Insights: Senate Passes Chemical Abortion Bill; World Day for Consecrated Life

CA Senate Passes Bill Requiring Chemical Abortion Medication on College Campuses

The California State Senate voted to pass SB 320 this week, the bill that would require all UC, CSU, and community college campuses to provide the abortion pill to students by 2020.

SB 320 (Leyva, D-Chino) passed out of the Senate on a 25-13 vote, and will now head to the State Assembly. Take a moment now to send an alert to your lawmakers before any further action is taken.

In its hypocrisy, SB 320 also invites health centers to offer abortion counseling services to their students but is specifically written in such a way to exclude pro-life counseling. The state of California should have no role in encouraging or funding abortions, which take the life of a human being, in our public post-secondary educational institutions – or anywhere, for that matter.  

While several other states are moving toward constricting the use of abortion, California is the first state to move toward enacting legislation such as this, making it even more important that legislators hear from you before a dangerous precedent is set.

Tell your Assembly Member this bill is out of line and the State of California should not be in the business of providing abortions.

 

Legislative Calendar Moving Along Quickly

The California legislative calendar is moving swiftly along with deadlines now looming.

February 16 being the last day for lawmakers to introduce any new bills.

The California Catholic Conference is pouring through thousands of introduced bills to evaluate those we will follow throughout the year. We focus on bills dealing with reverence for life, dignity of the individual, restorative justice, family life, the care for our creation, immigration, and faith in the public square.

The CCC is also engaged in a Twitter campaign to garner support for Dreamers and a permanent status for DACA. The negotiations and situations on this topic are extremely fluid. The USCCB released a statement this week on the newly released White House framework on immigration.

 

For the latest information, be sure to visit www.cacatholic.org.

 

Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Chairman Calls Senate Failure to Pass Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act “Appalling”

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities called the Senate’s failure to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act “appalling”. The bill proposes to ban abortions starting at 20 weeks after fertilization:

“The U.S. Senate’s failure to adopt the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, prohibiting abortions at 20 weeks post-fertilization, is appalling. Abortions performed in the second half of pregnancy usually involves brutally dismembering a defenseless unborn child, while also posing serious dangers to his or her mother. The Senate’s rejection of this common-sense legislation is radically out of step with most Americans. Opinion polls consistently show that a strong majority of the public opposes late-term abortions—including those who self-identify as ‘pro-choice’. Furthermore, the United States is currently one of only seven countries that allow abortions beyond 20-weeks. The other six are North Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada and the Netherlands. The Senate must rethink its extreme stance on late-term abortions. I call upon the public to tell the Senate that this vote is absolutely unacceptable.”

 

Today is World Day for Consecrated Life

As the Catholic Church prepares to celebrate the World Day for Consecrated Life, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations (CCLV) is releasing the results of a survey taken of the most recent Profession Class of 2017 conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The survey results have been released to coincide with the annual celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life, which will be celebrated in the Church on Friday, February 2, 2018, and in parishes on the weekend of February 3-4, 2018.

Commenting on the World Day for Consecrated Life, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark and Chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations states: “For twenty-one years, the Church has designated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas Day, as an appropriate moment to thank God for the gift of consecrated life. Jesus is manifest as ‘light of revelation for the Gentiles’ and ‘glory for God’s people, Israel.’ Consecrated men and women reflect this light as witnesses of Jesus in a world that is often shrouded in shadow. They are the glory of God’s people. We pray for the perseverance of consecrated men and women and ask God to continue enriching the Church with their unique vocation.”

 

Exploring Hispanics in Today’s Church

Registration for the Fifth National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry (V Encuentro) is beginning. In September, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will convene a historic ecclesial gathering of 3,000 Hispanic/Latino Ministry leaders from dioceses, ecclesial movements, schools, universities and Catholic organizations from across the country. The delegates representing more than 165 dioceses were selected among nearly 250,000 people that participated in the local process over the past year. More than 100 bishops are expected to lead diocesan delegations.

The goal of the V Encuentro is to discern ways in which the Church in the United States can better respond to the Hispanic/Latino presence and to strengthen the ways in which Hispanics/Latinos respond to the call to the New Evangelization as missionary disciples.

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February 2, 2018
Vol. 11, No. 5

En Español

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