church and should seek common ground on the topic of abortion. That being, to prevent the need for it. I am extremely pro-choice, but my FIRST choice is for no woman or girl to find herself having to make that decision. PP works hard to make that the reality.

So Steven, let me give you a "would you rather" scenario: taxpayers can pay for an abortion ($700) or 18 years of food stamps, welfare, health care, and education (tens of thousands of dollars). Hmm, are you really so worried about your precious tax dollars now?

PP is a babykiller

@Colin: What? We're supposed to vilify Planned Parenthood for overcoming troubling origins and transforming its legacy into something positive by helping those in need? That seems like it would be something GOOD to me.

To LostinBoston: Your question is based on the faulty assumption that every child who is born instead of becoming a victim of abortion will be on food stamps. of course that's not true. Your question also assumes that poor children (people) are a budren to society. Should we begin killing already-born children because they cost taxpayer funds? If not, how is that different from aborting them? So the very easy and honest answer is YES, I have no problem with my tax money being used to care for people rather than killing them. That you have to ask speaks volumes.

How does the Catholic Church in Boston believe it has any moral standing in our society at this point? It would seem that the Catholic Church should stay away from anything to do with young children.

1. Abortion doesn't kill babies. 2. If you don't want an abortion, don't have one. 3. We have children who are taught by parents that they can get pregnant from a toilet seat. 4. Love the fetus and hate the child seems to be the anti abortion agenda. 5. Planned parenthood shouldn't be necessary in a society that talks openly and honestly about sex and the potential consequences... but alas.. that isn't realistic. 6. It is amazing that people care so much about a fetus while we slaughter innocent people with the constant war we wage all over the world? I think the response to the Bishop was appropriate. After all, the Catholic Church is just getting around to forgiving Galileo for simply stating the Earth is not the center of the universe.

" PP is a baby killer " I'm tired of the baby killer routine UGH!!

Dianne Luby states: "He and several of the other participants at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops are eager to jump into politics"

That is their major flaw. PP truly believes that the murder of human beings is a political issue. My heart aches for every child that has been "discarded", all 200milllion of them.

Bostonforkids... GREAT comment!!!

PP and the Pregancy Centers with abortion services still have KILLED over 50 MILLION babies in the USA, while ALL the wars put together have not come close to losing that many lives. If you were to have women or men who were no longer beneficial to keep alive and you sought to kill them what you be doing about it. Remeber HITLER loved Margret Sangers philosphy about the super race and cleansing the impure and unwanted, that is what we FOUGHT the WWII for. Good Catholics Men lost their lives for your freedom, The USA has become too much "ME and MY NEEDS" and less about the common good for all people Who is to help the babies who have no rights because their mother decided an abortion would be easier.

Abortion does kill babies. If life does not begin at conception then why is there a market for contraceptives? Ms. Luby has it backwards..... the 'in name only' Catholic voters who voted for Obama are out of touch with the Catholic Faith; the Cardinal is not out of touch with its participating members. Those who would call themselves Catholic as Kennedy, Pelosi, Schumer, Daschle and others; are Catholic only in baptism not in practice. There is a difference whether they choose to admit it or not.

To any one who is a supporter of PP and abortions~Try watching one. It is the most horrific act I've ever witnessed and once you watch one, there is no denying the hands and feet and head that you're looking at in pieces belong to a baby. There are all sorts of ways to make this issue seem nicer than it really is, but the first step to truly understanding the travesty of the abortion issue is to identify and recognize what is involved in the abortion procedure. I believe that every life is precious, including those in utero. God help us all for what we allow to happen to the most innocent among us.

I am responding to Jeff in Illinois. Jeff, you are quite right that abortion doesn't kill babies. The doctor performing the abortion and the person who made the decision to have the abortion are actually responsible for the death of a human being.

I have met a lot of women who carry a tremendous burden from a past abortion(s). My heart aches for them and I pray that they accept God's forgiveness. I pray for those about to make this decision that they be spared this terrible pain. Let's choose love.

Jeff in Illinois what did you say? Abortion does not kill babies? Have you seen a 2 month old baby after it has been suctioned from it's mothers womb? You need to see it to believe what a baby looks like. I am happy your mother was pro-life to have you, now is the time to realize that Abortion is not the answer to killing babies. Adoption is an option also, there are hundreds of very loving and caring want-to-be mothers and want-to-be dads waiting for that child, even the ones that you might want to kill, like Downs syndrome children, cleft palates, and other birth defects. Look at Sarah Palin and her baby, iT HAS BEEN THE JOY of their family to have that baby boy. See the worlkd through LOVe and not hate for the babies who can never speak to you about their needs before MOM goes to PP or someother "health" organization and has the baby ripped from her body. Go and visit that mom after the abortion, see her three years later, when they realize that the baby birthday is today. See the horror that they live with for committing this heainous act. All the doctors do is go home and cash their paychecks for a job well done... or is well done. I pray for your conversion of heart to see the love of a child, and not the pro-choice lobby or what heaven help us, Mr. Obama will do with the FOCS act legislation.

“We're supposed to vilify Planned Parenthood for overcoming troubling origins and transforming its legacy into something positive by helping those in need?”

Planned Parenthood overcame its troubling origins? Not likely. Did you hear about Lila Rose’s sting early this year? Lila Rose at UCLA hired an actor to call different Planned Parenthood clinics all over the country and pose as a donor interested in giving money specifically to abort Black Babies. Not one clinic refused the money. If you consider that added with the fact that Planned Parenthood places most of its clinics in minority neighborhoods it looks like the company is still following Margaret Sanger’s intent to “exterminate the Negro Population.”

See Part II of PP racism video released on www.laadvocate.com

Margaret Sanger was not a black genocide. Rather she was a lapsed Catholic sine qua non!

I have always maintained that the Church's and right-wing organizations' real reason for opposing Reproductive Choice is paternalistic, having more to do with the empowerment of women it represents than compassion for fetus. Once women take control of their biological destinies and the fate of our semen we men can no longer delude ourselves into thinking they are 'the weaker vessel'. 'We' continue only at women's sufferance.

Baby Killer? Tired of that? With nothing but the sincere heart do I say this: People should not talk in abstract about this inherently controversial topic unless they inform themselves of the reality. Here is the reality:

http://www.priestsforlife.org/images/index.htm#galleries

I beg of you - look at the reality and tell me if you conscience doesn't have even the slightest bit of hesitation to agree with the term "baby killer."

"let me give you a "would you rather" scenario: taxpayers can pay for an abortion ($700) or 18 years of food stamps, welfare, health care, and education (tens of thousands of dollars). Hmm, are you really so worried about your precious tax dollars now?"

How disheartening for a human being to set a limit of what a baby is worth. A child is "priceless" regardless of what your religion is. Killing a child and building up life are not "religious" issues...but humanity issues.

Look, the bottom line is that all all human life has dignity. The taking of another's life is a terrible sin for that reason, whether it is through war, capital punishment, or abortion. The Church's position on these issues is grounded in Church doctrine, and for that reason will not change. For Luby to suggest that American bishops should change their position b/c it is the popular thing to do, is rediculous. She clearly has no intention of appealing to practicing Catholics, b/c she knows that the vast marjority of them understand the Church's teaching on this issue. Instead, her message is directed at everyone else. And this is her message: - Abortion is Okay b/c most people think its okay. Does that make any sense. It sounds like the argument of an 11 year old. I bet if you really dug down (beyond the banner wavers), you would find that most people think Abortion is wrong (i.e. they would never have one), they're just unwilling to tell someone else that is wrong. And why is that? Because we live in a completely permissive society where to state your views (especially if they're grounded in religion) is unacceptable.

God help us all! The pro-death camp will be so surprised when all hell breaks loose. The "birth pangs" of this Chastisement are already at the doorstep. But the real irony is that rather than repent, they'll curse God because their hearts are already too hardened as evidenced by their lack of recognition of simple basic truths such as the fact that abortion is murder of the most innocent humans.

Cardinal O'Malley has a very firm religious belief about abortion. This is based on his and the Catholic Churches interpretation of the bible, a religious document. There is no scientific basis for their argument, it is a personal perspective grounded in religion.
Not everyone has the same religious beliefs. That is why the seperartion of church and state is invaluable, so that one group cannot force their BELIEFS on everyone else who has different beliefs. O'Malley doesn't get this, he and many other Catholics believe that their beliefs are essentially LAW and that all people of all beliefs should live by the Catholic/Christian spiritual laws rather than those which they themselves believe in.
They see contraception such as condoms, birth control pills and morning after pills as being tantamount to murder, that sex is purely a reproductive act when this simply isn't so.
And simply put, a fetus is not a child any more than an egg is a chicken.

Life is precious and we as human beings believe that, look all around at how we care for life, hospitals, environmental care, food banks etc. We need to get over a selfish attitude that says I come first to heck with others or my child. We need to be more disciplined to not have to even enter into the question. Love no matter what your religion abhors murder. If PP is truly interested in reducing abortions please put forth your strategy for reducing their number.

Planned Parenthood suggests that Cardinal O'Malley et al get more in touch with its constituency on 'reproductive issues.' Here PP mistakes the Catholic Church for a political party or one of the many churches which unfortunately decide/create doctrine by polling, by a show of hands. The Eastern Orthodox and the Catholics believe that God reveals the truth in the Bible, especially in the person and teaching of Jesus Christ, and that he handed on that teaching to his first apostles, who have handed it on to us through their successors the bishops. So Cardinal O'Malley and other bishops and the Pope for that matter could no more change, e.g., the teaching that abortion is intrinsically evil, than if they got together and voted 3+3=5. They can so vote, but that would not make it so. Same with the Supreme Court; they can vote that there is a 'right' to abortion, but their vote does not create objective reality.

hmmmm @5:01 pm states that s/he is tired of the phrase 'baby killer.' As a pro-lifer, I'm tired of the baseless canard that prolifers only care about a baby before he or she is born, then don't care after birth. This is so untrue and so unfair. Prolifers are also the most pro-adoption, which gets the child into a family which will care for the baby. But even failing adoption, pro-lifers give millions of dollars to shelters for pregnant girls, give clothing and food for these young families, help with their education, and they do it the old fashioned way, out of their own pockets, without having to wait for some government agency to tax them for it.

Brendan @ 6:11

Why do folks like you say that people like Cardinal O'Malley and other pro-lifers are trying to 'force' their beliefs on everyone else? Did he take a gun and put it to anyone's head? Should we say that your comment constitutes you attempting to force your beliefs on us? No; Cardinal Law (and you) throw your opinions, backed with better or worse arguments, into the public arena. This is called pro-posing, not im-posing. This time, the pro-choice-for-abortion side won; fair enough. That's democracy. But the 'forcing' argument is silly and childish.

Take one lousy pill a day women-you know if you're going to have sex or not and you know if you want to get pregnant or not. You make all women look like idiots when you say "it just happened". Grow up and take responsibility for your own bodies already. this all would be a moot point if women stopped playing games and grew up.

Of the nearly fifty million unborn children aborted since Roe V Wade, 22% have been black babies. Hmmm..and you think the spirit of Margaret Sanger is not alive and well in the Planned Parenthood organization? Think again!!! Catholics who voted for Obama are Catholics in name only. We are supposed to transform the culture but these people have absorbed the culture. It doesn't make it right even if 100% of Catholics had voted for Obama. We don't choose our morals by popular vote. They are given to us by God himself. May God help us all. Posted by Mary

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts,

I am in such pain I dont know what to do sometimes i think I will kill myself my kidneys hurt so much. My husband thinks no woman can be a good catholic and not have children irregardless of the pain. I was married honorable from a church but I never knew what married life meant as i was never told about man and wife. My grandmother never told me and she was the only mother I had but made a big mistake by not telling me as it dont pay to be innocent and is only a big disappointment. I have 7 children in 12 yrs and ever since the last 2 I have been so sick. I was operatored on twice and my husband promised no more children on the doctors advice as he said I might die but when he got back from the hospital he broke his promise and now I am going to have a baby and I dont think I can stand it my kidneys hurt so much. I am so sick and scared because I cant have an abortion on account of being a catholic and my husband so religious. I cry all the time it hurts so much I dont know what to do.

Yours respectfully
Sick-of-it-all

Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933)

I would like to ask Inmanette to explain the statement, "...not to perform abortions unless necessary." Is this the same as saying that PP does not perform abortions if they are not necessary? And what constitutes the necessity for an abortion?
Sign me pat

Planned Parenthood once said......a woman has a right over her own body, thus the right to abortion. Now Planned Parenthood says...a woman has a right to chose. What changed? It was found out that the baby in the womb was NOT part of her body. Her body kept the little one nurished and protected until it could sustain life on it's own. Sooooo....I guess God's Commandment .....
You shalt not kill ....is ammended to say
You shalt not kill, unless is interfers with a woman's right to chose

So where is God in all this? Where are His Ten Commandments today? "Thou shalt not kill" was one of the Top Ten that God Himself decreed. What is abortion other than the murder of a baby? Don't substitute the word 'fetus' because if allowed to go to term that 'fetus' would be a viable human being called a 'baby'. Have we become like the ancients who offered up their inconvenient children on the altar of Molech, the god of pleasure? Have we become so civilized that by substituting a word we think we can get away with murder? The LAW we need to concern ourelves with, is God's Law. God will not be mocked and the blood of those children soak American soil.

So PaulQ, what's your point? !933-pre-pill. 2008 and post pill and many many other forms of birth control. Info in the media-TV, Books, movies. There are very few excuses for unwanted pregnancies in this day and age. LADIES TAKE THE PILL or look into the other many forms of birth control.

How's this for being blunt. If you don't want to have a baby, don't have sex or protect yourself with some form of birth control?
then-gee whiz-you wouldn't have to consider whether having an abortion or not. What the hell is wrong with people's brains?

Kathy,

Health risks (clot formation, increased risk for breast cancer) and benefits (six years on the pill will decrease a woman's risk of ovarian cancer by 50%) notwithstanding, the pill presents an ethical dilemma as it places all of the onus of contraception entirely on the woman and does absolutely nothing to protect her from STDs, including HIV. As a matter of Civil Liberties, abortion on demand is necessary if women are to be equally free as men to participate in their sexuality.

Also, you seem to forget that the Catholic Church would deprive women of the right to take a pill in the first place, and in fact view all contraception as de-facto abortions: wasted sperm, i.e. Divine Form ('Every Sperm is Sacred'). Yes, the church's understanding of reproductive biology remains solidly grounded in 13th Century Scholastic neo-Aristotelianism.

Of course PP won't address the critique, because it is indisputably true.

Currently, 70% of black pregnancies end in abortion. 70%!

Shame on Obama for supporting this genocide.

Cardinal O'Malley is not out of step with Catholics; rather, he is in step with Jesus Christ and His Church--exactly where he is supposed to be.

OK fine Paul, no pill for women at risk. Are there possibly other forms of effective birth control available? Condoms prevent most forms of stds and yes, we women pretty much have to take responsibility for pregnancies-biological don't you know. Is that equal and fair? Maybe not but I don't remember anyone ever saying that everything in life is fair. I'm not Catholic but I'm darned if I see the logic in a young woman that is Catholic having unprotected sex, getting pregnant and having an abortion as her form of birth control. that just strikes me as bone deep crazy. And again, I stand by my words "it just happened" doesn't cut it. Of course I realize that there are exceptions-rape-incest etc. but they are exceptions.

Kathy,

My reason for posting that passage from West's timeless masterpiece was that it illustrates both the need to keep abortion safe an legal and the intrinsic misogyny of Roman Catholicism.

As no form of birth control is 100% fail-safe women need to have a back-up: abortion on demand.

I believe that if a person is a Christian than that person believes that God began life with his breath into Adam. That says to me that God is the Author of Life and that life in all its stages is sacred because without God's breath it would not exist. Therefore, to me, to destroy that life, one alienates him/herself from God leaving only death to exist. America has selected death to be in charge of our country and not God. I have heard it said that if a Christian choses prochoice, can that Christian really be called a Christian? Life is gifted to us. We are all responsible for the death of babies...because we all allow it to go on. May the mercy of God be upon us when we face Him face to face one day. Recall the holocaust of infants by Herod when Jesus was born...is this any different? I continue to pray for America for it is no longer Under God We Trust, it is under death now as the Death March continues to destroy Life.

Answer to Bostonforkids. I think you are a sophist.
Your comment is a clear "NON SEQUITUR" in any Logic 101 classroom!
Your subtle innuendo denying the Diocese of Boston of moral authority is obviously about the child abuse scandals, yes? Well, I, for one, am outraged for those who perpetrated them, and for anybody who covered them. But throwing a blanket generalization on that event and its culprits is as stupid as to say, Bostonforkids, that NO doctor can diagnose a decease just because there are malpractice lawsuits against another doctors in the Courts! Cardinal O'Malley's moral authority is second only to the Pope's! And if it hurts you, TOUGH!

If the Catholic Church's priority really was to prevent abortions, it would urge unrestricted access to birth control, along with sex education (which includes straightforward information on sexually transmitted diseases). The Church's efforts to ensure that all sex among Catholic kids is unprotected sex is not in any way ethical, and serves only one purpose - to swell the ranks of the poor - with the corollaries of increasing abortion rates and spreading infection.

A homework assignment for the abortion advocates (who have the courage, of course): take the time to read about Margaret Sanger and her views, look at actual pictures of aborted babies by different methods at different stages and go to www.obamanation.com to see what abortion has done to African-Americans. Then come back and tell me how gong ho you are to slaughter (look at the pictures and tell me that isn't slaughtering) innocent unborn babies. There is no greater bond then the one between a mother and her child. Destroy that and you destroy civilization.

life does not begin at conception. what begins at conception is the potential for life. it frequently fizzles out on its own, resulting in a late period or (even later) a miscarriage. sometimes two eggs are fertilized at the same time, but after a little while they fuse into a single fetus. if the resulting fetus survives to birth, the child is a chimera: two distinctly different DNA profiles in one individual. is that one life ? two ? what about the "souls" of the original two fetuses ? did they fuse, too, or did one go away ? how about the single egg that fails to divide properly, resulting in a fetus with two conjoined lower bodies and no cranium ? is that fetus singular ? plural ? does it have a soul ? is it even alive ? whatever it is won't survive outside the womb, so how is it different from a cancer ? how about plain-vanilla identical twins ? did their lives start at conception ? or when their zygote first divided into two separate zygotes ? "life begins at conception" is just too simplistic a postulation for the incredible messiness and non-determinism of sexual reproduction. it's scary and mysterious and i haven't heard, and can't come up with any holistic theory that makes me confident enough to make decisions for anyone but myself. and i have to allow that same freedom to others, regardless of whether or not the decisions they make are the ones that i would.

To Jeff in Illimois
1. Abortion doesn't kill babies. - The life that is terminated during abortion would have become a person with goals and aspirations. No matter what argument you give about when life begins (which only God can answer) this fact is irrefutable. What if your mother had decided you were inconvenient.
2. If you don't want an abortion, don't have one. - I don't want to have my tax dollars pay for anyone else to have one either. Legalized murder is still murder.
3. We have children who are taught by parents that they can get pregnant from a toilet seat. - That's an interesting argument...irrelevant but interesting.
4. Love the fetus and hate the child seems to be the anti abortion agenda. - The baby is a gift from God and no person has the right to terminate what God has created. The Catholic church defends 5. Planned parenthood shouldn't be necessary in a society that talks openly and honestly about sex and the potential consequences... but alas.. that isn't realistic. - Actually the society we live in promotes sex and the destruction of the family. Planned Parenthood reaps a nice profit from this society. It is in their interest as a company to propagate the continued decline of the family and moral values in our culture. After all if their were no more abortions or need to give teens birth control they wouldn't have any business.
6. It is amazing that people care so much about a fetus while we slaughter innocent people with the constant war we wage all over the world? - The church takes the same stance on this as it does on abortion.
I think the response to the Bishop was appropriate. After all, the Catholic Church is just getting around to forgiving Galileo for simply stating the Earth is not the center of the universe. - The church has never changed it's stance on protecting the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.

We have become a nation of very self centered people. We have no self-control when it comes to a number of things especially sexual appetite. We take no responsibility for our actions. We only make excuses for everything. We don't teach our children right from wrong because we don't believe we can do wrong. If it feels good to me, it is perfectly fine. We have become a nation of entitlements. We are entitled to anything we want. We forget that rights are not entitlements, but gifts from God. Do you honestly think that God smiles on those mothers who choose to destroy there very own babies. Mother Theresa said, " What a great poverty that someone must die so that you can live as you choose." The ultimate
act of selfishness is abortion. If you don't want the child at least give it 9 months . There are so many couples that would die to have a child.

"Lost in Boston" has just shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that the racist, classist assumptions Margaret Sanger are alive an well in this day and age. Alive and well, as opposed to all the aborted of the next generation. A demographic nightmare in the offing.

Ms. Luby is a liar just like he who she serves.

God creates life at conception (His choice). The procedure of abortion kills that life. Abortion is murder. It is my opinion that no one who accepts abortion is truly a Christian. They can't know God, and think abortion is OK. You can't say to God, "Bless me, take care of me, You are God, but I am OK with destroying what you created." "It is a matter of civil liberties"? You're kidding me right? You have to have the right to kill your child to be a real woman. Sorry, but I am a real woman and the absolutle last thing I would do is have an abortion. I personally believe abortion is about making money. The people who believe it is about some "right" they have to have is deceived. I guess we could have just "reduced" the number of slaves instead of going to war, oooops, to end slavery. The right to be born is not a religious issue. It is the most basic human rights issue. For all you pro-abortion folk, at what point in your mother's pregnancy would you have been OK with her decision to abort you?

PP's criticism reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of religious belief. A religious leader derives their authority not from the people they lead, but from God. When their congregation shifts away from the teaching of their religion, it is not the job of the leader to shift with them, but to call them back to truth.

Whether or not you accept Catholicism or any other religion, one should recognize that this criticism given by PP makes no sense in the context of the relationship between Bishop and parishioner, and therefore that it will be ignored as irrelevant. PP (or anyone, for that matter) would do well to try to understand where those they disagree with are actually coming from.

If Luby thinks that "92% of married Catholics use some form of birth control" she should visit my parish where children outnumber adults by five to one. The average family in my quite large parish has at least four children, some with many more. These children will be raised as traditional Catholics and will vote pro-life.

Meanwhile, the liberals are aborting themselves out of existence. This means that as our children reach voting age, conservatives will outnumber liberals in more and more places. Despite the temporary setback in this election, the future demographics look good for big red-state victories in the next few election cycles.

If you're gonna bring up ancient history, you may as well bring up the millions of people the Catholic Church has tortured and killed because they didn't follow strict dogma -- or had property a bishop coveted. Any of the Catholic Church's moral positions are founded on sand, crumbling under the weight of that history. The Catholic Church's anti-abortion, anti-birth control stance also ensures a supply of poorly-supervised children for religious 'education'. One cannot help but wonder, considering recent scandals, if this is the primary goal.

It seems people have forgotten that copulation is the sacred consumation of the covenant of Marriage. It is not a toy, sport, weapon or anything else. It was created as a beautiful act of self giving in the confines of marriage. Disregarding this and partaking of adulterous sex is playing right into the hands of the one who wants nothing more than to destroy the human race. And we are so arrogant, proud and stupid, we not only blissfully break the commandments, but have the audacity to think that two wrongs (adultery and abortion, a.k.a murder) will set everything right. God help us!

The issue is not whether or not abortion should occur, but whether or not abortion should be part of our system of laws. It is highly unlikely that Rowe v. Wade will be overturned. Even if it were, those who have wealth would simply cross the border and get their abortions. Those too poor to do so would resort to dangerous and illegal means to rid themselves of an unwanted pregnancy. If a woman truly does not want to have a baby, she will terminate the pregnancy one way or another. That is the reality. In light of the above, what is needed is a pragmatic approach with welfare services and birth control education to slow the rate of abortions by allowing for support for mothers. DT, Attorney/Catholic

Kathleen,
The Catholic Church does have some of that in it's history. It also has the distinction of having contributed more good to humanity and human society than any other organization in the history of the world. The fact is that Jesus build it upon The Rock and, just as he said, no evil has yet to prevail against it. It may be true the at times in history evil has infiltrated certain parts in an effort to bring her down but She is still here had thriving in the world.

The Church's long term history proves it's protection of children and their rights. In recent years, people like you have found it necessary to marginalize children in order to continue your infanticide. The Church and all people who follow the Truth She teaches will fight you on it till the very end.

Why do we protect the eggs of Sea turtles and other wild life? Because it is potential life of that specific species. Whether fully developed or still developing in the womb, a human being is in the womb. What if we have killed the one that was going to find the cure for breast cancer or any other disease? If our culture is to think that pregnancy can be terminated because of poverty or drugs or any other inconveniences, then we have lost all hope. When we as a nation/world learn to embrace new life as a gift, then we can begin to understand peace. The division alone that abortion causes is proof of it's fruit.

Sex for pleasure and without responsibility - this is what leads to many unwanted pregnancies and thus to many abortions. But sex has two purposes - the unity of the persons and the procreation of children. When these two purposes are separated, or one is excluded, then chaos results.
Contraception, starting with the Pill in the 1960s, is what has allowed so many people to engage in sex for pleasure and without responsibility. When contraception fails, then people still won't assume the responsibility, and so they kill the child.

That's an interesting point, Muskie1967. If Planned Parenthood has evolved from more racist beginnings, it joins many other American organizations and institutions, like baseball, higher education, and water fountains. I bet you don't interrogate water fountains about why they aren't labeled 'colored' and 'white' before you drink out of them. Societies evolve. Maybe some day society will evolve so that Planned Parenthood would be spending 100% of its money on prevention and none on abortion. I'm sure it would come as a great relief to them.

The US abortion rate is WAY higher than European countries with much more liberal access to abortion.

The reason? Universal healthcare and sensible measures for prevention.

Quit talking about religion for crying out loud. Abortion is an ecological and sociological issue. I am responding to Paul Q's conviction that women are empowered because of abortion and to Brendan who insists there is no science to support the anti-abortion stance. A Finnish study done over several years found that there is a much higher suicide and accident rate among post abortive women and that these events usually occur on the dead child's due date or on the anniversary of the abortion. A subsequent Welsh study agreed with the Finnish findings. Chinese women have the highest suicide rate of all women. China has had forced abortion, sex-selection abortion, and female infanticide since Mao Tse Tung died. There are whole villages in China where there are no adult women and the men are now abducting Burmese women as sex slaves. (And Chinese men are also finding gun shows very attractive). It's still a man's world.
Further, because many cities in America and Europe have been under zero-population growth for thirty years we have a population that is becoming overwhelmingly elderly. Before unrestricted abortion there were four working people for every retired person. Now there are two workers for every retired person. By 2050 The U.S population over 65 will have grown 149% while the total population will only have grown 49%.

Life begins at conception through the miracle that it is. Love is not divided but is brought together to exist. It is essential that all children of God be born and protected. Those who do not understand this, do not understand the meaning of the word conception. It is the beginning of the intentions of God. It is a blessing for which God bestows upon you. What greater miracle is there than birth. It is dynamic in all it's glorious potential. The miracle of conception is God's intention to bless you with his love. The pure innocence of a child. A childe's eyes are those of goodness and hope for the world.

The great fallacy here is that the bishops misstate the political reality when they pretend that a vote for Obama is a vote for abortion and a vote for McCain is a vote against.

Republicans do have resoundingly anti-abortion rhetoric, compared to the opposition, but their actual record on abortion is absolutely abysmal. In the 35 years since Roe v. Wade, Republicans have done almost nothing to curtail abortion rights. Even though Republicans controlled all three branches of government for 6 of the last 8 years, it is no harder to get an abortion in America now than it was in 2000.

In fact, Republicans' affection for abstinence-only sex education and economic policies that broaden wealth disparity and exacerbate poverty contribute to higher abortion rates than those under Democratic presidents.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MKY/is_17_28/ai_n6362676

Given their history of oversimplifying issues, and glossing over nuance with false black-and-white edicts, it's not surprising that the Bishops are so out of touch. Not just out of touch with their followers (which they clearly are). But more damningly, out of touch with the political realities in our country.

Brendan, Let's see, your comparing food (chicken egg) with a human fetus? Got it!
That's par for the course! For the sake of argument, let's say that there is no GOD!
No life after death! No reincarnation! Man is only a being of flesh and bone!
I pose these questions to you:
What makes man different from animals? Intelligence? The ability to reason?
Or is the Human Race just another species? If that is the answer, then simply put, you're right! There is no difference between an egg and an human embryo. Bon Apetite!
So what's all the fuss?
The "fuss" is caused by a guiding "conscience" of right and wrong. Good and Evil. A phenomenon that has existed since the dawn of time. The cause of this phenomenon is the human spirit that resides within our bodies. Depending on the belief, it is referred to as Karma, Soul and is eternal. (Even athiest believe in themselves!)
Science has a new term for the origin of the cell, "Intelligent Design". What's interesting is the response to this term from the scientific scholars who espouse Darwin's theory of Evolution! Now Evolution is no religion, but the response to "intelligent design" by the establishment is quite astonishing! (See the video "Expelled" by Stein.)
It is my belief that man has the capacity to live in peace and harmony when the guiding motive is not "self" but service to others. Our country is at a crossroads! The values and ideals of our founding fathers has been defiled! And WE THE PEOPLE have permitted a "FEW" to speak for the majority!
We must stop the attack on human life and dignity before it is too late. "AMERICA" will crumble from within because the majority have passively allowed this "culture of death" to exist for way too long!

"GOD BLESS AMERICA". For how much longer?

"I find it very interesting that planned parenthood does it's best to completely ignore its racist origins. Margaret Sanger was extremely anti-black, and anti-poor. How PP has morphed itself into the alleged best-friend of minorities and those in need is beyond me."

Many minorities and people in need want to have only has many children as they can care for, that's why. Yes, you don't need to be white and rich to care more about being a good parent than about something like outbreeding the Jews.

"To LostinBoston: Your question is based on the faulty assumption that every child who is born instead of becoming a victim of abortion will be on food stamps. of course that's not true. Your question also assumes that poor children (people) are a budren to society. Should we begin killing already-born children because they cost taxpayer funds? If not, how is that different from aborting them?"

It's different from abortion because they're already living people. Your argument here remind me of those idiots who accuse low-income and minority women and girls of pandering to rich white taxpayers when they use abstinence or contraceptives or *both* (like abstinence between their first periods and marriage and contraceptives between their weddings and being ready for their first children) instead of giving birth as often as possible.

"PP and the Pregancy Centers with abortion services still have KILLED over 50 MILLION babies in the USA"

They're killed no more babies than condoms, pills, oral sex, and virginity have.

"These children will be raised as traditional Catholics and will vote pro-life."

I bet not all of them will. Many people don't vote exactly the same way their parents do.

"Look, the bottom line is that all all human life has dignity. The taking of another's life is a terrible sin for that reason, whether it is through war, capital punishment, or abortion."

Abortion isn't homicide, it's amputation. As for dignity, forcing someone to keep an embryo in her body against her will is no better than forcing her to have a penis or knife in her body against her will, no matter how traditional banning abortion, forcing marriage, and honor killings are in her family's culture.

"If PP is truly interested in reducing abortions please put forth your strategy for reducing their number."

Read what the original post says about contraceptives and comprehensive sex ed that includes abstinence. Also remember that while abstinence is the best option for young teens, at the same time it's often not the best option for a married parent who can't care for even more children than he or she already has.

"So PaulQ, what's your point? !933-pre-pill. 2008 and post pill and many many other forms of birth control. Info in the media-TV, Books, movies. There are very few excuses for unwanted pregnancies in this day and age. LADIES TAKE THE PILL or look into the other many forms of birth control."

PaulQ's point is pro-contraception and against those people who condemn both abortion and contraception.

"The Church's efforts to ensure that all sex among Catholic kids is unprotected sex"

Don't forget the efforts to ensure that all sex among Catholic adults is unprotected sex. Remember, abstinence can be a lot less affordable for a 30-year-old housewife living on her husband's income than for a 15-year-old high school student living on her father's income. That's especially true if the housewife's husband married her for a romantic and sexual relationship instead of qualifying for a Green Card or pretending to not be homosexual.

"This means that as our children reach voting age, conservatives will outnumber liberals in more and more places"

The only way you can *guarantee* that your children will pick your candidates after they turn 18 is to make them disabled enough to need assistance in the voting booth and then intimidate them into not voting for anyone you don't like once you're in the voting booth with them. You don't want to disable your sons and daughters, do you?

"It seems people have forgotten that copulation is the sacred consumation of the covenant of Marriage."

It also seems that some people have forgotten that married men are human beings, who only have a limited amount of time and energy to devote to their children. Many married fathers take responsibility for the children they already have by using condoms or getting vasectomies instead of stretching themselves and their wives thin raising more children, giving some of their children to foster care, or driving their wives away (a spouse who feels emotionally abandoned after being shunned in bed can go away even without a formal divorce) and stretching themselves thin being single fathers to the children they already have. Single ladies, anyone who told you that you don't need to think about paychecks or pills because your husband will provide was telling you fairy tales.

"life does not begin at conception. what begins at conception is the potential for life."

The egg cell and sperm cell are living human cells even before conception.

"it frequently fizzles out on its own, resulting in a late period or (even later) a miscarriage. sometimes two eggs are fertilized at the same time, but after a little while they fuse into a single fetus. if the resulting fetus survives to birth, the child is a chimera: two distinctly different DNA profiles in one individual. is that one life ? two ? what about the 'souls' of the original two fetuses ? did they fuse, too, or did one go away ? "

Also remember identical twins and triplets, born after one egg was fertilized and only split into two or three embryos a while after conception.

"What if your mother had decided you were inconvenient."

What if your mother had chosen to stay a virgin longer, or even to become a nun during young adulthood and stay a virgin her whole life?

"What if we have killed the one that was going to find the cure for breast cancer or any other disease?"

What if the one who was going to find the cure for breast cancer would have been conceived on prom night but the potential mother chose to keep her parents company at home instead? What if the one who was going to find the cure for another disease would have been conceived during rape but the potential father chose to be a good man and not attack anyone instead?

"That's an interesting point, Muskie1967. If Planned Parenthood has evolved from more racist beginnings, it joins many other American organizations and institutions, like baseball, higher education, and water fountains. I bet you don't interrogate water fountains about why they aren't labeled 'colored' and 'white' before you drink out of them. Societies evolve."

I agree, that is a good point.

Per the AMA in 1837, science proves that life begins at conception.
Abortion harms women and men and is almost never necessary.
Most women who choose abortion are not told of alternatives.
Contraception has caused more, not less abortions.
Let's use abortion tax money for adoptions.
Let's pray the rosary to end abortion.

Planned Parenthood does not provide necessary counseling to help a woman after an abortion.They are left to fend for themselves.Many women suffer from Post Abortion Syndrome.They suffer with anxiety disorders, have nightmares, recurrent thoughts about the abortion, flashbacks to the abortion experience, suicidal thoughts or acts,feelings of intense grief,and the list goes on and on. One woman wrote "I truly felt like the abortionist ripped out my heart and soul. It was a pain so heavy, I found myself contemplating suicide. I overdosed on pills more than once.". Another says "I had nightmares and recurring dreams about my baby."

This issue is not about politics. It is not about religion. It is about GOD. Those who choose to destroy human life are going against God and his commandments. "Thou shall not kill". It's that clear. The greatest sin of abortion goes far beyond the act but directly to the rejection of God himself. A woman who "chooses" to destroy (reject) innocence (the essence of GOD) in her womb, in turn rejects GOD himself. In turn she is left with the overwhelming feeling of being alone. Until she asks for forgiveness for this grave sin, she is left with emptiness and grief. She is tormented until she finds her way back to God.

"In medical practice, there are few surgical procedures given so little attention and so underrated in its potential hazards as abortion. It is a commonly held view that complications are inevitable", Dr. Warren Hern, abortionist. Finland studied death records of over 9,000 women who had abortions. The results were: Women who had induced abortions were 3.5 times more likely to die within one year as women who carried the pregnancy to term. Of the women who aborted & died within a year, 27% of the deaths were caused from suicide. The nine most common complications are infection,excessive bleeding, embolism, perforation of the uterus, anesthesia complications, convulsions, hemorrhage, cervical injury, and endotoxic shock.

Christina, do you think the complication rate will be less if women are again forced to return to underground clinics, or undertake the project themselves with a coat hanger? Make abortion illegal and it will happen.

Also, some of us are not superstitious.

Why doesn't this baffoon just go away.
He has NO moral credibility.
Where the hell was he in condemning the criminal Iraq War ??
He needs to go to Rome along with his criminal buddy Bernie Law or go to Arizona with the convicted felon Bishop Thomas O'Brien (who fled the scene of an accident, left the man to diew in the road, went home and hid for two days, and tried to get his car repaired to hide the damage)
O'Malley is about as credible as Jerry Springer

"So where is God in all this? " Well, Carol, probably the same place he was at Auschwitz, or when Fr. Goeghan first put his hand on little Bobby O'Shea's thigh . . .

Does anyone actually remember why the separation of church and state was instituted?? It was to keep politics out of religion (which used to be people's whole identity/ life) not to keep religion out of our politics!!! Where are people's moral values and high standards of the church that used to govern people's souls and minds??? Have we just resolved that young people and those who work at PP have thrown in the towel to human dignity?? No, we are not animals who act on instinct! WE are moral human beings made in God's image to serve HIM and uphold His taechings!! And that is simply what the Cardnal is doing!!!

Fifty years ago, my mother had an illegal abortion. Several months later, she became pregnant again by the same man, and was urged to have an abortion again. When it came time for her "appointment", she changed her mind at the last minute and didn't go through with it. The man married her, and a few months later, gave birth to me. They had two more healthy children a few years later. But she never forgave herself for the abortion she had, and suffered severe depression for many years. She took her own life on November 20th, 1977....31 years ago today. I was just a young teenager at the time, and did not understand what she went through. I can only imagine how she suffered for the choice she made.

Women contemplating abortion need to know that it will effect them in this way, and choose life for their unborn instead. That child could very well be a unexpected blessing in her life or in the life of an adoptive family.

To me this issue isn't a religious one. In fact, I think religious arguments give the issue less credibility because they are based in absolute nonsense, archaeic thinking and the delusion that the brainwashed generations of bible readers have been under since the first priest licked his salivating lips at the thought of a whole new breed of poor and stupid people he could swindle.

God and religion are a delusion. But that doesn't prevent us from being moral and acting ethically. There was plently of moral and ethical thought before the idiots in Rome decided to misinterpret the life and message of Jesus and use it to manipulate (and steal from) poor and ignorant people.

What sets us apart from other animals is that we are rational creatures. We can apply reason to our actions (good and bad). No matter what your background, religion or philosphy, all societies have accepted the taking of life as immoral. We can dispute whether or not a full child is in place in the womb, but we cannot dispute that there is life. Our reason and resulting morality would tell us that to take it is wrong.

That notwithstanding, there are those circumstances when we as a society have accepted the taking of life as just and necessary for the benefit of society as a whole. War, along with the resulting death it causes, while universally accepted as grim, has been necessary to fight tyranny and unprecedented wide-spread moral injustice. Similarly, we accept murder in self-defense as a reasonable excuse for taking life.

While there are arguments that can be made about the degree of similarity of the necessity, perhaps if we took a similar perspective of abortion, we could resovle some of the disputes. We should all accept it as an ultimately grim occurence; we should all be in agreement that it is a death. But there may be times when we as a society have to accept it.

I am personally against abortion. But I am also against poor or young or uneducated or afraid women dying in some back room from a shabbily performed clandestine abortion. I am aslo against the collosal ignorance of the Catholic Church to deny the right of birth control to their followers. I am also against the conservatives who are vehemently against abortion and at the same time just as vehemently against any government program to help the struggling women who choose to have children despite having the means to properly care for them. Until these injustices are resolved and eradicated, I will contniue to support a woman's choice to abort an unwanted baby that she cannot take care of and that society won't help her with if she had to. I will accept it as an unfortunate necessity, one among the many, that we as a very complex society have to deal with.

O please raise your hand if you have adopted any of these unwanted babies. And please chime in if you have assisted a young woman who chose to have a baby with the daily search for food, diapers, health care, employment, and sanity. None of you? Just as I suspected.

You sanctimonious nuts, especially male ones, have absolutely NO business at all speaking to this issue. This is America, which was allows us all to make up our own minds. I'm guessing you think it only applies to you.

The strongest foundation this country was built upon is religious freedom, which is why you're allowed to exhibit textbook madness here and on the street corner and not get locked up, (where most of you certainly belong). The rest of us believe it also includes freedom from religion, and freedom to do whatever we wish to our bodies and the products of our bodies. Had you lunatics remained in power, I can easily envision the building of a stadium dedicated to nothing other than the stoning of all America's daughters and their health care providers.

And isn't it curious that these are the very same hysterics who sent their own sons and daughters to kill the Taliban, when in fact, they are the mirror image of the same religious perversion.

Richelle,

THANK YOU for spreading LIGHT on an otherwise dark conversation that has been going around on this blog/site. Amidst the attacks and condemnations, YOU have spoken out beautifully about the reality and tragedy that abortion leaves in its path. My prayers and sympathies to you and your family on the loss of your dear Mother. No woman should ever have to suffer such pain in the name of choice!
Thanks for sharing your story!!!

Planned Parenthood corrupts the morals of every person who purchases cutrate contraception from them.
Their business practice ignores the unitive relationship between lovemaking and procreation being reserved for marriage which denies social justice to the unborn child. Every child deserves a mother and father. If Diane Luby thinks Cardinal O'Malley is out of touch with most Catholics on this point, she is right. But she confuses relationships just like her employer does. The Church teaches Christ is the vine and the faithful are the branches. Cardinal O'Malley just preserves and hands on the tradition of the Church when he speaks as leader of the faithful in the Archdiocese. He is concerned for the salvation of the souls of the faithful.
Of course, the money making motive cannot be overlooked where Planned Parenthood is concerned. They know contraception fails and is forgotten which results in more bloody abortion business.
The most deceptive part of their business empire is that their customer base of Planned Parenthood is formed by their immoral sex education being spread all through our public schools.
As a result of tax dollars flowing like a bloody brook into the accounts of Planned Parenthood, the bloodshed from the destruction of newly formed human beings being destroyed in the wombs of the mother is on the hands of our nation.

Thanks to Planned Parenthood and their cohorts in the blood for money abortion business in this country, a person inside the World Trade Center when the planes hit had a better chance of survival in this country then a baby conceived in a mother's womb in this country.

The risk of loss of good will toward this country if President elect OBama signs FOCA, as he promised Planned Parenthood, cannot be measured except by acknowledgement of the surety that the United States will no longer be recognized as a safe haven for our weak, our innocent and our unborn.

Jeff: based on your insane logic, is the following acceptable:

"If you don't want a slave, don't have one"?

Planned Parenthood is involved in promoting abortion all over the world--with my money.
They are involved in China violating the rights of woman through "forced aborions" to have more than one child.
They are fighting tooth and nail of giving informed facts of abortion to pregnant woman.
They have failed to tell woman of the consequences of abortion i.e. increades risk of Breast Cancer, Depression, debilitating effects on their having healthy future children, increased suicide rate.

I am not Catholic, so I'm curious - could a Catholic commenter answer my questions?

Is there a ceremony for burial of aborted fetuses?
Are they baptized?
Is there a sacrament that has existed in the church for 2000 years for the formal mourning of miscarriages (spontaneous abortions)?
What about unimplanted fertilized eggs which wash out with menstrual blood?
Is that menstrual blood carried into the church, mourned, and prayed over?

Can you explain the logical inconsistencies in your position, or will that just drive you to a intolerable level of cognitive dissonance?

The Catholic bishops in the U.S. have only themselves to blame for neither properly nor consistently conveying the Magisterial teaching of the Church concerning the moral evil of abortion and its companion evil, artificial contraception.

Even though "last minute" efforts were noteworthy, they were simply too late to reverse the consequences of the pastoral failure of the U.S. Catholic episcopate, which have been mounting for the last 40 years, beginning at the point of dissident departure from Paul VI's teaching in the encyclical Humanae Vitae. Bishops have stood by, for the most part, "eloquently mute" and inactive, while dissenting theologians, university professors and administrators, high-profile politicians (e.g. Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, to name just a few) and the like have recast Roman Catholicism with a brazenly heretical and/or shamelessly apostate "American" spin.

When priests and bishops, by-and-large, turn a deaf, disobedient ear to the Holy Father and go off on their own doctrinal, liturgical and administrative/bureaucratic tangents, apparently more concerned about the "approval of men" than the "approval of God," the awful mess the U.S. Catholic Church presently finds itself in, in the wake of a widespread sexual abuse/homosexuality scandal that really never was confronted or treated at its roots, should come as a surprise to no one, especially the USCCB.

The "embarrassment" of the 2008 presidential election will perhaps serve as a wake-up call to dozing bishops and perhaps a death knell to those who not only have lost their faith, but have induced the Catholic souls entrusted to them to lose theirs as well (as evidenced by the alarming statistics describing the beliefs and practices of the majority of U.S. Catholics). With the election of Barack Obama, those culpable bishops will be forced out of their cowardly hiding and be obliged to show their fellow, brave and faithful bishops--and the faithful of their dioceses--exactly WHAT they're made of. If these unfaithful shepherds don't stand up, reclaim their faith and truly live the purpose of their ordination, then the Church is better off without them.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. Obtain for us a goodly number of holy priests and bishops who will courageously and without thought for their lives teach the Truth and defend human life as the most precious gift of God.

People in glass houses should not throw stones! The Archbishop of Boston ought to be the last person preaching to others about the morality of sexual matters. That diocese was infected with child predators for decades and all the church did was pay off victims, deny the problem, and attempt to cover up the crimes of the offenders. Catholic priest in Boston have zero moral credibility as far as I'm concerned.

Every mandatory pregnancy advocate so far has resorted to some sort of religious conviction for their arguments. Thus, there is no logical basis for their point of view. It comes down to an angels-on-heads-of-pins dogma based rant.

Following this approach, my religion requires me to eat my firstborn to ensure more children. I am certain this is the will of the Fertility God. I will be working diligently to get this simple, undeniable fact woven into law. Since I am so obviously correct, everyone should be obligated to follow my beliefs. I have undeniable proof that this is the will of the Fertility God because it's right there in the book I wrote. The revealed word of the Fertility God. Writ for all to see. Even better proof than that bible book, because I signed it. And it's copyrighted.

Chapter 11 has the rituals which must be followed when eating your firstborn. Do not offend the Fertility God by screwing up the sacred rituals, or you will be surely damned to hell (which is a rusting double-wide aquamarine in a trailer park west of Jersey). Plus, get baby gas. And you know how bad that is!

Abortions keep future unwanted kids off of welfare and out of jail. We need more of them. Crime rates dropped from the late 80's to early 90's. Right about when kids who normally would have began being teenage criminals began being aborted after roe v wade in the 70's. Coincidence? I think not.

Cardinal Sean and the USCCB are doing a great job and should not pay any attention to what PP has to say about our Catholic religion. Our religious leaders are doing their jobs . . . bringing Truth to the world. Whether individuals (Catholic or non) pay heed to their words is something each person will eventually have to answer for. Everyone knows that IF a Catholic voted for Obama, it was not a nod towards his pro-babykilling beliefs and everything to do with the state of the economy. I applaud our Catholic leaders and pray they continue to stay strong while trying to lead this "stiff-necked" people to love their God and His ways!

Thank you Diane for an excellent response!!!! It's nice to see some common sense and people that live in reality which is why I will always continue to support Planned Parenthood.

Sorrowful is the word that comes to mind when I read this article. Talking about abortion in such a callous manner shows how numb we have all become to the fact that living beings are having thier lives taken away. Abortion has become a word that no longer invokes the thought of Death. The Death of innocent, unprotected babies. Planned Parenthood would like to mask this atrocity by telling us of the compasion for cancer victims, sex education, being a good healthcare provider, etc. Does providing these acts of generosity make the killing of unborn babies more justified? When are we going to wake up and realize just what we are doing? Are we the slave owners of the past? Have we become like the citizens of Nazi Germany ignoring the horrors going on around us? What will history say about the killing of millions of infants allowed by the people of the 21st. century? The Catholic Church with all it's failings, still understands and does it's best to help protect these innocent victims.

I am appalled that anyone can possibly believe that a fetus is not a human baby. Maybe you should see the body parts vacuumed out in an abortion. The heads are surprisingly like the heads of little babies, and the hands have five little fingers that resemble those of a just-delivered baby.

Dear Group,
I find your opinions and discussions really interesting and educational, but for my own part, I am pro-choice. I have made this decision based upon my own personal background. Please hear me out as to why.
I am a Korean American adoptee who has been to Korea several times and have interviewed birth mothers, foster families, and service workers as well as having visited several orphanages. The general consensus that I have reached is that the enforcement of pro-life usually comes at the cost of undermining womens' right and not only that, but childrens' rights as well. Not only that but many of these countries, such as Korea, use adoption as way of boosing their economy. It is a very money lucrative business.
In a perfect world, every child that is born should be loved and cared for by their parents. In a perfect world, there would be no homicide, hatred for others of different ethical backgrounds, and we would be excepting of all based upon the goodness of God's teachings, but this is clearly not the case.
Women, who have no rights or are bound by societal limitations, usually are from societies that consider them the inferior sex. They have few rights, little standing, and are poorly educated. On the flip side, those that have their children are usually considered parias and their children are treated poorly. Even children who are adopted by other countries such as the United States can even fall through the cracks. At a recent adoptee conference, I met a set of twins who were adopted as a "charity case" by their Christian family yet treated like second-class members of their adopted family for years.
Overall, I don't think this topic is purely black or white. I ask all of you to examine yourselves before you make any judgements. Are you a parent of an adopted child? Are you willing to adopt? Are you helping your fellow living peers today? Have you been to an orphanage where children are waiting for you to help them? I have and its heartbreaking. If you are pro-life - and it is for a good reason! - then I ask that you at least make an attempt to help the children out there - the handicapped, the special needs, the older children languishing in orphanages around the world, the children in the sex trade - that need you just as much as the un-born.

It seems emblematic that a planned parenthood representative would essentially be telling us that we should lower our expectations of other Catholics. If the residents of Massachusetts use birth control, then the Church should be backing it -- is what she is saying. But the Church has always stood for a higher vision of human life and human capacity.

I have many friends (and my family included) that don't use birth control and follow all the Church teachings in this regard. It is a beautiful, holy and happy life and I recommend everyone give it a try. Or you could let PP dictate what the Church should teach. Talk about dumbing down the discussion.

Colleen,
Thank you so much for your kind words and prayers. By the grace of God, myself and siblings are doing well, as are the grandchildren she never knew. My regret is that she died before I was old enough to understand and appreciate her choice to not abort me, and thank her. But I think she already knows, and I trust that I'll see her again someday.
God Bless you, Colleen, and thank you for your prayers. Stay faithful.

Did I mention I'm tired of Catholic's throwing God around for their convenience. Where was God when the Catholic's abused children, oh that's right I forgot most likely hiding them in the Vatican with a nice little promotion for doing such a good job of hiding the offenders! I'm a loss for words when people still follow and listen to people who would hide a Child abuser. NOT only hide them but worship them!!
The church has no standing to advice me or anyone else about what’s right or wrong!! Catholic's are naive and blinded by their faith.

"The rest of us believe it also includes freedom from religion, and freedom to do whatever we wish to our bodies and the products of our bodies"

The last time I eliminated a product from my body, I was not aware of that product gasping for breathe or moving around in an attempt to stay alive.

The decision to carry a pregnancy to term is a woman's choice. Whether she believes abortion is morally right, it is to remain her choice. Oh, and please leave your religious beliefs out of a medical issue! Don't you bible bangers have any self respect? Faith and beliefs are private things, and using them as a platform to broadcast your personal moral agenda is shameful and disgraceful. (This is acknowledging the article is about one religious leader's opinion - I'm speaking in general here)
If you don't want an abortion for any reason, simply do not have one.
You MAY NOT, under any circumstances, make decisions regarding my right to choose what is best for my body, my mind and my life.

How should PP handle the underage girls who are brought into the mills by their overage "friends" to have the "problem" erased? To date, no charges are brought upon the rapist/pediophile who is free to take the girl home to continue on as before the fetus became the enemy. "Just take your toy and go home" is the motto of the mill, no one will know any crime has been committed. After all, the perpetrator is entitled to his privacy.

I have had an abortion. I wish i had never met the lying unscrupulous man who said he wanted to marry me but in reality was already married with a baby on the way from his wife. I was lied to. He was a con artist. I could not afford to be a single mother and I never wanted to have anything to do with this man ever again. I do not regret the abortion. I regret that men, still in this modern age, dishonor women and are the problems that lead many women to decide to have an abortion. The church only cares about men, not women. That is why they do not support women's health care and instead support and promote men's mistreatment of women. The church needs to realize that it is no longer relevant in educated societies that do not rely on myths and fairytales . If the church wants to get political then they will have to pay taxes.

Hey Carol. Ps- wake up. There is no god. If you research religion you will find that it's all plagiaried from other sources, especially astrology which existed well before christian religions. So to all those who say they have the high moral ground because god is on their side, I say, your argument is baseless. Since there is no god you have no argument.

Would anyone here stop going to a doctor if a few other doctors were found guilty of abuse? I didn't think so. Then why do so many people condemn the entire Church for the actions of a small minority of priests? Of course, what those priests did is horrible. But stop condeming the whole Church or its representatives! What about all the heroic sisters and priests who have quietly done their good work for 50, 60, or 70 years?
Cardinal O'Malley only wants to teach the Gospel. He's a Franciscan and owns nothing. He came into a horrible situation to clean up, which was not his fault. Let's be fair and give him a break!

BruceR i think i loooove you! : )

Kristina82
what is morality to you? Do you make up your own moral code as you go along. Do you change your moral values to suit the situation you are in. Taking a life away from another human being is Killing. Killing has always been moraly unacceptable. Don't go bringing war and killing into this. That is a separate issue alltogether. What you do to harm or protect your physical body is up to you. Once human life begins it's your moral obligation to protect this infant from being harmed. When you make the choice to kill this unborn baby, you are no different thank any murderer who chooses to kill. The only difference is according to the current laws of this loony society you can get away with it.

Wow. I always am flummoxed by the anti-choicers' broad brush descriptions of PP as Pro-Abortion, hunting down pregnant women so as to keep their 'abortion mill' going. What religious zealots fail to acknowledge is that no one WANTS an abortion. Women don't gleefully get abortions. I am not "Pro-Abortion", I am "Pro-CHOICE". Planned Parenthood is a non-profit, and as such is not operating in order to make a buck.

The Catholic church betrayed my mother when she found herself pregnant in 1959. They (priests, nuns and others) verbally abused her during her entire gestation--a woman who was carrying her unwanted pregnancy to term, AS THE CHURCH DIRECTED HER. They told her she was going to hell, that she was a harlot, that no man would ever want to be her husband if she ever revealed that she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. They urged her to LIE about her pregnancy, to deceive the man she married (not the father of her first child). She carried that child (my sister) and gave her up for adoption, and then spent the next forty years in guilt and shame from the secret she carried for 36 years before she told another person. The shame and guilt that was so deep-seated she never really escaped it before she died, thanks to the counsel she received from religious zealots of the Catholic church.

After reading about a third of the comments I am genuinely encouraged that several people understand the Catholic Church and Her teaching on Life. Cardinal O'Malley must stand up for the truth of the Church no matter what percentage of Catholics agree with him. My community consists of many fellow Catholics of all ages whom attend a wonderful parish where the Pastor speaks the truth not a watered down version. About 30 or 40 years ago many Priests (whom I feel became Priests as a job not a calling) started to cave to political pressure and being more concerned with putting fannies in the pews then speaking the truth of Jesus and His Church. Check out Judith Brown's book "Saving those damned Catholics" which puts much of the blame where it should be on the Church and it's leaders. The good news is the young men in seminary's now are much more Orthodox whichs is what the Church so desparetley needs. Abortion is murder and those whom support it are in a state of mortal sin. This is what should be preached from the pulpit. I know in my heart as I was a man whom was far from the Church for most of my adult life and also would have even been OK with my son being aborted 27 years ago, that anyone whom has a deep personal realtionship with Jesus would not ever condone abortion. There have been many people whom have been associated with the Catholic Church that have committed tremendous attrocities. Just like we shouldn't blame God for the actions of people, we shouldn't judge the Church on what people have done. There are parishes out there that speak the truth and follow all the teachings of the Church. I guarantee if every Catholic got on board and started practicing their faith like they said they would when they were Confirmed this world would be a much more joyful place and there would be no abortion.

Anne Smith -
Putting religion aside...
Doesn't abortion allow men to not take responsibility for their actions?
Abortion makes it too easy for men - they can just throw some money at their "problem" and make it go away.
My grandmother always said, "Just remember, men can always pull up their pants and go home...".

IT IS STRANGE THAT THE BISHOP IS STRANGELY SILENT ABOUT THE MASS MURDER OF IRAQI CIVILIANS BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION IN THE INVASION OF IRAQ. MEANWHILE THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OPPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY WHICH OBAMA TENDS TO AGREE WITH WHILE MCCAIN WHO WAS A CHEER LEADER FOR THE KILLING OF IRAQIS IS A STRONG PROPONET OF THE DEATH PENALTY. MCCAIN SAID HE ACCEPTED ABORTION IN CASES OF INCEST AND RAPE AND OBAMA SAID HE WANTED TO REDUCE THE NEED FOR ABORTION..

You may live in the "real" world, but you are not alone. We all live here. Living here does not mean, however, that we must swim with the tide when we know that tide will lead to a slope going only one place.
It is the Cardinal's duty to speak out against practices that endanger the souls which he is commissioned to try to help save. Obama promises to support all legislation supporting abortion. Abortion is a polite way of saying legalized murder. There are people who murder grown people. That is the real world we all live in. Your arguement supports the fact that because our world is moving in that direction, we may as well legalize that form of murder as well. As Christians, we look to church and God for leadership, not for the direction of society. That will, of course, lead to arguements. As Christians, however, we know that Jesus also met with the same opposition. He never backed down and went with the flow of society. As I recall, it was the leadership that he spoke out against. That should sound familiar to you and all Obama supporters. Failing to speak out against the wrongs of our political leadership is a sin. I don't care to share in the blood of the innocents which is in your hands, Ms. Luby. Thank you Cardinal, for leading us in these troubled times. Ms. Luby, I pray that you will have a conversion of heart as well as Mr. Obama.

@ Colin: When America was founded slavery was legal. Do you consider that an integral part of what America is today? Or, let me frame it another way -- each time that a significant stride is made in terms of minority rights in America, would you say "America was originally a slave nation -- how it has morphed into a nation where a black man can be President is beyond my imagining. Why doesn't it answer these accusations?"

What matters isn't what Margaret Sanger's views were a hundred years ago but what PP is doing now. Unless you can demonstrate concrete ways in which Planned Parenthood is deliberately advocating eugenics in the way that Sanger did -- and by this I don't mean "providing abortions to minorities who seek them"; I mean "actively advocating eugenics" -- your argument is entirely beside the point.

@ Travis: For heaven's sake, I am sure that what PP accepted was donations to support reproductive care for minority women who could not otherwise afford it. Agree or disagree, but understand that the way that they see it, abortions are not a bad thing and are not a matter of killing a child, but of allowing a woman agency in her life and her reproductive health. So when they accept money to be distributed to black/minority women who are not able to afford abortions (note that blacks are statistically less well off than whites in general), all they're doing is agreeing to help women get abortions who couldn't otherwise. They accept donations to fund abortions for women who can't afford them in general; they're not going to turn this (fake) one down because it targets a specific population that the donor supposedly wanted to help.

What about death penalty, war, immigration? Because I'm Catholic, I need to vote on the single platform of abortion? I see how it is, I can say I believe life is precious because I voted for the anti-abortion guy, even though he believes in the death penalty and provoking war across the globe. That is EXACTLY what every single person on her is advocating for when they say "catholic by name only" when saying we couldn't have possibly voted for Obama. YOU are the people who embrace murder as a byproduct of so called freedom. Single issue voters are the least compassionate of all, you are the ones destroying your own faith.

Anne Smith,
Let me get this straight, you had sex with a man that was married. I can only assume that he was being diishonest with you. You became pregnant and IF he was single and wanted to marry you, then this baby would have been born and all would be well? But you were not financialy capable to support this child. So the logical alternative was to kill the baby? Should all mothers who are financialy strapped be allowed to kill thier babies? Did killing this baby make the injustice done to you go away? Please explain to me why stopping the life inside the womb is different than stopping a life outside the womb.

Is human life really sacred? It seems like there are too many of us already.

Not only has America lost its morals, it has also lost its intelligence. I really don't believe USA would be in the financial fix or suffered the loss of respect and dignity in the world if abortion was not legal. Imagine 45 million citizens working and generating jobs and tax revenues. I remind you that the Catholic Church is not the only christain church that is pro-life. Most, if not all, are against abortion. Do you not know that all children are a gift from GOD beginning with conception? Who destroys GOD's gift? What bad children we have become!! Just because it is "legal" doesn't mean it is morallly right.

PP today is not a service to minorities. When did killing children in the womb become a service to anyone. They make money on the blood of the innocents. A woman should not be able to choose to kill their own child. Choice is an interesting word but the choice to do what is the real question. I choose ...? The real words are pro-abortion. If you support abortion you are pro-abortion.
Abortion stops a beating heart of a person. We know it is a person, Justice Kennedy even said as much in a recent Supreme Court decision. The baby is not part of the mother but feeds from the mother. The baby has its own DNA from the moment of fertilization. This is more than faith. This is science.

Maggie May, it sounds like you were given much bad counsel from those in the Church and for that I am sorry that your mother was given such bad advice. But I can't imagine that you wish your sister was aborted? Your post seems to suggest that this would have been a better route under the circumstances you described. Choice is a word that means nothing unless you finish the sentence. IE: What are you choosing. I can say I am pro-choice. I agree that people should own a gun if they choose. Barack Obama wants my tax dollars to fund abortions with the implementation of the Freedom of Choice Act. This is certainly a pro-abortion stance.

The main fact is a pregnant women is carrying a fertilized egg which is a living human being occurring at the moment of conception. The unborn continues to be a human throughout his/her life until the day he/she dies. These are established scientific medical facts which are not based on a religion, feelings, economic issues, or a woman's choice. Pro choice/Pro abortion rhetoric focuses on other issues which don't deal with the fact that the unborn child is an alive human being and killing is wrong. Life should be valued at every stage. What will happen to our society if we don't protect the unborn? What will happen to our elderly, disabled, medically or mentally ill human beings in society if we don't value life from conception to death?

The last time I eliminated a product from my body, I was not aware of that product gasping for breathe or moving around in an attempt to stay alive.

Whether *it* was breathing or floating, there was no one there telling you what to do with it.

I see you failed to answer my question: how many of the unwanted pregnancies carried to term have you adopted? How many unwed daughters have you sheltered and protected after she gave birth?

Just as I imagined. Not one in here. not one.

And the loudest are the men, who in fact, don't believe in abortion because they 1) want to saddle their wives with a gaggle of screaming babies, and 2) they're so insecure sexually they believe by limiting a woman's choice, the repercussions for having sex outside of marriage will be too great for her to consider.

When Planned Parenthood says that Cardinal O'Malley is out of step with Catholics, they are wrong. It is those Catholics who
feel there is nothing wrong with abortion, who are out of step
with the Cardinal and the Church.

Abortion takes a life, and there is nothing else to think about. Those Catholics who oppose Church teachings, should sit
down and think about where they stand. We are only on this
earth for a short time, and we are not here to take the easy way. It may be tough, but you can not take a life for convenience.

Anne Smith said: "There is no god. " You are correct there is no god. However there is God!

I love how people throw around the adoption thing like it's SO easy for a woman to decide to give up a child she just birthed for adoption... so much easier than say, aborting a 35 mm fetus (and yes, that's how big it is at 9 weeks - according to the Guttmacher Institute, the majority [ nearly 60% ] of all abortions occur by this time).

Need I remind that 1 in every 3 women in America has an abortion sometime in their lives? And three-fourths of these women cite financial struggle as a primary reason why they chose to have an abortion. Which is worse - terminating a pregnancy that is not viable (that is, it cannot survive outside the womb, and essentially has a brain that cannot fully function) - or letting children grow up in poverty?

Let's examine the foster care system in America, shall we? In 2005 (the most recent year complete data exists), 150,000 children were in foster care. Only 50,000 were adopted. If it were continue in such a ratio in the event abortion was outlawed, only 25% of the 1.31 MILLION new babies being born annually would be adopted. Are you ready to take care of the remaining 750,000 with your tax dollars? Or better yet, are YOU going to adopt them?

The pro-life movement is lying to all of you, purporting that it's about saving lives, but actually, it's about banning all forms of contraception and all sex outside of procreation. Read any of their websites, none of them support birth control. Planned Parenthood wants abortion safe, legal, and rare. The pro-life movement wants sex to be unsafe, illegal, and most of all, rare.

Dianne Luby has done Cardinal O’Malley a great service. By trying to scold him for speaking on principles she does nothing but highlight the beautiful moral principle that the Cardinal stands for, the sanctity of human life. Cardinal O'Malley supports the right to life for all. Dianne Luby does believes some people do not deserve the right to life. We will never make abortion less common by making it easier and cheaper. We won't make theft less common by making it legal to steal.

My sister was told by THREE doctors to abort because there will be something wrong with your baby because of medication she was on before she new she was pregnant....there will be major problems. My niece had a cataract on one eye....none of us could image life without her....in most cases she would be gone. We have killed 50 million babies since Rove vs Wade.

Adoption is so hard now and their are many good people that would love to adopt these unwanted babies...give them the same chance as you were given. Most of these people can not even afford to adopt because of the shortage and therefore cost.

Now you try to tell us what our religious leader should be believing and what we should believe and teach. God has done that and just because Obama won the election does not mean people believe in all he stands for. I am sick on the all out attack on religion and especially the Catholics. This will kill out nation as we know it....and I believe that is what you are all working for.

Catholics who support Obama are just "Cafeteria Catholics" who choose to ignore the truth in front of their eyes. They are what Jesus calls the "lukewarm" and he will "spit them out" unless they repent. They are worse than atheist because at least the non-believers dont know any better. With more knowledge come more responsibility.
The bishop is in the right and is inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak up of this genocide as is more and more bishops finally taking a stand against these beasts.God is on his side regardless of PP persecutions. The Planned Parenthood industry is the real injustice. They could care less about women, marriage and the family. All they seek after is Power and Money. The root of all evil.
Please go to www.obamamustsee.com and than tell us what you think.

I think this article demonstrates a very serious problem: The Church has a great deal of work to do in terms of adult education.
Planned Parenthood's attitudes, while unconscionable, are still reasonable when you assume that Truth does not exist absolutely, but is relative, and the human race can solve problems by political activism and government.

Regardless of PP's original intent, the problem of abortion will not be resolved until the Faithful re-learn how to pray.

Either you believe fetuses are human babies with rights or you don't. If you do, then yes, an abortion does kill a baby. If you think that a fetus is just a mass of worthless cells, then you will have no problem expunging it.

Oh, and I have never met or heard of a practicing Catholic who is NOT pro-life, so that's a manipulation.

Amen Peggy. The USA and Europe are stuck in a rut. The immigrating Muslims are taking over Europe. Muslims are re-populating Europe and America as well as the remnant of American Christians and Catholics, most of whom are homeschooling and not partaking of the government schools' sex ed programs, which along with PP have been selling as a by-product of their "prevention" products, the epidemic of teen STD's. Venereal disease was rare several generations ago before the proliferation of PP. Time to evaluate the fruitlessness of the abortion industry, the same business that sells sex outside of marriage.

The issue here is NOT that the Bishop is out of touch with the people. It is that the people are out of touch with the teachings of the Catholic Church. If one wants to call themselves Catholic, it means that they adhere to the teachings of the Magisterium (the pope and the bishops aligned with him). If they don't, they aren't really Catholic any more. By definition, they become Protestant. You can't have it both ways.

God bless our shepherd Cardinal Sean for his fearless defense of the Catholic faith in season adn out of season. This letter is just Planned Parenthood's lousy attempt to justify the blood on their hands. Planned Parenthood is the only winner in this their lucrative money making operation at the expense of innocent human life. May God enlighten all hearts and minds with the eyes of faith to see the origin and beauty of life in all its forms. It is written in scripture that before we were born, when we were knit in our mother's womb, God knew us. May all come to know and realize the preciouosness of each life and may God have mercy on America for its selfishness and ignorance. May Americans reach out to brothers and sisters who are afraid to embrace life or fear they won't be able to provide. May God continue to bless Cardinal Sean for speaking Truth, boldly and fearlessly. A note to Planned Parenthood - the vote for Obama was not a mandate for more abortions or more radical abortions - it was a mandate for economic reform. Catholics who "pick and chose" elements of the faith are the ones out of touch - they are leaning on their own understanding and not on the understanding and wisdom of God and mother Church. The commandments that God gives us are to set us free, not to bind us up and enslave us, but because God in His infinate wisdom knows what is good for us. We are instructed "Thou Shall Not Kill" - this is not a commandment just for Catholics - this is a commandment for Jews and all Christians. Again, I say God bless Cardinal Sean and the wonderful priests of the Archdiocese of Boston - don't be silenced by the likes of Planned Parenhood - keep teaching and preaching so the faithful will be instructed. I also encourage other faiths, our brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith and other Christian denominations who also reverence LIFE to speak up and unite against the holocause of abortion. God bless America. God bless Boston. God bless the Archdiocese of Boston and God bless and protect our Shepherd Cardinal Sean O'Malley.

Watch and get educated (click on "English Video).

Aetheists say the most ignorant and silliest things. Babykiller Patrick S. wonders, "Is human life really sacred? It seems like there are too many of us already." Bravo Pat! Let's kill each other and reduce the world population. Brilliant! I think I agree that there is at least one "too many of us already"...

Why does the Catholic Church give money to Acorn Organization? In case you didn't know they are for abortion .Why can't you take this money and give it to Centers for Pregnancy concerns. You can re-open Catholic Schools with that money, or give other Catholic School children a discount. Remember GOD is watching you!

Kitty Selig

Do a little research on PP and abortion clinics and you will find that they are very disproportionately located in minority neighborhoods. Why do you think that is?
Facts:
1) Planned Parenthood is the country's largest provider of abortions in this country. 2) Abortions did not go *down* with the spread of contraceptives, they went *up*, drastically. Pope Paul VI was right. With the spread of contraceptives, more people had sex outside marriage. All contraceptives have a significant, real world failure rate. And when they fail, what's the answer? Abortion. 3) At the moment of conception, an unborn child's DNA is as complete as an adult's. At 3 weeks after conception, she has a heartbeat, at 6 weeks measurable brain waves. Most all abortions occur after one or both of these milestones. Yet she can be killed at any time for any reason or for no reason at all - up to the moment of birth.

How any woman has been convinced that the murder of her unborn offspring is "empowerment" is beyond me.

Patrick writes - "Is human life really sacred? It seems like there are too many of us already."

This is not to be flippant or mean, but, then why have you not committed suicide, Patrick? Why haven't you helped the "overpopulation problem" (which is a myth, anyway - we're on the verge of serious problems of declining populations in the west - especially Europe). Or is it that *your* life is sacred, but the lives of others are not?

No - your life and *all* of our lives are sacred.

It simply doesn't work this way. Cardinal O'Malley's teachings are in line with essential teachings of the Church. People who call themselves Catholics but choose to oppose essential Church teachings have no influence on this ... and are not really Catholics.
We don't care if Catholic membership dwindles due to this ... we stick to the Truth, period.
Discernment of the Truth is NOT a democratic process. The Truth has been revealed, and is well documented. You can accept it, or not accept it.
Nobody argues about the law of gravity. It is what it is. Universal Truth is equally constant. Find out more in an RCIA class. No commitment necessary. Or try The Coming Home Network International web-based forums. Ask ANY question there. The Catholic Church will have a biblically-based, coherent response to all your questions. But you'll have to be willing to be a bit counter-cultural to grasp some of the concepts. It's a lot easier to go along with the flow ... but that's not what we offer.

It is not his Eminence's responsibility to "reconnect" with Catholics-in-name-only. He is fulfilling his sacred duty to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, no matter how unpopular it is. He is God's mail carrier: he has no authority to edit the mail, only to deliver it. The faithful must listen to the proclaimations of Christ's Holy Church and to obey. Period. Anathema on those who resist the voice of God which subsists in his Holy Church.

Roma locuta est, causa finita est.

So when did killing babies become acceptable to Americans? Let's argue about it until we can pretend to convince ourselves with words.

"The constitutional right to abortion has always been a very private decision between a woman, her physician, her family and her clergy. "
Since when is Abortion a 'constitutional right' More to the point in the great expeiment in governance that is America; the Declaration of Independance says man is created by His Creator and endowed with certain unalienable rights....among them is the RIGHT to LIFE
The real problem is the hijacking of politics and religion by people who are seeking power and money. PP is a multi million corporation.
And those people who have abortions will never get to live Mother's revenge.

Inmanette mentions the racism of the Democrat Party 100 years ago. This completely ignores the active racism of that party today.
James

MichaelForrest:

How any woman has been convinced that the murder of her unborn offspring is "empowerment" is beyond me.

How any man can have any opinion about any woman's rights is beyond me!

MYOB: "Mind your own body".

Cardinal O'Malley speaks the truth. Jesus Christ is way, the truth and the life. Follow Him, not Planned Parenthood.

Truthteller @114--I am not Catholic, by choice. I'm really not interested in being counseled by that institution. And no where in my post did I ever imply I wish my sister were aborted. That was a cheap shot. Please refrain from putting words in my mouth...(it cheapens your argument, as well.)

What I was outlining was the fact that this church, and all of it's representatives, continued to punish my mother when she did what they told her to do. Nice catch-22. My mother was given no choices. She was effectively told to suck it up and live in secret shame.

As for a "pro-abortion" stance, are you as interested in what goes on in my podiatrist's office as you are in my gynecologist's? The issue at hand is a woman's health and right to make her own decisions with privacy and without interference. .

I THINK THEY SHOULD BEABLE TO IF THEY DONT HAVE A HEART YET

Are you all kidding?!?! Many in the church have stated that any good Catholic could not be a democrat (most likely because of the abortion issue) but I can vote for John McCain, a man who endorses capital punishment? How hypocritical of anyone to say abortion is wrong and not to vote for someone who endorses it, just to turn around and vote for someone who believes in another form of murder.

I can't believe some of you think you have an argument here (either for or against) Any true Catholic wouldn't have voted for either of these two candidates, as neither follows the basic tenants of the church and therefore shouldn't be voted for by a Catholic. It's not that these people are bad men, however they do not fall in line with the basic principles we have adopted as Catholics and therefore we cannot vote for them.

If you voted for McCain or Obama, please remain seated when the priest calls everyone up for the eucharist.

Planned Parenthood does more to prevent unwanted pregnancy than all of the so-called pro-life organizations put together. If we could work together to make abortion rare and unnecessary, that would be a blessing. It's high time that we understand what we have in common, and work toward that common goal.

To those responders who say they are convinced atheists and that Christianity, esp, Catholicism, is some kind of discredited mythology, I would suggest that they look into the life of Marthe Robin.

Planned Parenthood's argument is so stupid. The Catholic Church is not a democracy. We don't vote on Church doctrine. We are not a political party. We are not trying to be most popular. We are not a business. We are not worried if anybody will buy our product. We don't do political polls or marketing polls. We follow the Church. We look to the Church as a teacher and guide. God himself founded our Church so we know it is right. This is what we believe as fact. Now some must say I'm stupid, can't think for myself, but that is not the point, this is what I believe.

As far as Abortion FWIW its unnatural. No other female goes inside itself and takes out its young. I've known men and women who have had five abortions a piece. Very rude, very wasteful, very barbaric... Protect Life. Give life a chance

Sorry to say but there are two types of Catholics: those who practice their faith and those who don't The sin of scandal is one of the heaviest ones in their "resumes" and we should pray God to forgive all those who forgot that their own lives began at the moment of conception and not at the time Obama skipped ...to remember...!!!
James Smith

Pico has it exactly right. We should be talking about all that we can do to help women prevent unwanted pregnancies - educating our youth, providing access to contraception, supporting women in making healthy decisions about their sexuality. If we put our efforts there, we would eliminate the need for most abortions, and we wouldn't have to spend our time arguing about the issue. It's time to walk the walk, rather than just talk the talk. I'm so tired of the self-righteous telling others how to live their lives without offering them the means and opportunities to make healthy life choices. Sumi

Two things to say and that is it. First, abortion being wrong has nothing to do with religion, it is NATURAL LAW that defines when life begins and it is human judgement,or lack there of, that chooses to terminate it. The whole morality of it stems from the fact that we are made up of a body and a soul, not just a body. So if your best argument is that abortion is only wrong for people of faith, you must be really confused because we are the only animal that actually reaches into the womb of its pregnant female and rips out the only natural and logical result of the sexual act: the guarantee for survival of the species. The second thing is even simpler. To be American, you must be born or naturalized. To be a doctor in anything you have to graduate and keep up with your particular field of study. Well, to be a Catholic, you must adhere to the teachings of the Church and practice your faith, regularly. You must continue your formation, embrace your crosses, cling to the sacraments and work in union with the Church to overcome your struggles with whatever issues or differences you might have. All these new terms, cafeteria Catholics, or fallen away Catholics or whatever you want to call them, don't make them a Catholic. They make them protestant. So please, stop calling them Catholics and call them something honest for a change, whatever you want, just not Catholics. The door is always open, if they come back with an open heart and a desire to embrace their faith. We won't push or beg, they can come home when they are ready. Until then, please pick a different name. We will continue to pray for you.

I am a Catholic mom (of eight, plus three miscarriages, and may possibly be expecting again; and yes we know where babies come from:) ) who has spent most of the day writing replies to the posts that most caught my eye - so if I repeat something else someone has said since post #113, it is because that is the last post I read before submitting this. (I did not go back to check for updates because I have already spent far too much time on this!) I am also aware of instances of oversimplifications; however, time and space do not permit more.

Muskie 1967 (post #3) so if we all work together to make sure that Planned Parenthood's "services" are no longer needed, and it could shut its doors forever, that would be a good thing, right? Then sign me up - where do we start!!!! Sadly, though the goals of PP and of the Catholic Church appear to be the same, I fear we do not agree on the approach to reaching those goals...

MyNameIsBob (post #82) Though I found your questions cheeky, the criticisms within hold some measure of validity. Frankly, some of the points you raised have found their way into my ponderings of late, after first helping friends through miscarriages, and then experiencing three myself. I do agree that this is an area where Catholics have room for great improvement - my husband's and my babies received no burial (having died too early for there to have been anything to bury), no acknowledgment from the general congregation (other than the few friends in whom I confided) that they ever had, even for just a short period of time, existed as part of our earthly community. In fact, it would seem to follow that if we Catholics were to more overtly support those who have lost a child through miscarriage, it would raise our awareness as a whole of the sacredness of life.
I did learn through my experience, that, as you point out, many miscarriages are never even recognized as such because they occur so soon after conception. It is obviously not practical to have every menstruating, sexually active female tested for pregnancy after every ovulation; I do not think that negates the call to support those who are grieving after learning that they have endured such a loss. And no, my babies were not able to receive the Sacrament of Baptism by water as is usual; but the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC, available online) teaches that baptism by desire, in circumstances where the baptism by water is unable to be performed before death, is also valid (see paragraphs 1258 & 1259). Trusting in a merciful God, Who is in the eternal Now outside of time and space, and Who knows the hearts of all, I have hope that our desire to have them baptized has sufficed. As for burial for aborted babies, there are no formal services of which I am aware. I do not even know if the members of the Church would be permitted to obtain the remains for burial. [There are quite a number of parishes that have erected memorials to those killed by abortion.] I would like to believe that their baptism falls under that described in paragraph 1258 of the CCC: the baptism of blood.

Oh, and I think it takes a great deal more "cognitive dissonance" to justify the forcible, fatal wresting of a distinctive, unique human being from his/her mother's womb than to admit that there is room to grow in the Catholic congregations' treatment of the unborn!

BruceR (post #85) The treating of the human embryo as a commodity devalues YOUR life as well as that of every human being on earth! We do not NEED religion to back us up; it just is common sense that one thing leads to another. Artificial contraception led to the separation of sex from the creation of new human beings; then came the "need" for abortion as back-up for failed contraception; now come arguments for same-sex "marriage" because procreation has been removed from the concept of sexual relationship (with just a slightly different take on this reasoning, polygamy is not far behind); and since aborting a baby is OK to relieve a pregnant woman's suffering, embryonic stem cell research is considered to be acceptable because the destruction of these human beings will presumably relieve the suffering of those already born. (How long before ¡"science" demands that you unwillingly hand over your born child in the name of relieving someone's suffering?) With cloning and mixing of human/animal DNA already occurring, how far do we think we can take ourselves before our humanity is diluted beyond recognition? That Pope Paul VI prophesied this in Humanae Vitae does not detract from the simple facts. Sad to me is that some, maybe many, would laud these developments as "progress!"

Also: the Catholic Faith is not dogma-based ranting. With careful study, and an open mind and heart, you can see that many of the teachings of the Catholic Church are quite rational. But you cannot take bits and pieces out of context. I would make any readers a friendly challenge to actually go and learn about Catholicism (I am PRO-posing, not IM-posing; the Catechism of the Catholic Church is readily available online), not to convert you but to give you some insights as to why we believe, and act, as we do. It makes for much better discussion if you actually understand the underpinnings of our faith, even if you do not necessarily agree.

David Pulaski (post #86) Been reading "Freakanomics" lately I see?

KT (post #88) A reality that has been created by the CHOICES of our generation and those that have gone before us; yes, it may be that you see PP as a grim necessity for our times, but PP is at best a band-aid solution for a society suffering from epidemic proportions of selfishness. Yes, let's be grownup about this and call it what it is. People talk about empowerment in their choices; yet it is their very slavery to their desires that has left them demanding that "empowerment" (talk about cognitive dissonance!). Be honest; we don't WANT to deny ourselves, and then we want to have the ability to undo or avoid the consequences of our unwise choices. Moreover, we talk about our kids needing these "services," and why? Because their models are us, and what poor models we make! How CAN we tell our kids that abstinence is best when the music, the movies and TV shows, the advertising of our culture so glorify sex without consequences! We set them up for failure and then cry for "services" when they don't disappoint us!

But even if you still see this as just part of the current reality of life, we don't have to sit here and take it! Ultimately the solution IS mostly attainable, if unpleasant: it rests in ACCEPTING THE FACT that our decisions have consequences, and that often the truly right choice is the hard one (like abstaining from sex while enduring raging hormones; or reaching for carrot sticks when we¡¦d rather have a chocolate bar; or getting out for a walk when we want to slouch on the couch watching more morally degrading TV; or reading to our little ones instead of heading to the bar). True EMPOWERMENT comes, not from being able to indulge without consequence, but in mastering ourselves so that we rule our desires, not the other way around. Yes, we are human and imperfect, but to justify our poor choices by this is to admit to being FEEBLE and WEAK. Is that how you would like to be defined? To say that "well, we can't help it" just fuels the fire. What we need to do is STOP the WHINING and start supporting each other in making the right choices! And when someone does make the wrong choice, as can happen, we have to act to support without condoning (the Church calls it "loving the sinner while hating the sin").

Now, I realize this does not address the case of girls/women (even married ones) who did not consent to the act that resulted in their pregnancy; in those cases we are called to provide extreme compassion (from Webster's: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it). Actually, our society has come to associate "compassion" with removal of one's suffering; I would argue that, moreover, we actually want to put the person to whom we are showing "compassion" out of OUR misery (so we don't have to deal with the "problem" ourselves) - hence the comments that legal abortion is acceptable because then taxpayers aren't "burdened" with the care of the child. But the word "compassion" originally stems from the Latin com + pati - to suffer with. We are not to "get rid" of the problem through abortion, because it is short-sighted to think that there are no consequences to abortion! [For one, it is fatal to the baby; but the mother also suffers - and yes, once a mother, always a mother, for if it isn't a baby then she's not really pregnant!] We instead are called to love the one suffering, to walk with her through it; and as Mother Teresa described it, true love means giving until it hurts.

So yes, some posters again have valid criticisms of us Catholics. After all, all you Catholics out there, if we were truly doing everything we could to help, would there even be a need for PP? Wow - thanks, Throw_The_First_Stone and others, for putting our backs against the wall, because maybe it will galvanize us to do more to put PP out of business, in addition to finding other ways of putting our actions where our faith is!

Hmmm (post #94) God was right where He always is - in our midst, and don't think He didn't see what was going on! And believe me, when our time comes we will each be judged by Him according our deeds on earth; "Vengeance is mine," saith the Lord (Deut 32:35). Also, many posters have made the error of confusing "people" in the Church with the "teachings" of the Church. For those of you who have suffered at the hands of "people" within the Church, I beg you to look beyond them to see that Jesus, the Founder of the Church, still loves you, and while those to whom He entrusted His teachings may not always convey them in a manner worthy of Him, His teachings themselves have not changed.

Kristina82 (post #96) I am not arguing your right to your free will - your decision about what is best for your body, your mind, and your life; but when was the last time you asked your baby (who has his/her OWN separate body, mind, and life) what his/her will is? Just because that child happens to occupy a space within yours allows you to speak for him/her as to whether he/she deserves death? And what about all the children THAT baby might have had, and the grandchildren, and so on - did you think about the fact that you are also making the decision against life for them, as well?

Self-respect? I see myself as a creature made in the image and likeness of the Divine God! How's THAT for self-respect? And guess what, I see you that way, too, "wonderfully and fearfully made" (Psalm 139:14). Thank you, I am flattered to be considered a "bible-banger!" Leave my religious beliefs out of a medical issue? I don't leave my religious beliefs out of ANY issue; if I did, you would be quite right to call me a hypocrite. Strange group, these-that-want-religion-out-of-the-public-arena; act contrary to your beliefs, and they call you names; act in accordance with your faith, and they call you names! Make up your minds, already!

Yes, each person has his/her own beliefs, but like it or not, we are all part of one family - the family of the human race. I am not broadcasting a personal moral agenda; though I am not an official mouthpiece of the Catholic Church, I am, by my baptism, obligated to spread the Faith in whatever way the opportunity presents itself. I have not made any personal contributions to the deposit of the Faith; but I try to study and understand it, as best as I am able, because in my deepest being I know what St. Augustine said to be true: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." And though we need to be respectful of the beliefs of individual people, in the end, only one Faith can be the True one. What if, just bear with me for a minute, what if the Catholic Faith IS that True one - wouldn't it be selfish of me to keep it to myself? Wouldn't you want to know? What if no one ever gave you the chance to discover the real secret to happiness?

Anne Smith (posts 98 & 99) - you are an angry woman, and I can understand why. But please, don't blame the Church, and God, for what a sinful man did to you. The Catholic Church is NOT anti-woman; just read this:

"The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of woman is being acknowledged in its fullness, an hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect, and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with the spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling."
The message of the Second Vatican Council to women, December 8, 1965 AAS 58(196), 13-14

In fact, a woman (Mary, mother of Jesus), is the most honored human being within the Catholic Faith (ok, Jesus doesn't count because He is God as well as man; and to forestall the inevitable objections, I said "honored," not "worshiped," because only God is deserving of our worship). Also, the Church bears the vocation of motherhood in such high esteem that the Church teaches it is to be reserved to those united with a man in the Sacrament of Marriage. The man who hurt you did dishonor you, but it does take two to make a baby... And to say that the Catholic Church does not support women's health care shows a lack of understanding of its definition of health care; Catholic facilities routinely treat about 90 million Americans annually, including many who are uninsured/underinsured. It's just that we disagree that artificial contraception/abortion constitute health care, because of the recognition that these issues have consequences that are so severe.

I would like to point out that the reason most, if not all, religions have similarities is because some amount of truth is to be found in all religions. You say my arguments are baseless because there is no God; but while atheists are keen on putting the proof of His existence on believers, I have yet to meet an atheist who could prove to me, beyond doubt, that He doesn't exist.

Patrick S. (post #111) - I like to think we are actually populating Heaven, which is outside time and space and therefore has room for infinite numbers of people...

OK, two more things: One of my best friends has not only adopted 1 but 8 unwanted children and she is obviously too busy to sit here and read all this back and forth that won't change anyones minds. And, it is Catholic and other non profit organizations like Project Rachel, the Knights of Columbus, Human Life Interanational, etc.... that clean up the mess left by abortion mills. FREE OR CHARGE!!! So just because you have not heard of them or are too self absorbed to notice, there are thousands of people who donate their time, treasure and/. or talents to help all the people who choose to keep their babies and who counsel those who are suffering after haveing had an abortion. I challenge people to take a walk outside their three mile raidus and actually witness what is going on out there. And read Humanae Vitae.

God bless,

Ms. Luby is mistaken. She seems to believe that it is the job of bishops and priests to represent their congregations, rather than to teach them and provide spiritual leadership and guidance.

If abortion does not kill a child then why would we want to have programs to limit the number of abortions? Why do we fund programs for prenatal care if what is being cared for isn't a human being? As for the orignal conversation of whether Cardianl O'Malley is out of touch ... I think he is very much in touch. Just because you were baptised Catholic doesn't make you one. I know several Pro-abortion catholics in name only as they haven't been in Church in decades. Being Pro-Abortion and Catholic is a nonsensical as being a member of the NAACP and thinking slavery was a pretty good idea.

PP should be called planned non-parenthood, or premeditated anti-parenthood.

#103 Maggie May, sorry, but that is the fair inference from your first post, that if you think all the Catholic counselors should have let your Mom have an abortion, then you would not have that sister. I'm sure you love and treasure her, so despite the great pain in your Mom's life, she made the greater, unselfish, self-sacrificing, loving decision.

Anne Smith, you said you were lied to by an unscrupulous guy (is there any other kind?). What about chastity? Unless you were raped, which you did not say, then you could have said 'no.' That was the beauty of the chastity regime which held for the majority before the 60's; no was usually the automatic response, you didn't have to go through a lot of moral gyrations. Plus, ok, you were rightly mad at the cad; why then take out the anger on an innocent 3rd party, the baby?

Then, in comment 103, you say to BruceR, the atheist, "i think I love uuuuuuuu." Even counting in the facetious tone, sounds like you still haven't learned your lesson, becoming infatuated with someone you've never met, who probably is not named Bruce, could be a woman, might be an ax murderer.

I sincerely admire you for your candor, putting yourself 'out there' for the sake of this discussion. But at least you have been honest, being pro-abortion and being an atheist go hand in hand, and that is the base community of the democrat party. That's why there's a culture war going on in this country, as illustrated by this thread. But there was no such abortion/atheist faction at this nation's founding, so it is clear that you folks are the ones who are trying to alter the fundamental character of this country, and not for the better.

I challenge all 150 commenters so far, especially self-identifying pro-lifers, but also caring and compassionate pro-choicers, to check out Friendsoftheunborn.org
in the Boston area, but there are similar places all over the US.
Friends of the unborn houses pregnant young women who have no place else to go, and many other material, educational and spiritual services.

And after you check out the website, make a Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, or Humanist gift; I am.

Rather than address the argument it is all to easy to throw the "Catholics should stay away from kids" argument in our faces when we stand up to call a spade a spade.

Most priests did NOT molest children and while that is REPREHENSIBLE, it doesn't invalidate that abortion kills a life.

It is unfortunate that Diane Luby didn't address the origins and desires of Margaret Sanger. I wish it were known that most Planned Parenthood offices are located in areas that are heavily populated my minorities - so if the argument is that PP helps minorities, it is definitely fair to question how do you define that help?

Honestly, if PP were really in the business of helping minorities, it wouldn't be killing their unborn babies and wouldn't be afraid to address the assertion by Cardinal O'Malley about racism.

Are many of you aware of how Hitler was influenced by Sanger - and we know what Hitler thought of minorities! Research the connection!

Let's see. We have satan's henchmen, PP; who just happen to have 80% of their abortion mills in minority neighborhoods; telling the Catholic church what they should be doing. We've just elected a president who thinks, along with planned parenthood, that it's perfectly OK to suck the brains out of a baby right before birth. I think the country is going down the drain. America has made the dollar bill it's god. It looks like God is about to make that dollar bill as worthless as the paper it's written on. God help us all.

Post # 9 -- bostonforkids--- you are extremely mistaken!!! your ignorance is truth to the fact that you obviously believe all that you read in the media and have the forearm of the sword against the Catholic Church! Glad to inform you that more acts against kids, as is your concern, are more prevalent in other faiths. The Catholic Church will always make headlines no matter what because there are so many that choose to believe in killing innocents such as yourself. Make yourself judge and jury if you like but the Church will not change it's Biblical basis for those such as you. Lack of morality ..= bostonforkids and planned parenthood.

The role of the Church is to lift people to God not dumb down God to the people. I loev to hear how if the Church was more "in touch" how better off it would be. Well their are denominations that have all the liberal prerequisites for success. Female clergy, gay marriage, divorce, no problem with abortion. And these denominations are dying because in the end they stand for nothing. These are just excuses for people not to face the challenges of life. Jesus Christ promised many things. That life would be easy was not one of them. Many are called, few are chosen. It's up to you.

The root and truth of the matter is this....It is all about money and greed. The abortion industry is a multi billion dollar industry with it's fingers in embryonic stem cell research and since the number of abortions are not accurately reported, it is anyone's guess how many are really performed. Now we want to harvest embryos to grow human tissue. Again, money and greed is again at the root of this segment of mindset. The other day, it was reported that adult stem cells were grown to help in a windpipe transplant. The stem cells were from the person who received the transplant. there were no stems cells harvested from embryos who did not have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Those who engage in premarital sex or sex outside of marriage, the consequences are many: pregnancy, venereal diseases, divorce(if you are married), broken families, destroyed friendships, loss of trust, guilt, shame,depression, loss of self-esteem..... this list could go on and on. Now we attack one of the consequences of this action...We now destroy the evidence of this union of man and woman.....The child. It is a child, no less, no more. Science does not have tell me because common sense tells me. I cannot rationalize it away. It is what it is. This is where we are at in this point. Here are the consequences of this false "freedom" so many of our brothers and sisters have embraced: the destruction of millions of innocent unborn children, anger, guilt, depression, suicidal thoughts, suicide, despair, withdrawal from life, the deprivation of the world of one of God's children, the possible loss of someone who would have found the cure to cancer,Aids, or some other horrible disease. The list goes on to include depriving a grandparent the chance of being a grandparent, depriving a boy or girl the chance of having a little brother or sister Not to mention Social Security..We have effectively destroyed 50 million + potential taxpaying Americans.....We all suffer from abortion.
Before all of you who hate the Catholic Church pass judgment, make sure you have studied what you claim to hate. Try Pope Paul's Encyclical "Humanae Vitae"(On Human Life), which was written in 1968. Another excellent source would be Pope John Paul II 'Theology of the Body" . Check out the Catholic Catechism,talk to a real practicing Catholic,not someone who has not been properly catechized because they simply do not know or understand what they are talking about. Talk to a priest if you sincerely want to know what the Church really teaches. Inform your consciences and God bless you all, especially the Unborn and the mothers who are contemplating aborting their children. Thank you.

When you vote pro-choice you have effectively excommunicated yourself from the Catholic church; therefore, people in this category should not claim an attachment to Catholicism when poled.

Go to priestsforlife.com and look at an abortion then think about what you saw. I was a teenager who used birth control and had an abortion. I have lived for many years with the knowledge that I MURDERED my child. I knew she was a baby and out of fear I had an abortion anyway. So any of you people who have tried to argue about when life begins just ask a mother. She will tell you at conception. Your hormones change and your protective instincts kick in. I denied mine. I killed my child. I wish I wouldn't have had a choice. I wish I would have practiced SELF control. I wish I could ask "I wonder what my child LOOKS like."

gaudet @153. No. That is not a fair inference in any way, shape or form. My point was, and remains, that even when following the guidance of the church, the church and it's representatives continue to punish the faithful, when they make the so-called right choice. I love my sister, and find your assumption that I wish she were aborted, or that my mother would have aborted given the option, to be not only abhorrent, but sadly typical of rabid anti-choicers who are looking for any way to scare the unitiated into following your convictions.

My mother's choice may not have been any different had she been provided with options. My point is that she was not given options. She was steamrolled into the 'only option' and then perpetually punished for doing so.

If you don't believe in abortion, don't have one! But I don't think any of us has the right to make decisions for others especially those who have been assaulted or whose lives are in danger. At least there is one goal we can all agree on-- to work together to see the day there are no unwanted pregnancies. That means teaching our youth to be responsible and educating them on how to protect themselves with contraceptives. If Bristol Palin who lives in a very religious household cannot get abstinence right, it certainly doesn't bode well for the teens in the rest of the country!

To JeffinIllinois(#10): (sorry if other ppl already covered all this)
1. Abortion doesn't kill babies? -This statement is simply ignorant. In an abortion a human life is ended permaturely (aborted). Another word for "ending a human life" is "kill". (If your problem is with using the word "baby," what difference does it make what stage of life the human is at--"You can't kill that adolescent!...Oh wait, go ahead, it's only a toddler)
2. If you don't want an abortion, don't have one. -Against slavery? Don't own one.
3. We have children who are taught by parents that they can get pregnant from a toilet seat. -What? ... not really sure how this justifies infanticide...
4. Love the fetus and hate the child seems to be the anti abortion agenda. -"Love human beings at every stage of life" is the agenda. And maybe also "don't kill human beings."
5. Planned parenthood shouldn't be necessary in a society that talks openly and honestly about sex and the potential consequences... but alas.. that isn't realistic. -Is PP helping to move toward that society? What PP really serves to do is to promote the idea that there is no innate human dignity, and that human rights grant human dignity, rather than human dignity demanding human rights.
6. It is amazing that people care so much about a fetus while we slaughter innocent people with the constant war we wage all over the world? I think the response to the Bishop was appropriate. After all, the Catholic Church is just getting around to forgiving Galileo for simply stating the Earth is not the center of the universe. -not that numbers are the be-all-and-end-all, but as of this posting, an estimated 4,133 Americans have died in the Iraq war. This is awful, but it should be remembered that 4,000 Americans have died since yesterday by abortion procedures, many of them in PP clinics. I am not defending the war, nor do I discount the non-American casualties caused by our wars. I only think that we must remember the scale of abortion. 12 million Jews, Catholics, and minorities were killed in the Holocaust. 49 million human beings have been killed by abortion in America alone. Both of these genocides were legal in the countries in which they took place. As for the random reference to Galileo, I guess the point was that the Church is out of step with the times. Is this a bad thing, though? The Church was out of step when it spoke out against slavery, but this is generally thought to have been a good position to take.

Killing is killing. Because the victim cannot protect themselves does not make it it anything other than killing. Our society has been brought down by those who think there are certain classes which need to be eliminated and abortion is the way to go, especially when PP makes it so easy. There will come a day of reckoning for all of us. I console myself with the hope that all those who are killed in utero find that they are in a better place although no one has the right to predetermine their deaths. God help us all.

"North America's Holocaust." Abortion is murder and destruction to the child and the mother. Having personally gone through it I know the pain never goes away. I will never forget. I saw my child's heartbeat, and felt her flutter inside me the night before the abortion, because my boyfriend and the father of my 7 year old daughter now, "Didn't want me, didn't want the baby, and no one would want me with children" Those words will haunt me forever. I've found healing at "Rachel's Vineyard". My daughter has a "Certificate of Life" now. Her name is "Signe."

Mathew 18:6 "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck."

"These are issues that the Catholic Church and Cardinal O’Malley have repeatedly refused to acknowledge as a mainstream part of health and education in our society."
"The Catholic Church has an opportunity to reconnect with their members around these issues."
"Cardinal O’Malley and the bishops have a lot of work to do in order to reconnect with their members."
It would seem to me that Ms. Luby may need a lesson in how the Church works. It is the responsibility of the Church’s magisterium (teaching authority) to interpret scripture and apply it to the society of today, not the other way around. It is not the responsibility of the Church to bend and break its teachings and traditions to support the beliefs of the masses. In a world plagued by legal sanction of homicide and a narrow definition of “acceptable life,” the Church stands as a moral guide for those who have decided to place trust in impoverished secularism rather than in God. The fact that the majority of Catholics voted against Church teaching is no reason to begin to change the teaching therein. It may indicate, however, that the Church needs to do a better job teaching it.

Planned Parenthood must learn that "truth is not determined by a majority vote." Funny how they ignored the truth behind the creation of their own organization and its extreme racial tendencies. Good job Cardinal O'Malley for speaking truth and exposing the wolves.

SO what does Planned Parenthood know about Natural Family Planning as opposed to all of this artificial stuff that might complicate the body in an unhealthy way?

What has always bothered me is that abortion became legal in all 50 states by one sweeping decision the Supreme Court made in 1973, Roe v. Wade... the people of this country have never voted on it. What most Americans don't know is that there was a companion case to Roe v. Wade called Doe vs. Bolton, that made abortion legal throughout all 9 months of the pregnancy for health reasons. The problem is that the court never defined "health of a mother" and it is a loop hole which has made abortion legal for practically any reason even if the child could live outside the mothers body if delivered early. Although it sounds sensible that every woman should have right to control her own body, it is not when it comes to abortion. Half of those aborted are females so obviously not every woman has the right to control her own body. As I read recently in a pamphlet called the "Language of Illusion" "Control, which involves responsibility and restraint, should be exercised before exposing one's body to the possibility of pregnancy. Abortion seeks to replace SELF-control with the right to control the body of someone else."

PP is in the murder business; enough said!

I will never forget 5 years ago, 2003 when I was newly welcomed into the Catholic faith on Easter Sunday at St. Joseph’s Parish, after undergoing 2 years of RCIA. I did not know then that I was newly with child, having conceived on "Holy Thursday".

My "Catholic" boyfriend, and father of my now 7 year old daughter and this murdered child's father told me when I told him about our my pregnancy, his first words were; “I want a new boat”. I will never forget that or the other things he said to me..... I was at the ultrasound for the child and saw the heart beating.... a pulse.... I also felt the baby flutter in my tummy like a butterfly the night before the abortion.

Reflecting back, on my new conversion to Catholicism, it was a test for me from the Devil. Here I was newly converted to Catholicism, and the most monumental test I could ever be given, I failed at.

In May of 2003 I recall vividly that on CNN they were talking about the 30th Anniversary of “Roe vs. Wade” and considering reversing it. I prayed and prayed that this would happen, and it would take the decision out of my (more so the “earthly” sperm donor’s) hands. I told Doug the blood of this child would be on his hands not mine. But of course ultimately it was me. I signed the “Death Paper” for this innocent baby. I asked God to take my life too while I lay on the operating table. I feel like a moral failure and have suffered every day since and even thought of suicide.

I stayed away from St. Joseph's Parish for 5 years because I was so ashamed of myself.... How can a mother kill her own child??? But I definitely was coerced.... “some men’s” convenient way to make women and children disposable... they think they are their own little God's. I pray for God to help us all. 5 years later I recently came back to my church and my faith, and recently experienced mercy and healing at Rachel's Vineyard at with Father Clair the parish priest and many caring people. The only “therapeutic” help I have found. Father Claire is a leader…. One of the only men I have any faith in…..

Our “Godless Governments” have done us no favours.

I agree with the statement that most Catholics no longer follow the teaching of our faith, in particular the teaching that artificial contraception is sinful. I grew up in a family where we were blessed to attend a Catholic school. For 12 years i went to Mass each week day with my classmates, On Saturday my father took us back to church for confession, On Sunday he took us to Sunday Mass. Not once was this teaching shared with me. Neither by my parents nor teachers nor priests. After having taken the pill for 2 years the Holy spirit convicted me of the sin. Other women have shared with me that the Holy Spirit has also convicted them and they have stopped using artificial Contraception. We here in Minnesota are blessed with Physicians that no longer will prescribe them. Natural family Planning is AWESOME.

If you claim to be a "Catholic" and support abortion, then you're either lying or are woefully misinformed. It's really that simple. "Progressives" can talk all they want about "faithful dissent" but that's pure garbage. If you don't believe that the Magisterium of the Catholic Church speaks on behalf of Christ with the teaching authority of Christ Himself, then you aren't a Catholic.

Don't like it? Then be honest and admit you're a Protestant.

Mr. Paulson-

"Counter-cultural" does not mean "out of step with [modern-day] Catholics." It indicates the practice of remaining consistent with centuries-old church teachings, and the break that naturally produces with some contemporary theory, particularly that which has its roots in morally relativistic thought.