Still Wrong After All These Years

In 1984, then-Governor of New York Mario Cuomo gave a famous address at Notre Dame University that, in essence, defended the notion that a Catholic could in good conscience be a public official who defends the legal destruction of unborn children.  His argument rested on the assumption that the defense of human life from conception

Thanks A Lot, Oprah

Some of the young ladies in my office made the mistake of watching Oprah the other day, and they were scandalized.  No, it wasn’t the Sarah Palin interview.  It was an episode on “Women and Porn”. My colleagues expected that Oprah would examine the real destructive impact of porn on women.  Instead, the show was

Let’s Read the Bill, Shall We?

The Senate leadership has now introduced a health care reform bill that would pay for elective abortions, mandate abortion coverage in private health insurance plans, impose a monthly fee on all those in the public plan to pay for abortion, and provide subsidies to private insurance plans that cover elective abortions. The debate about abortion

Collections, Protests, and the Mass

I told myself over and over again that I wasn’t going to get involved in this, or to say anything publicly about this.  At a time when we’re fighting to keep abortion and euthanasia out of the health care bill, and defending real marriage, this is no time to get involved in tangential issues.  But

Imperfect Legislation and Real Victories

There has been a great deal of furor over the Stupak Amendment, which excluded funding for elective abortion from the House health care bill that was passed last week. Most of the ruckus has come from the pro-abortion side. But some of the criticism has come from pro-lifers, who are upset that the Amendment would

The Meaning of the Health Care Votes — Part Two

For months, the Bishops have been insisting on several key points in their advocacy on the health care reform bills. Two points raised by the Bishops, in their letter to Congress in October, are worth recalling: 1. Exclude mandated coverage for abortion, and incorporate longstanding policies against abortion funding and in favor of conscience rights.

The Meaning of the Health Care Votes — Part One

Late Saturday night, the House of Representatives held two momentous votes on health care reform. Both have great significance for the cause of human life. The first vote came on an amendment that was offered by Bart Stupak, a Democratic Congressman from Michgan. Mr. Stupak’s amendment was designed to remove federal funding for elective abortion

Encouraging Election Results

This week’s election was a good day for pro-life, pro-marriage forces. Here in New York, pro-life/pro-marriage Rob Astorino was elected Westchester County Executive. Our pro-lifer friends in Westchester campaigned and prayed hard for this race, and the results showed that a pro-life candidate can still win in the New York area. This was especially good,

God’s Great Mercy

Buzzing across the internet yesterday was the story of the director of a Temple of Moloch, er, I mean a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Texas, Abby Johnson.  Abby had been working at the clinic for several years.  She served as a clinic escort, accompanying women into the clinic so they could have their abortions. 

Thoughts on the Election

Every year, as Election Day approaches, people ask me my opinion of candidates. They are looking for help in doing the right thing as voters, as citizens, and as Catholics. To me, the basic question is whether a particular candidate qualified to hold public office. This is not a question just about their education, experience,