WASHINGTON-The Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, February 1, on behalf of USCCB, the Texas Catholic Conference and several Christian partners in support of a Texas law mandating health and safety standards protecting women who undergo abortions. Other groups joining the brief include the National Association of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The case is Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
"There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."
The brief noted that some abortion clinics have declared the standards too strict, although the standards are similar to those issued by the abortion industry. It added that abortion providers "should not be allowed to rely upon their own failure to comply with health and safety laws" as a reason to strike such laws down. The brief said the providers' resistance to such regulations is not in the best interests of women's health and safety. It also noted that over 40 years of precedent, including the Court's 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, reaffirms that states may regulate abortion to protect maternal life and health.
Full text of the brief is available online: www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/Whole-Woman-s-Health-v-Hellerstedt.pdf
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Keywords: General Counsel, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Texas law abortion, amicus curia, National Association of Evangelicals, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, U.S. Supreme Court
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Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON-The Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, February 1, on behalf of USCCB, the Texas Catholic Conference and several Christian partners in support of a Texas law mandating health and safety standards protecting women who undergo abortions. Other groups joining the brief include the National Association of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The case is Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court."There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."The brief noted that some abortion clinics have decla...
Denver, Colo., Mar 1, 2016 / 11:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- “What can the Church in the United States offer the Universal Church and the world?”On the cusp of Super Tuesday and in the midst of an already-heated election year, Papal Theologian Fr. Wojciech Giertych responded to that question in a Q&A style conversation hosted by the Denver-based Augustine Institute.“I think there is certainly a very positive value that you have and you’re not particularly aware of it. That you have liberty in your country,” Fr. Giertych said in his Feb. 24 discussion. “And by liberty, I mean that you are free to set up institutions like (the Augustine Institute) without government control.”In modern-day Europe, Fr. Giertych said, government involvement and high taxation has made independent institutions almost impossible. “...the bureaucrats who apparently know better, who have two charisms: that of being irremovable and of being infallible,&rdquo...
Denver, Colo., Mar 1, 2016 / 11:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- “What can the Church in the United States offer the Universal Church and the world?”
On the cusp of Super Tuesday and in the midst of an already-heated election year, Papal Theologian Fr. Wojciech Giertych responded to that question in a Q&A style conversation hosted by the Denver-based Augustine Institute.
“I think there is certainly a very positive value that you have and you’re not particularly aware of it. That you have liberty in your country,” Fr. Giertych said in his Feb. 24 discussion. “And by liberty, I mean that you are free to set up institutions like (the Augustine Institute) without government control.”
In modern-day Europe, Fr. Giertych said, government involvement and high taxation has made independent institutions almost impossible.
“...the bureaucrats who apparently know better, who have two charisms: that of being irremovable and of being infallible,” he joked.
Fr. Giertych is a Dominican priest who has served as a papal theologian since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Born in London to Polish immigrants, Fr. Giertych observed several differences between the United States and countries in Europe.
The American tradition of defending the independence of local governments against the power of a central government is a very Catholic understanding of social teaching, he said, even though the Puritans are the ones who first brought it to the U.S.
This freedom not only affects the laws of the land but the attitudes and perspectives of the people, he added.
“This allows for a greater liberty, which allows for greater virtue, because...you’re not forming your people in a sense of entitlement,” he said, “which in Europe you have the government taking over responsibility, so the government must give.”
For example, when a natural disaster strikes in the United States, T.V. stations show people in the United States helping each other to repair and rebuild, Fr. Giertych said. But in Europe, people complain that the government isn’t doing anything.
“There’s a sense of entitlement (in Europe), that I have a right to receive help, whereas in your cowboy nation, when there’s a challenge, you do it,” he said. “And in the Church, this is conducive to human maturity, to the life of virtue.”
The “cowboy” mentality also transfers to other political issues, Fr. Giertych said. People in the United States debate issues like access to contraception through the HHS mandate, whereas people in Europe wouldn’t even think to question government mandates.
“In Europe nobody discusses this, the bishops don’t say a word, nobody dreams that this is a subject that can even be mentioned,” he said. “It’s obvious that the government runs the whole healthcare system, and gives access to everything according to the ideology, and nobody questions it.”
“Here in America this is a political issue, and bishops are speaking about it and politicians are speaking about it and this is a great value that you have,” he said. “And you should scream not only in America, but your voice should be heard outside America.”
The Church in the United States is thriving under this freedom and seems to be coming out of the vocational crisis that countries around the world experienced after Vatican II, he noted.
“I see the North American College in Rome, packed with seminarians who come to the Angelicum where I’m still teaching,” he said. “And I see these boys, they’re really honest, they’re really serious.”
“And I see in this the fruits of a very wise policy in the appointment of bishops under John Paul II that your Church has changed, and it has a new vitality.”
The flourishing orders of religious sisters in the United States are another sign that the Church in America is thriving and has a chance to re-evangelize not only herself but the world, Fr. Giertych said.
“This is a sign of optimism for countries like Holland, where the Dominicans from Nashville have a house,” he said.
“They’re going to countries where there...is dismal thinking; parishes are being closed, churches being sold...suddenly the Dominican sisters come and they’re joyful and smiling and devout and serious in their formation and free within, as mature persons,” he said.
“This is a great gift that America has, so you have to re-evangelize not only America, but also afar.”
Photo credit: Jim Lopes via www.shutterstock.com
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WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others.""Even as Americans rema...
WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others."
"Even as Americans remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.
"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU
He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.
The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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