Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Virginia 

A Virginia judge this week ruled that embryos aren’t property in a lawsuit between two ex-spouses over their two IVF-produced embryos.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dontae Bugg dismissed Honeyhline Heidemann’s case against her ex-husband, Jason Heidemann, for access to embryos produced during their marriage.

In 2019, Honeyhline Heidemann, a breast cancer survivor, requested permission to use the embryos, but her ex-husband refused, and so she sued her former spouse.

In the bench trial, Heidemann testified that the embryos were her last chance to have another biological child due to her cancer treatment and that she would agree to her husband not being involved in raising the new children.

The husband is currently the primary custodian of the couple’s born daughter and maintained that he did not want to become a biological father again. He also referenced alleged poor parenting decisions made by his former wife.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Richard Gardiner, who is no longer assigned to the case, ruled in 2023 that human embryos could legally be considered property, citing a 19th-century state law saying that slaves could be considered “goods or chattels.”

But Bugg wrote in an opinion letter that because of the “unique nature of each human embryo,” an “equal division” could not be easily made and that one of the embryos was “better suited for viability than the other.”

Bugg also noted that the Virginia law was not intended to apply to human embryos and concluded that the human embryos “are not goods for chattels subject to partition” under state law.

He further expressed doubt over “reliance upon a version of [the state law] that predates passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” which outlawed slavery.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church. In the procedure, doctors fuse sperm and eggs to create human embryos and implant them in the mother’s womb.

To maximize efficiency, doctors create excess human embryos and routinely destroy undesired embryos.

Texas 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday announced the arrest of a midwife for operating an illegal abortion network in northwest Houston.

Paxton announced the arrest of Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, a midwife known as “Dr. Maria,” according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office.

The state charged Rojas with illegal performance of abortions, a second-degree felony, and practicing medicine without a license.

Paxton alleged that Rojas owned and operated multiple clinics with unlawfully employed unlicensed employees who were presenting themselves as licensed medical professionals. She also allegedly performed illegal abortions that violated the Texas Human Life Protection Act. 

Texas pro-life law protects unborn children from abortion when the fetal heartbeat can be detected — usually around six weeks of pregnancy. In a statement Paxton cited the state’s pro-life laws, proclaiming: “In Texas, life is sacred.”

“I will always do everything in my power to protect the unborn, defend our state’s pro-life laws, and work to ensure that unlicensed individuals endangering the lives of women by performing illegal abortions are fully prosecuted,” Paxton said. 

Texas officials under Paxton’s direction filed for a temporary restraining order to shut down the clinics under the names Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress, and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring.

Florida 

Attendees at a Florida Mass this week applauded Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his work against a proposed pro-abortion amendment last year. 

The governor was attending the 50th-annual Red Mass of the Holy Spirit at St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral in Tallahassee on Wednesday.

As Mass concluded, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski thanked DeSantis for advocating against a proposed amendment that would have enshrined a right to abortion in the Florida Constitution.

Referring to a breakfast event that had taken place earlier that day, Archbishop Wenski said to DeSantis: “Governor, your ears must have been ringing because we were talking a lot about you during the breakfast, and it was all in praise, especially for the good work that you did in stopping Amendment 4.” 

The governor was given sustained applause after Archbishop Wenski’s remarks. 

Amendment 4 fell short of the 60% approval requirement in November.

Participants of the widely-attended Red Mass include Catholics and non-Catholics and often include Florida legislators, judges, attorneys, state officials, and members of the executive branch such as DeSantis. 

The Red Mass dates back to a nearly-800-year-old tradition in France, where lawyers and judges would begin each term of court by attending a Mass together. At the Mass, priests and judges wore red to show their commitment to the Holy Spirit.

BONUS READ:
‘A Miracle’ and ‘an Answer to Prayer’

By Madalaine Elhabbal/CNA

As the Register reported: Planned Parenthood to Shutter Manhattan Facility: A Witness to Answered Prayers

The 26 Bleeker St. location will debut on the market for $39 million. This comes as PPGNY works to recover from the $31 million deficit it incurred from last year, as reported by the Gothamist on Wednesday. The move is currently pending state approval. 

“If you’ve spent time outside that Planned Parenthood, you know that they’re fulfilling our legacy,” Kathyrn Jean Lopez, a longtime pro-life advocate and senior fellow and editor at National Review, told CNA on Thursday. 

“So many Black and Hispanic girls go in there for abortions. It’s just devastating,” she said. “That particular Planned Parenthood, it’s [a] flagship. It’s no small thing that it’s closing.” 

Lopez described herself as having “spent way too much time outside that clinic.” Its closure, she said, “is definitely an answer to prayer and sacrifice, no question about it.” 

Lopez spent over a year and a half attending prayer vigils and doing sidewalk counseling outside of the Manhattan clinic almost every day, she said.

While she acknowledged the closure of the building as a milestone for the pro-life movement after decades of prayer, Lopez said the landscape of the abortion industry has shifted, with most abortions taking place “in the shadows” via abortion pills like mifepristone. 

The space for encounters between women experiencing crisis pregnancies and the pro-life movement are becoming less frequent, Lopez said. But, she added, “I actually think the challenge right now is an excellent one because it forces us in all human encounters to show what a dedication to the sanctity of human life looks like.” 

“Ultimately, that’s what the pro-life movement is about,” she said. “It’s not about debating abortion. It’s about showing people that we love them and their lives are eternally valuable. And they were loved into existence by the creator of the universe, every single one of us.”

The Sisters of Life told CNA on Thursday that “the announcement of the closing of the Planned Parenthood in Manhattan is an incredible answer to prayer.” 

The religious sisters in their statement thanked those who organized and participated in prayer vigils throughout the years, including the monthly Witness for Life — a Mass and rosary procession on first Saturdays that has taken place since 2008 — as well as efforts by the 40 Days for Life campaign of prayer and fasting, present in Manhattan since 2015. 

“It is through prayer that the culture of death will be transformed into a culture of life, and we rejoice to see the fruit of this constant and faithful prayer,” the sisters said. “We also recognize God’s providence, as the announcement was made on the solemnity of St. Joseph and within a week of the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s landmark encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life).” 

PPGNY, which recently shut down four clinics as it scales down operations across the state, has three remaining facilities in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.  

The abortion clinic, which has been around since the early 1990s, once bore the name of Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger. News of its closure comes just short of five years since the organization opted to remove her name from the facility over her “harmful connections to the eugenics movement.” 

Sanger had a history of speaking to racist and extremist organizations in support of birth control — including the Ku Klux Klan — which Planned Parenthood acknowledged in 2016. 

BONUS READ:

World Down Syndome Day

By Tyler Arnold/CNA

As Americans become more conscious of the importance of welcoming people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including those with Down syndrome, the Catholic Church in the United States is also working to accommodate Catholics who have such conditions.

Today, March 21, marks World Down Syndrome Day — a global awareness day recognized by the United Nations to advocate for the legal rights of people with Down syndrome and promote greater inclusion and less stigmatization of people with the genetic condition.

Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has a third chromosome 21, which normally occurs at the moment of conception. Although the condition affects each person differently, it typically causes intellectual disabilities, developmental delays, distinct physical characteristics, and increased risks of certain health problems.

About half a million Americans have Down syndrome. Although stigmatization of people with Down syndrome is still prevalent in society, there are growing opportunities within the Catholic Church to address their needs during faith formation and ensure proper access to Mass and the sacraments.

“No one can refuse the sacraments to people with disabilities,” Pope Francis said in 2021.

Catechetical Options

Charleen Katra, the executive director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD), told CNA that stigmatization of those with Down syndrome is “still an issue, even in good Catholic faith communities,” but highlighted the ongoing progress on inclusion within the Church.

Katra provides training and other resources for catechists on how to better accommodate the needs of people who have disabilities. She said special training on the subject is important for catechists “because the audience is a little more specialized.” 

She said a person may need instruction at “a slower pace” and “a more adaptive pace,” noting that people with learning disabilities often benefit from a “multisensory approach” that includes visuals or touch. 

In one example, she noted that putting one’s hands in a prayer posture could help a person visualize prayer if he or she is struggling to understand the concept simply through verbal instruction. Another example she noted is modeling clay into the form of a dove to help visualize the Holy Spirit when teaching about confirmation to provide a “more tangible, multisensory experience.”

“The more options we give, the more people we serve,” Katra said.

Katra noted that Loyola Press publishes a lot of material for catechists and parents designed to help them learn how to better instruct people who have intellectual disabilities.

One option available in some dioceses is Special Religious Development (SPRED), which are faith development programs designed specifically for people who have disabilities and struggle with other catechesis programs available. Although this is not the approach of most dioceses, Katra said it is “one of many positive models.”

Nancy Emanuel of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, helps run her diocese’s Special Religious Education (SPRED) program. The program includes about 150 children and adults who are broken into different age groups.

“SPRED is for people who don’t fit into more typical programs,” Emanuel said.

Emanuel told CNA the approach in Arlington also includes “a lot of multisensory learning.” This includes visual aids and crafts and trying to “make learning fun and adventurous” in an engaging way. 

In one example, she explained a 3D visual lesson on the Eucharist in which a picture of Christ is placed behind the host so when the students lift up the host, they see an image of Jesus. She said visuals like this help them understand the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist to ensure they are properly prepared for their first Communion.

Emanuel said one of the most important concepts to ensure that a person is ready for Communion is to comprehend the distinction between food, which is nourishment of the body, and the Eucharist, which is nourishment of the soul. 

“Then we know that they understand the concept,” Emanuel said.

Katra emphasized that when catechizing a person with an intellectual disability, it is important to recognize that every person has “different gifts and abilities.” She said it is important to not “do for someone anything they can do for themselves,” adding that it is necessary to “set them up to be an independent person and live as independently as possible, and yet support them as needed.”

“Let them do as much as they can for themselves before you assist,” Katra said.

Sensory-Friendly Masses

Apart from unique catechesis options, some parishes are also introducing sensory-friendly Mass options in which lights are dimmed, there is no organ music, and homilies are concise. Another component to these Masses is that the church will often provide objects, such as rosaries, that people can fidget with if it helps them maintain focus.

For people with Down syndrome or other intellectual disabilities, Katra told CNA the sensory Mass gives them “the ability to feel free to come out of a pew” if needed to help “regain focus or maybe calm down if someone’s getting anxious or agitated.”

Katra said these Masses “make parishes and churches more accessible for more worshippers” and referenced stories of people coming back to Mass thanks to these options.

Additionally, Katra said it is important that the Church “shows love, shows kindness, shows patience, [and] shows compassion” when accommodating the needs of people who have disabilities. 

She said people with Down syndrome “are pure love and they are pure joy, absolutely,” adding: “They are exceptional models for us in so many Christian traits and values.” 

This story was updated after posting.