Free Republic

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With Senate Republicans blocking their nominations because of their pro-abortion views and other issues, two nominees for federal judgeships were never approved. With another session of Congress starting shortly, President Barack Obama will reportedly renominate Louis Butler Jr. and Edward Chen. Obama picked the two abortion advocates to be district court judges -- the kind of judges who initially review lawsuits on pro-life issues and legislation before they move up to an appeals court or the Supreme Court. He could have given them a recess appointment that would be effective for one year only, but decided...

The Lisa Miller case reveals the dangers of judicial tyranny. The Judicial branch used to be called the “least dangerous branch”. Courts were arbiters not super legislatures which could make law. Now, unelected Judges are used as tools for effecting social change. This approach fails to respect the separation of powers doctrine and threatens our Republic. However, it is even worse in the case of a Court created “right” such as the alleged "right" to kill children in the womb. Court insistence that we treat homosexual relationships as equivalent to marriage is another example of calling something a "right" which...

January 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Legatus, a membership organization for Catholic business leaders, will present President George W. Bush with its prestigious Cardinal John J. O’Connor Pro-Life Award at its annual Summit, Feb. 4-6, in Dana Point, Calif. Previous recipients of the award include Fr. Frank Pavone (Priests for Life), Fr. Thomas Euteneuer (Human Life International), Judie Brown (American Life League), Sen. Rick Santorum, Sen. Sam Brownback, and Rep. Henry Hyde. President Bush will accept the award and address Legatus members for the first time since leaving office one year ago. He previously spoke at Legatus’ first annual pro-life conference...

[...]The built-in "marriage penalty" in both House and Senate healthcare bills has received scant attention. But for scores of low-income and middle-income couples, it could mean a hike of $2,000 or more in annual insurance premiums the moment they say "I do."The disparity comes about in part because subsidies for purchasing health insurance under the plan from congressional Democrats are pegged to federal poverty guidelines. [...] For an unmarried couple with income of $25,000 each, combined premiums would be capped at $3,076 per year, under the House bill. If the couple gets married, with a combined income of $50,000, their...

Thanks again, President Bush Steve McCann The Kyoto Protocol went into effect in February 2005. George W. Bush was excoriated by the left for not signing on and acquiescing to the global warming hysteria. All of us can recall how President Bush was called all sorts of names and accused of wanting to destroy the world. Even some nominal Republicans fell for the “settled science” and got on board the climate change express. Nonetheless, George Bush remained firm in his refusal to allow the United States to destroy its economy and standard of living for what has now turned out...

Dear Congressman Kennedy: “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they...

Former President Bush Honored with Pro-Life Award during Visit to SaskatoonBy Patrick B. Craine SASKATOON, SA, October 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Yesterday morning, before delivering an address at TCU Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for a crowd of about 2,000, former U.S. President George W. Bush joined the Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association (SPLA) at a business breakfast where the pro-life group presented him with an award for his "very public determination to protect the unborn while he served two terms as President." The Humanity of the Unborn Child Pro-Life Award, as it is called, was given to the former President "in recognition...

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, September 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The liberal community-based organization ACORN, which was recently disgraced by a series of undercover videos showing illegal activity by the group's employees, is now suing the young pro-life duo who shot the videos. Defendant James O'Keefe, 25, who is being sued together with 20-year-old investigative partner Hannah Giles, is known among the pro-life community for conducting sting operations against Planned Parenthood in conjunction with Live Action Films. In one such investigation, O'Keefe caught a Planned Parenthood employee accepting a donation earmarked for the abortion of a black child. Earlier this month the...

[...]How will this health care reform define us as a nation and as a people? The answer must include: 1.) A statement disallowing taxpayer dollars to fund abortions and, necessarily connected to this prohibition, embryonic stem-cell destruction. 2.) A statement forbidding the practice of euthanasia. 3.) Allowing the federal conscience laws to stand. [...]There are, at least, three versions of House and Senate bills being worked on, and none are in their final form. This means that Catholics must continue to monitor the process as it goes forward and contact their representatives in Washington, D.C., with their thoughts. It is...

Campaign Reform: Against Corruption or Free Speech? Attorney Bill Maurer Explains Why Catholics Should Be Wary By Annamarie Adkins SEATTLE, Washington, SEPT. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- It's conventional wisdom that getting the "money" out of politics is a good thing. But why is it assumed that when politicians -- whom the public normally perceives as nakedly self-interested at best, and corrupt at worst -- write laws regulating their own behavior, they don't do so for their own benefit, or to insulate themselves from public pressure? That is just one concern among many of a coalition of organizations from across the political...

Open Letter to Catholics and Catholic Organizations [...]Health-care services are expensive and fragmented. These problems result largely from misguided incentives in tax, employment, and government policy. One unfortunate result of this has been increasing third-party payer intrusion into the patient-physician relationship, with significantly deleterious consequences. All Catholics should agree on the fundamental ethical and social principles proposed by the Church. The question we are faced with, after decades of misguided policies, is how should we apply these teachings so as to provide universal access to quality health-care insurance and services in a cost-effective, ethical manner? Bills passed out of committees...

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has again cast doubt on his professed loyalty to the pro-life movement by saying he "absolutely" believes there is room for a pro-abortion candidate in the GOP. Steele gave the remarks during a brief interview with the Columbus Dispatch in a local restaurant Thursday after leading a Republican rally against President Obama's health care legislation. Steele told the newspaper that a Republican candidate's view on legal protection for unborn children should reflect the views of their local constituencies. The GOP chair was then asked if there is...

Skinning the ‘Health Care Cat’ “Heal the sick …” —Mt 10:8 A very odd and macabre saying that I have always found somewhat disturbing is that “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” The point of the saying is that in the undertaking of a complex project, there are usually a variety of ways to reach the goal, some better than others. This is true of the current and often passionate debate concerning health care reform. Needless to say, health care reform is a very complex issue, with many important peripheral issues, such as cost and how to...

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Exposing pro-abortion university health clinics and Planned Parenthood's criminal cover-up of child rape were the first major sting operations of undercover investigator James O'Keefe, who is now famous for exposing the systemic corruption within ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN is one of the "community organizer" groups closely affiliated with President Barack Obama, which helped him capture the presidency; but the group now has been exposed for having officials willing to abet fraud and child sex trafficking. James O'Keefe is a 25 year-old Rutgers graduate and a veteran of...

Concerns to take to heart in health care and proposed reforms "The overwhelming preoccupation of our national political government and consequently of the captive media is the vexed and vexing question of health care reform. It is almost impossible to get reliable consistent figures as to the number of people who lack health care coverage in the United States. Each advocacy group inflates or minimizes the numbers to suit each groupÂ’s respective fantasies. If, for instance, the number of people who actually, at this moment, lack health care is estimated from a low of 18 million to a high of...

As Catholics, we are proud of the Church’s healthcare contribution to the world. Indeed, the hospital was originally an innovation of the Catholic faithful responding to our Lord’s call to care for the sick, “For I was…ill and you cared for me.” (Matthew 25, v. 35-36). This tradition continues today in America, where currently one in four hospitals is run by a Catholic agency. We have listened to current debate with great attention and write now to contribute our part to ensure that this reform be an authentic reform taking full consideration of the dignity of the human person. Some...

Bishop Joseph F. Martino - a man known for his bookish intelligence, his outspoken devotion to pro-life causes and his often combative and insular leadership style - will end his six-year tenure as the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton on Monday, the day the Vatican is expected to accept his resignation. Sources within and outside the diocese confirmed the move Friday, and said the Vatican will also announce its acceptance of Auxiliary Bishop John M. Dougherty's resignation Monday. Cardinal Justin Francis Rigali, head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and metropolitan for the province that includes the Diocese...

The old White Hose website is now available online. Daily dosers like me rejoice! (clik on source link)

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The new administration of president Barack Obama is still putting up nameplates on walls and staff members are learning how to use their computers. But some watchdogs are concerned that the administration is already full steam ahead with a plan that could lead to assisted suicide, euthanasia and health care rationing. Americans are familiar with the problems that accompany the British-style system of health care -- where costs outweigh the benefit of patients. Patients see waiting lists and face pressured to go to Europe for an assisted suicide rather than receiving appropriate medical care. Medical providers...

Washington DC, Jan 21, 2009 / 03:19 am (CNA).- Former Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork has predicted that upcoming legal battles will have significant ramifications for religious freedom. He names as issues of major concern the continued freedom of Catholic hospitals to refuse to perform abortions and the likely “terrible conflict” resulting from the advancement of homosexual rights. Speaking in an interview published Tuesday by Cybercast News Service, Judge Bork discussed the contentious nature of modern politics. “Everything is up for debate these days. I can’t think of anything that isn’t,” he said. “You are going to get Catholic...