Sarah Terzo at LifeSiteNews, summarized the sad data. Some of the lowlights were that 83 percent of the women who suffered post-abortion trauma would have chosen differently had they not been advised otherwise by people, including their abortion “counselors.” Only 5 percent were even encouraged by their Planned Parenthood “counselors” to ask questions.

It’s yet another piece of evidence—as though more were needed—that Planned Parenthood’s alleged concern for women’s health is merely a public relations ploy, while the real game is to keep the money from abortions coming in. Abortion is a big business, and it’s one form of big business where the political Left has given its docile subservience.

The survey results seem to imply though, that the 83 percent who felt pushed into the abortion didn’t have it happen exclusively inside the doors of the Planned Parenthood. And it’s here that continued prayer and pro-life formation is required within the culture, because it’s fair to say that a friend or family member who advises abortion is often feeling the same fear as the expectant mother—not to the same degree certainly—but the same general outline of what will happen, what will become of the child, how will it be cared for.  It’s in these venues where the light of a Culture of Life has to break through more clearly and ensure the expectant mother never has a chance to be manipulated, lied to and exploited by the minions of Planned Parenthood.

I’m somewhat of an optimist on human nature, and I think that even in a movement that is, at its bottom, rank evil, only 10 percent or so of the practitioners really grasp what they’re doing. When it comes to the big business of abortion, those 10 percent are on the payroll at Planned Parenthood. Out there beyond the walls of the abortion mills, lie the other 90 percent, well-intentioned, but caught adrift in a culture that’s lost its moorings. Reach the 90 percent and the rest will be rendered irrelevant.

Now there’s no need to talk to a doctor or visit a pharmacist. You can get Plan B in a vending machine.

The Hill reports:

Federal regulators will let a Pennsylvania university continue to dispense Plan B — also known as the morning-after pill — through a vending machine.
The Food and Drug Administration decided not to intervene following a “politically motivated uproar” over the vending machine Shippensburg University installed in its nurses’ office.
FDA looked at publicly available information about Shippenburg State’s vending program and spoke with university and campus health officials and decided not to take any regulatory actions, the FDA said.
Students at the university can obtain Plan B without waiting for an appointment by depositing $25 in the machine.

The culture of death fueled $25 at a time.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Though it might seem surprising that a majority of Americans would elect an atheist for president, it shouldn’t be. Americans have been supporting atheistic politicians for quite some time, it’s just that they don’t call themselves atheists. They call themselves liberal Democrats.

Take Vice President Biden for instance. When asked about abortion during the vice presidential debate, Biden said he personally supports the Catholic Church’s teaching on when life begins, but because he lives in a pluralistic society he can’t “impose” those views on others who might disagree with him. He has to, in other words, leave behind his religious convictions when he enters the public square.

The political philosophy Vice President Biden – as well as President Obama – adheres to is that of the late John Rawls, a long-time Harvard professor. Rawls’ theory posits that people are going to disagree about moral and ethical questions; therefore, the best way to govern a pluralistic society is to construct a framework that allows everyone to pursue their own understanding of the best way to live insofar as they respect everyone else’s right to do the same.

Rawls’ core belief is that there is no preferred way of life the state should promote. The public square must be completely devoid of religious-based arguments and the government must remain neutral when it comes to, say, abortion and gay marriage. Rawls is highly esteemed by modern liberals and was presented with the National Humanities Medal by President Clinton in 1999.

But Rawls’ desire to vanquish moral arguments from the public square because they emanate from a particular worldview is not only wrong, it’s downright impossible. While Democrats like Joe Biden claim they don’t want to impose their views on people who might disagree with them, all laws reflect some set of values. And when liberal Democrats typically pass legislation, they rely on Rawls’ values. Just look at the HHS mandate. The notion that women have an intrinsic right to contraception is a direct result of Rawls’ belief that the state must expand the civil liberties of its citizens as much as possible while remaining neutral on how best to exercise those liberties.

Rawls’ aspiration to neutrality, therefore, is anything but neutral. It is fueled by a conception of the human person – albeit a deeply flawed one – and is adamant about dictating to individuals, civil society and religious organizations that the only truth there is is that there is no truth at all.

This view is the animating force behind the modern Democratic Party. Recent polling indicates that roughly 70% of Democrats prefer that the state not promote any one set of values. In other words, most Democrats – perhaps unknowingly – favor Rawls’ philosophy. What that means is that we can expect the political left to continue to attack religious freedom, the dignity of human life, and traditional values for the foreseeable future. Think not? Just look at what’s going on in France and Canada (countries the U.S. is on track to become). France is set to ban the words “mother” and “father” from government documents and Canada basically disallowed Catholic schools from teaching Catholic doctrine on homosexuality. If there was ever a clear indication that the dictatorship of relativism is upon us, this is it.

Our culture, he argued, is infused with a “terrible individualism” that “makes people feel as though they want to end their own life so as to be completely independent of everyone else.” Advocates of the ballot initiative are wrong when they say they are driven by compassion, Cardinal O’Malley added, because “ending your life by suicide is not a compassionate or dignified way to die.”

Indeed, autonomy is the word of our time. No longer do people confer with others, especially the clergy, when trying to figure out how to live a moral life. Whatever I say is moral is moral, the argument usually goes, and anyone who disagrees with me is a bigot who simply wants to impose their values on me.

I can’t help but be reminded of one of Chris Matthews’ ‘Lean Forward’ commercials in which he says something to the effect that the political party that promises voters more freedom and more liberty is the one that usually wins.

While most of what Matthews says is incoherent nonsense, he is right about this particular point. What politician in their right mind would run on a platform that emphasizes less freedom, less liberty and fewer options? No one would vote for that, right? Well, it depends on how we understand freedom.

Unfortunately in California, freedom means having the ability to do pretty much whatever you want. This has lead to, among other things, men marrying men and women marrying women.

It has also lead to SB 1476, a bill that if signed into law by Governor Brown would allow children to have three legal parents.

The traditional family unit is constantly under attack

Advocates against same-sex unions warned about this slippery slope, but marriage re-definers didn’t listen.

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, head of the San Marcos, California-based Ruth Institute, says that SB 1476 will have dire consequences, but that it was inevitable.

Writing for Public Discourse, Dr. Morse argues that “once we started trying to normalize parenting by same-sex couples and redefine marriage to remove the dual-gender requirement, we had to end up with triple-parenting.”

Morse goes on to add that “triple-parenting and genderless marriage are destructive policies” that “will unnecessarily complicate [children's] lives.”

Inasmuch as California considers itself a forward-looking place, they are actually behind the curve on this one. In August, a three-person civil union was sanctioned by a judge in Brazil.

However bleak the future may look for traditional marriage, there is some good news. It’s being reported by the National Organization for Marriage that Australia’s House of Representatives has just voted down gay marriage by an overwhelming majority. They are also reporting that several of the New York Republican state senators who voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in that state are having difficulty winning re-election.

As President Obama said not long ago, this year’s elections will offer Americans the clearest choice in a generation between two different paths for our country. Let’s make sure we choose the right one.

With all the pressure on women to adhere to impossible standards of beauty set by starving, chain-smoking 20 year-old models in New York City, one would think that there would be nothing new under the “diet fad” sun.

Well, not so fast. Brides-to-be are resorting to feeding tubes to lose weight and fit into the their Brides Magazine dream gown. Yup, that’s right, the same feeding tube your sick grandmother was forced to use in the hospital is now a $1,500 pre-wedding day diet program import from Europe, where it has been popularized for years. Now American brides can skip the gym and meal-time discipline to drop 10lbs in 10 days.

This quick fix seems to be a perfect analogy for the current state of marriage in America – everyone wants a perfect marriage, but few are willing to put in the hard work and make a daily commitment to maintaining and nurturing it.

Alas, as with all things that seem too good to be true, there are some drawbacks to the feeding tube diet (besides explaining to friends and co-workers why you have a tube up your nose).

It also causes bad breath and constipation. Not exactly the stuff of a romantic wedding night.

We are seeing this culture of death strengthen its foundations when we let bullies have their way with public policy and nonprofits and their corporate sponsors, and when the federal government tells religious Americans they must comply with a radical ideology or be fined — and mercilessly ridiculed, dismissed, or discredited, whatever the facts.

More here.

(Why the Saturday Night Live mention?)

Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J.

There was lots of reaction to the news reports of “The Vatican” supposedly endorsing the creation of a world centralized bank. CatholicLane.com has an article by Robert Moynihan of Inside the Vatican in which he implores people to actually read the text of the document. http://cvote.to/6I George Weigel says it’s “rubbish” to compare the Vatican to Occupy Wall Street. http://cvote.to/6J But Thomas Peters says that’s exactly what Fr. Reese was implying. http://cvote.to/6L Bill Donohue notes that the terms “supranational Authority” and “supranational Institution” are neologisms that did not appear in the latest Papal encyclical. http://cvote.to/6M Tom Hoopes says this Pontifical Council’s report also recognized Pope Benedict’s emphasis on subsidiarity. http://cvote.to/6N Samuel Gregg wonders why a global central bank wouldn’t have the same problems that a European central bank has. http://cvote.to/6K

Rick Perry is planning a re-boot of his floundering campaign with the unveiling of his flat tax plan on income. The plan sets the income tax at 20% and keeps both the mortgage deduction and the charitable deductions. It increases the standard deduction for individuals and each dependents at $12,500. That would mean a family of four would pay no income tax on their first $50,000. Every dollar above that would be taxed at 20%. The corporate tax would also fall to 20%. Perry pitched the plan in the Wall Street Journal. http://cvote.to/6O

And yet, just as he is focusing on re-booting his campaign, Rick Perry chats up the “birther” talk. Reporter John Harwood said: “In [a] CNBC interview, Perry tells me why he kept Obama birther issue alive: ‘It’s a good issue to keep alive. It’s fun to poke at him.’” http://cvote.to/6W Uh, maybe that’s a joke suited for the White House Correspondents Dinner but not the campaign trail. Perry better not take the birther issue seriously or his campaign is toast.

Quote of the Day

“We are now enemies of the State … We all know what the power of the state can do to its enemies.” – Ed Mechmann, at the Archdiocese of New York’s blog, commenting on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s calling opponents of same-sex “marriage” as anti-American. http://cvote.to/6Q

Notes:

I promised you the interview with Sen. George LeMieux yesterday. But the news cycle yesterday involving the Vatican prevented that. So, Lord willing, I’ll post it this afternoon.

Christine Schilling will soon be blogging here at CatholicVote.org. Christine is a mother of ten and is married to Rep. Bobby Schilling, R-IL. Stay tuned!

Other articles of interest:

Yuck: A Canadian music station launched a “Win a Baby” contest, offering to pay $35,000 in fertility treatments to a winning couple. http://cvote.to/6R

Pope Benedict XVI proclaims three saints, saying their lives demonstrated that true faith is charity in action. http://cvote.to/6S

Media watchdog Brent Bozell says ABC should report on the widespread anti-Semitism found at Occupy Wall Street protests. http://cvote.to/6T

In New Hampshire, the House Judiciary Committee is set to vote on a bill restoring marriage as a union of one man and one woman. http://cvote.to/6V

Election 2012

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty endorses Mitt Romney for President. http://cvote.to/2k Political analyst Larry Sabato says that Pawlenty is unlikely to be Mitt’s running mate since they are both northern governors. http://cvote.to/2l Katrina Trinko of National Review Online notes that at the last debate, Pawlenty didn’t just criticize Romney’s health care plan, but also Romney’s record of high state spending and liberal judicial nominees. http://cvote.to/2m

GOP presidential debate in Tampa tonight at 8 p.m. ET on CNN. Politico has six things to watch for in the debate (hint: Social Security). http://cvote.to/2n The L.A. Times interviewed seniors in Tampa about Rick Perry calling Social Security a ‘Ponzi scheme.’ The responses should that the issue is thorny, but not a death knell. http://cvote.to/2n

Political analyst Larry Sabato outlined some Electoral College scenario possibilities for the 2012 presidential election, including the real chance of a nightmare 269-269 tie, which would throw the presidential election into the U.S. House of Representatives. http://cvote.to/2t There’s a simple way to prevent this possibility: Increase the size of the House by one. Yours truly outlined this almost a year ago. http://cvote.to/2u

Special elections happen tomorrow in Nevada’s 2nd and New York 9th and Republicans might win both. The New York race is to fill the seat of Democrat Anthony Weiner, who left office after a sending inappropriate images to women who were not his wife. Republican Bob Turner is a pro-life and pro-marriage Catholic who might just win an upset in this district that covers parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Polling for a Democratic firm show him leading over Democrat David Weprin 47% to 41%. The poll noted that Jewish voters upset over President Obama’s stance on Israel were supporting Republican Bob Turner, who leads with the Jewish vote 56% to 39% http://cvote.to/2p.  The National Organization for Marriage noted that this poll showed another major reason that Bob Turner might win tomorrow. In that PPP poll, a plurality of voters in the 9^th District opposed so-called ‘same-sex’ marriage 45% to 41%. Of those polled, 55% said the issue of SSM was either very or somewhat important in deciding who they will support tomorrow. http://cvote.to/2q

Over in Nevada, the latest polls show Mark Amodei cruising to victory 50% to 37% over Kate Marshall (endorsed by EMILY’s List) in Nevada’s 2^nd. http://cvote.to/2o The race is being held to replace Republican Dean Heller who was appointed to the Senate seat of Republican John Ensign, who resigned several years after ethics complaints surrounding his extramarital affair.

The Chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party wants Rep. Pat Meehan, Rep. Jim Gerlach, or Rep. Charlie Dent to face off against Democrat Sen. Bob Casey next November. http://cvote.to/2x

Other articles of interest:

The President’s jobs proposal is nothing but a “$447 billion reelection plan” says James Pethokoukis of Reuters. He cites economists at Moody’s and George Mason University who note it will do little to boost the economy. http://cvote.to/2r

Green subsidies are a “breeding ground of corruption” says Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner, noting that companies with ties to the Democratic Party received billions in subsidies from the federal government. http://cvote.to/2s

Catholic schools in Indiana see a surge in enrollment because of a recent voucher bill became law. Amazing what freedom brings. http://cvote.to/2v

Pat Archbold recounts the horror of a young woman who so casually and loudly called a group of mentally handicapped runs ‘retards.’ http://cvote.to/2w

Hugh Grant and Ann McPherson

• This past week long-time assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian died in Detroit. On the other side of the pond, another assisted-suicide advocate also died. Ann McPherson founded Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying to promote assisted-suicide in Britain. Thankfully, the practice is still illegal in the United Kingdom. According to LifeSiteNews, actor Hugh Grant is a financial supporter of McPherson’s work. “She’s right on assisted dying,” said Grant. “That seems to me like the dignified option. I don’t know quite what she wanted in her last few weeks, but she was a great champion of the right to die in a dignified manner, which it seems she did.” Sad to see another celebrity to use their notoriety to promote the Culture of Death.
• Ross Douthat, writing on his New York Times blog, speculates what legalized assisted-suicide would look like in the United States if the practice became as prevalent as abortion: “If the right to die really became ‘a lot like’ the right to abortion in America, there would be Swiss-style thanatoriums in most American cities, the Hemlock Society would be a major lobbying group (boasting, no doubt, that most of its resources go to palliative care rather than assisted suicide), and Kermit Gosnell-style thanatists would prey on the elderly while the courts looked the other way.” God help us all if that ever happened.
• Catholic colleges are getting intense scrutiny from the Obama administration. Adam Wilson has an excellent write-up on the clash between Catholic colleges and the National Labor Relations Board. It cuts to the heart of religious independence from the state. “On May 26, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that one Catholic college lacks substantial religious character and hence cannot stop adjunct faculty from unionizing. They ruled that St. Xavier University in Chicago ‘is not a church-operated institution’ and is therefore subject to federal labor law. That was the second such ruling in a few months. The NLRB declared in January that Catholic Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York, is not recognizably Catholic.” Read the rest of the article at Crisis magazine.

God have mercy.