February 26, 2012
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, SECRETARY SEBELIUS AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS - DON'T CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR ALL WOMEN
WomenSpeakForThemselves.com 

We are women who support the competing voice offered by Catholic institutions on matters of sex, marriage and family life. Most of us are Catholic, but some are not. We are Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Many, at some point in our careers, have worked for a Catholic institution. We are proud to have been part of the religious mission of that school, or hospital, or social service organization. We are proud to have been associated not only with the work Catholic institutions perform in the community – particularly for the most vulnerable -- but also with the shared sense of purpose found among colleagues who chose their job because, in a religious institution, a job is always also a vocation.

Those currently invoking "women's health" in an attempt to shout down anyone who disagrees with forcing religious institutions or individuals to violate deeply held beliefs are more than a little mistaken, and more than a little dishonest. Even setting aside their simplistic equation of "costless" birth control with "equality," note that they have never responded to the large body of scholarly research indicating that many forms of contraception have serious side effects, or that some forms act at some times to destroy embryos, or that government contraceptive programs inevitably change the sex, dating and marriage markets in ways that lead to more empty sex, more non-marital births and more abortions. It is women who suffer disproportionately when these things happen.

No one speaks for all women on these issues. Those who purport to do so are simply attempting to deflect attention from the serious religious liberty issues currently at stake. Each of us, Catholic or not, is proud to stand with the Catholic Church and its rich, life-affirming teachings on sex, marriage and family life. We call on President Obama and our Representatives in Congress to allow religious institutions and individuals to continue to witness to their faiths in all their fullness.

Helen M. Alvaré JD
Associate Professor of Law
George Mason University (VA)*

Kim Daniels JD
Former Counsel
Thomas More Law Center (MD)

To find out more or sign the letter, visit: http://womenspeakforthemselves.com/

By: Michael Holmes
February 24, 2012

One of my friends who is fairly liberal but sweet and open-minded messaged me on Facebook to ask what I thought about the birth control debate. She had been hearing the stat that's been circulating lately that 98% of sexually active Catholic women use some sort of birth control. Here was my response to her:

Thanks for checking with me before drawing a final conclusion. Obama's decision to force Catholic hospitals and other religious institutions to provide free birth control to their employees is obviously an attack on freedom of conscience and religious freedom. I have heard the stat about "98% of sexually active Catholic women use birth control." The Washington Post fact checked this and found this number to be false or misrepresented at best. Here is a link to the Washington Post piece: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-claim-that-98-percent-of-catholic-women-use-contraception-a-media-foul/2012/02/16/gIQAkPeqIR_blog.html. The Guttmacher Institute, which began as a faction of Planned Parenthood, was responsible for the study. Its Wikipedia entry states in the first sentence that it "is a non-profit organization which works to advance reproductive health including abortion rights." Right off the bat, we are dealing with a study conducted by a biased organization with a clear agenda. 

Second, let's say that their findings (which are skewed as you can see in the actual study on page 8 as the Washington Post explains) are correct. Even if 98% of Catholic women use birth control, does that give Obama the authority to mandate what a religious institution can and cannot do? Obama played his hand well in this. He took the hardest liberal stance he could take to start out with by mandating that church organizations such as Catholic hospitals must start providing free contraception to their employees. Then, he made the illusion that he had decided to compromise by transferring the responsibility of providing contraception onto the insurance companies. There are two key problems with this second scenario: 1) Many religious organizations have their own insurance programs (religiously-affiliated colleges for example) so they are still the sole entity responsible for providing contraception under Obama's so-called compromise. 2) Obama mandated that insurance companies provide contraception free of charge. Free? Are insurance companies really going to tell their clients that out of the goodness of their hearts that they have decided to offer something for free? Nothing is free. Those insured by an insurance company are going to see slightly higher premiums in order to cover the extra cost of contraceptive services. I realize that contraception probably does not cost much and that the hike in premiums would likely be a couple extra bucks or so each month, but that does not change the principle behind the additional cost. Those being insured would still be forced to pay for contraceptive services that conflict with their moral compass and religious freedoms. 

My last point is this. Assuming once again that the 98% figure is correct, does that mean that using contraception is automatically okay? Just because 98% of people do something does not make it right. Using this approach, if a study showed that 98% of people shoplift or have shoplifted, does that mean that these people should automatically be deemed the righteous and the government's laws against stealing stricken from the books? Of course not. In the same way, church doctrine is not changed by this statistic and religious freedom certainly should not be compromised. 

By: Cecille Medina
February 1, 2012
I’ve been thinking a lot about pro life issues since the March for Life. One of the ideas that struck me was that a lot of people who are pro choice think that having access to abortions also means women’s rights and female empowerment. I couldn’t disagree more.

When I think of female empowerment, I think of women being welcomed, respected, and honored for exactly who they are – women. It doesn’t mean becoming like men in the least bit. What I thought was that by having abortions, women are able to become more like men in that they reject what is naturally theirs: motherhood. I think that women, in having abortions, lose the sense of the awesomeness that is motherhood, and then pro choice people have the great idea to say that this is a good thing.

If you really wanted female empowerment, you would get rid of the need for abortion – you would make it easier for women to be women and not force them into the mold of men. It seems like a lot of the feminist movement tries to say that women should be more like men, or at least appear to be more like men, in order to gain rights. I think that’s incredibly stupid. Feminism is about femininity. If you say that being a feminist or doing something that will get you rights as a woman means becoming more like a man, you have accomplished nothing. You have  only let men know that their gender is the only one that’s respectable – after all, if you’re trying to gain rights by trying to be like them, then obviously the only gender worth being is male.

Now, maybe that’s a bit of an extremist thought. But it’s not like you see men lining up trying to be more like women.

Furthermore, thanks to this thinking, we see men who have lost their sense of identity. If equal rights means that we also have to act the same and be the same, then where does that leave gender identity? Lost in a sea of stupid thinking, that’s where.

Men no longer know how to be men, and women no longer know how to be women. Now let’s give a big round of applause to contraception and abortion for that one!

Maybe I’m being too cynical and pessimistic. But if you ask me, if you want to reduce “unwanted” pregnancy, give women and men a reason to respect, promote, and nurture pregnancy and children more. Till we do that, all of these ideas of women’s rights entangled with abortion will continue to exist.

While watching Life on The Rock, 4,792 babies were killed by abortion.  
Please pray for the babies along with their mothers and fathers.