Political Punch

Thank you, Julie!

I agree with you. I posed those questions because I think they are important in putting things in perspective.

A cousin, who is in her 80s and a retired supervising and teaching nurse in Kansas told the family one evening some time ago that they might change their minds on the abortion issue if they ever had to deal with a woman who had had a botched back alley abortion.

When I was in High School Religion class the time abortion came up was to discuss the possibility in the case of choosing to save either the mother or the fetus---the class was split.

The issue is too complex to be "solved" with sound bites.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Cardinal Stafford. Thank you for your Christ-like courage.

May the Mother of God protect us as we expose evil and beg people to turn away from the culture of DEATH.

Obama is the president for all the people, not just the catholics. Here in America we also have Mormons, Jews,Jehova Witnesses,Eckists,Budhists,Christians, Muslims, Pagans, Democrats, and Gays.

Wow, so is he going to with hold communion from all of the Catholic Soldiers that come back from Iraq?
Is he going to with hold communion from prison guards and officials who impose the death penalty?

Is he going to with hold communion from doctors that take patients off of life support due to being in a chronic vegetative state?

Is he going to with hold communion from doctors who perform research using embryonic stem cells?

This is a complex issue, I agree. But it's not as simple as Kathy's advice:
"The "it just happened" defense has never held any weight with me. On the whole, women know when they're going to have sex. Ladies, if you plan on having sex and you do not want to get pregnant use some form of birth control-Catholic or not."
Kathy-Sometimes people use birth control, and it doesn't work! Sometimes people use condoms, and they break!

George- I will answer some questions for you:
It seems to me that people who get in this discussion don't want to discuss these questions. They just want to pontificate.

How did a woman get an abortion before it was legalized? Or do you believe that abortions did not exist before Roe v. Wade?
Answer: Women either had illegal or self-induced abortions, and they sometimes died from infection, bled to death, and other atrocious complications. (Hence, Roe V Wade)

Why would a woman get an abortion? Answer: Contrary to the Pro-Life belief-Women are not excited or happy about getting abortions! Ususally, this is a very diffcult decision and most women that chose to do this feel that they have no other option. Topr reasons why a woman would chose to have an abortion if she 1. Became pregnant even though she used birth control 2. Was raped, or is in an abusive relationship 3. There is a health risk to the mother or child if carried to term

What can be done to reduce the number of abortions?
If schools (starting in 6th grade) had more informative sex-education courses that gave children & teens IN DEPTH information about sex, STDs, pregnancy, and child development, there would be less unwanted pregnancies. If sex-ed teachers were allowed to give out contraceptives, and referrals to Pl. Parenthod, there would be a lot less unwanted pregnancies.

What is so wrong about birth control that some religious forbid it? Does it have something to do with the belief that the only purpose for sex is to create another human being? YES
That seems to be the argument used against same sex relationships.

re: "American doctors have now murdered 20-30 million innocent children "

so why, ... if the Church is so concerned about preventable death.......aren't 'they' railing against the tobacco industry and the myriad of illness and death they produce ?

It seems to me that people who get in this discussion don't want to discuss these questions. They just want to pontificate.

How did a woman get an abortion before it was legalized? Or do you believe that abortions did not exist before Roe v. Wade?

Why would a woman get an abortion?

What can be done to reduce the number of abortions?

What is so wrong about birth control that some religious forbid it? Does it have something to do with the belief that the only purpose for sex is to create another human being? That seems to be the argument used against same sex relationships.

The "it just happened" defense has never held any weight with me. On the whole, women know when they're going to have sex. Ladies, if you plan on having sex and you do not want to get pregnant use some form of birth control-Catholic or not.

I am very happy that the Church is standing up for goodness, decency and common sense on this issue.

American doctors have now murdered 20-30 million innocent children in the name of convenience - children who deserved to live to become people with the "right to choose" how they would live their lives.

Comparatively, Germans killed 6 million under Hitler, and yet we condemn them without looking in the mirror at our own glaring crime.

Thank you Cardinal Stafford for your courage. Thank you for standing up to an increasingly blind mob - a mob that is growing more selfish, close-minded and dangerous.

Americans, please look into your own hearts. Some once believed that great evil could never happen in a civilized society like Germany. It did, and it can happen here in America. Killing is killing, no matter how others fool you into thinking otherwise. Please wake up before it's too late to turn around, and before we become the next Nazi Germany.

I agree w/Obama's view on abortion. BUT I agree with the Cardinal on the idea that Obama's "rhetorical skills....are very highly developed". Obama had some serious speech training, he can mesmerize a crowd, using hypnotic phrases. Just listen for SOMETHING that he really says in his speeches- other than "hope, change, yes we can, hope, change" there is no substance to his messaging.

BEWARE- OBAMA is a WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING.

As a Catholic, I really don't get statements like these.

I voted for Obama and it seems to me that he looks at the abortion issue from a pragmatic side. Roe v. Wade is not going to be overturned but at the same time he said we should do all we can to reduce the number of abortions.

I think this Cardinal's words are evil, but I'm glad the 1st Amendment protects his right to be the disingenuous fool that he is.

How would anyone pretend to know what's underneath "all that grace and charm"?

Obama carried the Catholic vote by 9%. The "Boys" must really feel threatened if they're engaging in this kind of over-the-top rhetoric already.

I have yet to understand, how anyone could be part of the roman catholic church,considering there most un-godly past. I mean from slavery to assisting Hitler in his slaughter of the Jews.

The accepted rape and molestation of innocent children by men of god they believed they could trust, and then upon finding out,those same men being sent to other church's instead of being turned over to be prosecuted by the law.

The blessing the church has given to warmongers like G.W.Bush.
so much death and chaos that the church has not spoken against.

Yet the black man becomes president, and all of the sudden the moral fiber of America is unraveling.The world is coming to an end. And the church has had enough,finally an issue worth speaking out against.

What hypocrites, makes me sick to my stomach.

I can except Obama going to the Church of Rev,Wright,because unlike most I bothered to do a little research about the man deemed the antichrist. And thru that I came to understand that his sermons over the last 20 years,weren't all filled with hate. I also understood why a man that served his country with honor could carry a certain disdain for a country that treated his people like animals.

I'm sure many Jews around the world, have the same disdain and disgust for Germany.

Secular and people of faith that believe that we need to more rigorously enforce the seperation of church and state should unite to keep these zealots out of politics and legislation. I was raised Catholic. Thank god I knew those priests were always full of it.

I am a Catholic but I don't care much about the political opinion of these wacko cardinals.

It took 400 years for the Pope to apologize for the Church's role in the slavery.

Where was this fool when thousands of innocent Irakis were being killed? Talk about double standard.

It would do my heart a great deal of good if various religious sects and leaders would stop trying to legislate from the pulpit. There a myriad of excellent reasons to maintain a high wall of separation between church and state, and this is a prime example.

Lynn: Just exactly what is a miscarriage? Some have called it a "natural" abortion. Just asking.

As horrific as Saddam Hussein was to his people, our initial reason for going in was WMDs. It was not to punish him for his misdeeds to his people.

You said Clinton didn't go into Africa in the 80s---Clinton wasn't president in the 80s. You also might recall that the Republicans were so opposed to President Clinton that they couldn't do anything but try to destroy his presidency by any means.

I still have to ask, when does this mass of cells become a living being. That is a matter of faith. Is it a living being when there is a miscarriage? Is it a living being only at the point of having the "breath of life?"

Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face says the Apostle Paul.

Roman Catholics and Evangelicals unite? Ha.

Thirty years ago any Catholic having been seen in another church was excommunicated. Catholics still believe Evangelicals are following a bastardized form of the true teachings. Not only that, but there's a good number that believe Evangelicals will go to hell.

hahahahaha, Cardinal. Abortions for everyone!! Party time!!!

I do believe the Catholic Church should lose its non-profit status if it involves itself in political matters. Separation of Church and State!