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...
(Vatican Radio) Speaking before the recitation of the Marian prayer and drawing inspiration from Sunday’s Gospel, the Pope said that "even today, in the face of certain misfortunes and tragic events, we can be tempted to ‘discharge’ the responsibility on the victims, or even God himself. But the Gospel, he said, invites us to reflect on what is our idea of ??God? “Do we believe that God is that way, or is it our own projection, a god made 'in our image and likeness'?”The Holy Father stressed, that Jesus calls upon us to draw from painful events a warning that concerns everyone, because we are all sinners. He says to those who asked him, ‘if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did”.Jesus, Pope Francis explained, calls us to change our heart, and make a radical change in the our journey of life, by abandoning compromises with evil and by being less hypocritical because he noted, nearly everyone has “a little pie...
(Vatican Radio) Speaking before the recitation of the Marian prayer and drawing inspiration from Sunday’s Gospel, the Pope said that "even today, in the face of certain misfortunes and tragic events, we can be tempted to ‘discharge’ the responsibility on the victims, or even God himself. But the Gospel, he said, invites us to reflect on what is our idea of ??God? “Do we believe that God is that way, or is it our own projection, a god made 'in our image and likeness'?”
The Holy Father stressed, that Jesus calls upon us to draw from painful events a warning that concerns everyone, because we are all sinners. He says to those who asked him, ‘if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did”.
Jesus, Pope Francis explained, calls us to change our heart, and make a radical change in the our journey of life, by abandoning compromises with evil and by being less hypocritical because he noted, nearly everyone has “a little piece of hypocrisy.”
"Unfortunately”, said Pope Francis, “each of us looks a lot like a tree that has shown to be sterile for many years. Fortunately for us, Jesus is like the peasant who, with limitless patience, gets again an extension for the barren fig tree…”
Concluding his address he urged people has to take advantage of “A 'year' of grace, this Year of Mercy which is offered to us as an opportunity for repentance and salvation, a time for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
(Vatican Radio) The Italian association Solidarity Medicine has thanked Pope Francis for the new facility in the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square which provides medical care to people who are homeless and in need.The director of the association, Lucia Ercoli said "we are grateful to Pope Francis for wanting to, once again, give a concrete sign of mercy in St. Peter's Square to the homeless or distressed. Our doctors along with those of FAS and the Policlinico Tor Vergata have accepted with great passion this new challenge that ideally combines the work done in recent years in the suburbs with the heart of Christianity. "The director said, “there still much work to be done especially in the suburbs of our city, but I think this new clinic in St Peter’s is a sign of great hope ".
(Vatican Radio) The Italian association Solidarity Medicine has thanked Pope Francis for the new facility in the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square which provides medical care to people who are homeless and in need.
The director of the association, Lucia Ercoli said "we are grateful to Pope Francis for wanting to, once again, give a concrete sign of mercy in St. Peter's Square to the homeless or distressed. Our doctors along with those of FAS and the Policlinico Tor Vergata have accepted with great passion this new challenge that ideally combines the work done in recent years in the suburbs with the heart of Christianity. "
The director said, “there still much work to be done especially in the suburbs of our city, but I think this new clinic in St Peter’s is a sign of great hope ".
Vatican City, Feb 28, 2016 / 06:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- God's patience towards sinners is without limit, yet the time for conversion is now, Pope Francis said during his Sunday Angelus address at the Vatican.“It is never too late to convert, but it is urgent, it is now! Let us begin today,” said the Pope Feb. 28 to the crowds in St. Peter's Square.Delivering his remarks before leading those present in the Marian prayer, the Pope spoke on Jesus' “invincible patience,” explaining how God's “unyielding concern for sinners” should provoke impatience in ourselves.“Have you thought of God's patience? Have you even thought of his unyielding concern for sinners, how this should provoke impatience against ourselves?”“It is never to late to convert! Never! Up until the last moment: The patience of God who waits for us.”Pope Francis recounted the story from St. Therese of Lisieux, who prayed for the conversion of a...
Vatican City, Feb 28, 2016 / 06:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- God's patience towards sinners is without limit, yet the time for conversion is now, Pope Francis said during his Sunday Angelus address at the Vatican.
“It is never too late to convert, but it is urgent, it is now! Let us begin today,” said the Pope Feb. 28 to the crowds in St. Peter's Square.
Delivering his remarks before leading those present in the Marian prayer, the Pope spoke on Jesus' “invincible patience,” explaining how God's “unyielding concern for sinners” should provoke impatience in ourselves.
“Have you thought of God's patience? Have you even thought of his unyielding concern for sinners, how this should provoke impatience against ourselves?”
“It is never to late to convert! Never! Up until the last moment: The patience of God who waits for us.”
Pope Francis recounted the story from St. Therese of Lisieux, who prayed for the conversion of a criminal who had been condemned to death, and had refused interventions from the priest. It was not until his final moment that he took the Crucifix held by the priest and kissed it.
“The patience of God! And he does the same with us, with all of us!” the Pope said. “And this is his mercy.”
Reflecting on the day's readings, Pope Francis remarked how everyday newspapers report on violence and catastrophes. He tied this to the Gospel reading which refers to two tragic events of the time: the Romans sacking the temple, and the collapse of the Siloam tower in Jerusalem which killed eighteen people.
The Pope says Jesus knows his listeners are “superstitious” in interpreting such events as punishment for sins.
“Jesus definitively refutes this point of view, because God does not permit tragedies to punish sins,” he said, but “asserts that those poor victims were no worse than others.”
Rather, Jesus uses these examples as warnings that sinners will perish as these victims did if they do not repent, the Pope added, citing the Gospel.
Even today, there is the temptation to blame disasters on the victims, “or even on God himself,” the pontiff said.
However, in order to take the path of the Gospel, Jesus “calls us to change our heart, to radically make an about turn in our life, abandoning our compromises with evil,” the Pope said, citing hypocrisy as an example. “I think we all have in us a little bit of hypocrisy,” he said in an off-the-cuff remark.
Stressing the need for conversion, the Pope warned against the temptation toward self-justification: “From what do we need to convert? Are we not all good people, believers, even sufficiently practicing?”
Despite being like the fig tree which fails to produce fruit, Jesus “with limitless patience” delays killing the tree for another year, Pope Francis observed.
He reflected on the Jubilee Year of Mercy as a year of grace, the period in the Church and our lives before Christ's “glorious return,” and which is “punctuated by a certain number of Lents which offer us opportunities for repentance and salvation.”
The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year which officially commenced December 8 – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.
After the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Francis reflected on the ongoing crisis of refugees fleeing from “war and other inhumane situations.”
He especially acknowledged Greece and other countries “on the front line” for their work in offering “generous assistance” to those crossing their borders, and called on the international community for a “unanimous response” in helping distribute the weight of the crisis.
“For this reason, we need to firmly and unreservedly focus on negotiations,” he said.
The pontiff went on to welcome “with hope” the current ceasefire in Syria involving government and rebel forces, which has entered its second day.
“I invite all to pray so that this window of opportunity can give relief to the suffering people, encouraging the necessary humanitarian aid, and open the way to dialogue and much desired peace,” he said.
Pope Francis went on to extend his “closeness” to the people of Fiji, where tropical cyclone Winston killed more than 40 people and left tens of thousands more homeless.
“I pray for the victims and for those engaged with the relief efforts.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hollywood is bracing for an Academy Awards that more than any in recent memory, has the feel of a high-stakes showdown....
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WOODBRIDGE, Va. (AP) -- An Army staff sergeant assigned to the Pentagon was arrested on murder and other charges in the death of a police officer and another person, authorities said Sunday....
WOODBRIDGE, Va. (AP) -- An Army staff sergeant assigned to the Pentagon was arrested on murder and other charges in the death of a police officer and another person, authorities said Sunday....
KENNESAW, Georgia (AP) -- A flood of mainstream Republican officials and donors have lined up behind Marco Rubio in the week since former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suspended his campaign for president....
KENNESAW, Georgia (AP) -- A flood of mainstream Republican officials and donors have lined up behind Marco Rubio in the week since former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suspended his campaign for president....
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is trying to deflect attention from a class-action civil lawsuit involving the former Trump University by pointing to the ethnic background of the judge in the case....
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is trying to deflect attention from a class-action civil lawsuit involving the former Trump University by pointing to the ethnic background of the judge in the case....
BEIRUT (AP) -- The Latest on the conflict in Syria as a fragile cease-fire enters its second day (all times local):...
BEIRUT (AP) -- The Latest on the conflict in Syria as a fragile cease-fire enters its second day (all times local):...
