1. Time to restore pro-life speech, Hill v. Colorado is anathema to our Constitution and must be overturned, By Roger Byron, The Washington Times, June 14, 2023, Pg. B3, Opinion
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For years now — a lot of years — the Supreme Court has relegated to second-class status, at best, the speech rights of those who oppose abortion. The court’s practice of jettisoning legal rules and doctrines to safeguard that infamous procedure has been so prevalent that Justice Scalia gave it a name: the “ad hoc nullification machine.”
The poster child for the machine’s distortion of basic free speech doctrine is Hill v. Colorado, which the court handed down in 2000.
At issue in Hill was a Colorado law that makes it a crime to be within 100 feet of the door of an abortion center and then get within 8 feet of another person to hand her a pamphlet that tells how she could get help. Or to offer her more information about the procedure she is considering. Or to tell her about abortion alternatives if she’d like to hear them.
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It is so bad that just last year, in its landmark decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court formally recognized that its abortion jurisprudence had “distorted” the First Amendment and used Hill as its prime example.
The First Liberty Institute has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn Hill and have this Colorado law and a similar Denver ordinance struck down as unconstitutional.
We filed the suit on behalf of Wendy Faustin, a mother of eight and now a grandmother, who firmly believes that abortion is a terrible moral wrong. She has spent many years of her life compassionately and lovingly trying to persuade women to choose an alternative to abortion.
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For the sake of a fundamental civil right and a foundational building block of a free society, Hill should be overturned. And with it, the unjust laws it allows and the distortion of the First Amendment it perpetuates.
Roger Byron is senior counsel for the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all Americans. Read more at FirstLiberty.org.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/13/overturning-hill-v-colorado-time-to-restore-pro-li/
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2. Vatican, Dean of College of Cardinals say Pope to exit hospital soon, By Elise Ann Allen, Crux, June 14, 2023
After undergoing an abdominal surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital last week, Pope Francis continues to recover well, according to Vatican officials, and is expected to be discharged by the end of the week.
In a June 14 statement, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni reported that the pontiff “rested well during the night” and that according to the pope’s medical team, “his post-operatory course is proceeding normally, without complications, and therefore his discharge is being planned in the coming days.”
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https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2023/06/vatican-dean-of-college-of-cardinals-say-pope-to-exit-hospital-soon
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3. LA archdiocese urges prayer, not rally, amid Dodgers controversy, By The Pillar, June 13, 2023, 7:24 PM
While the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is encouraging Catholics to pray in reparation as the Los Angeles Dodgers honor an anti-Catholic group, the archdiocese has clarified that it is not involved with an LA prayer rally set to be headlined by Texas’ Bishop Joseph Strickland, and organized by a coalition of conservative Catholic organizations.
Archbishop Jose Gomez joined in a June 12 call from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for Catholics to make prayers of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 16, which is both the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the day that the Los Angeles Dodgers will honor the so-called Sister of Perpetual Indulgence, an LGBT activist group specializing in Catholic-themed drag acts.
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But as the archdiocese and USCCB call for prayer in response to the Dodgers controversy, the archdiocese has also told Catholics that it has not given “backing or approval” to a prayer rally organized by conservative groups, some of which have a controversial place in the American Catholic landscape.
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The June 9 memo came in response to an announcement from “Catholics for Catholics,” an Arizona group which said in early June that along with several other organizations of conservative Catholics, it would organize a June 16 Eucharistic procession, in reparation for the Dodgers’ honoring of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
The event was announced to be led by Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, and according to LifeSiteNews, was originally scheduled to begin outside Los Angeles’ Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels — but has since been moved to a parking lot near Dodgers’ Stadium.
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Strickland drew attention last month when he tweeted that while he accepts the legitimacy of Pope Francis’ papacy, “I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith” — a statement that did not draw support from other bishops.
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While Catholics for Catholics is apparently the principal organizer of the June 16 rally, several other conservative organizations of Catholics are listed sponsors of the event, including LifeSiteNews, America Needs Fatima, and CatholicVote.
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https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/la-archdiocese-urges-prayer-not-rally
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4. New York attorney general sues pro-life group, By Tyler Arnold, Catholic News Agency, June 13, 2023, 4:06 PM
Pro-life activists are accusing New York Attorney General Letitia James of intimidation and suppressing free speech after the attorney general sued a pro-life group and asked the court to bar members from going within 30 feet of an abortion clinic.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York on June 8, targets the activist group Red Rose Rescue. The group’s members sometimes enter abortion clinics to discourage women from obtaining an abortion and provide them with resources that could help them through their pregnancy.
James is asking the court to ban any member, including five who are named as defendants, from coming within 30 feet of any abortion clinic or reproductive health care facility in New York.
The five defendants named are Father Fidelis Moscinski, Matthew Connolly, William Goodman, Laura Gies, and John Hinshaw. The lawsuit also lists “John Does” and “Jane Does” who are members of Red Rose Rescue or act in concert with the named individuals or who will engage in the conduct listed in the complaint, but whose names are not known to the attorney general’s office.
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254564/new-york-attorney-general-sues-pro-life-group
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5. Meet the ‘Shreveport Martyrs’ – the five potential saints on the USCCB agenda this week, By Michelle La Rosa, The Pillar, June 12, 2023, 6:15 PM
At their plenary assembly this week, the U.S. bishops will hold a consultative vote on whether to advance the beatification cause of five priests who died during the 1873 Yellow Fever epidemic in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The five priests died in a three-week span while ministering to the sick and dying in what would become one of the worst Yellow Fever outbreaks in U.S. history.
In December 2020, the beatification cause was opened for Servants of God Isidore Quémerais, Jean Pierre, Jean Marie Biler, Louis Gergaud, and François LeVézouë. Their cause is the first from northern Louisiana.
Their causes fall under the “offering of life” category introduced by Pope Francis in 2017 as a path to canonization.
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https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/meet-the-shreveport-martyrs-the-five
__________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association. |
