Catholic News 2

Washington D.C., Jan 7, 2016 / 04:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass a budget bill blocking federal funding of Planned Parenthood, the legislation will reach President Barack Obama’s desk in a historic first for the pro-life movement.

“For the first time since America’s largest abortion business began receiving public funding – nearly five decades ago – the president will have to decide up or down on legislation to defund Planned Parenthood,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, on Wednesday.

The bill in question would block federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year. It would also redirect funds to community health centers who also offer prenatal services, and cancer screenings that Planned Parenthood only offers referrals for.

In addition, the bill effectively guts the full health care reform law, although it doesn’t explicitly repeal it. The legislation would get rid of both the individual and employer insurance mandates, the expansion of Medicaid coverage, and the “Cadillac” tax, or the 40 percent tax on expensive employer health plans.

The bill passed by a vote of 240-181, mainly along party lines. Only one Democrat – Rep. Colin Peterson (Minn.) – supported it and three Republicans – Reps. Bob Dold (Ill.), Richard Hanna (N.Y.), and John Katko (N.Y.) – opposed it.

It passed the Senate in December through reconciliation, a budget process that limits the time for debate and allows for a simple majority passage rather than the usual three-fifths majority for legislation.

President Obama has already announced his intention to veto the bill and Congress does not have the votes to override a veto. Nonetheless, the bill’s passage sets “an important precedent for the next administration” and emphasizes the importance of electing a pro-life president, as well as pro-life majorities in the House and Senate, in 2016, Dannenfelser insisted.

Others were less excited about the bill. The group Democrats for Life praised the defunding of Planned Parenthood but cautioned against doing away with the health care law.

“I think there are some fixes that we can do, to ensure that it [the health care law] is working properly, but to just overturn it we oppose,” Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, told CNA. “We oppose abortion, but we think health care is life-saving.”

“I think if we’re going to overturn or repeal funding for Planned Parenthood, we have to really put stress on how we help pregnant women, and where these alternatives are available, and the good work that community health centers are doing,” she added.

The U.S. Bishops Conference did not take an official position on the bill, but re-affirmed their previous positions regarding funding of Planned Parenthood and the Affordable Care Act.

In August, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who chairs the bishops’ pro-life committee, supported legislation defunding Planned Parenthood and re-directing funds to health care providers who don’t perform abortions.

Regarding the Affordable Care Act, the bishops’ conference has pushed for universal health care access but did not support the final law’s passage because it funded elective abortions, lacked sufficient conscience protection for employers, and prohibited undocumented immigrants from purchasing insurance on the law’s exchanges.

Still, the bishops’ conference does not favor a full repeal of the law, but rather advocatse for fixes to be made to correct problems with the law.

Other pro-life leaders agreed that defunding Planned Parenthood isn’t enough – support must be given to alternative options for women’s health care.

“If he cares about women and children, President Obama should sign this bill that reallocates public funds instead to facilities providing authentic healthcare for women,” stated Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, policy advisor for The Catholic Association.

Planned Parenthood has claimed that it should receive federal funds because of the non-abortion health care services it provides, but its non-abortion services declined significantly in fiscal year 2014-15, while its abortion services remained about the same from the previous year, SBA List noted.

“This profit-driven, abortion-centered business is a bad investment for taxpayers, period. Only abortions did not see a dramatic drop [in 2015],” Dannenfelser stated.

The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood received almost $554 million in FY 2014-15 from government health grants and reimbursements. Federal dollars are prohibited from funding abortions, although critics argue that the money frees up other funds to focus on abortion. The organization’s revenue from federal dollars are largely Medicaid reimbursements and Title X funds, a family planning fund for low-income persons.

Cancer screening and prevention services at Planned Parenthood dropped by 27 percent in 2015, according to Planned Parenthood’s annual reports.  The number of abortions performed, however, fell only around one percent in fiscal year 2014-15.

“There are more than 13,500 publicly supported alternatives for women’s health care in this country and 588 in Missouri – alternatives that treat women without performing abortions,” stated Rep. Wagner.

“Planned Parenthood is not the only game in town,” Day said. “They are a very small player in the health care system, and they should not be receiving this special treatment.”

“Planned Parenthood should be forced to raise their funds entirely through private donations like any other non-profit and not rely on taxpayers for the majority of their revenue,” stated Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life.

Pro-lifers also objected to the federal funding of the organization on the grounds that its affiliates have supplied fetal tissue of aborted babies to harvesters.

That was brought to light in the summer of 2015 when the citizen journalist group Center for Medical Progress launched an investigative series of videos exploring Planned Parenthood’s role in offering the fetal body parts for compensation. Top Planned Parenthood doctors were seen on an undercover camera casually discussing the dismemberment of aborted babies.

Two Congressional committees subsequently launched investigations into Planned Parenthood over allegations of illegal behavior, but did not find evidence that the organization broke the law. A special investigative panel has been created to further look into whether the organization committed any illegal acts.

Fetal body parts can be sold for research for “reasonable” compensation like operating and transportation costs, but not for “valuable consideration,” according to federal law. Planned Parenthood has repeatedly said that it has acted within the law and has made no illegal profits off the sale of unborn body parts.

Still, many pro-life groups argue that the footage in the videos shows the grisly reality of abortion and related use of unborn babies’ tissue.

“End taxpayer funding to those who commit these cruel and inhumane acts,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) stated on the House floor on Wednesday before the reconciliation vote.

Photo credit: Orhan Cam via www.shutterstock.com.

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS photo/James Martone

By James Martone

PARIS (CNS) -- Mohammed Chirani was pursuing a midlife career change in the United Kingdom when news erupted out of his native France that Muslim extremists had attacked the Paris headquarters of a satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, including eight of the magazine's staff.

The news gradually worsened over the next two days, as the extremists killed a policewoman, and then another four people inside a Paris kosher food market.

For Chirani, the events were devastating; he felt he and other Muslims were being "held hostage" by a minority of fanatics, and that it was his duty to do something about it.

He prayed for guidance and headed back to France where, since then, he has been engaged in a campaign to eradicate extremism. He calls his mission a "jihad," playing on same word that some Muslim extremist groups use to describe their violent actions.

"Mine is a jihad of testimony, of citizenship and spirituality," explained Chirani, who lived from ages 9-19 in his parent's native Algeria, where he learned Arabic, studied the Quran, and was a member of the Algerian Muslim Scouts.

"The real meaning (of jihad) is effort, a spiritual and ethical effort. For (extremists), jihad means only to kill and harm," Chirani told Catholic News Service recently.

He spoke to CNS at a Catholic institute of learning in Paris, where he was studying world religions to strengthen his skills at interfaith dialogue. In the meantime, he said, he has been focused on beating Muslim extremists at their own game via French press, radio and television, where Chirani was busy "desanctifying" the false pretenses he claimed the extremists groups used to justify their violence.

He looked tired yet steadfast. In November, extremists had struck France again, killing 130 people and wounding hundreds of others in coordinated attacks across the capital.

"We are at the mercy of fanatic delinquents, fanatic scum, who have taken religion from 1.6 billion people," he said, referring to an estimated number for the world's Muslims, whom he described as "peace-loving."

"When you have people who kill holding a flag on which is written 'there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet,' when you have people cutting the throats of innocents crying 'God is great,' when you have people killing journalists and then saying 'we have avenged the prophet' ... this is being held hostage," said Chirani, 38.

"To justify their fight, they use verses of the (holy Muslim scriptures) Quran and Hadith outside of their context, which I call 'false sacred.' We, therefore, have to undo this false sacred with the real sacred, that is to explain, and to put (verses) back into context," Chirani said.

He cited instances when extremist groups have used 1,500-year-old texts that speak of Muhammad's battles with polytheists of Mecca in their attempts to incite attacks now.

"These verses are not universal, and not for all times and places," Chirani said, adding that the world's major religions called for "wisdom" and "reason" in deciphering the meanings of sacred texts, and that Islam was no exception.

"In the Quran when God speaks, and he says, 'Do the true jihad,' what is jihad? It is ... to testify that God is mercy and peace. We are working for a true god, God of mercy and love," Chirani said, adding that those killing in the name of Islam were "in the service of a satanic sect."

He made the same points just days before, on national television, where he had been invited to speak about the Paris attacks, and about what could be done to prevent the spread of the extremism.

He had begun speaking Arabic in the middle of the live interview and directly addressed those behind the attacks.

"Know that our dead, the innocent French citizens, are in paradise, and your dead, the terrorists, are in hell," he told the extremists, emotionally.

Then he waved a copy of the Quran along with his French passport and French ID and warned the extremists: "We are waging jihad against you, with the Quran" and "we are kissing our (French) documents."

The rhetoric gained him national acclaim, but also led to death threats from extremist groups, Chirani told CNS.

"I defy those who have threatened me," he said, explaining how he had declined offers from French security to provide him with police protection. "I put myself under God's protection."

- - -

Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS photo/Lucie Parsaghian, EPA

By Doreen Abi Raad

BEIRUT (CNS) -- While the flow of migrants into Europe and the West has sparked controversy, Lebanon continues to bear the brunt of absorbing massive numbers of refugees. A commonly cited figure is that one in four people in Lebanon is displaced from Syria.

"They are everywhere ... in all of Lebanon," Father Paul Karam, president of Caritas Lebanon, told Catholic News Service of the presence of Syrian refugees in the country, which is roughly two-thirds the size of the state of Connecticut.

There are no formal refugee camps in Lebanon. Rather, some Syrians establish -- with the permission of the local municipality -- informal tent settlements. Others find ways to rent space in apartments or squat in abandoned buildings.

As of November, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees calculated there were nearly 1.1 million registered refugees living in Lebanon -- but not all refugees are registered with the U.N. agency.

The true scale of the influx is that there are more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, equal to almost one-third of the country's existing Lebanese population of nearly 4 million, Father Karam said. In addition, there are 20,000 Iraqi refugees.

Although Jordan and Turkey are also hosting Syrian refugees, Father Karam noted Jordan is almost eight times the size of Lebanon, and Turkey about 24 times larger. According to a UNHCR report released Dec. 18, Lebanon hosts more refugees compared to its population size than any other country.

"The Lebanese have shown a real spirit of welcoming the refugees. They help them, they are assisting them, but of course this cannot continue for too many years," he told CNS.

Most of the Iraqi refugees are Christian, and about 97 percent of the Syrian refugees are Muslim, Father Karam said. Consequently, the overwhelming presence of Syrian refugees upsets the demographic balance of Lebanon, which is about 40 percent Christian.

"It will destabilize the system," Father Karam warned.

Lebanon's demography is based on 18 religious confessions, 12 of which are Christian.

At least 65,000 Syrian babies born in Lebanon since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict are stateless, with no identification documents. Their births are not registered in Lebanon or in Syria.

"So, shall Lebanon have another story with the new, let me say, scenario, with Syria?" Father Karam asked. He cited the presence of Palestinians in Lebanon for more than 60 years "and nobody has resolved their problem." Currently, there are about 500,000 Palestinians in Lebanon, most in areas agreed upon between Palestinians and the Lebanese state; these areas are commonly referred to as camps.

On a practical level, Lebanon's infrastructure cannot cope with such a huge number of refugees. Even before waves of Syrian refugees began descending upon the country more than four years ago, Lebanon had grappled with shortages in water and electricity.

"You need to have infrastructure in order to help you to help these people," Father Karam said. "If you don't have such a strong infrastructure, what shall you do? If the problem will remain and there is no solution in the near future, this will affect more and more the social life and the security life of this country."

Father Karam said although Caritas receives support from its partners and from others in the international Caritas network, "this is not sufficient for everybody. ... The needs are huge and the capacities are very limited, so we need much more solidarity at the international level."

Michel Constantin, regional director for Lebanon, Syria and Egypt for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, an agency of the Holy See, shared similar thoughts.

"The impact of the Syrian and Iraqi refugees on the Lebanese society is huge and multidimensional," Constantin told CNS, stressing that the Syrian crisis will soon enter its fifth year, "with no end in sight."

"Lebanon cannot bear this responsibility without the support of the international community," Constantin said.

"As the crisis persists, refugees are exhausting their savings and resources, becoming more vulnerable, and are increasingly at risk of resorting to negative coping mechanisms," Constantin said. In Lebanon and beyond, millions of refugees remain in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance, he added.

The Lebanese government does not allow refugees to work. To get by, some refugees work informally, for low wages and often in subpar conditions. But if the Lebanese government learns that refugees are working illegally, they will lose their UNHCR card and residency papers, said Davide Bernocchi, country representative for Catholic Relief Services in Lebanon. CRS, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency, is a member of the worldwide Caritas network.

"This situation places refugees in a perpetual cycle of dependency, not feeling as though they can move forward," Bernocchi said.

"A recent positive move, however, was the announcement by the Lebanese Ministry of Education to make space for 200,000 school-age children in the public schools for the current school year," Bernocchi said.

Yet Lebanon's own population is being squeezed economically.

"The Lebanese have also slipped slowly to poverty under the pressure of competition represented by the increasing supply in the labor market and the increasing demand on goods and services," said Constantin.

Father Karam said some politicians see refugees only as numbers. "But for the church and for our Christian moral and ethical teaching, we are not dealing with numbers. We are dealing with humankind: who feels, who cries, who laugh(s)." The world, he said, cannot continue to deal with them as though they are "instruments."

What will resolve the problem, Father Karam emphasized, is "pressure on the international level" to stop the war in Syria. "We need to implement the spirit of peace, to implement the spirit of dialogue, the spirit of accepting the other."

- - -

Editors: A video interview to accompany this story can be found at https://youtu.be/9CfiC6IeS8U.

- - -

Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article