Council 112 Respect Life Report February 2007

Tony Marino is an Air Force veteran who later received a degree in English Literature at Long Island University. For more than 30 years, he was an insurance agent for Aetna before eventually becoming a private insurance consultant. Since his retirement in 2003, he has devoted himself to the service of St. Peter's Parish in Concord and the Right to Life movement in New Hampshire. Tony has been married to his wife, Annette for more than 40 years. They have ten children and 22 grandchildren.

Consequences! Previously, I wrote that whatever we do or fail to do carries with it a consequence. The consequence of those whom we elected this past November is now openly visible. We have a pro-abortion governor and a pro-abortion legislature. This combination of legislative authority has removed the only statute which minimally provided some limitation on abortion, parental notification. Now that the statute on parental notification is abrogated, New Hampshire has essentially achieved abortion primacy among all states in the United States, because it is now a state without abortion restriction. In New Hampshire, you do not have to be a licensed physician to perform an abortion; abortion clinics are not subject to any regulation; there is no requirement for informed consent; there is no protection for doctors or nurses with regard to conscience; there are no restrictions on destructive embryonic research or cloning; there is no legal protection for healthcare providers who refuse to participate in human cloning, destructive embryonic research, or other forms of immoral medical research. An abortion can be performed in New Hampshire from the date of conception to the date of birth, and there is evidence that crimes of rape and incest go unreported. The pro-abortion legislature in the House has elected a Speaker who is seen by some as a dedicated servant of the pro-abortion organization, NARAL. The result is that it will be virtually impossible to pass any legislation that could change the Culture of Death as presently established in New Hampshire. The Culture of Death is alive and well in New Hampshire.

To those Catholics who voted for pro abortion candidates because they believed that there were other issues in the election that were as important, I pose the following: let us assume that abortion was not the issue but that your candidate, i.e. the candidate with whom you shared “other issues,” believed in, supported and advanced the cause of slavery. Would you put the slavery issue aside and still vote for that candidate because you shared “other issues." I don’t believe you would. I believe most persons are so horrified by the issue of slavery that any candidate openly supporting that evil would be rejected out of hand.
Compare slavery and abortion. Slavery is the destruction of the human person resulting from condition and treatment. Abortion is the destruction of the human person by chemical or surgical termination. Slavery and abortion are both evil, and yet support for abortion is seen as acceptable in a candidate when measured with “other issues." Slavery as a condition is historically notorious. As a result, the slave and the human condition of slavery is a known evil and we are horrified by it. Abortion, on the other hand, remains purposely clouded and camouflaged by the abortionist and the politics of abortion. Abortions take place in locations generally unseen by the populace, and the human tragedy - the death of a child - through years of pro-abortion conditioning, remains unseen and in some cases unknown.

As Catholics, we have guidance: the teachings of our Church as found in the Catechism, and the guidance of the Holy Father and Bishops. The Church teaches us that abortion is an intrinsic evil, an evil that is wrong under any circumstance. When we ignore the teaching of the Church, when we support those who support and advance an intrinsic evil, we place ourselves in circumstances where we will reap the evil consequences of our acts and our failure to act. To avoid the promotion of evil, and the evil consequences that surely follow, we need, as Cardinal Ratzinger once stated, “To have a clear faith, according to the creed of the Church," When we approach our civic duties, we must do so clothed in the armor of our Faith. Let us all examine our conscience and make sure that our civic duties are exercised consistent with our faith.

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RETURN TO RESPECT LIFE PAGE AWARDS AND HONORS BIRTHDAYS CHURCH PROGRAMS COMMUNITY PROGRAMS COUNCIL NEWS FAMILY PROGRAMS FIRST DEGREE TEAM GOOD OF THE ORDER INSURANCE KNIGHT OF THE MONTH LINKS OUR GRAND KNIGHT PHOTOS VIDEO OF THE MONTH YOUTH PROGRAMS CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO VISIT OUR FATHER McGIVNEY SITE	Tony Marino is an Air Force veteran who later received a degree in English Literature at Long Island University. For more than 30 years, he was an insurance agent for Aetna before eventually becoming a private insurance consultant. Since his retirement in 2003, he has devoted himself to the service of St. Peter's Parish in Concord and the Right to Life movement in New Hampshire. Tony has been married to his wife, Annette for more than 40 years. They have ten children and 22 grandchildren. Council 112 Respect Life Report August 2007 CONSEQUENCES Consequences! Previously, I wrote that whatever we do or fail to do carries with it a consequence. The consequence of those whom we elected this past November is now openly visible. We have a pro-abortion governor and a pro-abortion legislature. This combination of legislative authority has removed the only statute which minimally provided some limitation on abortion, parental notification. Now that the statute on parental notification is abrogated, New Hampshire has essentially achieved abortion primacy among all states in the United States, because it is now a state without abortion restriction. In New Hampshire, you do not have to be a licensed physician to perform an abortion; abortion clinics are not subject to any regulation; there is no requirement for informed consent; there is no protection for doctors or nurses with regard to conscience; there are no restrictions on destructive embryonic research or cloning; there is no legal protection for healthcare providers who refuse to participate in human cloning, destructive embryonic research, or other forms of immoral medical research. An abortion can be performed in New Hampshire from the date of conception to the date of birth, and there is evidence that crimes of rape and incest go unreported. The pro-abortion legislature in the House has elected a Speaker who is seen by some as a dedicated servant of the pro-abortion organization, NARAL. The result is that it will be virtually impossible to pass any legislation that could change the Culture of Death as presently established in New Hampshire. The Culture of Death is alive and well in New Hampshire. To those Catholics who voted for pro abortion candidates because they believed that there were other issues in the election that were as important, I pose the following: let us assume that abortion was not the issue but that your candidate, i.e. the candidate with whom you shared “other issues,” believed in, supported and advanced the cause of slavery. Would you put the slavery issue aside and still vote for that candidate because you shared “other issues." I don’t believe you would. I believe most persons are so horrified by the issue of slavery that any candidate openly supporting that evil would be rejected out of hand. Compare slavery and abortion. Slavery is the destruction of the human person resulting from condition and treatment. Abortion is the destruction of the human person by chemical or surgical termination. Slavery and abortion are both evil, and yet support for abortion is seen as acceptable in a candidate when measured with “other issues." Slavery as a condition is historically notorious. As a result, the slave and the human condition of slavery is a known evil and we are horrified by it. Abortion, on the other hand, remains purposely clouded and camouflaged by the abortionist and the politics of abortion. Abortions take place in locations generally unseen by the populace, and the human tragedy - the death of a child - through years of pro-abortion conditioning, remains unseen and in some cases unknown. As Catholics, we have guidance: the teachings of our Church as found in the Catechism, and the guidance of the Holy Father and Bishops. The Church teaches us that abortion is an intrinsic evil, an evil that is wrong under any circumstance. When we ignore the teaching of the Church, when we support those who support and advance an intrinsic evil, we place ourselves in circumstances where we will reap the evil consequences of our acts and our failure to act. To avoid the promotion of evil, and the evil consequences that surely follow, we need, as Cardinal Ratzinger once stated, “To have a clear faith, according to the creed of the Church," When we approach our civic duties, we must do so clothed in the armor of our Faith. Let us all examine our conscience and make sure that our civic duties are exercised consistent with our faith. Next article --->
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