LA Times: More California nurse practitioners could work independently, offer abortions under new bill
“It’s a dangerous bill,” said Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference. “I think what this is really doing is undermining the safety of women in all of their healthcare interactions. It’s putting access before safety.”
SACRAMENTO — California would allow nurse practitioners to more easily work independently of a doctor and perform abortions under legislation that expands reproductive care as other states move to restrict access.
The bill is one of several introduced this year by California Democrats who have been preparing countermeasures to expand abortion access for those who live both in and out of the state, a months-long effort that comes in response to the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn Roe vs. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old landmark decision that barred states from criminalizing abortions.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said Senate Bill 1375 addresses two issues by allowing experienced nurse practitioners in California to more quickly qualify to work independently of a doctor and adding abortion care to the services they can offer without physician oversight.
Continue Reading at LATimes.com.
Masking in School Ends March 12
Today, the Newsom Administration announced the state’s requirement for masking in schools will expire on Friday, March 11, allowing students, regardless of vaccination status, to be without a face mask at school beginning Monday, March 14.
It is important to note that counties can still implement masking requirements for schools within their jurisdictions. School boards can also adopt their own masking requirements that extend beyond March 11. Already, Los Angeles County has issued a statement saying they will comply with CDPH guidelines, allowing all schools in LA County to move from mandating to strongly recommending masks.
“The next two weeks are important because we see our communities getting even lower transmission rates, and that creates an even lower number of individuals getting infected,” said California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Mark Ghaly. “California has 12 percent of students in the country but less than one percent of the closures this year. Giving even that little time to get to those lower rates is important.”
America Magazine: A California bishop invited community organizers to help with the synod. So far, it’s working.
“[Pope Francis] really encouraged us to be spiritual fathers that would walk with our people. He uses the language, always, ‘accompaniment, accompaniment.”
Bishop Daniel E. Garcia has been leading the Diocese of Monterey, Calif., since 2019. He said he had about one year of “normal” before the pandemic began.
He had been serving as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Austin, Tex., when Pope Francis appointed him to the coastal California diocese.
“When I first got here, people asked me, ‘What is your vision for Monterey?’” Bishop Garcia said. He would laugh as he told them: “Well, I don’t know. I just moved here from Texas. Let me get an understanding of the landscape first!”
There are 46 parishes in the Diocese of Monterey, whose more than 200,000 Catholics are spread out over four counties and 8,000 square miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco. According to Bishop Garcia, it takes four to five hours to drive the territory north to south. So it took a while to get to know the local church.
Bishop Garcia went for his first ad limina visit to Rome with the other West Coast bishops just a few weeks before pandemic lockdowns began in California. He said it was his first ad limina, and he was moved by the words Pope Francis shared.
Continue Reading at AmericaMagazine.com.
How to Help Families in Ukraine
With millions of Ukrainians fleeing their homes to escape the Russian military invasion, there is a dire need for humanitarian assistance. Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Ukraine and partners provide emergency relief and recovery across Ukraine and bordering countries, providing safe shelter, hot meals, hygiene supplies, fuel to keep warm, transportation, and counseling support.
All donations will provide immediate assistance for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters.
Cyberattack Blocks Archbishop Cordileone’s Rosary Webcast
The online broadcast of Archbishop Cordileone’s rosary for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday was knocked offline temporarily by an apparent cyberattack.
“The evidence strongly suggests it was a cyberattack,” said Father Patrick Summerhays, vicar general for administration and moderator of the curia. The rosary page was the cause of the outage, said Father Summerhays.
The pattern of this sudden surge in traffic is consistent with a method of cyber-attack called Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS). The website hosting company could not immediately identify the source of the attack.
Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine. The “Rosary for Peace in Ukraine” led by Archbishop Cordileone is linked here.
Pro-abortion Women’s Health Protection Act fails in US Senate
The U.S. Senate failed to move forward with the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) on Monday, striking down what some pro-life groups identify as the most radical abortion bill in U.S. history.
The WHPA “would enshrine into federal law abortion on demand until the moment of birth, and it would nullify state laws — new and existing – that protect unborn children and their mothers,” Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, warned ahead of the vote.
The Feb. 28 cloture vote, with 46 for and 48 against the WHPA, needed 60 votes to proceed. It fell largely along party lines, with only one Democrat (Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia) voting against proceeding with the bill that would override states’ pro-life laws and remove restrictions on abortion up to the point of birth in some cases. No Republicans voted in support of the WHPA.
Continue Reading at AngelusNews.com
“Oh Lord, hear the prayers of those who trust in you, especially the lowly, those sorely tried, and those who suffer and flee before the roar of weapons. Restore peace to our hearts; once again, grant your peace to our days. Amen. #PrayTogether #Ukraine
@Pontifex
March 4, 2022
Vol. 15, No. 8