Please send this ‘thank you’ to your PA representative for voting YES on the increase for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), which is a HUGE help to Catholic schools. You have to check your rep to make sure they voted yes. ALL Republicans voted YES. Only four Democrats did: Mike Driscoll, John Galloway, Mark Rozzi and Tina Davis. It will now move on to the Senate for their consideration.

Click the link below to sign the petition:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/L9hw_HPnkQzPMAsuwmhRbg

STATEMENT OF ARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. CHAPUT, O.F.M. CAP. REGARDING HARASSMENT OF PRAYERFUL PROTESTERS OUTSIDE PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINIC

“Over the past few days, videos have gone viral on social media featuring State Representative Brian Sims aggressively harassing young and elderly women who were peacefully praying outside of a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Philadelphia.

These videos, which Representative Sims took himself, have rightly sparked broad outrage and garnered much attention in the press. His actions were unbecoming of an elected official. There is much bitter irony that he claims to be a champion for the rights of all women yet he trampled on the rights of others and disgracefully shamed them in public. It was particularly disdainful that he offered a bounty for the identity and home addresses of three young ladies in order to encourage protests at their homes.

Our country is one founded on democratic principles and civil discourse in the public square. Our elected officials represent all of their constituents—not just the ones with whom they agree. Representative Sims spoke often of shame and there was plenty of that to be found in his actions, which demonstrated a complete disregard for civility and basic human decency.

I’m calling on all people of good will to channel their indignation into right action and prayerful witness.

Live Action has organized a prayerful rally that will take place this Friday, May 10th outside the Planned Parenthood Clinic at 12th and Locust Streets here in Philadelphia at 11:00 a.m. I’m encouraging broad participation in this peaceful initiative. Let us meet the hateful actions of Representative Sims with the love of Christ and let us fervently pray for respect for life from conception to natural death.”

+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Philadelphia

Editor’s Note: For additional information on Friday’s Rally, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/857522957927221/

We have a fight on our hands; one that shows just how extreme some politicians and others in our state can be.

Yesterday, the PA House Health Committee voted on the Down Syndrome Protection Act, House Bill 321. It now moves to a vote by the full House of Representatives – which is why we encourage you to contact your State Representative today in support.

This vote should have been unanimous. Yet nine State Representatives voted against it. It ended up a party line vote, with 15 Republicans voting yes to 9 Democrats voting no (click here for the roll call).

What’s so tragic in seeing opposition to this bill is the reality that right now there are medical professionals pressuring pregnant women into having an abortion who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome into having an abortion.

• Parents in Pennsylvania have shared with us their experience of such pressure.
• Doctors are encouraging the “implementation of universal screening” to identify and “medically terminate” – to kill the baby that’s diagnosed with Down syndrome.

There are some extreme politicians, like the nine State Representatives who voted no, who are trying to allow this sad reality to continue. And extreme pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood are actively lobbying to stop this bill from progressing.

It shouldn’t surprise us. It’s exactly why we are actively showing our elected officials our support. Members of our team attended the committee vote with yellow roses in support of the Down Syndrome Protection Act. We also helped deliver roses and notes to every member of the committee to emphasize one message: Down syndrome is a life worth saving and why we must pass the Down Syndrome Protection Act.

As you may know, this is not our first go-around with this legislation. Last year, although it received a bipartisan majority vote in the House (enough to overturn any Governor’s veto), it failed to come up for a vote in the State Senate.

This is a chance to save lives in Pennsylvania.  No doctor should be pressuring women to have an abortion – especially for a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Please join us in contacting your state elected officials in supporting the Down Syndrome Protection Act. To email, visit pafamily.org/protect.

As Joni Eareckson Tada (Founder & CEO, Joni & Friends) has said in support of the Down Syndrome Protection Act,

“The presence of people with disabilities always enriches a community’s fabric, underscoring that vulnerability and weakness is a prime platform for strength, joy and love.”

Join us in using this platform of the Down Syndrome Protection Act to show love to these vulnerable children in the womb. And again, please share your support with your State Representative and State Senator. Join us in calling on them to protect these precious lives in law and recognizing Down Syndrome is a life worth living.

Sincerely,

Michael Geer
President & CEO
Pennsylvania Family Council

For many years you have probably heard reports of doctors, nurses and medical students being forced to choose between their consciences and their careers. This was wrong. Laws to prevent this kind of discrimination were in too many cases simply ignored. Good people suffered, even lost their jobs.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took a long-awaited step to provide relief to those brave people.

The official rule issued yesterday ensures that healthcare professionals and medical students will not be compelled to leave the practice of medicine because they decline to participate in actions such as abortion, assisted suicide or sterilization that violate their conscience, religious belief or moral convictions.

The new rule protects the right of diverse faith-based health care institutions from participation in procedures like abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide. Also, and importantly, the new rules will also ensure that churches and others who oppose abortion are not compelled to cover elective abortion in their health plans.

Now, it is time for us to thank the Administration for reversing the tide of conscience violations and helping our brave doctors, nurses, medical students and other health care workers. Please take action now to send a note of thanks to HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Chairman of the bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, issued a statement commending the new regulations.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/1-cJUlb8WasQvYX0NwYgmg

The Brian F. David Memorial Golf Tournament
Friday, June 7, 2019
Proceeds will benefit Holy Family Regional Catholic School

Register: http://bfdtournament.com

Thanks to all of you, and there were thousands, who contacted your Members of Congress asking them to sign the discharge petition to bring about a vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Your combined action has gotten 199 House Members to sign the petition so far. We still need 19 more Members to sign the discharge petition in order to proceed to debate and a vote.

STATEMENT OF ARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. CHAPUT, O.F.M. CAP.  REGARDING FIRE AT CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS

“Throughout the day, I’ve monitored news reports regarding the fire overwhelming the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris with deep sadness and shock. For over 800 years, Notre-Dame has been one of the most iconic churches in Christendom—a testament to man’s desire to glorify God on earth and a beacon of hope for millions of pilgrims each year. The ongoing destruction being wrought by flames is doubly sorrowful as it comes during the holiest week of the Christian calendar.

I ask the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to join me in prayer to the Blessed Mother for the protection of fire personnel and first responders in Paris working to battle the blaze and provide for the safety of the community. We also pray that our Lord will bring comfort and peace to Archbishop Michael Aupetit as well as our brothers and sisters in the Archdiocese of Paris, and the people of France at this time. In the face of desolation and devastation, we find hope in the Resurrection.”

+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Philadelphia