Birthday Blessings

Reading Matthew McDonald’s article regarding “‘Black Market’ Abortion Pills From Mexico Streaming Into US” (Nation, Oct. 20 issue) brought to mind the best thing that ever happened to me in my 18 years as a regional high-school hall monitor. One day, a senior student approached me with a question. She confided that she was four months pregnant and caught in a quandary between her parents, who wanted her to deliver the baby, and her friends, who were pushing her toward an abortion.

I inquired about the father, and she tearfully stated that he left her and that was what made the choice so difficult. I advised the young lady to never think about an abortion because it would be something that haunted her for the rest of her life. I told her that she could always place the child up for adoption.

Approximately 10 months later, her friend visited the school while I was working the front desk. I inquired about her friend’s situation. She said that the father returned to her, they got married, and she delivered a healthy baby boy.

When I asked her if she knew when the baby was born, she said, “Yes, May 2.” I was stunned to learn the abortion I may have helped to prevent instead resulted in the birth of a new life on my birthday! God certainly works in mysterious ways!

 Bill Domenico

 Hammonton, New Jersey

 

Time to Step Up

Relevant to coverage of the Pope urging “people to pray for missionaries on World Mission Sunday” (“Pope Francis Canonizes 14 New Saints, Including Martyrs From Syria,” NCRegister.com, Oct. 20):

On Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, the Catholic Church celebrated World Mission Sunday on the theme, “Go and invite everyone to the banquet,” and this is an occasion for everyone to participate in building a just world, which will help and encourage everyone to be involved in building a world that will help common people live and helping those people who need our love, need, care and concern.

Inviting to the banquet will also mean involving ourselves in the social and pastoral associations in our parishes and in dioceses. World Mission Sunday prompts us to invite the unorganized and helpless people who are ignored by society. 

We need to use our talents in helping and strengthening those people who lack support and concern. We have to invite every person who is ignored by the society, mainly the poor, uneducated and unemployed people and people who are victims of different types of addictions.

 Cajetan Peter D’Souza

 Maharashtra, India

 

Act Like Christ

Regarding “Report: Catholic Hospitals Provided for Minors’ ‘Transitions,’” (Front page, Oct. 20 issue), too many U.S. bishops too often act like sheep instead of shepherds. 

According to EWTN News, data gathered from Do No Harm in the period of 2009-2023 disclosed that 150 Catholic hospitals in 40 states either partially or completely provided sex-transition “therapy” and/or surgery to 152 minors. The Catholic Health Association audaciously defended these acts and criticized Do No Harm.

The bishops condemned this practice in 2023. Why so late? EWTN News twice asked the bishops how they would respond and no answer was offered by publication. [Editor’s Note: In the Register’s Nov. 3 issue, “Bishop Urges Response to Transgender Care Report,” Bishop Thomas Daly of the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, called for a special meeting of the country’s bishops to address what he sees as a major breach of Catholic medical ethics. Several bishops contacted by the Register expressed disgust with reports that Catholic hospitals have provided such services. “The surgical mutilation and chemical castration of young kids under the rubric of ‘gender-affirming care’ is a moral outrage. That any of it takes place within the confines of a Catholic hospital is appalling,” said Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota. In Montana, a spokesman for Bishop Austin Vetter of Helena said this bishop’s message about Catholic moral teachings is clear. “The Catholic Church and Bishop Vetter have been clear in communicating that such treatments are contrary to the infinite dignity of each person as created in the image and likeness of God,” the spokesman told the Register by email.]

Too often too many bishops are too silent. Numerous acts of shocking heresy have been reported over the years at the University of Notre Dame without consequences. Pro-abortion Catholic politicians are often allowed to receive Holy Communion unchallenged. Some questionable issues arising from recent synods have also gone unaddressed by USCCB bishops, and so on.

 Douglas Wrenn

 Vero Beach, Florida 

Abortion’s Magnitude

When listening to “pro-choice” Catholics, it is obvious that they don’t realize the size of the abortion problem. They believe it is rarely performed and, even then, it is morally acceptable to abort a few babies.

Why?

• They can’t see it. 
• They don’t think about it. 
• Some don’t understand it to be wrong.
• Jesus used parables to paint pictures.

The number of abortions in the United States since Roe v. Wade until 2019 was reported to be (63,459,781) — almost 64 million.

• The 2020 census shows the United States had 61,900,000 (61.9 million) Catholics. The U.S. had more abortions than the total number of Catholics. 
•  According to most data, the average cruise ship carries around 3,000 passengers. Our U.S. aborted babies could fill more than 21,000 cruise ships.
• Most people have no idea what 64.9 million looks like. Please consider giving graphic examples to help those you speak to about eliminating abortion so the abortions don’t go on and on and on!
• Choose subjects of interest.
• Compare the numbers.
• Create the memory.
• People respond to their memories. 
• Make it too real to ignore.

 Pat Reilly

 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

 

Saving Little Lives

In 1973, women celebrated the Roe v. Wade decision for the freedom they believed it would bring. In 2022, the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, returning regulations of abortion back to the states. Although feminists raged, their rhetoric has not changed nor has their care for women in stressful pregnancies. 

Pro-life centers have. Pro-life centers across the country offer women a chance to not only save their babies but change the circumstances that drive them to seek an abortion. Joan Fasanella of Life Choices in New Jersey calls it “listening and problem-solving.” 

In 25 years, they have gone from one center to four centers and five programs, including a home with 14 beds, daycare, counseling for jobs, student loans, furniture, baby supplies and long-term assistance; 96% of the women they see who call, determined to have an abortion, choose life instead. 

Few women choose abortion casually. Most are in distressed situations and feel they have no other choice. Joblessness, homelessness and a lack of a support system are just some of the reasons that push women to seek abortions. Many are being coerced by the baby’s father or family members. Some come from incestuous or abusive situations. 

Life Choices is just one of hundreds of centers across the country offering women the chance to not only keep their babies but remove the difficulties that caused them to seek abortion in the first place. Most follow women for two to three years after the baby is born. 

America is the greatest land in the world. We have abundantly opened our arms to refugees and pilgrims from all over the world, yet the best we can offer a woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy is the right to kill her child.  

 Phyllis Deroian

 Morrisville, Pennsylvania 

Responsible Immigration

Regarding Peter Laffin’s article “The Morality, Economics and Politics of Mass Deportation” (Nation, Nov. 17 edition): We all know that America is a welcoming, God-fearing nation that is governed by laws and regulations that are designed for the common good. Some view the current situation that requires the deportation of millions of migrants, those who entered the country illegally, as “morally problematic.” However, if the 9/11 attack on America had occurred yesterday, instead of 23 years ago, how many foreigners from several countries would have been allowed to freely cross the southern border? My gut tells me zero! Those in government who opposed legal migration into our sovereign country have short memories. It is not a crime for a nation to insist upon a legal and orderly immigration process. However, it is a crime for a nation to ignore its responsibility to safeguard its citizens.

Bill Domenico

Hammonton, New Jersey

Welcoming the Stranger

Related to coverage of immigration: The Catholic Church will continue to serve immigrants and migrants “as if we were ministering to Christ himself,” Archbishop William Lori stated on Nov. 13.

The archbishop pointed that out during the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. According to Archbishop Lori, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, had already touched on the issues of immigration in his Nov. 12 session, and a more thorough discussion was scheduled for later in the agenda. “They are people,” said Archbishop Lori, describing how the Church in the Baltimore Archdiocese should help migrants and immigrants. “They are individuals with human dignity and immortal souls. As if we were ministering to Christ himself, the Church must be free to serve people in need of the necessities of life since they are loved in God’s eyes. And we’re going to do it.” 

Habtamu Abrdew Beture

Parkville, Maryland

Not Demeaning

Regarding “IVF Demeans the Lives It Creates” (In Depth, Oct. 20 edition):

Has the author of this piece met any of the children whose lives she claims to have been demeaned? Or the parents whose love has deepened because of the miracle of birth made possible by IVF?

The author stands behind a rigid belief “that IVF involves the killing of many humans for the sake of those who are brought to birth.” She is wrong.

The simple union of an egg and a sperm creates a zygote, not a human person. It is true that egg-sperm zygotes are human, because their source is two humans. However, only a small fraction of zygotes ever attach, so that development can occur. Most are sloughed through normal bodily reactions.

There is no clear moment when a zygote becomes a person, because “person” is a philosophical concept. A zygote is a single cell formed after fertilization of an egg cell by sperm. A zygote contains the entire DNA of the baby — this is human, no question. An embryo develops from the zygote and undergoes meiosis and mitosis. Becoming an embryo and attaching and forming a fetus is evidence that there is a new individual that is “on the path.” This continuum of life may last 15, 50, 85, 95 years or more, often extended by medical intervention.

Writing that IVF clinics “hook their clients with the promise of children,” or that IVF “involves the killing of many humans for the sake of those who are brought to birth” is cruel and unfair to the child and to many childless couples who rightly seek the joy of parenthood and full realization of the goods of marriage.

Consider the situation where a wife suffers from endometriosis. Throughout their efforts to conceive, zygotes were formed but never attached. The couple moves to the next cycle and with medical assistance and technology, the couple conceives. Has this couple been “duped by the fertility industry (as the author calls it)?” The answer is self-evident. Abuses within the “fertility industry” need to be identified and stopped. However, the ethical practice of IVF is not demeaning, it is life-giving.

Raymond Weaver of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and David Weaver of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, would concur.

Walter Weaver

Washington, Pennsylvania

The editor responds: There’s no doubt about it: Infertility is a deeply heart-wrenching challenge. However, it is incorrect to say that a zygote is not a unique human being. The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at the moment of conception, whether through the physical union of a man and a woman or in a clinic. Each life, from its earliest stage, is unconditionally loved by God. The Church also teaches that in vitro fertilization separates the marital act from procreation, which is why it cannot condone IVF. As the U.S. bishops highlight in their document on IVF, there is a sobering human cost often overlooked or rationalized away: More than 1.5 million human embryos are frozen in labs or have been destroyed as a result of failed IVF treatments. The Church encourages alternatives such as NaProTechnology or adoption, which align with its teachings on human dignity and the sanctity of life. These methods affirm the intrinsic value of every human person and safeguard the sacred connection between marriage and procreation.