As President Joe Biden marks his first 100 days in office Planned Parenthood, both the largest provider of abortions in the nation and now the second largest provider of transgender hormone treatments, said in a press announcement “there are increasing signs that the country is on the right track.”
SF Archbishop to Pro-Abortion Politicians: ‘Please, Stop the Killing’
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said Saturday that politicians who advance pro-abortion legislation cooperate in the “grave moral evil” of killing an unborn child and should not receive Holy Communion.
In his pastoral letter titled “Before I Formed You in the Womb I Knew You,” Archbishop Cordileone writes that “abortion is not a ‘Christian’ or ‘Catholic’ issue: the dignity of the human person is a value that is, or should be, affirmed by us all.”
“Abortion is the axe laid to the roots of the tree of human rights,” he states, “when our culture encourages the violation of life at its youngest and most vulnerable condition, other ethical norms cannot stand for long.”
In his four-part letter, the archbishop declares that as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which has brought about “over 60,000,000 deaths, and many more millions of scarred lives,” it is time for “a frank and honest reassessment.”
The publication of the letter follows news this past week of a forthcoming document from the U.S. Bishops’ Conference (USCCB) on the reception of Holy Communion by pro-abortion Catholics in public office, occasioned by the election of President Joe Biden, a Catholic who has actively worked to expand abortion rights.
The archbishop highlights the importance of formal cooperation in evil, when a person wills the evil that is being done by another person and cooperates to help bring it about, something that is never morally justified.
“This applies clearly to those who willingly kill or assist in killing the child, but also to others who pressure or encourage the mother to have an abortion, pay for it, provide financial assistance to organizations to provide abortions, or support candidates or legislation to make abortion more readily available,” Cordileone writes.
With regard to the reception of Holy Communion, the archbishop notes that there are circumstances where this is morally impermissible, since receiving the Eucharist “is to espouse publicly the faith and moral teachings of the Catholic Church, and to desire to live accordingly.”
While according to Catholic teaching any serious sin, even a private one, is enough to deter a person from receiving Communion, sometimes there is ongoing sin that is not private but public.
There are occasions when those in public life violate the boundaries of justifiable cooperation, the archbishop observes, which adds “an even greater responsibility to the role of the Church’s pastors in caring for the salvation of souls.”
“In the case of public figures who profess to be Catholic and promote abortion, we are not dealing with a sin committed in human weakness or a moral lapse: this is a matter of persistent, obdurate, and public rejection of Catholic teaching,” he writes.
Moreover, Catholics in public life “who participate in abortion or seek to advance it through legislation or advocacy” cause scandal, he adds, “precisely because these are actions of which many people are aware.”
For Catholics, scandal has a precise meaning, he states: “an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.”
Prominent public figures help shape the culture and their advocacy of abortion definitely leads others to do evil, the archbishop declares.
“This must be stated with clarity: anyone who actively works to promote abortion shares some of the guilt for the abortions performed because of their actions,” he adds.
Such a state of affairs has two consequences, he notes, first that a Catholic in this situation should voluntarily not present himself to receive Communion, and second, that if this is not the case, the Church’s pastors should make sure he does not receive Communion.
“Because we are dealing with public figures and public examples of cooperation in moral evil, this correction can also take the public form of exclusion from the reception of Holy Communion,” he writes.
In the end, people have become to accustomed to the horrific evil of abortion, Cordileone writes, and no longer feel the outrage that such a tragedy should provoke.
“Indeed, when one looks directly at what actually happens in an abortion, it is hard to imagine anything more heinously evil,” he states.
And with “almost one out of five pregnancies in the United States ending in abortion, what we are witnessing before our very eyes is, effectively, a genocide against the unborn,” he writes.
In his letter, Cordileone also makes a direct appeal to prominent Catholics who promote abortion, among whom is the current U.S. president.
“To Catholics in public life who practice abortion or advocate for it: the killing must stop,” the archbishop writes. “Please, please, please: the killing must stop.”
“God has entrusted you with a prestigious position in society,” he continues. “You have the power to affect societal practices and attitudes. Always remember that you will one day have to render an account to God for your stewardship of this trust.”
“Please stop the killing. And please stop pretending that advocating for or practicing a grave moral evil — one that snuffs out an innocent human life, one that denies a fundamental human right — is somehow compatible with the Catholic faith,” he adds. “It is not.”
“Please return home to the fullness of your Catholic faith. We await you with open arms to welcome you back,” he writes.
Lubbock, Texas, Becomes 26th and Largest City to Become ‘Sanctuary City for the Unborn’
Lubbock, Texas, became the largest city in the United States to declare itself a “sanctuary city for the unborn,” the 26th in the nation to outlaw abortion.
Mark Lee Dickson, director of Right to Life of East Texas and founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, wrote at Live Action News Sunday that the citizens of Lubbock voted to pass an ordinance Saturday, making abortion illegal within the city’s limits.
According to Dickson, the vote was 62.64 percent (21,400 votes) in favor of the ordinance and 37.54 percent (12,860 votes) opposed.
The ordinance states:
It shall be unlawful for any person to procure or perform an abortion of any type and at any stage of pregnancy in the City of Lubbock, Texas … It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly aid or abet an abortion that occurs in the City of Lubbock, Texas.
“The victory is significant to many as the City of Lubbock is the 11th most populated city in the State of Texas and the 83rd most populated city in the United States,” Dickson wrote. “Lubbock is also home to Texas Tech University, the seventh largest university by enrollment in the State of Texas.”
As Breitbart News reported in September, Lubbock’s mayor and city council considered the ordinance after sufficient signatures were gathered from Lubbock citizens to allow for a city council vote. The council ultimately voted 7-0 against the ordinance, reasoning that the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade is considered by many to be the “law of the land.”
However, since the vote of the council, as Dickson wrote, was “forced by the Initiative and Referendum process, this allowed for Lubbock residents to take the opportunity to get the ordinance on the ballot and to vote on the ordinance themselves on May 1, 2021.”
Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope said in a statement that “voters made it clear that Lubbock will become the next sanctuary city for the unborn.”
“I am encouraged by the significant voter turnout,” he added, elaborating:
On behalf of the City Council, our duty as elected officials is to begin the process in adding the approved ordinance to the City of Lubbock Code of Ordinances, as directed by the Lubbock City Charter. The Lubbock City Council, per state law, will canvass the votes from this election on Tuesday, May 11, with a likely ordinance effective date as early as June 1.
In a separate statement to Breitbart News, Dickson said:
We are grateful that the voters of Lubbock voted so overwhelmingly to outlaw abortion and affirm the sanctity of human life. We congratulate everyone who worked so hard to pass this ordinance and produce such a strong turnout for this historic election. Planned Parenthood and its supporters also worked hard to get their supporters to the polls, and we congratulate them on their efforts. Now that the voters have spoken, we expect Planned Parenthood to respect the outcome of this election and cease providing abortions at its Lubbock clinic.
Planned Parenthood began performing abortions at its Lubbock facility on April 15.
“Because the Lubbock Ordinance that outlaws abortion was passed after abortions were offered in Lubbock, this makes Lubbock the first city in the nation to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion in a city where abortions are already being committed,” Dickson wrote, noting:
If the City of Lubbock faces a lawsuit as a result of the ordinance, Attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell, the former Solicitor General of Texas, has offered to represent the city at no cost to the city or taxpayers. In May 2020, when seven cities in East Texas that had passed the ordinance were sued by the ACLU, Mitchell represented the cities, and after three months, the ACLU withdrew its lawsuit. The lawsuit cost the cities and taxpayers nothing — and abortion remans outlawed in every city that was sued.
As Dickson explains, the ordinance contains two “enforcement mechanisms,” one public and one private.
“While the public enforcement mechanism is dependent upon the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the private enforcement mechanism is immediately enforceable,” he states. “It is not reliant on the overturning of Roe v. Wade.”
The ordinance provides the private enforcement mechanism by stating:
Any person, corporation, or entity that commits an unlawful act … other than the mother of the unborn child that has been aborted, shall be liable in tort to the unborn child’s mother, father, grandparents, siblings and half-siblings. The person or entity that committed the unlawful act shall be liable to each surviving relative of the aborted unborn child for: (a) Compensatory damages, including damages for emotional distress; (b) Punitive damages; and (c) Costs and attorneys’ fees.
In June 2019, Waskom, Texas, became the first city in the nation to ban abortion, declaring itself a “sanctuary city for the unborn.”
Outside of Texas, two towns in Nebraska — Hayes Center and Blue Hill — have also passed ordinances to become “sanctuary cities for the unborn.”
Hayes Center became the 24th sanctuary city and the first outside of Texas to outlaw abortion, followed by Blue Hill.
KSNBLocal4 News reported that, while Blue Hill has no abortion clinic, its mayor, Keri Schunk, said the ordinance is preventative.
“It’s a lot easier now to take action than when it becomes a problem at our forefront, and then we don’t have the means or any of that to take action, and by that point lives have been lost and we can hopefully be pro-active, not re-active,” she said.
The ordinance carries a $500 fine for violators.
“If someone violates, it will be brought to the attention of obviously the council and then we will proceed with our attorneys,” Schunk said.
Scout Richters of American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Nebraska Legal and Policy Counsel stated that “cities and villages cannot outlaw or criminalize abortion.”
“It is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution,” Richters said. “We are monitoring suspect local ordinances and exploring our options, including litigation if necessary.”
“The facts are clear, these restrictions fall hardest on women of color, poor women and women living in rural communities,” the statement continued. “These community leaders should be focused on the health of their community, not taking away people’s freedom to make the best decision for themselves and their families.”
Nevertheless, Dickson wrote, “The Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative continues at a rapid pace, as petitions to outlaw abortion are coming in from residents of more cities across the U.S.”
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