Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill that will strip federal funding from any health plan created by Obamacare that covers abortion on demand. It’s called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7).The vote was 227 to 188.
Under this act, our tax dollars cannot be used to help Americans purchase insurance plans with abortion coverage. Nor can they be used to pay for abortions in any federal program.
Unfortunately, Rockland’s representative Nita Lowey voted against this bill.
Now the bill goes to the Senate, President Obama has said he will veto it if it passes there.
Monday, the New York State Assembly passed the Women’s Equality Act, which makes abortion available for essentially any reason at any time.
Although the bill also contain provisions that are generally acceptable to most New Yorkers — like equal pay for women and ending sexual harassment, for example — here’s why it’s dangerous:
It expands abortion through all nine months of pregnancy
It allows non-doctors to perform abortions
It has no conscience protection for medical professionals who are opposed to taking a human life.
You may remember the battle over this bill last spring, where it failed to pass by one vote. We must stop this bill in the Senate, and we need everyone to help! Please watch this website to learn what you can do. For more information, click here.
Unfortunately, again, all the legislators in Rockland County voted for this bill: Ellen Jaffe (representing Orangetown and parts of Ramapo), Ken Zebrowski (representing Haverstraw and Clarkstown), and James Skoufis (representing Stony Point). In the picture below, he’s the first one on the left. This is a rally of the Family Planning Advocates of New York in support of the bill. He even wore a pink tie for the occasion.
It’s still not too late to make a New Year’s resolution! Here guest blogger Sean Miller describes his plan for 2014 — and beyond.
The Solution to Resolutions
Guest blogger Sean Miller
Many times when we’re really motivated to get something done we tend to overlook the very tools we need to accomplish our goal. And one of the most fundamental and obvious things that somehow gets lost in our enthusiasm is this: to remember to include God in our endeavors.
I’ve made this mistake countless times — going forward with my own agenda without ever seeking direction from God. I felt that I had it all together, and perhaps I would talk to God about it at a later date … and that’s just what I end up doing, usually after things are falling apart in my hands.
But in hindsight, it was clear that the heartache or difficulty I went through was caused by my own stubbornness. Eating “humble pie” is no fun, but the lesson surely leaves its mark on your soul. So I’ve resolved that from now on, instead of running off aimlessly with my own ideas, I’m going to include God before the adventure starts, so that it won’t turn out to be a disaster.
But how can I effectively do this on a daily basis? How can I make it work? Continue reading →
McCloskey Council Grand Knight Arthur Saladino (2nd row, extreme left) and District Deputy Hugh Delargy (2nd row, extreme right) with representatives of some of the organizations who received donations at the Christmas Party. — Photo by Frank Traina
At a Christmas party jointly hosted by the Rockland chapter of the Knights of Columbus and the John Cardinal McCloskey Council 4565, the Knights again demonstrated their commitment to living Christ’s commandment of love by helping others.
Generous donations were made to variety of charities, local and international, religious and secular — all organizations that do true pro-life work that supports the culture of life.
Recipients included The Rockland Right to Life Committee, Birthright, Good Counsel Homes, Several Sources Shelters, The Sisters of Life, Catholic Charities, the Marian Shrine, the Tagaste Monastery, Jawonio and Camp Venture, and Free the Kids, which provides a home for orphaned and vulnerable children in Haiti.
The gift to Free the Kids was accepted in their behalf by Dr. Bob Gregory, who has raised $74,000 for this charity over the years.
Also receiving an award was Richie Porr, who was named McCloskey Council Knight of the Year. The event was held on Dec. 20 at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish Hall in West Nyack.
Starring Vanessa Hudgens and James Earl Jones, “Gimme Shelter” is based on the true-life story of a young woman who finds hope and healing at a shelter for pregnant, homeless teens. This film opened in theaters today, and is playing at the Palisades Center.
The home in the movie is based on the Several Sources Shelters, founded by Kathy DiFiore in Ramsey, NJ, which has provided help to thousands of needy families, pregnant teens, and homeless women.
Our website’s guest blogger, Sean Miller, saw a special screening of this movie earlier this month. Here is his review:
“Gimme Shelter”
Guest blogger Sean Miller
This captivating movie opens with a symbolic scene as a young adolescent named Apple anxiously cuts her hair in a bathroom as she plans to break away from her dire surroundings.
Apple lives with her mother, June, and is constantly faced with the grim realities of street life, a vicious cycle of drugs and prostitution that only leads to a dead end of despair.
To separate herself from this bleak fate, April knows that she must break away from her mother. And the hope that allows her to dream of starting a new life is enclosed in a letter she received from her biological father many, many years ago.
So Apple sets out to find her absent father who was never involved in her life, and to find answers to questions that have filled her with anger and resentment as she desperately sought to find her identity in a world that let her down.
But now, Tom, Apple’s father, has turned the chapter on his own life and is an affluent, highly successful Wall Street businessman. He lives with his wife, Stephanie, and their children in their lavish mansion – unaware that his peaceful, stable existence will soon be shaken by an unexpected visitor — Apple! Continue reading →
For only the second time in more than three decades, the Rockand Right to Life Committee canceled its bus trip to Washington for the March for Life when the timing of the storm Tuesday/Tuesday night raised concerns that the roads would not be cleared for people to make it safely to the bus pickup points at 5:45 a.m. and that the church lots would not be plowed for parking when they arrived.
Nevertheless, the marchers quickly reorganized, and joined with the Our Lady of Guadalupe Rosarians at the prayer site on Perlman Drive in Spring Valley at noon to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in 1973.
Before the program, Rabbi Noson Leiter of Torah Jews for Decency and Fr. Gerry Deponai, pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Nanuet
Before the prayer service began, Rabbi Noson Leiter of Torah Jews for Decency addressed the group. He warned of the dangers of the agenda of politicians like Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who just last week said that right-to-lifers have no place in New York. The rabbi also cautioned the listeners that abortion and other moral evils perpetuate not just because of what their proponents do, but because of what good people fail to do.
Fr. Gerry Deponai, pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Nanuet, then led the group in recitation of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary and the program ended with the singing of a hymn and “God Bless America,” led by Peter and Mary Ann Partridge.
Mary Ann and Peter Partridge lead the group in song.
The Rockland event was one of thousands of protests, marches, prayer services, and masses held across the U.S. In Washington, D.C. thousands braved snow and frigid temperatures to participate in the annual March for Life. The National Review reported that about half the marchers were under 30, a presence that demonstrated the strength of “prolife generation,” who promise to be the generation who will end abortion.
The March for Life in Washington , D.C.
Click on the “Continue Reading’ to see additional photos.Continue reading →
Today, the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, the National Right to Life Committee has issued a report looking at the tragic state of abortion in the U.S.
The bottom line is simple: The right-to-life movement is succeeding because even after 41 years and more than 56 million abortions, the conscience of our nations knows that killing unborn children is wrong. Click here for the report.
THE BUS TRIP TO THE MARCH FOR LIFE IN WASHINGTON, DC, HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE STORM. PLEASE PASS THE WORD ALONG TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO WAS PLANNING TO GO.
You can watch the March for Life in Washington on TV tomorrow. Please see the information below.
Tomorrow, Jan. 22, there will be a local prayer service and remembrance of the victims of abortion at noon, on Perlman Drive in Spring Valley, outside the mall where the Planned Parenthood offices are. Please park in the Spring Valley Marketplace lot and carefully cross the street. Do NOT park in the lot directly across from the prayer site.
Last Minute March Preparations: At the Sisters of Life motherhouse in Suffern, Sr. Margaret helps load the “famous green scarves” for the Rockland marchers.
EWTN — The Eternal Word Television Network will cover the following events from Washington on Optimum Channel 135 and Verizon Fios 285:
OPENING MASS OF THE NATIONAL PRAYER VIGIL FOR LIFE — 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21
CLOSING MASS OF THE NATIONAL PRAYER VIGIL FOR LIFE — 7:30 AM on Jan. 22
MARCH FOR LIFE, starting 9 a.m. on Jan. 22
MARCH FOR LIFE 0NE-HOUR SPECIAL, 6 p.m. on Jan 22 on EWTN Nightly News.
Going to the March? Download the EWTN app to your smartphone and see the “big picture” going on around you.
From Albany Update, the blog of the New Yorkers for Consitutional Freedoms. For their complete analysis of issues discussed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his Jan. 8 State of the Union Address, click here.
While the Governor’s comments fell short of the full-throated support for abortion expansion that he expressed in his 2013 State of the State, they were still deeply troubling. First, the Governor’s comments made it appear that anyone who opposed his late-term abortion expansion bill last year was “playing politics.” It seems that the Governor cannot face the reality that some legislators—including some in his own party—have a principled objection to late-term abortion expansion. Second, the Governor failed to acknowledge that nine of the ten elements of his Women’s Equality Act passed the State Senate in 2013, while the entire WEA passed the Assembly. It seems likely that the Governor could have achieved 90% of his women’s equality agenda last year if he had only been willing to do away with late-term abortion expansion; thus, the Governor is to blame for the failure to pass any part of the WEA.
“In today’s State of the State Address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo instructed lawmakers to “stop playing politics with women’s rights” and to pass his extreme, pro-abortion Women’s Equality Act in its entirety. At New Yorkers for Life, we refuse to play politics with the lives of unborn children or the health and well-being of women, and we will continue to do everything in our power to oppose the Governor’s cynical efforts to pander to the abortion lobby.”
ROCKLAND RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE 