NATIONAL SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE DAY, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY JANUARY 16, 2005

The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all Americans are endowed by the Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we celebrate the sacred gift of life.

We have a responsibility in America to defend the life of the innocent and the powerless. Our Nation has made significant progress in recent years toward building a culture of life. Last year, I signed into law the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which provides that any person who causes death or injury to a pregnant woman commits two separate offenses. I worked with members of both parties to ban the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion, and I signed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. Working with the Congress, my Administration has halted spending of taxpayers' money on international programs that promote abortions overseas. We continue to promote abstinence education, adoption programs, crisis pregnancy programs, and other efforts to help protect life.

My Administration remains committed to the steadfast belief in the dignity of every human being and the promise of every life. Across our country, we must continue to encourage our citizens to make ours a more just and welcoming society in which every child is born into a loving family and protected by law. We will work with decency and respect to change hearts and minds, one person at a time. In doing so, we will build a lasting culture of life and a more compassionate society.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 16, 2005, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies in our homes and places of worship and to reaffirm our commitment to respecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-ninth.

George Washington wrote, "The liberty enjoyed by the people of these States, of worshipping Almighty God agreeably to their consciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." On Religious Freedom Day, Americans commemorate the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786, which helped set the course for freedom of religion to be included in the First Amendment to our Constitution.

Our Founding Fathers knew the importance of freedom of religion to a stable and lasting Union. Our Constitution protects individuals' rights to worship as they choose. Today, we continue to welcome the important contributions of people of faith in our society. We reject religious bigotry in every form, striving for a society that honors the life and faith of every person. As we maintain the vitality of a pluralistic society, we work to ensure equal treatment of faith-based organizations and people of faith.

As the United States advances the cause of liberty, we remember that freedom is not America's gift to the world, but God's gift to each man and woman in this world. This truth drives our efforts to help people everywhere achieve freedom of religion and establish a better, brighter, and more peaceful future for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2005, as Religious Freedom Day. I encourage all Americans to reflect on the great blessing of religious freedom, to endeavor to preserve this freedom for future generations, and to commemorate this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, and places of worship.

I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies in our homes and places of worship and to reaffirm our commitment to respecting the life and dignity of every human being.

(President George W. Bush and "friend"- The Theotokos)

RIGHT TO LIFE
2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person -- among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
Catechism Catholic Church

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Abortion Facility in Erie, Pennsylvania Expected to Reopen Soon
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
January 14, 2005

Erie, PA (LifeNews.com) -- The only abortion center in Erie is expected to reopen within a month.

American Women's Services shut down in July because the owners could not find anyone to perform abortions there after a previous abortion practitioner employed ran into problems with his medical license.

The abortion center's chief operating officer, Linda Locke, told an Erie newspaper that it has been difficult to recruit a replacement.

“[Abortion practitioners] are afraid to go to Erie because of the ‘anti-choice’ people, though I have met them, and I don't feel they are out to hurt anyone," Locke told the Erie Times-News.

Locke added the center will be performing abortions two days a week and may be open at other times for testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

The new abortionist is not a local doctor, but Locke refused to identify the person.

Locke told the Times-News, “Erie is a very tight community, and local physicians don't want to be identified as abortion providers."

Tim Broderick, the head of the pro-life group known as People for Life, admits the abortion center's reopening represents a setback.

“I expected it, though,” Broderick told the Times-News. “Six months is nothing to this group, when you consider it took them four years to open it in the first place."

People for Life plans to continue its protests outside the abortion center. But, the pro-life group also has other ways of getting the word out.

“We'll still have a presence on the sidewalk, but we're also looking at other ways to increase public awareness about abortion," Broderick told the Times-News.

The group plans a pro-life prayer breakfast and march to call attention to the devastation caused by abortion.

The abortion center is owned by Steve Brigham, who was forced to give up his license to practice medicine in Pennsylvania some years ago. Brigham has also lost his license in other states, yet he continues to operate a chain of abortion businesses on the Eastern seaboard.

Last year, the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation noted, "The health and safety of women in Erie are being placed at great risk because of Brigham's abortion center. Lives have been lost needlessly, and women's physical and psychological health have been jeopardized because of Brigham's actions."

Brigham's center is the first abortion facility to operate in Erie in more than 20 years.

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