1. A Vanishing Word in Abortion Debate: ‘Women’, Progressive groups and medical organizations have adopted inclusive language, which has led to terms like “pregnant people” and “chestfeeding.”, By Michael Powell, The New York Times, June 9, 2022, Pg. A1 Driven by allies and activists for transgender people, medical, government and progressive organizations have adopted gender-neutral language that draws few distinctions between women and transgender men, as well as those who reject those identities altogether.  Today, “pregnant people” and “birthing people” have elbowed aside “pregnant women.”  Feminists such as Ms. Atkinson and the writer J.K. Rowling have been outspoken in stating that women have a right to their spaces — locker rooms, domestic abuse shelters, prisons — that are separate from men and transgender women. These and other pointed criticisms angered transgender activists and their allies, who denounced them as transphobes. Some object as well to the language of the abortion rights movement, which talks of a “war on women.” “It’s really difficult,” a transgender activist wrote, “to be present in a movement that is so incredibly cissexist.”  Last year the Biden administration put out budget documents that reflected the gendered discourse of progressives and referred to “birthing people.” Conservatives pounced. But this month, when word leaked of a potential Supreme Court turnabout, President Biden was unequivocal and practiced in his language choices. “I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental,” he said. “Basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/us/women-gender-aclu-abortion.html___________________________________________________________ 2. Targeting the Supreme Court, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been sitting on a bill to protect the Justices’ families., By The Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2022, Pg. A18, Editorial The arrest early Wednesday of an armed man outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home is a depressing sign of the fanatical times. Violence in the name of politics now threatens the judiciary, and Washington’s remaining adults have an obligation to act with dispatch to protect the Justices, their families and the Court as an institution.  According to the Washington Post, Mr. Roske told police he “was upset over the leaked draft of an opinion that would overturn the constitutional right to abortion” in Roe v. Wade. The man allegedly said he came to kill Justice Kavanaugh “thinking it would give his life purpose.” He has been charged with attempted murder. We warned after the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion that a fanatic could attempt a violent act against one of the Justices, and here we are. The draft opinion suggested there is a 5-4 Court majority to overturn Roe, and it’s all too easy to imagine some 21st-century John Brown thinking he could prevent the ruling by assassinating a Justice. Now comes a dangerously close call.  The Senate in early May unanimously passed a bill to enhance security for the Justices’ families, in line with what’s offered for high-ranking executive and legislative officers. Yet the Supreme Court Police Parity Act has been languishing in the House. https://www.wsj.com/articles/targeting-the-supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-nicholas-john-roske-ruth-sent-us-roe-v-wade-11654725919?___________________________________________________________ 3. Abortion, Guns and the ‘Throwaway Culture’, Democrats and Republicans reject policies that would fortify what St. John Paul II referred to as a ‘culture of life.’, By Timothy Dolan, The Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2022, Pg. A19, Opinion Like so many others, I am heartbroken by the senseless gun violence that has taken the lives of innocent victims in recent weeks. The loss is immeasurable. Americans of all political stripes are grieving and crying out to God to ask when our beloved nation will restore its respect for human life. Unfortunately, our political system appears to be broken, as Republicans and Democrats operate in silos and see more political benefit in intransigence than consensus. The result is that both parties reject policies that would fortify what St. John Paul II referred to as a culture of life and instead embrace what Pope Francis has called a throwaway culture that extends even to human beings. Among Republicans, we see it in the refusal to consider even widely popular proposals that would help to increase gun safety. Among Democrats, we see it in the frantic drive to expand abortion, even in states where it would be impossible to expand it further.  How will it be possible to sustain a culture of nonviolence and safety when one party continues to applaud and promote the killing of defenseless babies in the womb and the other practically deifies firearms and rejects even the most common-sense regulations on them? The prospects look bleak, but I’m in the business of hope. I ask New Yorkers of every faith to join me in prayer that our lawmakers will take seriously their responsibility to protect and defend human life. Cardinal Dolan is Archbishop of New York. https://www.wsj.com/articles/abortion-guns-and-the-throwaway-culture-cardinal-dolan-life-control-legislation-11654721312?___________________________________________________________ 4. Florida pro-life pregnancy center hit with ‘Jane’s revenge’ abortion vandalism, By Joe Bukuras, Catholic News Agency, June 8, 2022, 4:23 PM An archdiocesan pro-life pregnancy center in Hollywood, Florida, was defaced with pro-abortion graffiti over Memorial Day weekend. “If abortions aren’t safe then niether [sic] are you,” “Janes revenge,” and an anarchist symbol were written outside the South Broward Pregnancy Help Center, located about 45 minutes north of Miami. The center is one of three in the city that is run by the Archdiocese of Miami, according to a volunteer radiologist at the clinic, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie. Christie told CNA that the vandalism occurred between Saturday, May 28 and Monday, May 30. She added that no one was in the clinic during the time of the vandalism. Christi said that the graffiti has been painted over. No other damage was done to the clinic, she said. Christi shared with CNA a statement she received from Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski denouncing the vandalism. “Acts of vandalism like this defacing of our Respect Life ministry’s pregnancy assistance center is not just destructive of private property; it also expresses contempt for the beliefs, values and practices of a faith community and could easily escalate to physical harm to members of these faith communities,” the archbishop said in the statement. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251495/florida-pro-life-pregnancy-center-hit-with-janes-revenge-abortion-vandalism___________________________________________________________ 5. Archbishop Cordileone Shows Love for the Church, the Eucharist and the Soul of a Lost Sheep, Never to refuse anyone Holy Communion is the equivalent of the Blessed Mother’s never refusing to give the Baby Jesus to anyone, including Herod’s henchmen., By Father Roger Landry, National Catholic Register, June 8, 2022, Opinion On May 20, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco sent a letter to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a resident of the city, informing her that “you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.” The letter was the result of many years of unsuccessful pastoral effort by Archbishop Cordileone to persuade Speaker Pelosi of the error and immorality of her support for abortion. It was also the direct result of her refusal of various requests to discuss one-on-one her more recent push to codify the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in federal law, as well as her failure to respond to his April 7, 2022, letter warning her that unless she publicly repudiated her advocacy for abortion, or refrained from referring to her Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion, he would have to issue such a decree, consistent with Church law.  The integrity of the Eucharist is at stake when those who scandalously and intransigently persist in public grave sin, like support for abortion, continue to receive sacrilegiously. The visible communion of the Church, moreover, is fractured when those who consciously separate themselves from what St. Justin Martyr in the second century described as doctrinal, sacramental, moral communion nevertheless pretend that they’re in communion. And the salvation of souls is at stake when people live and die in a situation of unabsolved grave sin, rejecting communion with the truth of the faith about abortion and with the love of our littlest neighbors made in Christ’s image.  Those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin are, by Pope Francis’ terminology, “corrupt,” not weak. They are not beyond God’s mercy, but they first have to recognize that and why they need it. That’s what Archbishop Cordileone is trying to do with Speaker Pelosi. And in his care for the integrity of the sacrament, the communion of the Church, and Speaker Pelosi’s salvation, he deserves the Church’s prayers and full support. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/guarding-sacramental-integrity___________________________________________________________ 6. Catholic bishops’ commission: EU parliament resolution on US abortion law is ‘unacceptable interference’, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, June 8, 2022, 10:35 AM The Lieutenant of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Fra’ Marco Luzzago, has died, the order confirmed June 7. Fra’ Marco was the senior governing figure of the thousand-year-old religious order. An official communique from the order’s Grand Magistry in Rome announced the death of Fra’ Marco “with great sorrow” Tuesday morning. https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/head-of-order-of-malta-dies-unexpectedly?s=r__________________________________________________________ 7. Archbishop Cordileone ‘stood up for what’s right’ in actions toward Pelosi, Fresno bishop says, By Kevin J. Jones, Catholic News Agency, June 8, 2022, 6:01 PM Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco was right to ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to receive Holy Communion because of her abortion stand, Bishop Joseph V. Brennan of Fresno, California, has said. In a June 6 letter addressed to clergy, seminarians, and Catholic faithful of his central California diocese, Brennan cited the need to show true concern for Pelosi’s soul and for unborn children and the need to protect Holy Communion. At the same time, the bishop criticized what he suggested was “virtue signaling” on the part of some Catholic politicians who approach the Eucharist as an opportunity to demonstrate their “Catholic credentials” for “a kind of spiritual photo op.”  “He chose this course of action for her persistent stand in support of abortion and for her recent participation in an effort to codify into Federal law the right to take the life of an innocent, unborn child so as to enshrine that right in the law of the land,” Brennan said. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251496/fresno-bishop-supports-nancy-pelosi-communion-ban___________________________________________________________ 8. Police: New York pro-life health center damaged by arson, By Associated Press, June 8, 2022 Police are investigating a fire at a pro-life reproductive health center early Tuesday as arson. The fire was reported at about 3 a.m. and left the building temporarily unusable, CompassCare Chief Executive Jim Harden said. “Essentially, they firebombed the operation,” Harden said. “They broke the two main windows in the reception area and the nurse’s office and lit the fires.” The Amherst police news release announcing the investigation did not include a suspected motive. The FBI declined to comment on whether it was involved in the arson investigation. https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2022/06/police-new-york-pro-life-health-center-damaged-by-arson___________________________________________________________

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.
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