Schindler Family Attends Mass for Terri Schiavo Hosted by Ave Maria University

St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The Schindler family attended a special Mass on Tuesday, which marked the fourth anniversary of the painful starvation and dehydration euthanasia death of Terri Schiavo. Ave Maria University, a Florida-based Catholic college, hosted the mass, which saw the entire Schindler family attend.

Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri's parents, joined their other children Bobby Schindler and Suzanne Vitadamo for a ceremony in Terri's honor.

As the Schindlers prayed with participants for other disabled people who face the same euthanasia concerns, they placed a picture of Terri on her wedding day on the altar and joined more than 400 people in remembering her life.

The Mass was part of the International Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Terri Schindler Schiavo that the Schindler family jointly co-sponsors with the Terri Schiavo foundation and Priests for Life.

The two organizations established this day last year to foster education, prayer, and activism regarding discrimination against the disabled.

"God is using Terri to impact the world in a very special way," Bobby Schindler told the News Press.

Thomas Monaghan, founder and chancellor of Ave Maria University, told the newspaper the college was happy to help with the ceremony.

“We're very big on pro-life,” he said. “Our purpose is to fight evil and pro-life is center stage, and that’s where we want to be.”

Fr. Frank Pavone, who was with Bobby and Suzanne at Terri’s bedside as she died, recalls that painful day and the support from pro-life advocates and others.

"As we consoled Terri and prayed with her, what I felt most strongly was the presence of countless people around the world who, by their love, prayers, and tears, accompanied Terri and her family through those difficult days," he said. "I am confident that these same individuals, families, and Churches will want to observe Terri’s Day."

Related web sites:
Terri’s Day - http://www.TerrisDay.org
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation - http://www.TerrisFight.org
Priests for Life - http://priestsforlife.org

Zero will probably declare these billboards "hate speech" and have the torn down to avoid having to see them.

Thread by me.

Pro-lifers Put up Billboards on Indiana Toll Road Decrying Obama's Notre Dame Appearance

CHICAGO, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In response to the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree on May 17, the Pro-Life Action League has erected two large billboards located near the South Bend, Ind., campus.

The billboards, to go up May 4 on the Indiana Toll Road, Interstate 80/90, will read, "NOTRE DAME: Obama is pro abortion choice. How dare you honor him," along with a picture of a baby in utero sucking its thumb. They also will list a Web address, NotreDameProtest.com, where visitors can get information on the protests planned during the graduation weekend at Notre Dame.

"These billboards will be seen by hundreds of thousands of motorists, including most of the families coming to Notre Dame for the graduation exercises," said Eric Scheidler, the League's communications director. "They will help make the direct and irrefutable connection between Barack Obama and abortion."

The League and its national director Joe Scheidler, a Notre Dame alumnus and former teacher there, already have called on the university's president, Rev. John Jenkins, to rescind his invitation to Obama. They have protested at the university, and have said they will return to decry Obama's appearance on May 17 if Jenkins' invite stands. Nearly 60 Catholic bishops and scores of pro-life leaders have written Jenkins, urging him to cancel Obama's talk, or otherwise protested his decision. . .

"We will not be silent.
We are your bad conscience.
The White Rose will give you no rest."

Montana's Supreme Court is set to rule on what would be the most pro-death euthanasia laws in the country.

Threads by Man50D and me.

Doctors face orders to 'kill on demand'

Physicians in Montana could be facing "kill-on-demand" orders from patients who want to commit suicide if a district court judge's opinion pending before the state Supreme Court is affirmed.

The case has attracted nominal attention nationwide, but lawyers with the Christian Legal Service have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the pending case because of what it would mean to doctors within the state, as well as the precedent it would set.

The concern is over the attack on doctors' ethics and religious beliefs – as well as the Hippocratic oath – that may be violated by a demand that they prescribe deadly chemicals or in some other way assist in a person's death. . .

_____________________________________________________________

Montana Supreme Court Gets More Pro-Life Briefs Against OKing Assisted Suicide

Helena, MT (LifeNews.com) -- The Montana Supreme Court has received more legal briefs from pro-life groups asking it not to affirm a lower court decision making the state the third to allow assisted suicides. The Christian Legal Society and Christian Medical Association, along with Americans United for Life, weighed in this week.

AUL filed a brief on of a bipartisan group of 28 Montana state senators and representatives arguing there is no right to assisted suicide under the state’s constitution.

Mailee Smith, staff counsel with the group, told LifeNews.com that the "district court held that a person’s constitutional rights are ‘defeated’ if she does not receive assistance in dying. This means that anyone—even a patient who cannot administer lethal drugs herself—is entitled to have a physician kill them."

Smith says the Montana ruling would allow the state to go beyond assisted suicide and allow euthanasia. . .

We are coming dangerously close to a full return of Nazi-style eugenics.

Thread by me.

DNA databases prelude to return of eugenics?

An organization that has been battling Minnesota state procedures in which DNA from every newborn is collected and warehoused says virtually all states do the same thing, and the alarming trend eventually could lead the United States back into eugenics.

The report from Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care, says, "Throughout history, proponents of eugenics have focused on the reproduction of children, either through encouraging the 'healthy' to reproduce or discouraging the 'unhealthy' from procreation. This focus has been evidenced in history by 29 state sterilization laws … and the horrific Nazi campaign aimed at ridding Germany of the 'unfit' – the Jews, the physically deformed, the mentally retarded, the 'feebleminded,' the inferior, the epileptic, the deaf, the blind, 'those suffering from hereditary conditions,' the deviant 'asocial' and the politically dissident."

The report then continued, "That the focus on reproduction still exists today is more than troubling.

"The authors of a 2001 study 'were struck' by the large number of state government officials who agreed with a specific statement regarding assessment of a child's suitability for future reproduction," the report said. "Nineteen (54 percent) of 35 … respondents who routinely provide counseling – mostly newborn genetic screening follow-up staff at state health departments across the country – thought it important when giving advice to parents to 'identify children who might be, for genetic reasons, unsuitable choices for future reproduction,'" the report said. . .

This is an excellent column on just how dangerous the culture of death is.

Thread by me.

'Death-on-demand culture' risky, ethics expert warns

The perfect storm of intellectual thought, economic reality and societal context that allowed the mass killings of "undesirables" in Germany before and during the Second World War, is swirling today, warned an American professor.

And while history won't repeat itself exactly -- it's doubtful that even pro-abortionists would condone death camps -- "the pro-abortion twist is spinning bad into good," said Mark Mostert, director of the Institute for the Study of Disability and Bioethics at Regent University, in Virginia. "In the battle for the sanctity of life, we need to watch what's happening with legally assisted-suicide and euthanasia. The sick, infirm, elderly and those with disabilities are most at risk."

Mostert, a professor of special education, was a guest speaker at the annual conference of Alliance for Life Ontario, that was held Friday and Saturday in Guelph. He said medical and technological advances now allow doctors to do more for their patients, including detecting defects in unborn children, which is adding to a death-on-demand culture.

"The ethical thinking hasn't caught up with the scientific advances and we really need to have those discussions," he said. "What we're talking about is the value of a life."

Mostert said those values began to shift in Germany after the First World War, when intellectuals, medical researchers and law makers began to measure a person's value by how much they contributed to the economy. By extension, those who did not or could not contribute were considered a burden. . .

As Zero's date to desecrate Notre Dame nears, things are heating up.

Two threads by me.

62: Three More Bishops Against Notre Dame Scandal, Obama Urged to Decline Invitation

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, March 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A total of 62 bishops have publicly condemned the Notre Dame scandal, with three more bishops expressing solidarity with Notre Dame's Bishop John D'Arcy and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) policy against honoring pro-abortion politicians. The University of Notre Dame has invited President Obama to give the commencement address and receive an honorary law degree May 17.

Bishop Reymundo Pena of Brownsville, TX has published an April 24 letter addressed to both President Obama and University President Fr. John Jenkins condemning the scandal. (http://www.cdob.org/bishop/column/2009/4-24-09.htm)

Citing USCCB policy, Pena told Fr. Jenkins: "The prestige that the president will lend to your commencement is not sufficient reason to disregard these principles. There are numerous prominent public figures distinguished for their moral rectitude and record of public service from which you could have drawn."

Bishop Pena pointed to the dozens of bishops and over 350,000 petitioning Catholics who have expressed outrage at the invitation.

"Surely their collective voice has made it clear that they consider your action to be scandalously inconsistent with Notre Dame's symbolic mission to showcase how Catholic faith can positively influence modern life and culture," the bishop wrote. "Why have you refused to meet with twelve university student groups, who have asked to talk with you about your choice?

"I join my voice to this growing chorus of protesters, and I encourage Valley Catholics to express what is in their hearts to you, Father Jenkins."

In the portion addressed to President Obama, the bishop lauded the president's personal accomplishments, but acknowledged the "deep divide between you and the majority of Americans on the paramount moral issue of our time: the right to life vs. the claimed right to abortion."

"Mr. President, less than 18 months ago, Pope Benedict XVI canceled a speaking engagement at La Sapienza University in Rome, simply because some of the students reacted negatively to the announcement of his coming," wrote Bishop Pena. "Rather than risk throwing the university into turmoil, the pope humbly withdrew.

"I respectfully ask you to consider freely withdrawing your commitment to speak at Notre Dame University, for the same reason."

. . .

_____________________________________________________________

Notre Dame Students to Protest, Boycott Obama Speech, Confront on Abortion

South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- The collection of pro-life student groups at the University of Notre Dame who have led much of the response to the Obama graduation invitation have announced their plans for commencement. Notre Dame Response will hold a peaceful protest when President Barack Obama speaks at the Catholic college.

The invitation from Father John Jenkins to the pro-abortion president to both give the graduation address and receive an honorary degree has prompted national outrage.

An ad hoc coalition of several pro-life students groups has led the official protest from UND students to the decision.

Today, the groups announced their plans for the May 17 event, saying, "ND Response has received official permission to hold a prayerful and constructive demonstration on the South Quad of the University of Notre Dame between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the day of Commencement."

"The students of this coalition would like to extend an invitation to all those interested in joining us on campus on May 17th as we respectfully give witness to Notre Dame's Catholic identity and pro-life principles," the group added.

"We will not be silent.
We are your bad conscience.
The White Rose will give you no rest."

This an excellent piece about how Hitler's agenda is being carried out long after people thought we had destroyed Nazism.

Thread by 2ndDivisionVet.

Did Hitler Win The War? Reflections On Habit and Moral Evil (Must Read!)

~snip~

Our moral bluntness has reached such a point that not only do we constantly refer to physical sex in newspapers, magazines, advertisements, movies, which every child can see, but some Catholic parents irresponsibly endorse certain sex education courses approved by the local bishop (who usually rubber-stamps the evaluation of "sex experts"), which teach innocent children things which should make us blush with shame—facts which most of us, of the older generation, never even knew about when we were young because this information was both unnecessary and filthy. It is bound to destroy the child’s innocence. When a young boy of eight, watching a tennis tournament, turns to me and says, "Do you know that she (referring to one of the players) is a lesbian?" it must make the angels cry. When grammar school children are taught the standard forms of artificial birth control and various forms of sexual perversions, we ought to wake up to the fact that evil is now presented as perfectly acceptable—no, respectable. For the child, his parents and teachers are "authorities," and he will necessarily accept as "perfectly all right" sex information sponsored to him by his teachers, in programs financed by the school, and headed by "sex experts" who teach the child "the facts of life." They are in fact invited to "experiment," and children love to try things out. These little ones are too young to carry the weight of this "scientific" information.

Moreover, they are taught to be "tolerant" toward "other life styles," and perversions are put on the same level as differences of race and color. To be black, white, or yellow is not a moral question. It is morally irrelevant, and this is why racial prejudices are both stupid and immoral. But homosexual activity is morally relevant indeed (both Plato and Paul have made this strikingly clear and condemned these practices in the strongest possible terms, and the gentle Francis de Sales echoed their views when he refers to this sin as "the most detestable disorder that human flesh can commit" (Treatise on the Love of God, 11:11). We are reminded of the words of Jeremiah: "They do not know how to blush" (6:15, 8:12). The situation is so grave because we have become anaesthetized by the media and live in a state of total moral somnolence. We are now so used to abominable practices that they no longer scandalize us. Yet Christ said, "Woe to those who scandalize one of these little ones; it would be better for him to have a millstone put around his neck" (Matt. 28:6).

One of the greatest moral dangers threatening us today is that all of us, constantly exposed to the horrors shown on our television screens and the artful propaganda of "liberal" views, have become morally blunt and blind. Assisted suicide, scientific research on fetuses, abortion of millions of helpless infants, are accepted as a matter of course. Now that a democratically-elected president of the U.S., abetted by his wife, officially defends the right of a woman "to control her reproductive organs"—that is to say, makes the murder of an innocent child a "right"—and proclaims that he will veto any bill prohibiting partial birth abortions, we should realize that we have hit the rock bottom of moral decadence. The greatest political authority in the U.S. proclaims that a crime is a right.

Individuals in any given society will commit crimes. But the moment that a state legalizes crimes and lobbies for the subvention of these crimes by the state, we have, humanly speaking, reached the point of no return. God alone can save people who have strayed so far from his laws.

This is precisely what happened in Germany when Hitler came to power on January 30, 1933. He too legalized crimes of all sorts. Because the state is a powerful institution and enjoys a de facto respectability, the danger of accepting its views becomes immense. "Thus discord in religion, and untruth in religion, have come to be less odious and less alarming to men, simply because they are accustomed to them. It requires courage, both moral and mental, to believe the whole of a grand nation in the wrong" (P. Gueranger, Liturgical Year, 8:218).

There is a great danger that those whose moral sense has not been totally warped will at first reject these abominations with horror. After a while, this response of total rejection and horror will be replaced by regret, which will degenerate into tolerance, then acceptance leading to total callousness and indifference.

Once this stage is reached—the acceptance of the legalization of crimes—the fabric of the state is threatened. The state should stand for justice. Once it condones the most crying injustice, it has sapped the foundation of its authority. The worm of immorality has eaten so deeply into the apple that it is now rotten to the core and, humanly speaking, it cannot survive.

Our society is afflicted by the terrible disease of moral blindness. The physically blind person knows, at least, that he is handicapped. The morally blind person accuses those who see of being "fanatics." The great Pascal raised the question, "Why is it that, when I see a limping man, I feel sorry for his plight? But when I meet a limping mind, I am irritated beyond words?" His answer testifies to his genius: "Because the limping man knows he is limping; the limping mind accuses me of limping." The pro-abortionist and the abortionist have "limping minds," yet they accuse those who understand the rights of the unborn as limping.

This is the situation we face today. In this respect we can say that Hitler has won the war in the Western world.

Just how low is Specter willing to go?

Thread by me.

Arlen Specter Blames Pro-Life Science Policies for Death of Jack Kemp

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Fresh from switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party, pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter upset pro-life advocates again over the weekend. He blamed the death of pro-life former Congressman and vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp on pro-life policies that he claimed are anti-science.

Kemp died over the weekend about a bout with cancer, with which he was only diagnosed in January. By the time it was caught, it had spread throughout his body.

Now, Specter has, as some pro-life advocates say, "shamefully" used the occasion of Kemp's death to justify his political switch.

"Well, I was sorry to disappoint many people. Frankly, I was disappointed that the Republican Party didn't want me as their candidate," he told the news program "Face the Nation."

"But as a matter of principle, I'm becoming much more comfortable with the Democrats' approach. And one of the items that I'm working on, Bob, is funding for medical research," Specter added. "If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine."

. . .

Australia's own Doctor Death might be moving to America.

Thread by me.

(Euthanasia Advocate) Nitschke ditching Britain for US

PHILIP Nitschke is considering moving to the US to continue his campaign for voluntary euthanasia after a hostile reception from British immigration authorities on the weekend.

The Australian campaigner known as "Doctor Death" said last night that until he was detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours on Saturday he had been considering moving to Britain to escape Australia's increasingly tight restrictions on the dissemination of information on how to kill yourself.

"That looks unlikely now, because after that reception I guess the British will be less likely to let me stay," Dr Nitschke told The Australian.

"I'm not sure, but we might be forced to move to the US, which still has freedom of speech and increasingly looks like a less hostile environment."

Dr Nitschke was last night due to launch in London a testing kit to allow people considering suicide to check that any barbiturates they had bought were capable of killing them, before holding four seminars on assisted suicide.

"The problem is it was pretty clear the immigration people were waiting for us, and they were well prepared with a big file on our activities," he said. . .

A great editorial by Judie Brown!

Thread by Caleb1411.

Contrary Catholics Continue to Confuse

There seems to be no end to the mind-boggling contradictions that spew forth from the mouths of public figures who claim to be Catholic, but use their media opportunities to discredit the Catholic Church and her teachings through deception.

First, there was Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback’s statement, made after voting in favor of pro-abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius for secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, as reported by the Washington Times.

"It's well known that Governor Sebelius and I fundamentally disagree on several issues, and most notably on the issues of life," Mr. Brownback said. "However, we can work together for the people of Kansas, especially on rural health care issues, graduate medical education in Wichita and a National Cancer Institute designation at KU."

I am not sure what "issues of life" might be, though Brownback could be referring to the direct murder of innocent pre-born children, which is, according to Catholic teaching, an abomination before God.

One has to wonder if Brownback seriously believes that the church and the Lord himself would step aside for fundamental disagreements on matters of life and death because his followers want to collaborate with the purveyors of evil on "rural health care issues."

God save us from such drivel. Ah, but Brownback is not alone.

When courageous Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon announced that she had declined the University of Notre Dame’s prestigious Laetare Medal, rather than share a stage with culture-of-death-guru President Barack Obama, someone whom Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker referred to as “a mutual friend” said, "[Notre Dame president] Father [John] Jenkins thought he could use Mary Ann Glendon as a fig leaf."

. . .

Let's see, THEY murder 3500 children EVERY DAY, over a third of the victims are Black, yet somehow WE are "violent racists" for opposing them.

Thread by me.

Obama Admin Terrorism Dictionary Calls Pro-Life Advocates Violent, Racist

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- More details are emerging about a terrorism dictionary the administration of President Barack Obama put together in March. The newly-revealed document comes on the heels of a report the Department of Homeland Security sent out saying pro-life advocates were right-wing extremists.

The latest report to cause national outrage is a document known as the "Domestic Extremism Lexicon," essentially a terrorism and political extremism dictionary for the Obama administration's internal use.

The March 26, 2009 document features numerous definitions and the headline "antiabortion extremism," appears on page two of the eleven-page manual.

The Obama administration calls pro-life advocates violent and claims they employ racist overtones in engaging in criminal actions.

The definition reads: "A movement of groups or individuals who are virulently antiabortion and advocate violence against providers of abortion-related services, their employees, and their facilities. Some cite various racist and anti-Semitic beliefs to justify their criminal activities."

. . .

One would think that a person who derives their income from selling childrens books would be opposed to killing children.

Thread by me.

Children's Author Judy Blume Seeks Donations to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Famous children's author Judy Blume is no stranger to controversy, but she's added to herself to a list of people who will be remember for something more devastating. Blume has lent her name the solicitation of donations for Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business.

In a new missive ironically celebrating mothers day, Blume suggests sending a donation to the pro-abortion group to honor mothers.

"Say thanks this Mother's Day with a gift that honors her courage by making a donation to Planned Parenthood in her name. I guarantee you that she'll be pleased. I know I would be,' Blume writes.

"There is no organization that I know of that supports motherhood and all that it means more than Planned Parenthood. That's why I'm honoring moms everywhere with my gift to Planned Parenthood today," Blume adds. . .

A wonderful message of truth from the Pope!

Thread by ReformationFan.

Pope: "Non-Negotiable Human Rights" include "Right to Life and Right to Freedom of Conscience"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 5, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI addressed members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences yesterday at their plenary session which is focused on the theme of Catholic social teaching and human rights, and called for the promotion of universal human rights based on both faith and reason, affirming the "right to life and the right to freedom of conscience and religion as being at the center of those rights that spring from human nature itself."

The Holy Father noted that though these human rights are not strictly "truths of faith, even though they are discoverable - and indeed come to full light - in the message of Christ who "reveals man to man himself," they do "receive further confirmation from faith."

Giving an historical perspective to human rights as "the reference point of a shared universal ethos - at least at the level of aspiration - for most of humankind," the Pope spoke of the "vast suffering caused by two terrible world wars and the unspeakable crimes perpetrated by totalitarian ideologies," as a consequence of which "the international community acquired a new system of international law based on human rights."

. . .

This "priestess", or whatever she calls herself, is clearly doing Satan's work.

Thread by markomalley.

Remarks of the Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, Birmingham, AL (BARF Alert)

Well Operation Save America came, they saw, they harassed, and they annoyed; but they did not close the clinic. The clinic stayed open, no patients were turned away, and the doors never closed. We remain victorious. And that victory is a good thing – but, make no mistake, even though OSA has gone home; our work is not done.

If we were to leave this park and discover that clinic violence had become a thing of the past, never to plague us again, that would be a very good thing, indeed; but, still, our work would not be done.

If we were to find that, while we were here, Congress had acted to insure that abortion would always be legal, that would be a very good thing; but our work would not be done.

If we were suddenly to find a host of trained providers, insuring access in every city, town, village, and military base throughout the world, that would be a very good thing; but our work would not be done.

When every woman has everything she needs to make an informed, thoughtful choice, and to act upon it, we will be very close; but, still, our work will not be done.

As long as women, acting as responsible moral agents, taking responsibility for their own lives and for those who depend on them, have to contend with guilt and shame, have judgment and contempt heaped upon them, rather than the support and respect they deserve, our work is not done. . .

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Pro-lifers Put up Billboards on Indiana Toll Road Decrying Obama's Notre Dame Appearance

President Obama Likely to Pick Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Justice After Souter

'Jane Roe' of Roe v Wade attacks Notre Dame decision to honour pro-abortion Obama

Doctors face orders to 'kill on demand'

Montana Supreme Court Gets More Pro-Life Briefs Against OKing Assisted Suicide

DNA databases prelude to return of eugenics?

'Death-on-demand culture' risky, ethics expert warns

62: Three More Bishops Against Notre Dame Scandal, Obama Urged to Decline Invitation

Notre Dame Students to Protest, Boycott Obama Speech, Confront on Abortion

Did Hitler Win The War? Reflections On Habit and Moral Evil (Must Read!)

Arlen Specter Blames Pro-Life Science Policies for Death of Jack Kemp

(Euthanasia Advocate) Nitschke ditching Britain for US

Contrary Catholics Continue to Confuse

Obama Admin Terrorism Dictionary Calls Pro-Life Advocates Violent, Racist

Children's Author Judy Blume Seeks Donations to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

Pope: "Non-Negotiable Human Rights" include "Right to Life and Right to Freedom of Conscience"

Remarks of the Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, Birmingham, AL (BARF Alert)

Decrimininalizing Infanticide (in Texas)