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January 22, 2008 marks the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. On this day, Catholics all over the United States will march, pray, and fast in an effort to end abortion and restore the right to life. Please join in this important mission.
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In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass "For Peace and Justice" (no. 22 of the "Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day. (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373)
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| From Cardinal Justin Rigali's Homily January 22, 2007 |
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The occasion of our yearly coming together in humble prayer and serene and peaceful witness to the value of every human life is linked to an extremely sad moment in the history of the United States: that fateful decision Roe v. Wade rendered on January 22, 1973. Now, thirty-four years later we bow our heads in shame as we admit that over forty-seven million human lives have been snuffed out as a result of that misguided use of judicial power exercised in the name of the authority resting in the people of the United States of America.
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| From the U.S. Catholic Bishops |
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We proclaim that human life is a precious gift from God; that each person who receives this gift has responsibilities toward God, self, and others; and that society, through its laws and social institutions, must protect and nurture human life at every stage of its existence. These beliefs flow from ordinary reason and from our faith's constant witness that "life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception" (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, no. 51)-a teaching that has been a constant part of the Christian message since the apostolic age. (Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, November 2001)
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| Roe v. Wade Made Abortion Legal ALL NINE MONTHS |
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In the United States, abortion is legal for all nine months of pregnancy for basically any reason. Many people falsely believe that it is only legal the first three months. The reality is that Roe v. Wade made abortion legal all nine months to preserve the mother's health. Doe v. Bolton, a case heard the same day as Roe v. Wade, defined the mother's health as "all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age - relevant to the well-being of the patient." In other words, a woman can have an abortion the day before her baby is due because she says it will hurt her emotional health or because she thinks she is too young.
"[N]o significant legal barriers of any kind whatsoever exist today in the United States for a woman to obtain an abortion for any reason during any stage of her pregnancy." Senate Rep. No. 98-149, at 6 (1983).
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| Life Begins At Fertilization |
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Fertilization is the beginning of a human life. At this moment, the new person has unique DNA different from both the father's and the mother's. In a court of law, we use DNA to identify an individual. It is the characteristic used to prove who a person is. It stands to reason then, that DNA is scientific proof that a person exists in the womb.
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| The Majority Of Americans Are Against Abortion |
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61% of Americans said abortion should not be permitted after the fetal heartbeat has begun. (Zogby International Poll, April 15-17, 2004.)
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72% of Americans said abortion should be illegal in the second three months of pregnancy, and 86% said abortion should be illegal in the last three months of pregnancy. (The Harris Poll #18, March 3, 2005.)
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Jeremiah 1
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you,
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Psalm 139
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!
Already you knew my soul,
my body held no secret from you
when I was being fashioned in secret
and moulded in the depths of the earth.
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Ecclesiastes 11
Just as you know not how the breath of life fashions the human frame in the mother's womb, So you know not the work of God which he is accomplishing in the universe.
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Isaiah 49
The LORD called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb
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Psalm 127
Children too are a gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb, a reward.
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| CATHOLIC QUOTES ON ABORTION |
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Do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant. (The Didache, The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles, 1st Century A.D.)
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But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? (Mother Teresa)
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Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture-is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination. (Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, no. 38)
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What is urgently called for is a general mobilization of consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of life. All together, we must build a new culture of life. (Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, no. 95)
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We are a nation founded on "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but the right to life itself is not fully protected, especially for unborn children, the most vulnerable members of the American family. (United States Council of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility)
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Catholics must never abandon the moral requirement to seek full protection for all human life from the moment of conception until natural death. (United States Council of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility)
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When political activity comes up against moral principles that do not admit of exception, compromise, or derogation, the Catholic commitment becomes more evident and laden with responsibility. In the face of fundamental and inalienable ethical demands, Christians must recognize that what is at stake is the essence of the moral law, which concerns the integral good of the human person. This is the case with laws concerning abortion and euthanasia. . . . Such laws must defend the basic right to life from conception to natural death (Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life, no. 4).
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Yet a candidate's position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support. (United States Council of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility)
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Human life is sacred. The dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Direct attacks on innocent persons are never morally acceptable, at any stage or in any condition. In our society, human life is especially under direct attack from abortion. (United States Council of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility)
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The first right of the human person is his life . . . It does not belong to society, nor does it belong to public authority in any form to recognize this right for some and not for others; all discrimination is evil. . . Any discrimination based on the various stages of life is no more justified any other discrimination. . . . In reality, respect for human life is called for from the time that the process of generation begins. From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. (Declaration on Procured Abortion, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1974), paragraphs 11-12.)
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It is the teaching of the Catholic Church from the very beginning, founded on her understanding of her Lord's own witness to the sacredness of human life, that the killing of an unborn child is always intrinsically evil and can never be justified. If those who perform an abortion and those who cooperate willingly in the action are fully aware of the objective evil of what they do, they are guilty of grave sin and thereby separate themselves from God's grace... It is with pastoral solicitude for everyone involved in the political process that we will also counsel Catholic public officials that their acting consistently to support abortion on demand risks making them cooperators in evil in a public manner. We will persist in this duty to counsel, in the hope that the scandal of their cooperating in evil can be resolved by the proper formation of their consciences. (United States Council of Catholic Bishops, Catholics in Political Life, 2004)
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"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." (Mother Teresa)
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| IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS ON THE RIGHT TO LIFE |
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Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II
http://www.ewtn.com/library/encyc/jp2evang.htm
The Vatican's Summary of Evangelium Vitae
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/evvatsummary.htm
Veritatis Splendor (Splendor of Truth), Pope John Paul II
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/JP2VER.htm
Donum Vitae (Respect for Human Life), Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFHUMAN.HTM
Declaration on Procured Abortion, for the Doctrine of the Faith
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/quaestiodeabortu.htm
A List of Papal Writings on the Right to Life
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisteriumencyc.htm
Letters, Addresses, or Homilies of the Holy Father
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisteriumpope.htm
In the Service of Life, The Pontifical Council for the Family
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/pcfintheserviceoflife.htm
Humanae Vitae
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P6HUMANA.HTM
What the Catechism Says About Abortion
http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/catechismonabortion.htm
The Catholic Church Is a Pro-Life Church, United States Council of Catholic Bishops - A pamphlet describing the history of the Church's teaching on abortion.
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/teaching.shtml
Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, United States Council of Catholic Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/pastoralplan.shtml
A Matter of the Heart, United States Council of Catholic Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/heart.shtml
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility, United States Council of Catholic Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/bishops/FCStatement.pdf
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| INFORMATIVE PRO-LIFE WEBSITES |
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