Dutch Bishop Advocates Defunding of Abortion to Parliament

By Patrick B. Craine

Roermond, Netherlands, November 4, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Dutch bishop has made waves in the country after he called on politicians to defund abortion in the face of impending budget restrictions, reports French journalist Jeanne Smits.

Several members of the Dutch House of Representatives have complained after Bishop Everard de Jong, auxiliary for the Roermond diocese, sent a letter earlier this fall to each representative along with a plastic 10-week fetal model.

In the letter, the bishop suggested that the government could save money “on the backs of bloody abortion clinics.” The bishop also suggested that given the Netherland’s aging population, the country will need a younger generation to take care of the elderly; however, he said, there is no younger generation because “we have already ‘cleansed’ them” through abortion.

True Environmentalists Are Pro-Life, Says Pope

Affirms Ecology Issue Should Be Set in Larger Framework

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 11, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says efforts to protect the environment cannot be opposed to human life and safeguarding the dignity of the person.

The Pope took up this theme today when he delivered his traditional New Year address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.

The Holy Father's address for 2010 centered on the issue of respect for creation and the environment, the same theme he highlighted in his Jan. 1 World Day of Peace message.

He noted not humanity in this new year "continues to be marked by the dramatic crisis of the global economy and consequently a serious and widespread social instability."

The "deeper causes" of this situation, the Pontiff contended, "are to be found in a current self-centered and materialistic way of thinking which fails to acknowledge the limitations inherent in every creature."

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Reputedly Catholic Organizations Support Casey Proposal

Bob Casey receives endorsement from the usual suspects who lay claim to a Catholic identity that benefits them with their donors and alumni, but do not, as Cardinal DiNardo says, amount to rejecting federal funding for abortion.

Washington D.C., Dec 18, 2009 / 06:56 pm (CNA).- Sen. Bob Casey's office released a statement to CNA on Friday afternoon claiming that the senator's abortion compromise has received “widespread praise” from health groups and faith leaders around the country. However, the U.S. bishops' head of pro-life issues, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, charged that Casey's language does not address the fact that the Senate bill still fails to comply with “longstanding Hyde restrictions on federal funding of elective abortions.”

Following the defeat of the Nelson Amendment in the Senate, Sen. Casey (D-Penn.), who helped co-sponsor it, sent a new compromise proposal to Sen. Nelson that would hopefully garner enough votes to pass the Senate.

After reviewing the Casey proposal, Nelson rejected the language, saying that it “does not yet ensure that a longstanding federal standard barring public funding of abortion would be maintained in the Senate health care bill the Senate has been debating this month.”

Speaking in a press release on Friday, Sen. Casey underscored that “It is critical to maintain restrictions on federal funding of abortion. But we must also focus on the needs of vulnerable pregnant women and do all we can to assist them at a time when they may find themselves alone and without support.”

[chop]

The following is a list of individuals who support the Casey proposal:

Despite the fact that no one has actually seen the proposed language of the compromise, Sen. Casey's office released a list of religious groups who have come forward in support of the illusory language. The list includes U.S. Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec, Sr. Simone Campbell of NETWORK, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, the Catholic Health Association and professors from Boston College, Fordham University, Marquette University, the University of Dayton, the Catholic University of America and the University of Notre Dame

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Bishop says Kennedy is 'erratic' and a Liar

Bishop Tobin is not only calling Kennedy a liar, but is saying he's mentally imbalanced as well. He's careful not to suggest that this reflects on his fitness for office and leaves that up to the voters, however.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –– Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin on Monday said Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy has shown “increasingly erratic and unpredictable behavior” during their escalating dispute, but said he was “not at all” referring to the congressman’s well-publicized mental-health issues.

Kennedy
The bishop also said he was not suggesting that Kennedy was unfit for office. He said he was “not familiar” or only “generally familiar” with mental-health and drug-addiction problems Kennedy has openly acknowledged and sought treatment for — most recently four weeks of addiction treatment at a medical facility in June.

“His fitness for office is nothing that I would ever comment on,” said Bishop Tobin. “I think that’s up to the voters to make that decision. But I am concerned about his statements and his reactions to some of these recent events. No, I’m concerned about him and I’m praying for him. As I said before, my door is always open, and I hope we can bring a good reconciliation to all this.”


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Catholic Church pushes Bill in House, Chapels.

Abortion rights supporters say that Bishops don't speak for the majority of Catholics, but this article says that 68% of Catholic actually support the Stupak Amendment. The author of the following article says that the US Bishops have reached out in a very definitive way on the issue of abortion, more than would have been possible for various pro-life groups.

Boston Herald

WASHINGTON — For weeks, the Catholic Church has asked its parishioners to work toward ensuring tough language restricting federal funding of abortion is included in the federal health care overhaul.

The church has gone so far as to insert a prayer into the weekly bulletins in the pews of its dioceses across the country, one that implores Congress to "act to ensure that needed health care reform will truly protect the life, dignity and health care of all."

But while the church is trying to rally its forces outside of Congress, it is also using its leverage within.

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