Dear, dear Vice President Kamala Harris - please, please help end the flow of taxpayers' dollars to Planned Parenthood.

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from GOD; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the LORD): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to GOD, which giveth us the victory through our LORD JESUS Christ. I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases GOD our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one GOD and one mediator between GOD and mankind, the man Christ JESUS, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. Love rejoices in the truth. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.… But he who unites himself with the LORD is one with HIM in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from GOD? You are not your own;… Those who belong to Christ JESUS have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.… If we confess our sins, HE is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. HE chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of first fruits of HIS creation. My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.… Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the LORD God of hosts May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Out do yourselves in honoring one another.… teaching us, that denying the impiety and the worldly desires, soberly and righteously and piously we may live in the present age, You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “JESUS be cursed,” and no one can say, “JESUS is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.… Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. But beware of men; for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.… We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for GOD; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.… Large crowds were traveling with JESUS, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. for bodily exercise is profitable for a little; but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come. Are we trying to provoke the LORD to jealousy? Are we stronger than HE? “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying. No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.… For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for HE is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Give thanks to the LORD, for HE is good; For HIS lovingkindness is everlasting. Enter HIS gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; HIS lovingkindness is everlasting And HIS faithfulness continues to all generations. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. But Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me judge or executor between you?” And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Then HE told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.… you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. Then GOD said, "Let US make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." GOD created man in HIS own image, in the image of GOD HE created him; male and female HE created them. GOD blessed them; and GOD said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to GOD with one accord. "Sovereign LORD," they said, "You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,… Dear sisters and brothers in Messiah Y'Shua, Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus - the name above all names! I hope that you and the loved ones are in good health and are getting along! Good health is such a wonderful blessing from the good LORD, our Creator LORD! How is your spirit on this glorious day that the LORD has made? I am writing to you to ask for your help. I am living in Sussex County and am looking for a place to worship the LORD at. I have come to be known by the Lord for about 27 1/2 years now, and am about 66 1/4 years old (divorced multiple times, more than five children and more than three wives gone until eternity? - only the good LORD knows at this point! and now living alone without any of the little loved ones). I am of Jewish heritage and consider myself to be a Jewish Christian, or a Jew. I don't know of any Messianic congregations around here, and I don't think it would be wise to travel great distances for worship. I have in the recent past have had problems with one foot (the left one), and have recently had problems with the right shoulder, but have been feeling well praise the Lord. Also, I was on a very tight budget (and thanks to our Creator Lord for all HIS blessings!!!). I don't have much in way of assets compared to rich people (or middle class people also), but compared to those living on less than $2 a day I probably have a lot! I have been greatly blessed by the good Lord, our Creator Lord, over my entire life (one time I was labeled autistic and couldn't speak [the good Lord, the Great Physician, healed me], one time I was living out on the streets, and one time I was deeply in debt [not that I believe in the "prosperity Gospel"] - to mention only three times that I was blessed by the LORD. Please let me know if I could join you in the worship of our loving, gracious, merciful Father, and our Lord and Savior - for I worship the Holy One of Israel daily! I appreciate your prayers, and any and all Godly advice. Thank you and may the Holy One of Israel bless you and the loved ones with love, joy, peace, and patience! In hope, peace, and love, Ken Miller Main St. Rm. 103 kmillerbloggerablogbyken@gmail.com JESUS is the Holy One of Israel! Jesus is Lord! Love one another. Love is the fulfilling of the Law. We love, because He first loved us. 1John4:19 JESUS is the Bread of Life!!!! Please help end child pornography in much less than 6 years!!! We love, because HE first loved us.

Canada set to liberalize euthanasia law - An excellent article by Father Shenan J. Boquet at Human Life Int'l - please see www.hli.org

Free Guide: Abortion Myths and Facts Canada Set to Liberalize Euthanasia Law By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet | August 29, 2022 | 0 Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. ― Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2324 In the face of the terrible suffering that can be caused by illnesses or depression, a truly human response should be to care, not to kill. ― Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Submission to the Expert Panel on Options for a Legislative Response to Carter v. Canada At a moment when Canada is on the verge of liberalizing its already permissive euthanasia and assisted suicide laws, several whistleblowers have stepped forward, exposing the unseen dark side of the country’s so-called “progressive” experiment in using death as a “treatment.” Take the case of Roger Foley, a man who is currently suffering from a degenerative brain disorder. He is hospitalized in London, Ontario. Recently, he became alarmed when staff at the hospital proposed euthanasia to him, even though he had never expressed the slightest interest in it. Foley was so disturbed by these conversations that he began secretly recording them. During one such conversation the hospital’s director of ethics told Foley that it would cost “north of $1500 a day” to keep him in the hospital. When Foley replied by asking him what the plan was to care for him in the long term, the ethicist responded, “Roger, this is not my show. My piece of this was to talk to you, (to see) if you had an interest in assisted dying.” “How are you feeling, Rog?” asked another worker. “Are you feeling like you want to harm yourself or anything like that? You can just apply to get assisted—if you want to end your life.” Foley worried that this seemed like coercion. Of course, it is coercion. Unfortunately, Foley’s case is only one of several similar cases that have received widespread publicity in recent days. Advocates for the disabled are warning, however, that the cases we are hearing about are likely only the tip of the iceberg. “It’s difficult to quantify it, because there is no easy way to track these cases,” Catherine Frazee, a professor emerita at Toronto’s Ryerson University, told the Associated Press, “but I and other advocates are hearing regularly from disabled people every week who are considering (euthanasia).” Another case involves a Canadian Forces veteran who recently reached out to a Veterans Affairs hotline to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury. According to Global News, the unnamed veteran “was shocked when he was unexpectedly and casually offered medical assistance in dying by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee.” The veteran and his family told Global News that he was seeking treatment for injuries that he suffered while in the line of duty. The family worries that the suggestion that the veteran consider ending his life has harmed his recovery. Canada and the Slippery Slope Canada first legalized euthanasia in 2016, after the Canadian Supreme Court ordered the government to pass legislation allowing the practice. elderly woman in a coma The progressive Trudeau government did so despite warnings from disability rights activists that experience in places like Belgium and the Netherlands shows that once one opens the door to death as a medical “solution,” it’s only a matter of time before the law is liberalized, and more and more people are subjected to pressure to kill themselves. Canadians were repeatedly assured when the law was passed in 2016 that they would not follow these European countries, and that euthanasia would only be available in strictly limited conditions, i.e., for those with terminal conditions whose death was “reasonably foreseeable.” Just three years after the law was passed, however, the Quebec Superior Court struck down the “reasonably foreseeable” provision, thus significantly expanding eligibility. In the six years since euthanasia was legalized in Canada, the number of cases has skyrocketed. In 2021 there were 10,064 such deaths, a 32% increase over the previous year. Meanwhile, just a few weeks ago the Trudeau government approved new regulations that will extend the availability of euthanasia to the mentally ill. The prospect of a clinically depressed patient being able to request that a doctor kill him, is an irony that is nothing short of macabre. On the one hand, it seems, the government will pay police to do everything they can to stop depressed people from killing themselves, and on the other hand, it will pay doctors and nurses to kill those same people. Indeed, this bitter irony is already on display in the aforementioned case of the Canadian veteran. According to reports, the Canadian government has increased its investments in mental health services for veterans in recent years, after a rash of suicides during the final years of the Afghan war. At the same time, it seems, healthcare workers with Veterans Affairs Canada are offering to kill veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Canada, it seems, isn’t simply sliding down the slippery slope, it is flinging itself headlong down that slope. Euthanasia Inevitably Victimizes the Vulnerable None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has paid the slightest attention to how the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide has panned out in other countries. Indeed, in their original statement to the expert panel convened in response to the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the government to propose legislation legalizing euthanasia, the Canadian bishops warned, “The ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada puts at risk the lives of the vulnerable, the depressed, those with physical or mental illness, and those with disabilities.” They noted that they stood with Pope Francis against the “throwaway culture” with its lust for “quick fixes” and “technical solutions.” In his recent visit to Canada, Pope Francis stated movingly that “don’t abandon us!” is the cry “of patients who, in place of affection, are administered death.” We must never abandon those who are suffering. “Euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing ‘perversion’ of mercy,” says Pope St. John Paul II, adding that: True “compassion” leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear. Moreover, the act of euthanasia appears all the more perverse if it is carried out by those, like relatives, who are supposed to treat a family member with patience and love, or by those, such as doctors, who by virtue of their specific profession are supposed to care for the sick person even in the most painful terminal stages. (Evangelium Vitae, no. 66) True compassion maintains solidarity with those who suffer. “It does not put lethal drugs in their hands and abandon them to their suicidal impulses, or to the self-serving motives of others who may want them dead. It helps vulnerable people with their problems instead of treating them as the problem” (USCCB, To Live Each Day with Dignity). Disability rights campaigners have persistently noted that no matter how lofty the rhetoric about “mercy killing” or “death with dignity” might be, the inner logic of euthanasia and assisted suicide always leads to the victimization of the vulnerable. As Tim Stainton, director of the University of British Columbia’s Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship, told the Associated Press recently, euthanasia is “probably the biggest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s.” Those are stark words. But the flood of stories emerging about the lived reality of legal euthanasia in Canada bear them up. The brutal fact is that it is almost always “easier” and “cheaper” to kill a patient with a difficult condition, than it is to care for him or her. That is why civilized societies founded on the recognition of the inherent equality and dignity of all human beings have always put in place ironclad safeguards against turning to death as a “solution.” However, once death as a “solution” is unleashed, it is impossible to control its voracious appetite. Anyone with any sense should be able to see that if you combine a financially strapped national healthcare system, overworked healthcare workers, and a rapidly aging population, the likelihood of a predatory abuse of the “quick fix” of euthanasia is inevitable. It is precisely in such conditions that regulations and laws should be passed protecting the vulnerable, and prioritizing resources to get ahead of the temptation to resort to those “quick fixes” or “technical solutions.” In a recent statement the Canadian bishops pleaded with the government not to go through with the latest liberalizations of the law. “The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has heightened our awareness of the importance of reaching out to those on the margins of society and in vulnerable stages or circumstances in their life,” they wrote. Such individuals should not be seen as a burden to society. Rather, through supportive and ongoing care, we as a society must witness to their dignity. Compassion, empathy and regard for one’s neighbour is a responsibility that safeguards and sustains our shared humanity and the common good of the society which we are called to promote. Let us pray that Canada, and all other nations that have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide, wake up to the way they are undermining the dignity of the sick and disabled, and exposing the vulnerable to exploitation and despair. Let us also pray that those nations that have not yet gone down this path take warning from Canada’s example. Any “progressive” policy that results in the mentally ill, disabled, and suffering being pressured to take their lives to save costs or save others the “trouble” of caring for them, is clearly the furthest thing from “compassionate.” Did you find this useful? Then you'll also appreciate having the answers to the 10 most common pro-abortion myths condensed into a free infographic for you. Sign up to get the facts! First Name Last Name Email Address Share Tweet More Posted in Spirit & Life Blog About Fr. Shenan J. Boquet Father Shenan J. Boquet was ordained in 1993 and is a priest of the Houma-Thibodaux Roman Catholic Diocese in Louisiana, his home state, where he served before joining HLI in August 2011. Father Boquet earned a BA from Saint Joseph Seminary College, a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology, a Certification Program in Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and a Master of Science in Bioethics (MSBe) from the University of Mary in Bismarck. In 2018, Father Boquet was awarded an honorary visiting professorship by the Benedict XVI Catholic University in Trujillo, Peru. He is available for interviews and bookings on behalf of HLI by emailing hli@hli.org. View all posts by Fr. Shenan J. Boquet → Leave a Comment Comment Name (required) Email (will not be published) (required) Free Guide! We've compiled the responses to 10 of the most common pro-abortion myths into one free infographic. Don't miss it! First Name Last Name Email Address Latest Articles: Spirit & Life Blog Pro-Life Resources Mission Stories Mission Report Newsletter HUMAN LIFE INTERNATIONAL 4 Family Life Lane Front Royal, VA 22630 Phone: 1-800-549-5433 Email: hli@hli.org © 2022 Human Life International QUICK LINKS Contact Us Leadership Offices Store Ways to Give St. Michael Prayer Campaign Annual Reports Whistleblower Policy Privacy Policy LIVING A CULTURE OF LIFE PODCAST Share Tweet More

Wonderful article by Father Shenan Boquet at Human Life Int'l - please, please see www.hli.org.

Free Guide: Abortion Myths and Facts Canada Set to Liberalize Euthanasia Law By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet | August 29, 2022 | 0 Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. ― Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2324 In the face of the terrible suffering that can be caused by illnesses or depression, a truly human response should be to care, not to kill. ― Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Submission to the Expert Panel on Options for a Legislative Response to Carter v. Canada At a moment when Canada is on the verge of liberalizing its already permissive euthanasia and assisted suicide laws, several whistleblowers have stepped forward, exposing the unseen dark side of the country’s so-called “progressive” experiment in using death as a “treatment.” Take the case of Roger Foley, a man who is currently suffering from a degenerative brain disorder. He is hospitalized in London, Ontario. Recently, he became alarmed when staff at the hospital proposed euthanasia to him, even though he had never expressed the slightest interest in it. Foley was so disturbed by these conversations that he began secretly recording them. During one such conversation the hospital’s director of ethics told Foley that it would cost “north of $1500 a day” to keep him in the hospital. When Foley replied by asking him what the plan was to care for him in the long term, the ethicist responded, “Roger, this is not my show. My piece of this was to talk to you, (to see) if you had an interest in assisted dying.” “How are you feeling, Rog?” asked another worker. “Are you feeling like you want to harm yourself or anything like that? You can just apply to get assisted—if you want to end your life.” Foley worried that this seemed like coercion. Of course, it is coercion. Unfortunately, Foley’s case is only one of several similar cases that have received widespread publicity in recent days. Advocates for the disabled are warning, however, that the cases we are hearing about are likely only the tip of the iceberg. “It’s difficult to quantify it, because there is no easy way to track these cases,” Catherine Frazee, a professor emerita at Toronto’s Ryerson University, told the Associated Press, “but I and other advocates are hearing regularly from disabled people every week who are considering (euthanasia).” Another case involves a Canadian Forces veteran who recently reached out to a Veterans Affairs hotline to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury. According to Global News, the unnamed veteran “was shocked when he was unexpectedly and casually offered medical assistance in dying by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee.” The veteran and his family told Global News that he was seeking treatment for injuries that he suffered while in the line of duty. The family worries that the suggestion that the veteran consider ending his life has harmed his recovery. Canada and the Slippery Slope Canada first legalized euthanasia in 2016, after the Canadian Supreme Court ordered the government to pass legislation allowing the practice. elderly woman in a coma The progressive Trudeau government did so despite warnings from disability rights activists that experience in places like Belgium and the Netherlands shows that once one opens the door to death as a medical “solution,” it’s only a matter of time before the law is liberalized, and more and more people are subjected to pressure to kill themselves. Canadians were repeatedly assured when the law was passed in 2016 that they would not follow these European countries, and that euthanasia would only be available in strictly limited conditions, i.e., for those with terminal conditions whose death was “reasonably foreseeable.” Just three years after the law was passed, however, the Quebec Superior Court struck down the “reasonably foreseeable” provision, thus significantly expanding eligibility. In the six years since euthanasia was legalized in Canada, the number of cases has skyrocketed. In 2021 there were 10,064 such deaths, a 32% increase over the previous year. Meanwhile, just a few weeks ago the Trudeau government approved new regulations that will extend the availability of euthanasia to the mentally ill. The prospect of a clinically depressed patient being able to request that a doctor kill him, is an irony that is nothing short of macabre. On the one hand, it seems, the government will pay police to do everything they can to stop depressed people from killing themselves, and on the other hand, it will pay doctors and nurses to kill those same people. Indeed, this bitter irony is already on display in the aforementioned case of the Canadian veteran. According to reports, the Canadian government has increased its investments in mental health services for veterans in recent years, after a rash of suicides during the final years of the Afghan war. At the same time, it seems, healthcare workers with Veterans Affairs Canada are offering to kill veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Canada, it seems, isn’t simply sliding down the slippery slope, it is flinging itself headlong down that slope. Euthanasia Inevitably Victimizes the Vulnerable None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has paid the slightest attention to how the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide has panned out in other countries. Indeed, in their original statement to the expert panel convened in response to the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the government to propose legislation legalizing euthanasia, the Canadian bishops warned, “The ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada puts at risk the lives of the vulnerable, the depressed, those with physical or mental illness, and those with disabilities.” They noted that they stood with Pope Francis against the “throwaway culture” with its lust for “quick fixes” and “technical solutions.” In his recent visit to Canada, Pope Francis stated movingly that “don’t abandon us!” is the cry “of patients who, in place of affection, are administered death.” We must never abandon those who are suffering. “Euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing ‘perversion’ of mercy,” says Pope St. John Paul II, adding that: True “compassion” leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear. Moreover, the act of euthanasia appears all the more perverse if it is carried out by those, like relatives, who are supposed to treat a family member with patience and love, or by those, such as doctors, who by virtue of their specific profession are supposed to care for the sick person even in the most painful terminal stages. (Evangelium Vitae, no. 66) True compassion maintains solidarity with those who suffer. “It does not put lethal drugs in their hands and abandon them to their suicidal impulses, or to the self-serving motives of others who may want them dead. It helps vulnerable people with their problems instead of treating them as the problem” (USCCB, To Live Each Day with Dignity). Disability rights campaigners have persistently noted that no matter how lofty the rhetoric about “mercy killing” or “death with dignity” might be, the inner logic of euthanasia and assisted suicide always leads to the victimization of the vulnerable. As Tim Stainton, director of the University of British Columbia’s Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship, told the Associated Press recently, euthanasia is “probably the biggest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s.” Those are stark words. But the flood of stories emerging about the lived reality of legal euthanasia in Canada bear them up. The brutal fact is that it is almost always “easier” and “cheaper” to kill a patient with a difficult condition, than it is to care for him or her. That is why civilized societies founded on the recognition of the inherent equality and dignity of all human beings have always put in place ironclad safeguards against turning to death as a “solution.” However, once death as a “solution” is unleashed, it is impossible to control its voracious appetite. Anyone with any sense should be able to see that if you combine a financially strapped national healthcare system, overworked healthcare workers, and a rapidly aging population, the likelihood of a predatory abuse of the “quick fix” of euthanasia is inevitable. It is precisely in such conditions that regulations and laws should be passed protecting the vulnerable, and prioritizing resources to get ahead of the temptation to resort to those “quick fixes” or “technical solutions.” In a recent statement the Canadian bishops pleaded with the government not to go through with the latest liberalizations of the law. “The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has heightened our awareness of the importance of reaching out to those on the margins of society and in vulnerable stages or circumstances in their life,” they wrote. Such individuals should not be seen as a burden to society. Rather, through supportive and ongoing care, we as a society must witness to their dignity. Compassion, empathy and regard for one’s neighbour is a responsibility that safeguards and sustains our shared humanity and the common good of the society which we are called to promote. Let us pray that Canada, and all other nations that have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide, wake up to the way they are undermining the dignity of the sick and disabled, and exposing the vulnerable to exploitation and despair. Let us also pray that those nations that have not yet gone down this path take warning from Canada’s example. Any “progressive” policy that results in the mentally ill, disabled, and suffering being pressured to take their lives to save costs or save others the “trouble” of caring for them, is clearly the furthest thing from “compassionate.” Did you find this useful? Then you'll also appreciate having the answers to the 10 most common pro-abortion myths condensed into a free infographic for you. Sign up to get the facts! First Name Last Name Email Address Share Tweet More Posted in Spirit & Life Blog About Fr. Shenan J. Boquet Father Shenan J. Boquet was ordained in 1993 and is a priest of the Houma-Thibodaux Roman Catholic Diocese in Louisiana, his home state, where he served before joining HLI in August 2011. Father Boquet earned a BA from Saint Joseph Seminary College, a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology, a Certification Program in Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and a Master of Science in Bioethics (MSBe) from the University of Mary in Bismarck. In 2018, Father Boquet was awarded an honorary visiting professorship by the Benedict XVI Catholic University in Trujillo, Peru. He is available for interviews and bookings on behalf of HLI by emailing hli@hli.org. View all posts by Fr. Shenan J. Boquet → Leave a Comment Comment Name (required) Email (will not be published) (required) Free Guide! We've compiled the responses to 10 of the most common pro-abortion myths into one free infographic. Don't miss it! First Name Last Name Email Address Latest Articles: Spirit & Life Blog Pro-Life Resources Mission Stories Mission Report Newsletter HUMAN LIFE INTERNATIONAL 4 Family Life Lane Front Royal, VA 22630 Phone: 1-800-549-5433 Email: hli@hli.org © 2022 Human Life International QUICK LINKS Contact Us Leadership Offices Store Ways to Give St. Michael Prayer Campaign Annual Reports Whistleblower Policy Privacy Policy LIVING A CULTURE OF LIFE PODCAST Share Tweet More

A great article by Father Shenan J. Boquet at Human Life Int'l - please see www.hli.org

Free Guide: Abortion Myths and Facts Canada Set to Liberalize Euthanasia Law By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet | August 29, 2022 | 0 Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. ― Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2324 In the face of the terrible suffering that can be caused by illnesses or depression, a truly human response should be to care, not to kill. ― Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Submission to the Expert Panel on Options for a Legislative Response to Carter v. Canada At a moment when Canada is on the verge of liberalizing its already permissive euthanasia and assisted suicide laws, several whistleblowers have stepped forward, exposing the unseen dark side of the country’s so-called “progressive” experiment in using death as a “treatment.” Take the case of Roger Foley, a man who is currently suffering from a degenerative brain disorder. He is hospitalized in London, Ontario. Recently, he became alarmed when staff at the hospital proposed euthanasia to him, even though he had never expressed the slightest interest in it. Foley was so disturbed by these conversations that he began secretly recording them. During one such conversation the hospital’s director of ethics told Foley that it would cost “north of $1500 a day” to keep him in the hospital. When Foley replied by asking him what the plan was to care for him in the long term, the ethicist responded, “Roger, this is not my show. My piece of this was to talk to you, (to see) if you had an interest in assisted dying.” “How are you feeling, Rog?” asked another worker. “Are you feeling like you want to harm yourself or anything like that? You can just apply to get assisted—if you want to end your life.” Foley worried that this seemed like coercion. Of course, it is coercion. Unfortunately, Foley’s case is only one of several similar cases that have received widespread publicity in recent days. Advocates for the disabled are warning, however, that the cases we are hearing about are likely only the tip of the iceberg. “It’s difficult to quantify it, because there is no easy way to track these cases,” Catherine Frazee, a professor emerita at Toronto’s Ryerson University, told the Associated Press, “but I and other advocates are hearing regularly from disabled people every week who are considering (euthanasia).” Another case involves a Canadian Forces veteran who recently reached out to a Veterans Affairs hotline to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury. According to Global News, the unnamed veteran “was shocked when he was unexpectedly and casually offered medical assistance in dying by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee.” The veteran and his family told Global News that he was seeking treatment for injuries that he suffered while in the line of duty. The family worries that the suggestion that the veteran consider ending his life has harmed his recovery. Canada and the Slippery Slope Canada first legalized euthanasia in 2016, after the Canadian Supreme Court ordered the government to pass legislation allowing the practice. elderly woman in a coma The progressive Trudeau government did so despite warnings from disability rights activists that experience in places like Belgium and the Netherlands shows that once one opens the door to death as a medical “solution,” it’s only a matter of time before the law is liberalized, and more and more people are subjected to pressure to kill themselves. Canadians were repeatedly assured when the law was passed in 2016 that they would not follow these European countries, and that euthanasia would only be available in strictly limited conditions, i.e., for those with terminal conditions whose death was “reasonably foreseeable.” Just three years after the law was passed, however, the Quebec Superior Court struck down the “reasonably foreseeable” provision, thus significantly expanding eligibility. In the six years since euthanasia was legalized in Canada, the number of cases has skyrocketed. In 2021 there were 10,064 such deaths, a 32% increase over the previous year. Meanwhile, just a few weeks ago the Trudeau government approved new regulations that will extend the availability of euthanasia to the mentally ill. The prospect of a clinically depressed patient being able to request that a doctor kill him, is an irony that is nothing short of macabre. On the one hand, it seems, the government will pay police to do everything they can to stop depressed people from killing themselves, and on the other hand, it will pay doctors and nurses to kill those same people. Indeed, this bitter irony is already on display in the aforementioned case of the Canadian veteran. According to reports, the Canadian government has increased its investments in mental health services for veterans in recent years, after a rash of suicides during the final years of the Afghan war. At the same time, it seems, healthcare workers with Veterans Affairs Canada are offering to kill veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Canada, it seems, isn’t simply sliding down the slippery slope, it is flinging itself headlong down that slope. Euthanasia Inevitably Victimizes the Vulnerable None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has paid the slightest attention to how the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide has panned out in other countries. Indeed, in their original statement to the expert panel convened in response to the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the government to propose legislation legalizing euthanasia, the Canadian bishops warned, “The ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada puts at risk the lives of the vulnerable, the depressed, those with physical or mental illness, and those with disabilities.” They noted that they stood with Pope Francis against the “throwaway culture” with its lust for “quick fixes” and “technical solutions.” In his recent visit to Canada, Pope Francis stated movingly that “don’t abandon us!” is the cry “of patients who, in place of affection, are administered death.” We must never abandon those who are suffering. “Euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing ‘perversion’ of mercy,” says Pope St. John Paul II, adding that: True “compassion” leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear. Moreover, the act of euthanasia appears all the more perverse if it is carried out by those, like relatives, who are supposed to treat a family member with patience and love, or by those, such as doctors, who by virtue of their specific profession are supposed to care for the sick person even in the most painful terminal stages. (Evangelium Vitae, no. 66) True compassion maintains solidarity with those who suffer. “It does not put lethal drugs in their hands and abandon them to their suicidal impulses, or to the self-serving motives of others who may want them dead. It helps vulnerable people with their problems instead of treating them as the problem” (USCCB, To Live Each Day with Dignity). Disability rights campaigners have persistently noted that no matter how lofty the rhetoric about “mercy killing” or “death with dignity” might be, the inner logic of euthanasia and assisted suicide always leads to the victimization of the vulnerable. As Tim Stainton, director of the University of British Columbia’s Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship, told the Associated Press recently, euthanasia is “probably the biggest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s.” Those are stark words. But the flood of stories emerging about the lived reality of legal euthanasia in Canada bear them up. The brutal fact is that it is almost always “easier” and “cheaper” to kill a patient with a difficult condition, than it is to care for him or her. That is why civilized societies founded on the recognition of the inherent equality and dignity of all human beings have always put in place ironclad safeguards against turning to death as a “solution.” However, once death as a “solution” is unleashed, it is impossible to control its voracious appetite. Anyone with any sense should be able to see that if you combine a financially strapped national healthcare system, overworked healthcare workers, and a rapidly aging population, the likelihood of a predatory abuse of the “quick fix” of euthanasia is inevitable. It is precisely in such conditions that regulations and laws should be passed protecting the vulnerable, and prioritizing resources to get ahead of the temptation to resort to those “quick fixes” or “technical solutions.” In a recent statement the Canadian bishops pleaded with the government not to go through with the latest liberalizations of the law. “The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has heightened our awareness of the importance of reaching out to those on the margins of society and in vulnerable stages or circumstances in their life,” they wrote. Such individuals should not be seen as a burden to society. Rather, through supportive and ongoing care, we as a society must witness to their dignity. Compassion, empathy and regard for one’s neighbour is a responsibility that safeguards and sustains our shared humanity and the common good of the society which we are called to promote. Let us pray that Canada, and all other nations that have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide, wake up to the way they are undermining the dignity of the sick and disabled, and exposing the vulnerable to exploitation and despair. Let us also pray that those nations that have not yet gone down this path take warning from Canada’s example. Any “progressive” policy that results in the mentally ill, disabled, and suffering being pressured to take their lives to save costs or save others the “trouble” of caring for them, is clearly the furthest thing from “compassionate.” Did you find this useful? Then you'll also appreciate having the answers to the 10 most common pro-abortion myths condensed into a free infographic for you. Sign up to get the facts! First Name Last Name Email Address Share Tweet More Posted in Spirit & Life Blog About Fr. Shenan J. Boquet Father Shenan J. Boquet was ordained in 1993 and is a priest of the Houma-Thibodaux Roman Catholic Diocese in Louisiana, his home state, where he served before joining HLI in August 2011. Father Boquet earned a BA from Saint Joseph Seminary College, a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology, a Certification Program in Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and a Master of Science in Bioethics (MSBe) from the University of Mary in Bismarck. In 2018, Father Boquet was awarded an honorary visiting professorship by the Benedict XVI Catholic University in Trujillo, Peru. He is available for interviews and bookings on behalf of HLI by emailing hli@hli.org. View all posts by Fr. Shenan J. Boquet → Leave a Comment Comment Name (required) Email (will not be published) (required) Free Guide! 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James 5

Chapter 5 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

James 4

Chapter 4 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

James 3

Chapter 3 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

James 2

Chapter 2 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James 1

Chapter 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Help end abortion now. Please see an excellent article by Alexandra Snyder, Executive Diorector of Life Legal Defense Foundation - please see www.lifelegaldefensefoundation.org

SANCTUARY? Gov. Newsom turns California into AGRESSOR against CHILDREN nationwide...! Inbox Life Legal Defense Foundation via mta-bbcspool.convio.net Wed, Aug 24, 7:17 PM (16 hours ago) to me SANCTUARY? Gov. Newsom turns California into AGRESSOR against CHILDREN nationwide…! A sanctuary is defined as the holiest part of a sacred place. It is a consecrated place of refuge and protection. But California Governor Gavin Newsom has misappropriated the term to create an altar for practitioners of child sacrifice. Newsom recently announced he is committing taxpayer funding to make California a “sanctuary” for abortion. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade, Newsom said, “There simply is no other state in the United States of America that is doing more to protect those that are the most vulnerable, not only to this decision, but the vagaries of life.” By “vulnerable,” the Governor means abortionists. AB 1666 is the first of dozens of pro-abortionist bills written by and for Planned Parenthood and its allies to be signed into law. AB 1666 shields California abortionists from civil lawsuits filed in other states that allow for a private right of action against abortion providers. This means California abortionists who prescribe abortion drugs to out-of-state women or who travel to other states to perform illegal abortions can escape civil judgments. According to its sponsor, AB 1666 “creates the protections to make California a legal sanctuary for reproductive choice.” Newsom’s abortion sanctuary scheme also uses taxpayer funding to: Reimburse California abortionists for performing abortions and prescribing abortion pills to women from other states. Provide abortion scholarships for medical students to be trained in the practice of dismembering innocent children limb from limb. Eliminate insurance co-payments for abortion. Create a statewide website to refer women to specific abortionists. Offset the cost of malpractice insurance for abortionists. Pay for enhanced security at abortion mills. In a recent podcast, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Orange and San Bernardino John Dunn said, “The package that has been signed into law by Governor Newsom and funded in the last state budget will be tremendously helpful to us. It basically provides all the financial resources we’ll need to be able to serve out-of-state abortion patients. It actually relieves Planned Parenthood of doing fundraising.” In other words, this is Newsom’s gift to Planned Parenthood. The abortion giant announced last week that it plans to spend a record $50 million to elect pro-abort politicians in the midterm elections. California abortionists have long opposed the state’s restriction on abortion after the age of viability, which is when a baby can survive outside his or her mother’s womb. This November, Californians will vote on Prop 1, a state constitutional amendment that would establish a constitutional “right” to abortion – through all nine months of pregnancy. Prop 1 protects “an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions.” In addition to creating an absolute right to abortion and birth control, Prop 1 would enshrine a host of other “reproductive freedoms” in the state constitution, including sex change procedures, IVF, and surrogacy – not only for adults, but also for children. This is an afront to the rights of parents and a violation of laws that protect children. Life Legal has already filed lawsuits challenging California laws that suppress free speech outside abortion mills and we are preparing to take legal action against Newsom’s sanctuary city bills. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to stand with us against Planned Parenthood and its abortion cartel. We are so grateful for your prayers and your faithful support. Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter." Proverbs 24:11 PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Share on FaceBook Please pray for Life Legal cases and clients. Click here or on the image above to view and print our most current prayer requests. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. (1 John 5:15) Connect with us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Life Legal Defense Foundation https://lifelegaldefensefoundation.org

Excellent articel by Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director of Life Legal Defense Foundation - please see www.lifelegaldefensefoundation.

SANCTUARY? Gov. Newsom turns California into AGRESSOR against CHILDREN nationwide...! Inbox Life Legal Defense Foundation via mta-bbcspool.convio.net Wed, Aug 24, 7:17 PM (16 hours ago) to me SANCTUARY? Gov. Newsom turns California into AGRESSOR against CHILDREN nationwide…! A sanctuary is defined as the holiest part of a sacred place. It is a consecrated place of refuge and protection. But California Governor Gavin Newsom has misappropriated the term to create an altar for practitioners of child sacrifice. Newsom recently announced he is committing taxpayer funding to make California a “sanctuary” for abortion. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade, Newsom said, “There simply is no other state in the United States of America that is doing more to protect those that are the most vulnerable, not only to this decision, but the vagaries of life.” By “vulnerable,” the Governor means abortionists. AB 1666 is the first of dozens of pro-abortionist bills written by and for Planned Parenthood and its allies to be signed into law. AB 1666 shields California abortionists from civil lawsuits filed in other states that allow for a private right of action against abortion providers. This means California abortionists who prescribe abortion drugs to out-of-state women or who travel to other states to perform illegal abortions can escape civil judgments. According to its sponsor, AB 1666 “creates the protections to make California a legal sanctuary for reproductive choice.” Newsom’s abortion sanctuary scheme also uses taxpayer funding to: Reimburse California abortionists for performing abortions and prescribing abortion pills to women from other states. Provide abortion scholarships for medical students to be trained in the practice of dismembering innocent children limb from limb. Eliminate insurance co-payments for abortion. Create a statewide website to refer women to specific abortionists. Offset the cost of malpractice insurance for abortionists. Pay for enhanced security at abortion mills. In a recent podcast, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Orange and San Bernardino John Dunn said, “The package that has been signed into law by Governor Newsom and funded in the last state budget will be tremendously helpful to us. It basically provides all the financial resources we’ll need to be able to serve out-of-state abortion patients. It actually relieves Planned Parenthood of doing fundraising.” In other words, this is Newsom’s gift to Planned Parenthood. The abortion giant announced last week that it plans to spend a record $50 million to elect pro-abort politicians in the midterm elections. California abortionists have long opposed the state’s restriction on abortion after the age of viability, which is when a baby can survive outside his or her mother’s womb. This November, Californians will vote on Prop 1, a state constitutional amendment that would establish a constitutional “right” to abortion – through all nine months of pregnancy. Prop 1 protects “an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions.” In addition to creating an absolute right to abortion and birth control, Prop 1 would enshrine a host of other “reproductive freedoms” in the state constitution, including sex change procedures, IVF, and surrogacy – not only for adults, but also for children. This is an afront to the rights of parents and a violation of laws that protect children. Life Legal has already filed lawsuits challenging California laws that suppress free speech outside abortion mills and we are preparing to take legal action against Newsom’s sanctuary city bills. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to stand with us against Planned Parenthood and its abortion cartel. We are so grateful for your prayers and your faithful support. Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter." Proverbs 24:11 PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Share on FaceBook Please pray for Life Legal cases and clients. Click here or on the image above to view and print our most current prayer requests. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. (1 John 5:15) Connect with us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Life Legal Defense Foundation https://lifelegaldefensefoundation.org

A wonderful article from Life Legal Defense Foundation - please, please see www.lifedefensefoundation.org

SANCTUARY? Gov. Newsom turns California into AGRESSOR against CHILDREN nationwide...! Inbox Life Legal Defense Foundation via mta-bbcspool.convio.net Wed, Aug 24, 7:17 PM (16 hours ago) to me SANCTUARY? Gov. Newsom turns California into AGRESSOR against CHILDREN nationwide…! A sanctuary is defined as the holiest part of a sacred place. It is a consecrated place of refuge and protection. But California Governor Gavin Newsom has misappropriated the term to create an altar for practitioners of child sacrifice. Newsom recently announced he is committing taxpayer funding to make California a “sanctuary” for abortion. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade, Newsom said, “There simply is no other state in the United States of America that is doing more to protect those that are the most vulnerable, not only to this decision, but the vagaries of life.” By “vulnerable,” the Governor means abortionists. AB 1666 is the first of dozens of pro-abortionist bills written by and for Planned Parenthood and its allies to be signed into law. AB 1666 shields California abortionists from civil lawsuits filed in other states that allow for a private right of action against abortion providers. This means California abortionists who prescribe abortion drugs to out-of-state women or who travel to other states to perform illegal abortions can escape civil judgments. According to its sponsor, AB 1666 “creates the protections to make California a legal sanctuary for reproductive choice.” Newsom’s abortion sanctuary scheme also uses taxpayer funding to: Reimburse California abortionists for performing abortions and prescribing abortion pills to women from other states. Provide abortion scholarships for medical students to be trained in the practice of dismembering innocent children limb from limb. Eliminate insurance co-payments for abortion. Create a statewide website to refer women to specific abortionists. Offset the cost of malpractice insurance for abortionists. Pay for enhanced security at abortion mills. In a recent podcast, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Orange and San Bernardino John Dunn said, “The package that has been signed into law by Governor Newsom and funded in the last state budget will be tremendously helpful to us. It basically provides all the financial resources we’ll need to be able to serve out-of-state abortion patients. It actually relieves Planned Parenthood of doing fundraising.” In other words, this is Newsom’s gift to Planned Parenthood. The abortion giant announced last week that it plans to spend a record $50 million to elect pro-abort politicians in the midterm elections. California abortionists have long opposed the state’s restriction on abortion after the age of viability, which is when a baby can survive outside his or her mother’s womb. This November, Californians will vote on Prop 1, a state constitutional amendment that would establish a constitutional “right” to abortion – through all nine months of pregnancy. Prop 1 protects “an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions.” In addition to creating an absolute right to abortion and birth control, Prop 1 would enshrine a host of other “reproductive freedoms” in the state constitution, including sex change procedures, IVF, and surrogacy – not only for adults, but also for children. This is an afront to the rights of parents and a violation of laws that protect children. Life Legal has already filed lawsuits challenging California laws that suppress free speech outside abortion mills and we are preparing to take legal action against Newsom’s sanctuary city bills. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to stand with us against Planned Parenthood and its abortion cartel. We are so grateful for your prayers and your faithful support. Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter." Proverbs 24:11 PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Share on FaceBook Please pray for Life Legal cases and clients. Click here or on the image above to view and print our most current prayer requests. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. (1 John 5:15) Connect with us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Life Legal Defense Foundation https://lifelegaldefensefoundation.org

A wonderful article by LifeSiteNews.com. Please help improve the Health Care System - please, please see www.lifeandhope.com.

LifeSiteNews USA News Video Commentary Resources Subscribe Donate Opinion 12-year-old Archie Battersbee was baptized before he died after hospital removed life support Archie, along with members of his family, received Baptism while in the hospital, after the young boy had previously expressed a desire to be Baptized. Featured Image Archie Battersbee, left, with mother Hollie Dance, rightYouTube Screenshot/Sky News Clare Marie Merkowsky Mon Aug 8, 2022 - 12:56 pm EDT Listen to this article 0:00 / 3:21 BeyondWords LONDON (LifeSiteNews) – 12-year-old Archie Battersbee, who died Saturday after doctors removed him from life-support, was baptized on Easter Sunday after he was taken into hospital. The young boy died on August 6, after the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel removed him from life-support. Archie had been unconscious since April 7, after he was found in that condition by his mother, Hollie Dance. His family engaged in a series of legal battles to keep their son on life-support, but, like many other families fighting to keep their children alive, they ultimately lost. Based on a decision that he was “likely dead,” Archie was removed from life-support and died shortly thereafter. However, Archie’s story has a unique silver lining: the young boy was baptized and received into the Catholic Church just days after he went into a coma. According to his mother, Archie had long desired to be baptized, as he had been especially inspired by Christian boxers on television. — Article continues below Petition — Send prayers for Archie and his parents after 12-year-old's life is ended 13045 have signed the petition. Let's get to 15000! Add your signature: Show Petition Text Keep me updated via email on this petition and related issues. “Archie was asking me to get him baptized over a few years before his accident, particularly after he started watching a lot of box fights on TV,” Dance told Christian Today in July. “Many boxers pray for protection when they go into the ring,” she continued. “The more and more fights he’d watch with his brother, the more he would be nagging me to get him baptised. Every time we drove past St. Mary’s Church, he shouted out his most predictable line without fail, ‘Mum when can we go and be Christened in there?’” Accordingly, on Easter Sunday, ten days after he was found unconscious, Archie received a Catholic baptism by the hospital chaplain, according to Premier Christian News. Likewise, the following day, on Easter Monday, his mother and two his older siblings reportedly were likewise baptized and entered the Catholic Church. In June, Dance revealed that, while with her son in the hospital, “[t]he chaplain came in, and instantly asked, ‘Oh, would you like me to pray?’” “We’ve done that every single day since we’ve been here – every day for just over eight weeks,” she added. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission.” (CCC 1213) subscribe to our daily headlines US Canada World Catholic The Baltimore Catechism states that Baptism removes the eternal punishment for unforgiven mortal sins committed prior to Baptism, as well as the temporal punishment due for venial sins, or forgiven mortal sins. In Archie’s case, it would forgive any sin committed before he fell into a coma, providing he had remorse for those sins. “Baptism properly speaking (…) signifies and actually brings about death to sin and entry into the life of the Most Holy Trinity through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ,” the Catechism teaches. While Archie lost his temporal life on earth, his Baptism grants him access to the life of grace and the life of the Church. In addition to opening the way to his own salvation, Archie’s suffering led to his family’s reception of Baptism and acceptance into the Catholic Church. It allows their souls to be flooded with grace so that they have the strength to overcome the challenges of earthly life, remaining in the friendship of God, so that they might one day hope to attain heaven. Topics CommentaryEuthanasiaFaithFamily Tagged as Archie BattersbeeBaptismCatholicCatholic Churchhollie dancePaul Battersbee Share 17 Life is winning! With the overturning of Roe v. 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Transgender backlash - a great article by Father Shenan J. Boquet at Human Life Int'l - please, please see www.hli.org.

DONATE Free Guide: Abortion Myths and Facts Backlash Against Two Centers of Gender Ideology By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet | August 22, 2022 | 0 Two contrasting stories from the past few weeks illustrate the stakes of the battle that is being waged right now over the issue of gender dysphoria, and in particular its huge impact on a generation of vulnerable children. One story is deeply disturbing, showing the perverse lengths to which certain ideologues and “medical experts” are willing to go in pushing children towards irreversible and life-altering “treatments,” without regard to their long-term physical and mental health. The other story is much more promising, suggesting that such ideologues can only push so far before they provoke a backlash, and that it may only be a matter of time before such a backlash happens in the U.S. Boston Children’s Hospital’s Predatory Practices One of the most distressing aspects of the transgender ideology that has swept through our culture and social institutions in the past decade or so, is the level of energy that its promoters have invested into pushing the most extreme and destructive version of transgenderism on impressionable children. This is evidenced, for instance, in the vast quantity of pro-transgender content published by LGBT activists on social media sites such as TikTok. There, children can find all manner of detailed “how-to” videos and testimonies, which portray becoming another gender as a perfectly normal, easy, low-risk, and even “cool” thing to do. Such videos have been watched billions of times. No wonder that the number of children experiencing gender dysphoria is skyrocketing. However, it is particularly disturbing when these same activists insinuate themselves into venerable institutions, to which we ought to be able to look for impartial, evidence-based, non-ideological information. transgender symbol 3D A few days ago, the wildly popular “Libs of TikTok” Twitter account drew attention to a series of videos published by the “Gender Multispecialty Service” clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital. These pro-transgender videos promote a variety of drastic “gender transition” procedures and “treatments” for children. In one video, a staff member explains that even toddlers can know that they are “transgender,” which they might manifest by refusing to play with certain toys. In another one of the videos, Dr. Francis Grimstad cheerily explains the benefits of a “gender-affirming hysterectomy” while upbeat music plays in the background. “A gender-affirming hysterectomy is very similar to most hysterectomies that occur,” Grimstad says, explaining that “a hysterectomy itself is the removal of the uterus, the cervix, which is the opening of the uterus, and the fallopian tubes, which are attached to the sides of the uterus.” Grimstad notes that some hysterectomies would also involve the removal of the ovaries. This video was just one of a series of some 90 videos explaining and promoting various “treatments,” such as mastectomies (the removal of healthy breasts) and so-called “phalloplasty” (the surgical creation of a similitude of male genitals) and “vaginoplasty” (the surgical creation of the similitude of female genitals). “Our skilled team includes specialists in plastic surgery, urology, endocrinology, nursing, gender management, and social work, who collaborate to provide a full suite of surgical options for transgender teens and young adults,” the website reads. Naturally, the idea that gender-confused but otherwise healthy children should even be thinking about getting a sterilizing hysterectomy as a form of “treatment,” let alone that trained adults should proactively be explaining it to them on YouTube, immediately strikes every fair-minded person as monstrous. And yet, as other researchers have found, institutions around the country are offering even the most drastic sex change surgeries to minors. As one might expect, the widespread publicity given to the videos has resulted in outrage. Equally as predictably, the hospital has responded by claiming that they are the targets of a smear campaign and “transphobia” and are arguing that “anti-trans” activists are spreading falsehoods, such as that the hospital performs major sex-change surgeries on minors. The only problem, as one Twitter user pointed out, is that in one of the hospital’s own videos one of their staff explains that while other hospitals might require a patient to be eighteen before cutting off her healthy breasts in a “gender-affirming” mastectomy, Boston Children’s Hospital has done so on children as young as fifteen. In that same video, the staff member explains that they do sometimes perform genital surgeries on 17-year-olds. Huge Lawsuit Pending Against UK Transgender Clinic At the same time as Boston Children’s Hospital, and other medical centers in the U.S., are pushing unproven “treatments” on children suffering from gender dysphoria, pro-trans doctors in the UK are facing a major backlash. For the past few decades, the Tavistock Centre has been the main UK clinic treating children suffering with gender dysphoria. However, the clinic has been at the center of a maelstrom of controversy, after a series of whistleblowers stepped forward. These former staff allege that the gender identity clinic at Tavistock was heavily influenced by pro-trans activist groups to fast-track children for medical interventions, sometimes recommending things like puberty blockers after a single meeting with a child. Meanwhile, staff members who urged a slower “wait and see” approach, say that they were pressured to keep their opinions to themselves, and ultimately forced out of the clinic by a hostile work environment. The result? Children had no one advocating for them to slow down and to first try less drastic “treatments.” While it seemed for a long time that the pro-trans ideologues were winning the day, the tide has rapidly turned in the UK. Part of this is due to data showing a staggering 4000% increase in referrals of children to Tavistock for transgender “treatments.” Then there is growing awareness about the speed with which children are being sent for “treatments” like puberty blockers, sex hormones, and mutilating surgery, which are both experimental and known to have irreversible long-term consequences, including permanent effects on bone density, breast development, voice, hair growth, and fertility. Some of this awareness is driven by the above-mentioned whistleblowers. But some is also due to a growing group of “detransitioners” – those who regret procedures to medically alter their sex – who are courageously stepping forward to tell the truth about how they were rushed into life-altering decisions before they were mature enough to understand the consequences, and in some cases showing the literal scars left by their so-called “treatments.” The first piece of good news is that the UK government recently decided to shut down the Tavistock Centre next spring. Instead, children suffering from gender dysphoria will be sent to regional clinics. Such clinics are less likely to be ruled by a small group of ideologues who are under the influence of pro-transgender advocacy groups. It is also to be hoped that at these smaller clinics children will receive more personalized care and support that emphasizes counselling. On the heels of this news comes the news that as many as 1,000 families may soon join a lawsuit against the Tavistock Centre, alleging that their children were rushed into irreversible procedures and “treatments” that left them worse off than before. Tom Goodhead, Global Managing Partner at Pogust Goodhead, the law firm representing the families, told Sky News: “We believe that there are potentially hundreds of young adults who have been affected by failings in care over the past decade at the Tavistock Centre, and we want to be able to give them a voice in court.” He alleges that “children and young adolescents were rushed into “treatment” without the appropriate therapy and involvement of the right clinicians, meaning that they were misdiagnosed.” If such a lawsuit gets off the ground, it is possible that Tavistock and the ideologues who pushed children through will face a major reckoning that will reverberate around the world. As The Economist put it recently, “The tide in Britain appears to be turning against groups who espouse the belief that gender identity trumps all else, and towards maintaining support for sex-based rights and evidence-based medicine.” Truth Will Assert Itself It is obvious to anyone who has not been drawn (duped) into the world of transgender propaganda, that gender ideologues are deliberately seeking out vulnerable children and encouraging them to embrace a “transgender” ideology. In many cases, these children are simply confused by the normal physical changes of puberty, or are suffering from body image issues, depression, social isolation, family problems, or (as in the case of one school where over a dozen students were transitioning simultaneously) autism. Instead of helping these children to learn to embrace the God-given gift of their bodies and their given sex, these ideologues hold out the promise that a new identity will solve their problems. Once these children express any kind of an interest in pursuing a transgender identity, they are funneled into a system in which even gently questioning the wisdom of so-called sex-altering procedures is viewed as tantamount to physical violence and anti-trans “hate.” The result is that such children are very unlikely to run across anyone who might urge them to avoid or wait on drastic “treatments”, and instead to pursue other solutions – such as counselling – that might help them to embrace their God-given gender. The Catholic Church has consistently opposed gender ideology, not because it opposes or hates individuals struggling with gender dysphoria, but because it recognizes the presence of God’s wisdom within nature. Clearly, human individuals are born either male or female. That is, biological sex is a fact of nature. As in so many other areas of life, the Church affirms that wisdom and health are to be found not in rebelling against reality, but rather in learning to accept and to conform ourselves to reality. As humans we are called to learn to be receptive to truth, learning to listen to reality as God has constituted it. That is, we are called to live in the truth. There are two components of the Church’s teaching on the creation of the human person that are especially important for assisting individuals with gender dysphoria: (a) the composite unity of body and soul by which a person exists and (b) an individual’s act of being in the unity of body and soul is as male or female. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the “form” of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature. (no. 365) Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity “in the image of God.” In their “being-man” and “being-woman,” they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness. (no. 369) So much of the post-modern worldview is based upon the idea that humans possess ultimate power over nature and can exercise our will upon nature without consequences. However, the whole history of the 20th century has shown that the unchecked imposition of our will on nature produces all sorts of unintended consequences. In sexual matters, we have seen this in the explosion in sexually transmitted diseases, in the massive rise in abortion, the dissolution of the family, and the increasing disillusionment of those who pursued a sexually hedonistic lifestyle, only to find misery in doing so. As developments in the UK suggest, pro-transgender ideologues are due for a major reckoning, having painted a rosy picture of so-called “gender transitioning” in recent years. They have convinced thousands of children struggling with gender dysphoria that all one needs to do to be happy is to take certain medications or undergo a particular surgery. More and more children who listen to them are waking up a few years later to the fact that they underwent irreversible procedures that gave them a body that is only a grotesque similitude of the opposite sex, at the cost of their fertility, their ability to experience sexual pleasure, and their overall health and happiness. Even as transgender ideology is ramping up in many countries around the world, in the UK we may be catching a glimpse of what will follow close behind: a backlash that sends the pendulum swinging back towards sanity. You can only push so far before truth and reality reassert themselves. Let us pray for a similar awakening to take place here in the United States, so that no more children have to be hurt in the name of this diabolic gender ideology. Did you find this useful? Then you'll also appreciate having the answers to the 10 most common pro-abortion myths condensed into a free infographic for you. Sign up to get the facts! First Name Last Name Email Address Share Tweet More Posted in Spirit & Life Blog About Fr. Shenan J. Boquet Father Shenan J. Boquet was ordained in 1993 and is a priest of the Houma-Thibodaux Roman Catholic Diocese in Louisiana, his home state, where he served before joining HLI in August 2011. Father Boquet earned a BA from Saint Joseph Seminary College, a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology, a Certification Program in Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and a Master of Science in Bioethics (MSBe) from the University of Mary in Bismarck. In 2018, Father Boquet was awarded an honorary visiting professorship by the Benedict XVI Catholic University in Trujillo, Peru. He is available for interviews and bookings on behalf of HLI by emailing hli@hli.org. View all posts by Fr. Shenan J. Boquet → Leave a Comment Comment Name (required) Email (will not be published) (required) Free Guide! 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Wonderful article by Fathe Shenan J. Boquet at Human Life Int'l - please, please see www.hli.org.

DONATE Free Guide: Abortion Myths and Facts Backlash Against Two Centers of Gender Ideology By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet | August 22, 2022 | 0 Two contrasting stories from the past few weeks illustrate the stakes of the battle that is being waged right now over the issue of gender dysphoria, and in particular its huge impact on a generation of vulnerable children. One story is deeply disturbing, showing the perverse lengths to which certain ideologues and “medical experts” are willing to go in pushing children towards irreversible and life-altering “treatments,” without regard to their long-term physical and mental health. The other story is much more promising, suggesting that such ideologues can only push so far before they provoke a backlash, and that it may only be a matter of time before such a backlash happens in the U.S. Boston Children’s Hospital’s Predatory Practices One of the most distressing aspects of the transgender ideology that has swept through our culture and social institutions in the past decade or so, is the level of energy that its promoters have invested into pushing the most extreme and destructive version of transgenderism on impressionable children. This is evidenced, for instance, in the vast quantity of pro-transgender content published by LGBT activists on social media sites such as TikTok. There, children can find all manner of detailed “how-to” videos and testimonies, which portray becoming another gender as a perfectly normal, easy, low-risk, and even “cool” thing to do. Such videos have been watched billions of times. No wonder that the number of children experiencing gender dysphoria is skyrocketing. However, it is particularly disturbing when these same activists insinuate themselves into venerable institutions, to which we ought to be able to look for impartial, evidence-based, non-ideological information. transgender symbol 3D A few days ago, the wildly popular “Libs of TikTok” Twitter account drew attention to a series of videos published by the “Gender Multispecialty Service” clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital. These pro-transgender videos promote a variety of drastic “gender transition” procedures and “treatments” for children. In one video, a staff member explains that even toddlers can know that they are “transgender,” which they might manifest by refusing to play with certain toys. In another one of the videos, Dr. Francis Grimstad cheerily explains the benefits of a “gender-affirming hysterectomy” while upbeat music plays in the background. “A gender-affirming hysterectomy is very similar to most hysterectomies that occur,” Grimstad says, explaining that “a hysterectomy itself is the removal of the uterus, the cervix, which is the opening of the uterus, and the fallopian tubes, which are attached to the sides of the uterus.” Grimstad notes that some hysterectomies would also involve the removal of the ovaries. This video was just one of a series of some 90 videos explaining and promoting various “treatments,” such as mastectomies (the removal of healthy breasts) and so-called “phalloplasty” (the surgical creation of a similitude of male genitals) and “vaginoplasty” (the surgical creation of the similitude of female genitals). “Our skilled team includes specialists in plastic surgery, urology, endocrinology, nursing, gender management, and social work, who collaborate to provide a full suite of surgical options for transgender teens and young adults,” the website reads. Naturally, the idea that gender-confused but otherwise healthy children should even be thinking about getting a sterilizing hysterectomy as a form of “treatment,” let alone that trained adults should proactively be explaining it to them on YouTube, immediately strikes every fair-minded person as monstrous. And yet, as other researchers have found, institutions around the country are offering even the most drastic sex change surgeries to minors. As one might expect, the widespread publicity given to the videos has resulted in outrage. Equally as predictably, the hospital has responded by claiming that they are the targets of a smear campaign and “transphobia” and are arguing that “anti-trans” activists are spreading falsehoods, such as that the hospital performs major sex-change surgeries on minors. The only problem, as one Twitter user pointed out, is that in one of the hospital’s own videos one of their staff explains that while other hospitals might require a patient to be eighteen before cutting off her healthy breasts in a “gender-affirming” mastectomy, Boston Children’s Hospital has done so on children as young as fifteen. In that same video, the staff member explains that they do sometimes perform genital surgeries on 17-year-olds. Huge Lawsuit Pending Against UK Transgender Clinic At the same time as Boston Children’s Hospital, and other medical centers in the U.S., are pushing unproven “treatments” on children suffering from gender dysphoria, pro-trans doctors in the UK are facing a major backlash. For the past few decades, the Tavistock Centre has been the main UK clinic treating children suffering with gender dysphoria. However, the clinic has been at the center of a maelstrom of controversy, after a series of whistleblowers stepped forward. These former staff allege that the gender identity clinic at Tavistock was heavily influenced by pro-trans activist groups to fast-track children for medical interventions, sometimes recommending things like puberty blockers after a single meeting with a child. Meanwhile, staff members who urged a slower “wait and see” approach, say that they were pressured to keep their opinions to themselves, and ultimately forced out of the clinic by a hostile work environment. The result? Children had no one advocating for them to slow down and to first try less drastic “treatments.” While it seemed for a long time that the pro-trans ideologues were winning the day, the tide has rapidly turned in the UK. Part of this is due to data showing a staggering 4000% increase in referrals of children to Tavistock for transgender “treatments.” Then there is growing awareness about the speed with which children are being sent for “treatments” like puberty blockers, sex hormones, and mutilating surgery, which are both experimental and known to have irreversible long-term consequences, including permanent effects on bone density, breast development, voice, hair growth, and fertility. Some of this awareness is driven by the above-mentioned whistleblowers. But some is also due to a growing group of “detransitioners” – those who regret procedures to medically alter their sex – who are courageously stepping forward to tell the truth about how they were rushed into life-altering decisions before they were mature enough to understand the consequences, and in some cases showing the literal scars left by their so-called “treatments.” The first piece of good news is that the UK government recently decided to shut down the Tavistock Centre next spring. Instead, children suffering from gender dysphoria will be sent to regional clinics. Such clinics are less likely to be ruled by a small group of ideologues who are under the influence of pro-transgender advocacy groups. It is also to be hoped that at these smaller clinics children will receive more personalized care and support that emphasizes counselling. On the heels of this news comes the news that as many as 1,000 families may soon join a lawsuit against the Tavistock Centre, alleging that their children were rushed into irreversible procedures and “treatments” that left them worse off than before. Tom Goodhead, Global Managing Partner at Pogust Goodhead, the law firm representing the families, told Sky News: “We believe that there are potentially hundreds of young adults who have been affected by failings in care over the past decade at the Tavistock Centre, and we want to be able to give them a voice in court.” He alleges that “children and young adolescents were rushed into “treatment” without the appropriate therapy and involvement of the right clinicians, meaning that they were misdiagnosed.” If such a lawsuit gets off the ground, it is possible that Tavistock and the ideologues who pushed children through will face a major reckoning that will reverberate around the world. As The Economist put it recently, “The tide in Britain appears to be turning against groups who espouse the belief that gender identity trumps all else, and towards maintaining support for sex-based rights and evidence-based medicine.” Truth Will Assert Itself It is obvious to anyone who has not been drawn (duped) into the world of transgender propaganda, that gender ideologues are deliberately seeking out vulnerable children and encouraging them to embrace a “transgender” ideology. In many cases, these children are simply confused by the normal physical changes of puberty, or are suffering from body image issues, depression, social isolation, family problems, or (as in the case of one school where over a dozen students were transitioning simultaneously) autism. Instead of helping these children to learn to embrace the God-given gift of their bodies and their given sex, these ideologues hold out the promise that a new identity will solve their problems. Once these children express any kind of an interest in pursuing a transgender identity, they are funneled into a system in which even gently questioning the wisdom of so-called sex-altering procedures is viewed as tantamount to physical violence and anti-trans “hate.” The result is that such children are very unlikely to run across anyone who might urge them to avoid or wait on drastic “treatments”, and instead to pursue other solutions – such as counselling – that might help them to embrace their God-given gender. The Catholic Church has consistently opposed gender ideology, not because it opposes or hates individuals struggling with gender dysphoria, but because it recognizes the presence of God’s wisdom within nature. Clearly, human individuals are born either male or female. That is, biological sex is a fact of nature. As in so many other areas of life, the Church affirms that wisdom and health are to be found not in rebelling against reality, but rather in learning to accept and to conform ourselves to reality. As humans we are called to learn to be receptive to truth, learning to listen to reality as God has constituted it. That is, we are called to live in the truth. There are two components of the Church’s teaching on the creation of the human person that are especially important for assisting individuals with gender dysphoria: (a) the composite unity of body and soul by which a person exists and (b) an individual’s act of being in the unity of body and soul is as male or female. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the “form” of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature. (no. 365) Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity “in the image of God.” In their “being-man” and “being-woman,” they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness. (no. 369) So much of the post-modern worldview is based upon the idea that humans possess ultimate power over nature and can exercise our will upon nature without consequences. However, the whole history of the 20th century has shown that the unchecked imposition of our will on nature produces all sorts of unintended consequences. In sexual matters, we have seen this in the explosion in sexually transmitted diseases, in the massive rise in abortion, the dissolution of the family, and the increasing disillusionment of those who pursued a sexually hedonistic lifestyle, only to find misery in doing so. As developments in the UK suggest, pro-transgender ideologues are due for a major reckoning, having painted a rosy picture of so-called “gender transitioning” in recent years. They have convinced thousands of children struggling with gender dysphoria that all one needs to do to be happy is to take certain medications or undergo a particular surgery. More and more children who listen to them are waking up a few years later to the fact that they underwent irreversible procedures that gave them a body that is only a grotesque similitude of the opposite sex, at the cost of their fertility, their ability to experience sexual pleasure, and their overall health and happiness. Even as transgender ideology is ramping up in many countries around the world, in the UK we may be catching a glimpse of what will follow close behind: a backlash that sends the pendulum swinging back towards sanity. You can only push so far before truth and reality reassert themselves. Let us pray for a similar awakening to take place here in the United States, so that no more children have to be hurt in the name of this diabolic gender ideology. Did you find this useful? Then you'll also appreciate having the answers to the 10 most common pro-abortion myths condensed into a free infographic for you. Sign up to get the facts! First Name Last Name Email Address Share Tweet More Posted in Spirit & Life Blog About Fr. Shenan J. Boquet Father Shenan J. Boquet was ordained in 1993 and is a priest of the Houma-Thibodaux Roman Catholic Diocese in Louisiana, his home state, where he served before joining HLI in August 2011. Father Boquet earned a BA from Saint Joseph Seminary College, a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology, a Certification Program in Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and a Master of Science in Bioethics (MSBe) from the University of Mary in Bismarck. In 2018, Father Boquet was awarded an honorary visiting professorship by the Benedict XVI Catholic University in Trujillo, Peru. He is available for interviews and bookings on behalf of HLI by emailing hli@hli.org. View all posts by Fr. Shenan J. Boquet → Leave a Comment Comment Name (required) Email (will not be published) (required) Free Guide! 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