Archives for November 2016

Listen to the WBCB interview to hear about the Good Things That Are Happening at HFRCS. Listen to what the Principals, teachers, a student and Father Michael F. Hennelly (pastor of Queen of The Universe) have to say about Holy Family and what it offers.

The students at Holy Family Regional Catholic School has a very special guest visit their classroom last week!  Here is a video of the Dinosaurs travels both at the school and at the parish Trunk or Treat!

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Earlier we alerted you that the Pennsylvania State Senate scheduled HB1948 to be voted on today. Unfortunately, it was later decided upon that no votes would take place and that the Senate would officially close out the 2015-2016 session.

After overwhelmingly passing the State House back in June, it’s disappointing that we have run out of time to pass this much-needed improvement this session.

We knew it was a tough road to climb, especially with Governor Tom Wolf promising a veto. I will admit, it is frustrating when advancements in medicine now save the majority of babies born at 24 weeks, and Pennsylvania law continues to give no protection to these babies from abortion at the same stage in development.

But I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful we will see this change in law because no matter what happened today, there are a growing number of states improving their laws by ending late-term abortion – it’s up to 19 states now.

Today doesn’t change the fact that kids like Will, Lydia and Jackson show us the humanity of babies at or prior to 24 weeks. And just like the polls show us, more and more people agree that late-term abortion should not be allowed.

It doesn’t change the fact that abortion rates are down, that Planned Parenthood clinics are closing and that this election season brought about more pro-life leaders at both the state and federal level.

So thank you for your support. I’m grateful to be partnering with you for these pro-life, pro-family efforts in Pennsylvania. I promise you that if we can count on your support and involvement, we will together lead the effort to see late-term abortion thrown into the ash heap of Pennsylvania history.

For life,

Tom Shaheen

Vice President for Policy, Pennsylvania Family Council

BREAKING NEWS:

PA Senate to vote TODAY on ending late-term abortion

We just learned that the Pennsylvania State Senate will vote TODAY on HB1948, which would end late-term and dismemberment abortions in Pennsylvania.

TAKE ACTION: Send an email (tinyurl.com/endlateterm) or call your State Senator’s Harrisburg office and ask for their yes vote on HB1948.

Your State Senator is your state senator.

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What is HB1948?

Summary:

Earlier this year, HB1948 passed by a two-thirds margin in the PA House and now awaits passage by the State Senate.

In 1989, when Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act became law, it permitted abortion as far as six-months into pregnancy (24 weeks, 6 days). Back then, babies born at 24 weeks had a slim chance of survival.

Today, thanks to medical advancements, premature babies are surviving at records rates. “Survival across the board has gone up for premature babies, particularly for the smallest babies, over the past two decades,” says Dr. Dennis Mujsce, the medical director of NICU at Penn State Milton S. Hershey. Dr. Mujsce says the increase in survival rate for babies born at 23 weeks has gone up from 1/4 of babies now to 1/3 of babies. For babies born at 24 weeks, now 60 to 65 percent survive (used to be half) and for babies born at 25 weeks, it’s as high as 80-85% (used to be only 75%).

Numerous states have now updated their limit on abortion to the first five-months of pregnancy. Globally, the United States is only one of seven nations to allow elective abortion past five-months (only North Korea, China, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore and the Netherlands allow elective late-term abortion along with the USA).

So many Pennsylvania kids born premature are now thriving. Kids like Jackson, born right at 24 weeks, or Will, born 24 weeks, 6 days – currently a legal day in PA to receive an abortion – or Lydia, born right at 25 weeks.

In addition, there is no reason to rely on the use of the barbaric dismemberment abortion procedure (click here for more details about the procedure).  The procedure is already used 55% less in Pennsylvania since 2010, it carries a significant risk to the health of the mother.

For these reasons, it is time to update our quarter-century-old abortion law by passing HB1948.

Resources:

• HB1948 Two-page Handout: Are you encouraging childbirth over abortion?

• Action Alert: Help Pennsylvania update its quarter-century-old law on abortion by asking your State Senator to vote YES on HB1948. To send your State Senator an email, click here.

Pennsylvania Family Council

23 N Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101

717-545-0600 | pafamily.org

Here are some pictures from the Trunk or Treat on October 30th. Can you guess who the big dinosaur is!?

The 2016 St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Appeal kicks-off this weekend! We hope you prayerfully considering donating to help the seminarians, Diaconate candidates and students in the graduate program. To learn more visit stcharlesseminaryappeal.org

Cut Through the Ad Noise

Share our Individual Candidate Pages from PaFamilyVoter.com

In addition to receiving your free, personalized voter guide at PaFamilyVoter.com for the candidates on your ballot this Election, we have individual candidate pages with guide information that’s easily accessible and shareable. Click through the list below and use these pages as a way to share information with family and friends:

President of the United States

Hillary Clinton (D)

Donald Trump (R)

Gary Johnson (L)

Jill Stein (G)

Darrell Castle (C)

U.S. Senate

Katie McGinty (D)

Pat Toomey (R)

U.S. House of Representatives

Click here for the listing per district.

Attorney General

Josh Shapiro (D)

John Rafferty (R)

Auditor General

Eugene DePasquale (D)

John Brown (R)

State Treasurer

Joe Torsella (D)

Otto Voit (R)

State Senator

Click here for the full list per district.

State Representative

Click here for the full list per district.

If you wish to see just the candidates on your ballot, go to the main homepage at PaFamilyVoter.com and enter the form to receive your personalized guide.

PaFamilyVoter.com is a non-partisan, church-friendly free source offering a personalized guide to help you make an informed decision this election. This online voter guide covers all statewide candidates for the President of the United States, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, PA Attorney General, PA Auditor General, PA State Treasurer; as well as candidates for PA State Senate (odd-numbered districts) and PA State House. This version also includes any comments made by the candidates and any sources used for a candidate’s position.

Last Chance for Mailed Orders of Printed Guides

Pennsylvania Family Institute’s 2016 Printed Voter Guide covers all statewide candidates for President of the United States, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Attorney General, Auditor General and State Treasurer. (Online guide covers State Senate, State House and any comments/sources for candidate positions.)

To order: Click here or call 1-800-326-4591

• For bulk orders: Requested donation of $15 per 100.

• Two print options: Statewide or Southwestern PA

Both the printed and online voter guide are based on candidates’ signed responses to our questionnaire, sitting lawmakers’ voting records, or a candidate’s public statements, campaign materials and other credible sources.

DON’T STAY HOME this Election – vote on Tuesday, November 8th, and make an informed decision using your free, personalized guide: PaFamilyVoter.com.

Pennsylvania Family Institute

23 N Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101

717-545-0600 | pafamily.org

In keeping with its mission, the PCC aims to educate and inform Catholics about a wide range of issues. To that end, we have compiled a series of resources to help to educate you about some of the topics of import to Catholics. The PCC neither supports nor opposes any candidate for public office.

As you review these resources, please also consider excerpt from the bishops’ Living the Gospel of Life:

“Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing, and health care. Therefore, Catholics should eagerly involve themselves as advocates for the weak and marginalized in all these areas…But being ‘right’ in such matters can never excuse a wrong choice regarding direct attacks on innocent human life.Indeed, the failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the ‘rightness’ of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful of the human community. If we understand the human person as the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’ — the living house of God — then these latter issues fall logically into place as the crossbeams and walls of that house. All direct attacks on innocent human life, such as abortion andeuthanasia, strike at the house’s foundation. These directly and immediately violate the human person’s most fundamental right – the right to life.” From Living the Gospel of Life, No. 22 with original emphasis (Pastoral Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1998).

Presidential Candidates
Know the Positions of the 2016 Presidential Candidates
Know the Positions of the Presidential Candidates (Spanish)

Pennsylvania Statewide Candidates
Survey of Pennsylvania Statewide Candidates
Know the Positions of the U.S. Senate Candidates
Complete Survey Responses of Senator Toomey (Candidate McGinty did not respond to the PCC survey)

General Assembly and U.S. Congressional Candidates
Archdiocese of Philadelphia 
Diocese of Allentown
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown
Diocese of Erie 
Diocese of Harrisburg
Diocese of Greensburg (available Nov. 2)
Diocese of Pittsburgh
Diocese of Scranton (available Nov. 3)

Another resource to help Catholics prepare for the upcoming election is Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship, and its companion summary bulletin inserts.

Find your polling place by clicking here.