Blog Posts

The Pieta – A Window onto Holy Week

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Cathedral St. Paul, St Paul, MN Photo by Clare Ruff

Photo source “ wga.hu” online.

By Clare Ruff

On August 27, 1498, a 23-year-old Italian artist was commissioned to create a life-sized rendition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For the next two years, the relatively unknown sculptor chiseled from a single slab of Carrara marble an artwork of unparalleled beauty. His mournful Madonna, co-mingling pity with piety, was unveiled in the Jubilee Year of 1500, and for the next 520 years has drawn millions of admirers to St. Peter's Basilica to be inspired by La Pietà.

When the masterpiece was first revealed, the author mingled incognito in the crowd and overheard spectators trying to identify the artist. His name was never suggested. In pride and anger, he carved front and center into the sash crossing the Madonna’s gown: MICHAEL ANGLEUS BONAROTUS FLORENT FACIEBAT, translated: “Michael Angelo Buonarroti of Florence made this”. He swore never again to sign a work of his art.

If you cannot travel to Rome to take in its grandeur, authentic replicas of the Pietà are displayed throughout the United States. The Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows, in Chicago, Illinois is home to a replica sculpted by Spartaco Palla from 6600 pounds of the same Carrara marble. The Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota, and St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Corona, California have Vatican-approved exact replicas made of crushed marble dust cast in the official bronze mold made in 1931 of the original Pietà. When Christ the King Catholic Church in Topeka, Kansas was dedicated in 1985, it was gifted an exact replica of the Pietà by the parents of our own Julie Anderson, another Hosea Initiative Blog contributor.

Michelangelo immortalizes the drama of Holy Week in his Pietà. These are sacred days for both Christians and Jews. The Jewish people memorialize the first Passover in Egypt and exodus from slavery. Christians recall the events of the “new Passover” where the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is immolated on the wood of the cross to redeem humanity from sin.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday opens with triumphant cries from a fickle populace lining the road with branches to welcome the Messiah. Monday’s grand betrayal rewards Judas with 30 pieces of silver. Thursday’s sacred meal initiates a new manna and a new covenant. The disciples wonder: Why do we celebrate the Pasch a day earlier than Moses required? Where is the lamb for the feast? What did the Teacher say about going to prepare a place for us?

The new Adam is also in a garden; here, anguish and swords climax with a blasphemous kiss. Interrogations relent until the full moon sets, as chief priests and jeering soldiers demand, “Are you the Christ, Son of the Blessed?" (Mark 14:61) The civic authority, Pontius Pilate, cowardly washes his hands of Truth when history presents him a singular opportunity for courage and nobility. Scourged at a pillar of pain, then flanked by two criminals, the condemned man stumbles through the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem carrying the weight of a fallen world on his shoulders.

Outside the walls of David’s city, the Lamb of God is sacrificed; the torture is legal, according to civil law. Pierced and fixed to a tree, he utters astonishing words, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) Finally, beneath a total eclipse of the sun, Jesus whispers, “It is finished." (John 19:30)

Most Good Friday spectators stood at a distance, fearing the soldiers and contamination from the dying bodies and outpouring of blood. But, Mary stood near the cross on which her Son hung. Hardship was not new to her. She had endured false judgment and ridicule at Jesus’ conception, incarnating a mystery the town gossips could never image. She experienced persecution, homelessness, and exile. Perhaps, the sublimity of her motherhood is magnified precisely because of these sorrows.

From the moment of the angel’s greeting and her assent to God’s will, her DNA was part of His. Her blood nourished His body. Once, she sheltered His body and soul in the safety of her womb. Now, she wipes away the blood falling from his wounded limbs, and watches soldiers cast lots for garments she wove and mended. Simeon’s prophecy is fulfilled as an invisible sword pierces her own soul—“that the thoughts of many might be revealed." (Luke 2:35)

She cannot offer Him even a cup of water, but she offers the unique gift of her maternal love, and nourishes him with unmeasured compassion.

Nature prepares women to be life bearers, but she carried Life itself. “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life," (John 14:6) Jesus told Martha and Mary before raising their brother Lazarus from the grave. The Life-bearer watches as shadows fall-- across the face of her Son as across the Israeli sky. When the trauma finally ends and Jesus is removed from the cross, tradition tells us His lifeless body is placed in the arms of His mother.

Is there any greater sorrow? Any mother losing her child suffers a tremendous loss, but this Mother parting from this Child? It is unimaginable.

Michelangelo captures the moment of the icon of maternity grieving the loss of her child. However, her face is serene in suffering, radiating acceptance, hinting at the surety of what will follow in three days. She epitomizes all who have ever lost a child, or suffered violence, sickness, or death. She embraces death with the same faith with which she welcomed His life.

What consolation it is that at least one sufficiently mourned the King of Calvary. Her tears are our tears. We pray: Holy Mother, weep for your Son, weep for us all. The Pietà.

Photo source: Oneonta.edu

Photo source: BLOGSPOT Pieta in St. Peter’s Basilica

Cathedral St. Paul, St Paul, MN Photo by Clare Ruff

Julie Andersonand her husband Marc at their Christ the King parish in Topeka, KS Photo by Larry Katsbulas

Clare Ruff earned her BA in Theology from University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX
and serves as Director of Events and Outreach for the Hosea Initiative.
She writes from her home in southeastern Minnesota.

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Twenty-One “Steps” of Love

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By Julie Anderson
Member, Hosea Initiative, Board of Advisors

Every year, my husband and I make at least one trip to our nation’s capital for a prolife event. And while I look forward to the event itself, I always make time for one personal stop.
While most trips to D.C. include sightseeing to many of the capital’s monuments and museums, my trips, (even if for only a day or two), always include a visit to the grave of my beloved paternal grandparents who served as my godparents.

After a career in the United States Air Force, my grandfather retired as a lieutenant colonel. As a result of his military service, he qualified to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. My grandmother is buried in the same grave. Whenever I visit their gravesite, I leave yellow roses (my grandmother’s favorite), and I spend as much time there in prayer, given my schedule. Afterwards, and especially if we have someone else with us, we make a stop at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider.

Recently, while watching a video, I thought about the soldiers who stand guard at the tomb. During his shift, each solider takes 21 steps in one direction, clicks his heel, turns and walks 21 steps in the other direction, repeating the sequence multiple times. Around-the-clock, 365 days a year, no matter the weather, a solider stands guard at the tomb as he walks slowly, precisely, methodically, walking the same 21 steps over and over again.

As the scene played in my mind, I started wondering how we, as prolife-minded people, could “walk” 21 steps of love to promote the Gospel of Life here in our nation, especially as it relates to the new “Walking with Moms in Need: A Year of Service” launched on March 25. While launched by the Catholic Church, it’s intended to reach people of all faiths. The goal of the initiative is to highlight the many resources available to mothers who face unplanned pregnancies and to walk alongside those mothers, helping them to choose life. Yet, I’d like to suggest we can walk alongside mothers in need, directly and indirectly. Furthermore, we all can and must stand guard for the unborn each and every single day.

To that end, I’ve created a list below which hopefully inspires those who read this blog to stand guard for the unborn children. Anyway, here’s the list.

1. Pray daily for an end to abortion.

2. Spiritually adopt a child in danger of being aborted. Name the child just as you would name a newborn. Pray daily for that child by name.

3. Donate to a local pregnancy resource center or a prolife apostolate such as Hosea Initiative.

4. Buy diapers, groceries and/or children’s clothes for a single mother in your neighborhood.
Leave them anonymously on her doorstep.

5. Volunteer to answer the hotline of a pregnancy resource center.

6. Participate virtually in the 40 Days for Life campaign.

7. Post life-affirming messages of faith, hope and love on your social media account.

8. If you exercise in your home, jog in place for 23 minutes each day. Pray for the 2,300 children who die in America through abortion. Pray for the other victims of abortion such as the mother, father, siblings and grandparents.

9. Study the prolife conversion stories of people such as Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson.

10. Host a virtual screening of a prolife movie such as Unplanned. Afterward, connect via technology for discussion.

11. Fast from technology. Use the time to reflect on Psalm 139 which says, “You formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

12. Start a prolife book club online. Meet virtually weekly to discuss a chapter or two from What If We’ve Been Wrong? Keeping my promise to America’s “Abortion King”.

13. Spend an hour in silence on Sunday morning. Ask God to guide you as to how to use your talents to serve the unborn child.

14. Contact your legislator via email or telephone. Ask for a telephone appointment to discuss his/her views on life issues.

15. Use a prolife curriculum as part of your church’s online religious education classes.

16. Ask your pastor to allow you to post prolife resources on your church’s website.

17. Host an online event such as a Liberated by Truth Conference for your church or other group.

18. Research the policy positions of those running for office during this election year and educate others as to the candidates’ positions on the important life issues such as abortion.

19. If you feel called, consider running for elective office. After all, the country could always use more prolife leaders to form public policy in a way that honors life in all its stages. If you’re unsure how to get started with a campaign, contact the Susan B. Anthony List.

20. Join or start Gabriel Project at your church.

21. Send messages of thanks and gratitude for those serving on the front lines of the prolife movement.

So, there it is-a list of 21 steps of love we can take to “stand guard” for the unborn. Will you answer the call?

Julie Anderson is a member of the Hosea Board of Advisors, a freelance journalist of 20 years and a prolife advocate. She writes from her home state of Kansas. For her full bio, see hosea4you.org.

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40 Days wandering in COVID-19’s “desert”

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By Clare Ruff

Derived from the Latin quadragenta, meaning “forty”, and the Italian quaranta giorni (“space of forty days”), the word quarantine is relational to the word Lent. No wonder COVID-19 is transforming my annual season of penance and sacrifice. I find myself identifying with the isolation of Israel in the desert, and wonder if their 40-year sojourn can help me conquer these 40 days of confinement with better insight and purpose.

Their “social distancing” was not punishment, but an opportunity to “tryst” with God in the wilderness. The goal was not minimalistic conformity to God’s code of righteousness, but acceptance of the Ten Commandments as a covenant and guidepost to authentic freedom.

Israel had become habituated to slavery after 430 years of captivity; it drove their actions, inactions and reactions. The rod of the taskmaster trained the people to act from fear. Israel’s desert isolation was the necessary school where they learned to choose: to commit to the Covenant, and discipline their unruly hearts in order to love God and each other freely. Slavery in Egypt was an outward sign of the inner reality of slavery to sin. God staged the Exodus to free His people from both.

Eyewitnesses to the miraculous plagues in Egypt (Ex. 7-12), including the escape from death of their firstborn children, the Israelites responded with impatience, bickering, and infidelity. Remember: they saw the pillar of cloud before them, and a pillar of fire distance them from Pharaoh’s army. They watched every chariot and charioteer be swallowed by the sea (Ex 14: 15-30).

But they panicked. They worried how they would eat and drink (as if their Deliverer would forget such a detail). Had there been toilet paper in those days, there would have been a rush on it! They murmured about missing their flesh pots, onions, and herbs! God dependably provided manna every morning, and every evening filled the camp with sufficient quail for the entire nation. But they complained, “Would that we were back in the land of Egypt” (Nu 14: 3). Many preferred the routine of slavery to the growing pains of freedom!

While Moses prayed on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights, the Israelites faithlessly worshiped a golden calf made with their own hands, even after ten plagues exposed the inadequacy of all Egypt’s false gods. The Lord gave them every reason to be faithful! They lacked courage, fortitude and mostly love.

So, what’s the point?
Can we learn from their mistakes? Can we apply their experience to ours? I think so.
The imposed “corona-cation” is a desert-like experience. Being isolated from each other and other nations can be approached as either an imposition or an opportunity to mature and deepen our relationship with God and each other. When denied our equivalent of “flesh pots and garlic”, we must depend on God’s providential care and exercise faith in the future promise ahead. COVID-19 and other calamities make us ponder why God is getting our attention! Is it to return to righteousness? Do we have our own “false gods” to shatter? “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts,” (Ps 95) encourages the psalmist. We have a unique chance to listen and respond.

Personally, I cannot help hear the cry of our nation’s unborn children. The death toll from Coronavirus is currently 487 (US stat Mar. 23, 2020), compared to 3,000 killed daily via abortion. Where are the 24/7 news reports, White House press conferences, and stimulus packages for the children obliterated on the altar “choice”?

And for those who may not be aware, another epidemic is sweeping our country, even more widespread than the current coronavirus. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there is an alarming, exponential increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Nationwide from 2014 – 2018, chlamydia increased 19 percent; gonorrhea rose 63 percent; primary and secondary syphilis jumped 71 percent; and congenital syphilis sky-rocketed 185 percent (see chart below).

The World Health Organization (WHO) states, “Syphilis is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections globally, with approximately six million new cases each year. If a pregnant woman who is infected does not receive early and effective treatment, she can then transmit the infection to her unborn infant. This is known as ‘congenital syphilis’ which is often fatal. It can also cause low birth weight, prematurity, and other congenital deformities.” WHO’s findings, published February 27, 2019, state that globally, there were “more than half a million (around 661,000) total cases of congenital syphilis in 2016, resulting in over 200,000 stillbirths and neonatal deaths” (emphasis mine).

I’d scratch my head--except we’re not supposed to touch our faces.

In review: (CDC Statistics Updated March 23 at 1:50 PM)

• USA COVID-19 : 41,126 confirmed cases, 487 deaths.
• Global [minus China’s unpublished statistics]: 366,860 confirmed cases, 16,098 deaths.
• The “pandemic” of congenital syphilis: 200,000 stillbirth and neonatal deaths (2016).
Number of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the United States in 2018
STD # of Cases Increase*
Chlamydia 1,800,000 > 19 % Gonorrhea 583,405 > 63 %
Syphilis 1st & 2nd 35,063 > 71 % Congenital Syphilis
1,306 > 185 %
* Percentage Increase from 2014 – 2018

The CDC provides a downloadable pamphlet for physicians with recommendations regarding treatment of syphilis. It includes the following statement: “If sexually active, the surest way to avoid transmission of syphilis is to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and is known to be uninfected.”
Appropriate social distancing could eradicate more than one disease with alarming growth and mortality rates.

In the end, the Israelites revealed through its 40 year quarantine the secret to purposeful social distancing: do not distance yourself from God. I wonder if our nation will learn such lessons from COVID-19 over the next 40 days?

Clare Ruff has a BA in Theology
from University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX. She serves as Director of Events and Outreach for the Hosea Initiative and writes from her home in southeastern Minnesota.

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State Constitutions: Interpreting the “Law of the Land”

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By Julie Anderson
Member, Hosea Board of Advisors

“I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

To be honest, my husband and I have been feeling a lot like Dorothy in the “The Wizard of Oz” due to a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court.

During the 2015 session, the Kansas State Legislature (by overwhelmingly majorities in both chambers) passed The Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act. Signed into law on April 7, 2015, by then-Governor Sam Brownback, now ambassador at large for religious freedom, the law banned dismemberment abortions except in certain situations.

Before going any further, it’s important to first understand dismemberment abortion.

Planned Parenthood describes dismemberment abortion (also known as dilation and evacuation or D&E) as an in-clinic procedure using suction and medical tools to empty the uterus. It’s typically used for a pregnancy 16 gestational weeks or later.

In other words, the child is dismembered while still alive, then extracted from the womb, one piece at a time. According to Kansans for Life, nine such abortions occur in the state every week. That’s nearly 170 each year!

The new law was the first such ban in the nation. Other states started drafting similar laws, using the Kansas a model or springboard. Unfortunately, the law never took effect in Kansas.

Almost immediately after the law’s passage, two abortionists, the father-daughter team of Drs. Herbert Hodes and Traci Nauser, along with the New-York based Center for Reproductive Rights, filed a legal challenge in a case known as Hodes and Nauser, MDs v. Schmidt, a case which wound its way through the various levels of the legal system, ultimately reaching the Kansas Supreme Court.

The doctors claimed that sections 1 and 2 of the Kansas State Constitution (and not the United States Constitution) recognize a “fundamental right to abortion.”

Like so many other state constitutions, the first section of the Kansas Constitution draws from our nation’s founding documents. In fact, the first section is taken almost verbatim from the Declaration of Independence and reads, “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Although the court heard arguments in March 2017, it took two years before the Kansas Supreme Court issued its final ruling in April 2019. Of the seven justices who heard the case, six agreed with the father-daughter abortionists. It’s interesting to note the justices took nearly 200 pages to explain their ruling, affirming the state constitution, drafted in 1859, contained not only a right to abortion, but “a fundamental right to abortion.”

Only one justice dissented, Justice Caleb T. Stegall. Perhaps he is the one who best understood what was at stake-the lives of innocent preborn children. He wrote, “In this imagined world, the Liberty Bell rings every time a baby in utero loses her arm.”

Currently, Kansas is poised to become an epicenter of abortion activity as a result of the ruling. The ruling threatens more than two dozen other laws enacted since 1997 which have allowed the people, through the state legislature, to regulate abortion and protect the lives of both women and children. Laws such as those which require a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion or parental consent in the case of a minor seeking an abortion have reduced the abortion rate in Kansas throughout the past 22 years by about 50 percent.

The other night, my husband asked me what I thought would have happened if any of the seven justices of the Kansas State Supreme Court would have viewed the1984 film, “The Silent Scream.”

Coproduced by Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, the father of the abortion industry, a man who repented of his ways and later claimed responsibility for 75,000 abortions, the documentary is not for the faint of heart. In it, Dr. Nathanson calmly narrates the dismemberment abortion of an 11-week-old baby. Near the beginning, he cautions viewers that, “We are going to watch a child being torn apart, dismembered, disarticulated, crushed and destroyed.”

As a result of Marc’s question, I started thinking. What if the justices had seen the film? Would they have ruled differently? How did they arrive at such a ruling in the first place? And if a court can issue such a ruling here in the heartland of the nation, what is to stop other courts across the nation from issuing similar rulings?

For the past several months, prolife advocates in Kansas have been working towards passage of the Value Them Both amendment. The goal is to place it on the primary ballot in August for Kansans to “reverse the ruling,” which resulted from the Hodes and Nauser case.

The amendment would not ban abortions (as opponents claim), but would return the right to regulate abortion to the people through their elected representatives. Although more than 30,000 Kansans signed postcards of support, currently the amendment needs four votes in the Kansas House before it can be placed on the ballot.

While prolife advocates work towards that goal here in Kansas, I’d encourage you to understand the current situation in your own particular state. If a ruling such as the one handed down in Hodes and Nauser can be handed down here, I shudder to think how other state constitutions might be interpreted in view of “the law of the land.” If we don’t stay vigilant, all of us might be saying, “I’ve a feeling we’re not in the United States anymore.”

Julie Anderson is a member of the Hosea Board of Advisors, a freelance journalist of 20 years and a prolife advocate. She writes from her home state of Kansas. For her full bio, see hosea4you.org.

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Transcendentals

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By Clare Ruff

I recently accompanied my husband on an international visit to Costa Rica. Dental tourism was our purpose, and we chose for our first few nights’ lodging a posada, housing only 25 persons at full capacity. This former grand-villa-transformed-into-B&B lent itself to a unique experience. The public living quarters, open-air courtyard, well-groomed gardens, romantic, Spanish architecture set the stage for meaningful human interaction unlike anything we had experienced when staying in larger hotels with hundreds of guests.

Daily conversations with travelers from every corner of the world were commonplace. Soon I noticed a theme emerge from the interpersonal connections, a golden thread crossing the vast range of age, culture and continents: a yearning for the transcendentals of life. [ In classic, philosophical terms, transcendentals refer to the true (verum), the good (bonum), and the beautiful (pulchrum), often described as unseen realities which are discovered from what is seen.]

The first day, an elegant octogenarian speaking English with a charming French accent announced to me that she had decided to extend her two week vacation an additional month. Her adult children back home in Canada would need to “stop fussing.” “I found a paradise I don’t want to leave!” she exclaimed sipping a glass of Argentinian wine while listening to classical music played from her travel-sized SOUNDBOT. She summarized, “This place feeds my soul and gives me peace.”
I mused: transcendentals!

The following day, a gentleman of 40 years chatted with me pool-side about his adventuresome travel from Africa to London and then the final twenty hours journey to the posada. He was eager for a listening ear to unload his travel story and his burdened heart. “Me Dad’s had a stroke, and work is HARD! I needed to renew. The beauty here is magical, no?” he gestured toward the horizon of palm trees and purple-hued, volcanic hills rejuvenating his spirit. Ahh, transcendentals!

Even the innkeeper shared his personal story of meeting his wife in France, starting a family in his native Norway before coming to Costa Rica. “I worked two jobs and long hours before realizing I had no patience for the very things most precious to me – my wife and children!” So, he restructured his life to provide for his family in a way that he never left “home” to go to work. Seeking the deeper meaning in life is also a quest for transcendentals!

Bernard Nathanson, M.D. had a similar encounter moving from what is seen to what is unseen after an ultrasound image of a 16-week-old baby girl in the womb allowed him to glimpse not simply MATTER (as in cells and human tissue), but what mattered, the hidden VALUE intrinsic to something.
It’s not unusual for an obstetrician/gynecologist today to see 3D, even 4D images via ultrasound. But, in 1973, when Dr. Nathanson first experienced what he called “a window into the womb”, real-time ultrasound was a new invention. The inventors demonstrated the remarkable abilities of the equipment to Nathanson because of his prominence as Chief of Obstetrics at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City.

What happened within a few moments changed Dr. Nathanson’s life. When he saw the child via ultrasound, what came to his mind was not faulty political rhetoric he fed to legislators, medical doctors and judges. His mind presented to him the horrors of the holocaust of World War II, and how those Nazis responsible for the mass-murder of the innocent, first stripped away the personhood of the Jewish people to justify the slaughter of the many. Nathanson then saw himself as the perpetrator of an equal injustice towards the child in the womb.

Once Dr. Nathanson saw what was unseen, that is, the value intrinsic to the human child, he changed his position on legalizing abortion on demand, a legislative prerogative he and Lawrence Lader as co-founders of NARAL (National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America) conceptualized and brought to birth in the United States in under five short years (1967 – 1973). Many do not know this dramatic reversal of Nathanson’s position as father of the industry of abortion happened just months past the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul directs his audience to, “Set your minds on things above, rather than on things that are of earth,” [Col 3:2] looking for the True the Good and the Beautiful, beyond what is seen with the naked eye to what is unseen. Yet, “unseen” does not translate to unreal or intangible as anyone who loves or hates or hopes or breaths can attest.

If our nation more readily acknowledged the hidden, yet intrinsic value of each child nestled in his or her mother’s womb and embraced these transcendental realities, legislative protection under the law for every child born or unborn would be non-negotiable.

Clare Ruff currently serves as
Director of Events and Outreach for
the Hosea Initiative, an educational,
prolife, non-profit, and writes from her
home in southeastern Minnesota.

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Louisiana Prolife Law Arguments to be Heard by Supreme Court This Week

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By Julie Anderson, Member of Advisory Board, Hosea Initiative

Amicae curiae.

The Latin phrase translates as “friend of the court.”

Online dictionaries define a friend of the court as a professional person or organization not involved in the legal matter at hand but one permitted by the court to advise it in some capacity related to the case.

On January 2, a “friend of the court” brief was filed in support of the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act known as Act 620, a law passed in 2014 in Louisiana which remains on hold as it winds through the judicial system.

Terry Beatley, founder and president of Hosea Initiative, is named in that brief.

In the brief, David DeWolf of Albrecht Law PLLC, along with Catherine Short and Alexandra Snyder, both of the Life Legal Defense Foundation, offer a summary of Terry’s book, What If We’ve Been Wrong: Keeping my Promise to America’s “Abortion King.”

The brief discusses Bernard N. Nathanson, M.D., as cofounder of NARAL now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America.

The attorneys write, “After having performed approximately 60,000 abortions, Dr. Nathanson resigned from NARAL and wrote three books exposing the tactics used to promote legalized abortion, including his development, along with the help of a public relations firm, of the slogan, ‘My Body, My Choice.’”

Later, the same attorneys write, “Dr. Nathanson was the father of the abortion industry. It was his idea to meet the demand in New York by ambulatory centers. Walk-in and -out, same-day surgery centers were focused solely on abortion services and removed the hospital ‘monopoly’ and control.”

Besides legal documents previously submitted, the Supreme Court of the United States has scheduled the entire day of March 4 to oral arguments focusing on Act 620.

After reading the complete text, I learned the law passed the Louisiana State Legislature with wide margins of support. The House of Representatives voted 85-6 in favor of the law while the Senate voted 34-3.

Secondly, I learned the law focuses on “continuity of care,” relative to someone’s medical treatment. In Section I, the Act states, “a physician performing or inducing an abortion shall: (a) Have active admitting privileges at a hospital that is located not further than thirty miles from the location at which the abortion is performed or induced and that provides obstetrical or gynecological health care services.”

In other words, if a woman suffers a complication such as a torn cervix or punctured uterus, she can be treated by “the same doctor who knows the exact nature of the complication” and who “can help the patient in the hospital, improving the continuity of care.”

It’s surprising to me those in favor of abortion would not see the value of this law. Even Dr. Nathanson, “the father of the abortion industry,” prided himself on creating a safe environment for his patients. In fact, he saw it as a moral imperative.

In the Hand of God, he wrote, “Having now achieved the law, we had to make certain that it was not thrown into disrepute by clumsy practitioners little more adept than the illegals they would replace. In short, our greatest fear was that this unprecedented liberty might be jeopardized by a poor safety record. To that end, I organized and staged a comprehensive symposium on abortion on July 1, 1970, at New York Medical Center.”

Later, Dr. Nathanson recalled, “At St. Luke’s Women’s Hospital, with the aid of Dr. Harold Tovell, then the director of obstetrics and gynecology, and Avril Lawrence, the director of the operating room, we devised an outpatient, walk-in, walk-out-three-hours-later program that worked efficiently and safely for our first-trimester patients. Women seeking late abortions (after thirteen to fifteen weeks) still had to be hospitalized, since the procedures we used were more complex and dangerous.”

Finally, Dr. Nathanson also commented that, “Another of my duties as chairman of the Medical Committee of NARAL (I was also a member of the Executive Committee) was to inspect the existing abortion clinics in the area and pass on their safety and medical effectiveness.”

So, in closing, if Dr. Bernard Nathanson, the father of abortion industry, saw the necessity of medical and safety standards, I think it logical that today’s abortionists should have admitting privileges. He or she would be intimately familiar with the patient’s medical situation, and in the event of an emergency, valuable time would not be lost.

Finally, as I close this blog, I’d like to offer a few ACTION STEPS we can all take, especially as the Supreme Court gears up for this important case.

Firstly, we should study the works of Dr. Bernard Nathanson including his books: Aborting America, Hand of God, The Abortion Papers and the two films he produced: The Silent Scream and Eclipse of Reason. Become better educated as American citizens, and who better to learn from than the father of the abortion industry himself?

Secondly, mark your calendar and, if possible, plan to join Terry Beatley, founder of Hosea Initiative, on the steps of the Supreme Court on March 4 at 9:00AM. If you are unable to be there in person, join us in prayer.

The prolife movement needs YOU!

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It’s All About Love

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By Julie Anderson

“What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.”

If there is one thing that Hal David, author of the lyrics to hit song “What the World Needs Now is Love,” and St. Therese could agree on is the world needs more love.
As I lie awake recently, I thought about the lyrics to the song as well as the spirituality of my absolute favorite saint of all time, St. Therese of Lisieux, who did small things with great love.

By now, you might be wondering how St. Therese ties in with Hosea Initiative. Please allow me to explain.

Recently, Terry Beatley, founder of Hosea Initiative, sent me a text message and asked me what I thought the three most important things are that someone should know about St. Therese. Then, while at a parish centennial in my hometown, someone else asked me almost the same identical question. So, it got me thinking. What if St. Therese were living on earth today? What would she say to all of us? What answer would she give us to put an end to legalized abortion?

As I lay in bed, I thought about a podcast I listened to earlier in the day about St. Therese. The priest giving the talk shared that throughout St. Therese’s writings, you will find references to charity or love no less than 1,000 times! Clearly, she believed in love. In fact, love is what motivated her. It’s in love that she found her vocation.

In her autobiography, St. Therese writes about reading St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, saying, “I persevered in the reading and did not let my mind wander until I found this encouraging theme: Set your desires on the greater gifts. And I will show you the way which surpasses all others. For the Apostle insists that the greater gifts are nothing at all without love and that this same love is surely the best path leading directly to God. At length I had found peace of mind.”

She adds, “Then, nearly ecstatic with the supreme joy in my soul, I proclaimed: O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love.”

I think the same could be said of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, the cofounder of NARAL known today as NARAL Pro-Choice America. In 1996, he found the love of Jesus Christ. In doing so, he found his true calling in life.

During her presentations, Terry takes participants on a journey through Dr. Nathanson’s life from atheist to cofounder of NARAL to his resignation from the organization just two years after Roe v. Wade was decided by the United States Supreme Court. She talks about his spiritual journey, culminating in his baptism and reception into the Catholic faith, and she discusses his last message to America as well as her promise to spread it across the nation.

His parting message was, “Tell America that the cofounder of NARAL says to ‘Love one another. Abortion is not love. STOP THE KILLING. The world needs more love. I’m all about love now.’”

If Dr. Nathanson, the father of the abortion industry in America and the man responsible for teaching Planned Parenthood about abortion, found his calling in the love of Jesus Christ, then perhaps it really is that simple. Perhaps it’s just as Hal David wrote in the 1965 hit song, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” Or, put it another way, perhaps it’s by imitating St. Therese’s example of putting great love behind every deed, no matter how small, in service to our neighbor.

We invite you to take a further look at Hosea Initiative. With your prayers and financial support, we can continue teaching the message of Dr. Nathanson across America, sharing the beautiful love story God worked in his life. And, in each telling of Dr. Nathanson’s story, the love of Christ will grow throughout this great nation of ours, and maybe, just maybe, abortion will no longer be the law of the land.

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The Preacher and the Former Abortionist

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By Terry Beatley

Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Reverend Billy Graham died on February 21 seven years apart, 2011 and 2018, respectively. The timing of their deaths reminded me of how God numbers our days and how so many things happen not by coincidence. Perhaps God chose February 21 for both of these men – the preacher and the doctor who was once known as America’s “Abortion King” to remind of us of His bountiful love and mercy.

Rev. Billy Graham spent his life preaching the Word of God around the world. He taught us about Jesus Christ, implored us to repent and turn from our sinful ways. The well-known preacher made the truth so easy to grasp - no one escapes the love of God and He will not forsake the one lost sheep so steeped in sin.

One of the lost sheep was Dr. Nathanson who had unleashed abortion onto America. As the cofounder of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL Pro-Choice America), he deceived millions of Americans with the lie that abortion is “women’s healthcare” and was personally responsible for the death of 75,000 children. He trained Planned Parenthood how to perform abortions and watched the organization grow into the world’s largest killing machine.

On December 8, 1996, the “Abortion King” repented for his crimes against humanity and was baptized at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC. He spent the remainder of his life proclaiming the dignity of human life and that abortion must end.

Both the cofounder of NARAL and Reverend Graham declared the same Christ-centered message: “Love one another.” February 21 is the day the preacher and the “Abortion King” died. Both died, though, as Children of God. . . Children of Light. . . Children of Truth who had surrendered their lives —their will— to Jesus Christ and received what God offered – His love and divine mercy.

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Lincoln, Black History, Slavery and Abortion

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By Julie Anderson

I admit it. I love American history, especially anything to do with the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. I’m not alone in my admiration for the Great Emancipator. According to most historians and many polls such as one conducted in 2015 by the American Political Science Association, Lincoln is often believed to be the best American president.

Recently, a book by noted American author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin titled Leadership in Turbulent Times got me to thinking what would Abraham Lincoln say about the abortion question. The same book also got me to thinking history does repeat itself albeit sometimes with different issues. In Lincoln’s day, the struggle was about slavery. In our time, the question is about abortion.

Although I cannot go back in time and ask Lincoln personally, I think his ability to reason through the slavery question would lead him to the conclusion that abortion is immoral for some of the same reasons that slavery is immoral.

Consider some of Lincoln’s words, written as the nation grappled with the effects of the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act which repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise. The 1820 Missouri Compromise granted Missouri’s request for statehood as a slave state and drew an imaginary line. Territories north of the line would join the Union as free states while any territories south of the line would join the Union as slave states.

Thirty years later, another compromise known as the Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state but brought Utah and New Mexico into the country without any restrictions on slavery. That particular compromise lasted a mere four years.

In 1854, the lawyer Lincoln was on the circuit when he learned the United States Congress has officially passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The idea of the legislation was to allow new settlers in the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska, both of which are located above the imaginary line drawn by the Missouri Compromise, to decide the slavery question on their own. Known as “popular sovereignty,” the concept meant slavery was no longer on its way to extinction as Lincoln had hoped.

In his notes, Lincoln wrote, “If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B, why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove equally, that he may enslave A. You say A. is white, and B. is black? It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own. You do not mean color exactly? You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first many you meet, with an intellect superior to your own.”

In the fall of 1854, Stephen Douglas and Lincoln squared off in one of their famous debates in Peoria, Illinois. During the seven-hour political theater, the two orators debated the looming expansion of slavery caused, in great part, by the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

During his remarks, Lincoln took listeners back to our nation’s birth and stated that when the Constitution was adopted, “the plain, unmistakable spirt of that age, towards slavery was hostility to the principle and toleration, only by necessity.” Taking his arguments further, Lincoln told the audience that the word “slavery” was intentionally left out of the Constitution, claiming that the framers avoided the word “just as an afflicted man hides away a wen or a cancer, which he dares not cut out at once, lest he bleed to death; with the promise, nevertheless, that the cutting may begin at the end of a given time.”
Continuing his arguments, Lincoln said the Missouri Compromise had somewhat contained slavery, causing it to be on the wane. Yet, the Kansas-Nebraska Act had altered the course of history. Lincoln argued with the line of compromise rescinded by the law, slavery has been “transformed into a ‘sacred right’” and was once again “on the high road to extension and perpetuity; and with a pat on its back, [the law] says to it, ‘Go, and God speed you.’”

Later, during the same debate, Lincoln made it clear he harbored no ill will towards southern states or those who lived in them.

“They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not exist amongst them, they would not introduce it. IF it did exist amongst us, we should not instantly give it up.”

Consider some more of Lincoln’s own words from his “House Divided” speech delivered in 1858.
“I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.”

Later in that same speech, Lincoln said, “This necessity had not been overlooked; but had been provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of "squatter sovereignty," otherwise called "sacred right of self-government," which latter phrase, though expressive of the only rightful basis of any government, was so perverted in this attempted use of it as to amount to just this: That if any oneman, choose to enslave another, no third man shall be allowed to object.”

In her book, Doris Kearns Goodwin writes, “By the fall of 1860, the slavery issue had smashed the Democratic Party much as it had shattered the Whigs. John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry had hardened southern attitudes; no longer supporting Douglas’s popular sovereignty, the southern wing demanded explicit protection from Congress to bring new slaves into the new territories regardless of the vote of the people.”

When Lincoln entered the White House in March 1861, less than two months after Kansas entered the Union as a free state, Lincoln told his secretary John Hay, “We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves.”

I’d argue that we’ve seen a flurry of activity by abortion activists trying to expand abortion against the will of the American people. Just look at the Reproductive Health Act passed in New York or the radical pro-abortion positions held by most politicians, especially those running for the presidency in 2020 or the legislation promoting infanticide promoted in Virginia in 2019.

These positions fly in the face of the American public’s opinions about abortion. For example, a poll taken by Students for Life of America found that only seven percent of millennials share the positions touted by the major presidential candidates. Just seven percent. Yet, Planned Parenthood and proabortion candidates continue to push for an expansion of abortion without restrictions paid for by American taxpayers such as you and me.

It’s really nothing new. The abortion movement has never been the will of the people. As Hosea Initiative founder Terry Beatley writes in her book and accompanying materials, those who advocated for abortion in the late 1960s and early 1970s did so knowing it was in direct opposition to the American people.
In Fact-Check: Who Was America’s Abortion King? Beatley writes Dr. Bernard Nathanson knew that, “Every revolution needs persuasive statistics to garner the support of more people, so Dr. Nathanson lied using a fake polling statistic that sounded impressive. He reported to the media that 60 percent of Americans wanted abortion on demand legalized.”

The reality was, Beatley writes, “Only one-tenth of one percent of all Americans in the late 1960s and early 1970s wanted abortion on demand legalized. The polling numbers were exaggerated 600-fold”
In the same fact-check book, Beatley also describes the strategy used by NARAL (now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America) to support proabortion political candidates, the same strategy which specifically targeted prolife Catholics and said they could be personally opposed to abortion but could support candidates in favor of abortion because every woman should have the right to choose.
For me, the question is similar to Lincoln’s arguments about slavery. Those who advocate for abortion want to talk about women’s rights, holding the position that babies have no rights nor do fathers. According to abortion activists, no one should be allowed to object to abortion whatsoever as it’s a “sacred right”, one necessary for women to live in freedom.

Yet, Lincoln warned the people of his time, and his words ring true today. We need to be careful about proclaiming our rights are superior. If we say our rights are more important than someone else’s rights, then what’s to stop someone else from doing the same to us and saying their rights are more important than ours?

Like Abraham Lincoln who held no ill will towards those who supported slavery, I hold no ill will towards those who advocate for abortion. I believe they need our love, support and prayers now more than ever. After all, love and prayers won the hearts of Abby Johnson, Norma McCorvey and Dr. Bernard Nathanson.

But also, like Lincoln, I believe we are at a pivotal time in our nation’s history. The question is: will we be a nation which cherishes and protects the lives of each and every single preborn child, or will be a nation that allows the death of preborn children for any reason with no one being allowed to object?

As I close this blog, I ask you to read and reflect upon the words of John Hancock, one of our nation’s founding fathers and the one whose signature appears most prominently on the Declaration of Independence, a man whose words Terry felt strongly about, enough to include them in her book. These words are but an invitation to join the efforts of Hosea Initiative in making America a prolife nation, a nation where each and every life is welcomed and protected by law.

“I urge you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only that ye pray but ye act.”

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Archbishop delivers homily to 10,000 in advance of the national March for Life

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POSTED BY MARC & JULIE ANDERSON ON JANUARY 31, 2020 IN ARCHDIOCESE, LEAVEN NEWS (Original Source - The Leaven)

by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org

WASHINGTON — As chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann has a myriad of ways in which he is trying to help build a culture of life throughout the nation.

There is one, though, that perhaps he enjoys more than others — that of being among the hundreds of thousands of young people who gather annually in the nation’s capital to march for the sanctity of human life.

As part of events surrounding the March for Life, the archbishop served as the main celebrant and homilist of a Mass for approximately 10,000 pilgrims from across the nation. The Mass was celebrated in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Jan. 23 as the opening of the National Prayer Vigil for Life.

In addition to the archbishop, three cardinals, 39 bishops and 303 priests concelebrated, including the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christoph Pierre.

In opening his homily, the archbishop discussed how the Supreme Court, with the twin decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, “established a so-called right to an inherently evil action — the killing of innocent preborn children.”

“The high court’s 1973 decisions opened the door to a moral Twilight Zone where evil is revered as good,” he said.

“The killing of one’s child is exalted as heroic and brave,” he continued. “Even the most modest regulation of abortion facilities for the protection of women’s health is vigorously opposed.

“Abortion is described by early feminists such as Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul as ‘the ultimate exploitation of women.’ But in this ethically topsy-turvy Twilight Zone, it’s now hailed as the cornerstone of women’s rights.”

And discipleship in the face of that, he told the gathered youth, is not always easy.

Archbishop Naumann delivers a homily to thousands at the Vigil Mass before the March for Life in Washington, D.C. LEAVEN PHOTO BY MARC ANDERSON

"[Jesus] told his first disciples that in order to follow him, they must be willing to take up their cross,” said the archbishop. “We must be willing to follow Jesus all the way to Calvary. It takes heroism today to stand for the sanctity of human life.

“In this cultural, moral Twilight Zone, to stand for the sanctity of the lives of unborn children, you may face ridicule and social exclusion. You may be penalized in the academy and the workplace.

“If abortion extremists achieve their goals, you and I can face fines and even imprisonment to cooperate with the intrinsic evil that is abortion.”

There are signs of hope, however, that the pro-life ethic is gaining traction in America.

“Thankfully, not everything is doom and gloom. In these early days of 2020, there are signs of hope. Despite a biased, secular media, decades of persistent pro-life educational efforts have resulted in our nation’s youth being more pro-life than their parents,” the archbishop said, to a round of applause.

In two months, on March 25, he said, we will celebrate the solemnity of the Annunciation.

“It also marks the 25th anniversary of St. John Paul’s landmark and prophetic encyclical, ‘The Gospel of Life.’ St. John Paul did not make reference to any Twilight Zone episodes, but he did caution us about what he termed ‘an extremely serious mortal danger: that of confusion between good and evil, precisely in relation to the fundamental right to life.’”

Pope John Paul challenged Catholics to protect human life and the dignity of the human person wherever and however it is attacked.

“Wherever life is threatened or the dignity of the human person is diminished, we must, as individuals, and as Catholics — as a church — rise to the defense of those who cannot defend themselves,” wrote the pope.

Archbishop Naumann celebrates Mass with fellow bishops and priests at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception the evening before the March for Life. LEAVEN PHOTO BY MARC ANDERSON

The archbishop also shared news from a meeting with a different pope — his recent “ad limina” visit with Pope Francis — a trip he made in the company of 14 other bishops from Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. In their meeting, Archbishop Naumann told the pope that the United States bishops had reaffirmed protection of the unborn.

“I told him that we received some criticism, even being accused of insulting the pope. Pope Francis appeared stunned and asked, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because we called the protection of the unborn a preeminent priority,’ And his immediate response was, ‘It is the preeminent priority.’

“Pope Francis said that if we do not defend life, no other rights matter. The Holy Father said that abortion is, first, a human rights issue. Of course, our faith enlightens and motivates our concern for the unborn, but protecting the lives of unborn children is not about our religious faith but upholding the most fundamental of all human rights.

“Pope Francis was aware of this March for Life in the United States and was delighted to the know the anticipated large numbers of pilgrims, especially the participation of so many young people.”

Archbishop Naumann talks with students from the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas during the March for Life in D.C. LEAVEN PHOTO BY MARC ANDERSON

At the beginning of the meeting, Archbishop Naumann said, the Holy Father asked the conversation be kept confidential so everyone could speak freely.

But then “the Holy Father urged me, and I daresay, ordered me, to please tell the pilgrims at the March for Life — and the entire pro-life community — that the pope is with you.

“He is praying for you,” said the archbishop. “He supports you. He encourages you to persevere. The Holy Father asked me to especially thank those who work in our pregnancy resource centers for helping women with difficult pregnancies for being part of these islands of mercy.

“God and 14 other bishops are my witnesses that Pope Francis was passionate in the support of the church’s pro-life efforts.”

“My friends,” the archbishop said to great applause, “the successor of Peter has our backs.”

POSTED IN ARCHDIOCESE, LEAVEN NEWS, YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT

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The Pieta – A Window onto Holy Week

Clare Ruff earned her BA in Theology from University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX
and serves as Director of Events and Outreach for the Hosea Initiative.
She writes from her home in southeastern Minnesota.

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It’s All About Love

The Preacher and the Former Abortionist

Lincoln, Black History, Slavery and Abortion

Archbishop delivers homily to 10,000 in advance of the national March for Life

POSTED BY MARC & JULIE ANDERSON ON JANUARY 31, 2020 IN ARCHDIOCESE, LEAVEN NEWS (Original Source - The Leaven)

by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org

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Clare Ruff earned her BA in Theology from University of St. Thomas, Houston, TXand serves as Director of Events and Outreach for the Hosea Initiative.She writes from her home in southeastern Minnesota.

POSTED BY MARC & JULIE ANDERSON ON JANUARY 31, 2020 IN ARCHDIOCESE, LEAVEN NEWS (Original Source - The Leaven)by Marc and Julie Andersonmjanderson@theleaven.org

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Get Social:

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Clare Ruff earned her BA in Theology from University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX
and serves as Director of Events and Outreach for the Hosea Initiative.
She writes from her home in southeastern Minnesota.

POSTED BY MARC & JULIE ANDERSON ON JANUARY 31, 2020 IN ARCHDIOCESE, LEAVEN NEWS (Original Source - The Leaven)

by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org