In This Issue

Dear Friends, First and foremost we have to thank the Lord and many good men and women in Hungary for their New Constitution, which was ratified just after Easter 2011. This constitution reasserts the right to Life from conception. This is grounded on the fundamental affirmation of the Christian roots of Hungary. We can also report good news from other Central European countries like Slovakia, Lithuania and Croatia, which could follow this excellent example soon. In Poland abortion is highly restricted by law, but now there is mounting political pressure to abolish entirely the killing of babies in the womb of their mothers through a draft law that has already been favorably voted on once in the lower house of the Parliament. Just before leaving Italy, I was briefed on this very valuable initiative by Alicja Babkiewics, who works with the Polish Federation of the Pro-Life Movement when I met her at the Summer Symposium of the Roman Forum at Gardone in the north of Italy. We can see the activities of our different affiliates worldwide in their constant defense of life and family. We can mention some examples. Our affiliate in El Salvador is actively promoting a constitutional amendment that will define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Our Polish affiliate has launched a website to collect signatures to promote the recognition of conscious objection of pharmacists against the selling of contraceptive and abortifacients. But the most important battle is being waged in The Philippines, where our affiliates are opposing with all their energies the so called Reproductive Health Bill. This bill would legalize and make universal: Comprehensive Sex Education, Contraception, Abortion through the bad faith procedure of promoting the so called reproductive health; lastly, this country will move towards becoming a coercive secular state, punishing with jail sentences those who oppose this bill. So here we see a typical case of the totalitarian tendencies of contemporary democracy that were denounced with prophetic vigor by the Blessed John Paul II. Last year we established HLI America as a Catholic educational apostolate dedicated to the home front with the objective of promoting the true dignity of the person, defending authentic human rights, and fostering the good of marriage and family. In this issue, we present an update of the activities by the new National Director of HLI America, Arland K. Nichols. The good news we are receiving from Europe and the heroic labors of all our affiliates worldwide are sign of hope that with the Lords assistance the anti-life tide that has been surging all over the planet will be turned around. To continue this struggle, we need your generous help, first and foremost your prayers as members of the mystical body of Christ, and second, your financial assistance. Sincerely in Christ,

Msgr. Ignacio BarreiroCarmbula, S.T.D, Interim President

Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro-Carmbula Interim President

CONTENTS
3 News from the Missions 6 HLI America 7 HLI WorldWatch 8 Development News & Progress 10 The New Hungarian Constitution 12 THE RH BILL: Lethal Injection into the Soul of the Philippines 14 Tell Veteran Pro-Life Leaders Thanks! 15 A Tribute to Joe Scheidler

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HLI has 72 affiliates and 39 associates in 87 countries

NEWS FROM THE MISSIONS

Region: English-Speaking Africa
HLI Coordinator: Emil Hagamu
SOuTH AFRIcA - HLI led the 55th monthly Prayer Vigil at Marie Stopes abortion mill in Cape Town City Center, South Africa. Archbishop Stephen Brislin (pictured on this page) celebrated holy Mass for the event and led the vigil procession to the abortuary. Raymond de Souza traveled to South Africa and visited 3 Archdioceses: Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. He gave numerous presentations to various parishes, youth groups and radio stations. In each Archdiocese, he was well received by the local Church hierarchy. In Pretoria, he met with the Director of the Evangelization Office for the South African Bishops Conference who had heard Raymonds address to some young adults and would like to arrange to have Raymond put on the agenda for the semi-annual meeting of the South African Bishops Conference in January 2012. Raymond has also worked out a permanent follow up with three youth groups to hold a Skype chat once a month on pro-life topics. Starting in June, he will be speaking to young adults in 3 South African cities simultaneously: Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria via Skype. KENyA February 25- 27, Father Wanjohi hosted his 11th annual Universities and Colleges Pro-Life Conference. The 3-Day training was comprised of 5 sessions with the over-all theme of Living the Gospel of Life that was delivered by a team of facilitators drawn from different areas of professional expertise. This years event was particularly important due to last years passing of the national referendum, which was a great loss to the pro-life movement. More than ever, there is a big need to work

The following are brief glimpses of the work being done by our affiliates and associates around the world.
towards establishing the pro-life movement all over the country. Attendees were given a comprehensive understanding about the aggressive and catastrophic agenda of the international population controllers, including their specific activities over the years in Kenya, and whose imperialism was so recently obvious in their country. Other topics covered included Natural Family Planning, as well as the concrete mission and specific outreaches of HLI Kenya. Father Wanjohi was the facilitator and presented a talk, among others, that emphasized the importance of prayer as the key factor in the pro-life apostolate in Kenya. And as usual, Father has been able to maintain his very busy schedule training catechists; training and commissioning pro-life university students; providing live broadcasts for Radio Maria; giving a seminar for 240 seminarians and faculty at Christ the King Major Seminary; and providing pastoral counseling for many.

Emil Hagamu, HLIs Regional Coordinator for English-Speaking Africa

Archbishop Stephen Brislin, leading the vigil procession to the abortuary.

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News from the Missions Region: Latin America

HLI Coordinator: Mario Rojas
El SAlvAdOR Julia Regina de Cardenal, President of HLIs Foundation Yes to Life wrote a column for the local major newspaper The Journal Today (El Diario de Hoy), which was entitled Letter to Congressman Sigfrido Reyes, the new President of the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador, where she denounced that he and the political party to which he belongs have not carried out their promise to support a constitutional amendment that will define marriage as between one man and one woman. This amendment was the fruit of much labor and difficulty on HLIs part for several years. Julia made reference to the legislative meetings where HLI El Salvador had been present for this matter. She asked that as he begins his presidency in the Legislative Assembly, he will make a sincere effort to move forward this legislative bill. HlI PERu participated with other Catholic organizations in a Rosary for Peace, which was recited in front of the Cathedral of Lima near the location where militant homosexuals and lesbians staged a Kiss-in Against Homophobia. HLI Peru member Nancy Freundt was interviewed by Catholic News Agency for an article titled Catholics Defend Cathedral of Lima Against Gay Provocation with Prayer that was then published. The following paragraph appeared in the article: Nancy Freundt of the Center for the Promotion of Natural Family Planning said that in Peru homosexuals are not persecuted, but they do provoke and challenge us because they want to do away with every moral principle, and for them the Catholic Church represents everything they want to tear down. The Catholic Church isnt a pile of bricks. The Church is all of us Catholics who live and profess our faith, Freundt said.

Region: Asia
HLI Coordinator: Ligaya Acosta
HlI PIlIPINAS As the Philippines fights for its life against increasing encroachment from the death promoters, Dr. Rene Bullecer continues his arduous campaign for life, particularly against the so-called Reproductive Health Bill that has been under intense discussion. Here is a sampling of his activities: Large scale educational forums exposing the terrible evils that the RH Bill threatens; numerous radio and TV interviews; a 3-day Students Forum on Life; a leaders meeting and press conference that gathered key prolife lay leaders for strategizing; a March for Life in Cebu, where 15,000 youth, students and lay people converged for prayers and a rally that demonstrated their support for life; a March for Life in Manila where 50,000 people from 6 dioceses and archdioceses filled a football field for a 6-hour prayer rally; numerous pro-life youth congresses; an Educators Forum to educate the teachers; a March for Life in the Archdiocese of Jaro where 20,000 Catholic faithful from 90 parishes demonstrated their NO TO THE RH BILL. This is just a small sampling of the packed schedule that Dr. Bullecer has been maintaining.

Mario Rojas, HLIs Regional Coordinator for Latin America

Ligaya Acosta, HLIs Regional Coordinator for Asia

Dr. Rene Bullecer continues his arduous campaign for life, particularly against the so-called Reproductive Health Bill.

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News from the Missions Region: Europe

HLI Coordinator: Joannes Bucher
IRElANd Patrick McCrystal continues his campaign for special prayer and action in the face of looming threats in Ireland. They continue to rally the people in a large scale rosary drive, distributing 8,000 rosary calendars and 40,000 Holy Face booklets throughout the country. Patrick also continues to give talks through Ireland. As a pharmacist, he speaks authoritatively about the pill a drug which destroys human life and the use of which is an insult to God. He sent a press release to all 500 media outlets in the country on this medical abortifacient, and he continues to be featured in national and international media like EWTN. POlANd Lech and Ewa Kowalewski have launched a website to collect signatures for a petition that would recognize the right of pharmacists to a conscientious objection clause so they can refuse sale and/or promotion of contraceptives and abortifacients. An enormous campaign is underway and being picked up by the media. Currently, the petition has more than 6,500 signatures. On March 19-25, Ewa made a 10-day missionary trip to Kazakhstan for the National Week of the Sanctity of Life. She provided lectures in parishes, schools, and universities in many cities. Teaming up with HLI Russia-Moscows Galina Maslennikova, she helped complete a successful year of training programs for pro-life leaders in Kazakhstan. SIbERIA Marina Krylova reports that due to the individual counseling that they provide, 6 mothers have rejected abortion and chosen to give life to their children. Assistance continues after the babies are born, and help has recently been given to the mothers who have opted for life and to families with small children who need food. Regular seminars are also offered for the mothers who receive material support. The women are taught about relationships within families and mother-and-child bonding. This affiliate also offers regular meetings with single mothers who are living in a shelter for homeless women with babies. SlOvAKIA During the days preceding and including the Feast of the Incarnation, this affiliate sponsored its biggest yearly campaign, which cul-

minated on March 25: Day of the Conceived Child. The campaign included a nationwide coordination with pro-life and non-governmental organizations for the promotion of respect for the life of every conceived child. Through a variety of initiatives, they raised their voices loudly and publicly, they disseminated information in favor of the protection of all human life, all in the hopes of promoting healthy attitudes, especially among the young and their parents, about such critical issues. This years events mark the 11th annual celebration of this important campaign, whose motto in 2011 was Life is beautiful. Protect it from conception.

Region: French-Speaking Africa

HLI Coordinator: George Wirnkar
NIgERIA Charles Nnagboh, HLIs affiliate leader in Nigeria, embarked on a massive civic education and sensitization campaign to help voters understand pro-life issues and the position of the candidates relating to life. This took Charles to many cities and villages, where he addressed various audiences that included religious groups, traders and market women, youths and students. As a praiseworthy support for life, Charles made a gift to the Orphanage and Crisis Pregnancy Center of the Missionaries of Charity located at Zik Avenue, Onitsha, Anambra State.

Joannes Bucher, HLIs Regional Coordinator for Europe

George Wirnkar, HLIs Regional Coordinator for French-Speaking Africa

Charles Nnagboh, HLIs affiliate leader in Nigeria, with Missionaries of Charity.

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Arland K. Nichols National Director, HLI America

HLI America
HLI AMERICA is a Catholic educational apostolate to the United States, which is dedicated to promoting the true dignity of the person, to defending authentic human rights, and to fostering the good of marriage and the family.
If we want good marriages, healthy, happy families and a mature and loving sexuality, then we must know Gods moral truths and choose to live them. These words of Father Paul Marx express a fundamental truth that cannot be forgotten as we strive to build a culture of life: If our families are to radiate beauty, and if our culture will be a culture of life and love, it is absolutely essential that each person pursue education and knowledge in the moral truths of the faith. The mission and commitment of HLI America is to help our society, the family, and each individual know Gods moral truths. As our mission statement reads, HLI AMERICA is a Catholic educational apostolate to the United States, which is dedicated to promoting the true dignity of the person, to defending authentic human rights, and to fostering the good of marriage and the family. These are exciting times at HLI America as we are developing and implementing a number of programs to help fulfill our mission. We invite you to visit the newly redesigned HLIAmerica. org to check out the new features. While you are at the website dont forget to sign up for the HLI America Newsletter, which you will receive in your inbox every two weeks! As you will see when you visit the site, HLI America is building a great team of Fellows, Contributing Writers, and Young Scholars.

PROTECTING LIFE AT HOME

Among other things, this excellent group of men and women will be spreading the Good News by writing in various local and national publications, by doing research, and engaging the media. They also will keep us informed of the issues of each day on our new online forum, Truth and Charity. And who are these Young Scholars? Both Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict have regularly emphasized that the youth are not the future of the Church but, rather, the present of the Church. We agree! So HLI America is excited to launch the first phase of a Young Scholars program that will focus on training and working with college-aged students to help give them the writing, speaking, and leadership skills necessary

Arland Nichols with his wife, Cindy, and their three children, Mary Catherine, Thomas, and Joseph.

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to build the Culture of Life. We expect great things from them both now and in the future! With the cooperation of Magaly Llaguno, HLIs great apostle of life in Latin America, HLI America will also be expanding its outreach to the Hispanic community in the United States. The Hispanic community in the United States is growing rapidly, and

HLI WORLDWATCH
A NEW HlI WEb INITIATIvE
HLI is delighted to announce a brand new initiative and valuable resource to affirm the culture of life and fight the culture of death around the world: HLI World Watch. At HLIWordWatch.org, our team of international pro-life experts and missionaries monitor events and trends that affect the pro-life and pro-family movement and help you understand the larger context behind the stories.

If our families are to radiate beauty, and if our culture will be a culture of life and love, it is absolutely essential that each person pursue education and knowledge in the moral truths of the faith.
HLI America is committed to meeting the needs of this important group of Catholics. Finally, HLI Americas next conference will focus on End of Life Issues. Hosted in San Antonio, Texas March 23 and 24, 2012, this conference will primarily seek to educate physicians, nurses, and chaplains. We will soon be announcing an excellent lineup of speakers on HLIAmerica.org. Father Marx recognized that [t]he family is always central to the welfare for the nation. HLI America is blessed to engage in the educational apostolate so necessary to forming families that will build a culture of life and love in their homes. With Father Marx, we are convinced that when the family lives the moral truths of the faith, the culture of life can penetrate and transform our society and our country. Gods blessings to you and yours as you seek to live the moral truths of our faith. Arland K. Nichols National Director, HLI America

WHy IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Too often anti-life forces operate under the radar, implementing their destructive agenda. We must shed light on this agenda in every corner of the world by recognizing and refuting their false claims, and by pointing toward the truth and hope offered by a culture of life. As you may know, HLI operates in over 100 nations around the world. We train and equip defenders of life and family, helping them recognize and defeat anti-life initiatives that threaten women, children, families and their pro-life cultures. As the worlds largest international pro-life organization, we feel it is our duty to provide as many resources as possible to the international pro-life movement. HLIWorldWatch.org will serve as a powerful resource to educate and to respond when the dignity of human life and family is threatened around the world. Please visit www.HLIWorldWatch.org to take advantage of this valuable pro-life resource. You can easily share every post with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, and be the first to know when articles are published by subscribing to the HLI World Watch RSS feed and e-mail list. And dont forget to tell your friends and family about HLIWorldWatch.org so that, together, we can defeat the culture of death worldwide.

Go to HLI.org to connect with all of our Internet initiatives!

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You will be hearing a lot about the new Hungarian constitution approved by their parliament over the next few months. Hungarys pro-life constitution completely removes abortion and is the first European country to make the complete change from abortion on demand to protecting life from conception. Changes like this dont happen over night, it takes years of hard work on the front lines.

Bill Williams Development Manager

Like HLI Hungary, our affiliates around the world are working hard, fighting the culture of death and they NEED your support.
In this column, over the years, I have covered a variety of different ways you can support HLI. If you have questions about different financial vehicles you can use to support our mission, give me a call at 540-660-2171 or you can reach me at wwilliams@hli.org.

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Development News & Progress

donating Savings bonds

Have you ever wondered about those Savings Bonds you havent seen in years?
Most of us have them in various quantities. They were a popular way for conservative investors to save during the last 60 years and they can be found anywhere from file cabinets to safety deposit boxes. Do you know if your bonds are still earning interest? If not, consider putting them to work by donating those bonds to help fund our international mission. To give savings bonds to HLI during your lifetime, you would need to recognize the accrued interest income. Any accumulated interest will be immediately taxable to you. If you use the proceeds to make a gift to HLI, you will receive a charitable income tax deduction which would offset some or all of the tax due on the bonds. You could also cash your bonds and gift the funds for the creation of a Charitable Gift Annuity. Again, your charitable income tax deduction can offset some or all of your taxes due on the bonds as well as create income for the rest of your life. Since all of the untaxed savings bond interest constitutes IRD (income in respect of a decedent) at death, it can easily be subject to an effective tax rate of 76% through a combination of estate and income taxes. Because heirs must pay tax on the accrued interest; it may be wise to create a specific bequest in your will or living trust gifting savings bonds to HLI and leaving other assets to your heirs. As a tax-exempt public charity, there will be no taxes due when the bonds are cashed by HLI and your estate will also qualify for an estate tax charitable deduction. Your will needs to specifically identify the charity that has the right to receive the savings bonds as a distribution from the decedents estate. The language used in the will should contain a clause, such as all of my savings bonds shall be given to Human Life International. In this case, the estate will distribute the bonds to the recipient and the recipient will report the interest income when the bonds are redeemed

Do you know if your bonds are still earning interest? If not, consider putting them to work by donating those bonds to help fund our international mission.

Savings Bonds no longer earning Interest

There are a number of bonds that are no longer earning interest: Series E, EE, H, HH, Savings Notes, A, B, C, D, F, G, J, and K.

Gifting Savings Bonds in your Estate Plans

Savings bonds, like IRAs and commercial annuities, are considered bad assets because any untaxed income will be taxable to your heirs.

IRA Charitable Distribution Extended for 2011

If youre over 70 and have an IRA, you are required by law to take a minimum disbursement. You can do this by making an IRA Charitable Distribution to Human Life International.

IRA distributions to HLI will be excluded from federal taxable income.

For information on how to make the transfer, contact Bill Williams at 540-622-5285 or at wwilliams@hli.org
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The New

Hungarian
Constitution
By Joseph Meaney

Hungary is now following in the footsteps of Poland, which cast off its Cold War abortion law. Other nations in the region, like Slovakia, Lithuania and Croatia, could follow this excellent example soon.

he quite remarkable new Hungarian Constitution that was ratified just after Easter 2011 guarantees the right to life from conception! It is a breathe of fresh air in Europe and in its preamble acknowledges the Christian roots of Hungary. Special reference is made to King St. Stephen as the founder of Hungary. Human Life International (HLI) strongly supports the pro-life faith and family components of this constitution against the many liberal critics who have attacked it. Dr. Imre Teglasy, leader of the HLI affiliate in Hungary-the Alfa Alliance for the Protection of Unborn Babies, Infants, Children and Families, is working hard to make sure the pro-life aspects of the constitution will be carried out when it comes into force on January 1, 2012. His group has an impressive record of helping pregnant mothers in crisis with a 24 hour telephone hotline. Alfa has also organized numerous prayer vigils and press conferences. They have translated and published pro-life literature and even videos from HLI and others. Another Hungarian pro-life hero is law professor Gabor Jobbagyi of the Catholic University in Budapest. Few people can rival his achievement of having initiated two lawsuits that were decided in his favor by the highest constitutional court striking down the abortion law as unconstitutional. His first constitutional challenge began in 1990 just after the fall of communism. Later when it was evident that the government was not serious about cracking down on abortion, he brought forward another lawsuit in 2000 which ruled that the abortion law was too permissive. Imagine what will be possible now that the right to life

from conception is explicitly in the constitution! Hungary is fortunate indeed to have a supreme court that is open to rational arguments on the abortion issue unlike the ongoing tragedy of the US Supreme Court for the last 38 years Professor Jobbagyi and his wife started a group called Pacem in Utero (Peace in the Uterus) in the 1990s and they still remember with gratitude the generosity of HLI founder Fr. Paul Marx who sent $10,000 in 1992 to help the pro-lifers in Hungary! It made a huge difference for them both financially and morally, since it was the only foreign help they had received up to then.

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The current Hungarian government is conducting a pro-life campaign with billboards showing an unborn child. The message on the signs is addressed to mothers and reminds them of the humanity of their preborn children and encourages the life-saving choice of adoption. It seems they used funds from the European Union allocated for anti-discrimination campaigns! Discrimination against the preborn is of course a reality wherever abortion is legal. This has not prevented liberals at the European Union from demanding that the campaign be stopped and complaining loudly that the funds were improperly spent. The Hungarian government is currently in a strong position because the ruling conservative coalition has over two-thirds of the seats in parliament. This happy state of affairs came after the previous left-wing government, sometimes called the disaster government, did such a terrible job that there were popular riots demanding the resignation of the prime minister, a former communist. Hungary actually held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union from January to June 2011. After they ratified the new constitution in April, the government organized a Classical music concert in the Vatican for Pope Benedict XVI in May. The Hungarian president and prime minster both came to Rome for the event as well as Cardinal Erdo of Budapest. It served to underscore how favorable this new coalition is to the Catholic Church. The formerly communist countries of Europe are in many ways more fertile ground for prolife and pro-family values than Western Europe. They are more capable of seeing the devastation that the culture of death has brought. It is also true that abortion-on-demand was imposed on them by the Soviet Union and their communist overlords. Hungary is now following in the footsteps of Poland which cast off its Cold War abortion law. Other nations in the region like Slovakia,

Lithuania and Croatia could follow this excellent example soon. These are all countries with large majorities of Catholics. HLI is in all these places and eagerly supports this progressive reawakening to basic moral and spiritual values that is taking place. Hungary is at a critical crossroads. Due to a birthrate (1.4 children per family) still far below the minimum needed to replace themselves, their population fell below the psychologically important threshold of 10 million persons in 2010. Communism left a terrible scar on this country but did not kill it. Please join HLI in praying for Hungary and sustaining their pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family actions that will hopefully bear fruit in the revival of this Christian nation.

Joseph Meaney with Dr. Imre Teglasy, leader of the HLI affiliate in Hungary: the Alfa Alliance for the Protection of Unborn Babies, Infants, Children and Families. Budapest, June 2011.

THE PRO-LIFE WISDOM of FR. PAUL MARX, APOSTLE OF LIFE

Abortionists appear unimpressed by the argument that, since human life must surely begin somewhere between conception and birth, he who would snuff it out must bear the burden of proof. Are their rationalizations and evasions no more than evidences of the compounded philosophical confusion of an affluent society enslaved by hedonism? Or does the truth go deeper and blacker than that? Perhaps what they are afraid to face is not the humanity of the unborn child but their own willingness to become utilitarian killers of their own kind.. The Death Peddlers, page 155-156.

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THE RH BILL: Lethal Injection into the Soul of the Philippines

By Brian Clowes

he Philippines is the last bastion of Catholicism in the world, and it is a beacon of hope to people all over the world due to its strong defense of both the Faith and preborn human life.
As such, the Culture of Death knows that the Filipinos natural love of Faith, life and family must be progressively eroded, diluted and ultimately destroyed if it is to enact its worldwide agenda, which is already far advanced. The death peddlers primary weapon in the Philippines is the so-called Reproductive Health Bill, which has been voted on and defeated four times in the Congress of the Philippines over the last twelve years. The RH Bill mandates the universal provision of all methods of birth control, including abortion-causing drugs, pitting the RH Bill against the Constitution of the Philippines, which protects human life from conception. It is also grossly intrusive into the lives of the people and completely disregards their rights of conscience. The RH Bill would legalize and make universal four things in the Philippines: Comprehensive Sex Education. The RH Bill sponsors know that the best way to break down the natural modesty of children is through comprehensive sex education programs designed in the United States and Great Britain. These programs are mandatory, will begin in the fifth grade, and will give complete information on not only the human reproductive system, but also on all methods of birth control, including demonstrations of condoms, and on abortion. RH Bill proponents believe what Alan Guttmacher of Planned Parenthood said: The only avenue we could travel to win the battle for abortion on demand is through sex education. This Bill violates the rights of parents because they will not be allowed to remove their children from the sex education classes without being severely punished. Contraception. This RH Bill will ensure that contraception and abortion-causing drugs will flood the Philippines. Children with no lower age limit will be allowed to get contraception without their parents knowledge or consent, violating the rights of the parents to raise their children with their own values. Sponsors of the RH Bill allege that it will prevent abortions through the widespread promotion of contraception. However, they know this is not true. The United States has had total contraception for forty years, and most women obtaining abortions were using contraception when they got pregnant, because there

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are more than two million contraceptive failures every year. Abortion. It is true that the RH Bill does not explicitly legalize abortion; however, according to every international promoter of population control, the term reproductive health includes abortion. RH Bill sponsors are well aware that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion. The legalization of abortion in the Philippines is one of the primary unstated goals of the RH Bill, with the ultimate goal being fewer Filipinos. A Coercive Secular State. RH Bill sponsors have many times shown their utter contempt of the Catholic faith in the Filipino press. Under this Bill, Catholics have no right to object to its

provisions; in fact, the Bill says that anyone who distributes malicious disinformation about it can be fined and jailed. Naturally, the bill does not define this term, and, from past experience, we can be certain that its sponsors consider all opposition to the RH Bill to be malicious. Catholic parents will also be severely punished if they do not allow their children to be corrupted by sex education. Catholic physicians and other medical personnel will be severely punished if they do not violate their own consciences and distribute abortifacients and perform sterilizations. In other words, the RH Bill will force people to do things they believe to be evil. It is obvious that the RH Bill sponsors do not care about freedom of conscience. They wish to force all Filipinos into the same mold, whether they fit or

not. The Philippines is a democracy. This democracy will be terribly damaged if such brutal, coercive legislation passes into law. And, if it does pass, we can be certain that the RH Bill sponsors will be emboldened to enact even worse legislation. For example, there has already been much talk among the population controllers about strictly limiting Filipino families to only two children. The RH Bill was not written by Filipinos. It was written by huge and wealthy population control groups in London and in Washington, D.C. Those in the Philippines who support it are merely puppets of the population controllers, and believe anything their masters tell them without question. The very language of the RH Bill is foreign; its ideas are foreign; its coercive tactics are foreign. There is nothing of the Filipino in it, and it must be rejected.

Blessed John Paul II Patron Saint of Pro-Lifers?

By Joseph Meaney
The beatification of John Paul II on May 1st 2011 was attended by over 1.5 million faithful in Rome. It was a festive and important moment for HLI. We were honored and humbled when he told our founder, Fr. Paul Marx, You are doing the most important work on earth! Blessed John Paul II was undoubtedly the Pope of Life. His election came only a few months after Italy legalized abortion in 1978, and he died two days after Terri Schiavo. The morning of the attempt on his life he had met with French pro-life hero Dr. Jerome Lejeune. It seems that most of the defining moments of his pontificate were linked to defending life. John Paul II defined his era, not least in being the first of many to speak of a modern culture of death. This did not add to his popularity at the time, quite the contrary. That is why it is most ironic to note a concerted attempt by the mainstream press not to mention Blessed John Paul IIs pro-life activism. This pope founded the Pontifical Council for the Family, the Pontifical Academy for Life and wrote constantly to encourage the defense of innocent human life-perhaps most eloquently in his encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae, the Gospel of Life. John Paul II simply cannot be properly presented if his pro-life ministry is not highlighted. It would be most appropriate if the Church proclaimed Blessed John Paul II as the Patron Saint of Defenders of Life. This is something that Human Life International strongly supports. John Paul II was a greatcontemporary saint like Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Both read the signs of the times and saw that fighting abortion and the other modern attacks on human Joseph Meaney and daughter life must be prioritized by the Church today.
Therese at the beatification of John Paul II.

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Our greatest generation. . .

Tell Veteran Pro-Life Leaders Thanks!

By Brian Clowes
This article first appeared in The Wanderer, March 31, 2011, page 4.

If not for these and other members of the pro-life movements Greatest Generation, there would be little organized resistance to the Culture of Death today.

eath is steadily thinning the ranks of what we rightly call The Greatest Generation. The youngest World War II veterans are in their mid-80s now, and we often acknowledge their indispensable contributions to our nations freedoms with public events and private thanks. World War II ended more than six and a half decades ago, but other members of the Greatest Generation are still fighting today against an even deadlier and more heartless foe. For them, there can be no retirement as long as the evil of the Culture of Death exists. And their ranks, too, are becoming sparse. In the past 12 months alone, we have lost Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, 89 years old, founder of the international pro-life movement; Mildred Jefferson, MD, 84, cofounder of the National Right to Life Committee; Fr. John Harvey, OSFS, 92, the founder of Courage; and, most recently, 84-yearold Bernard Nathanson, MD, the reformed abortionist who exposed abortion for what it really is to the entire world.

If not for these and other members of the pro-life movements Greatest Generation, there would be little organized resistance to the Culture of Death today. There is no doubt that we would live in a darker, more repressive world much more enslaved to sin than it already is. And it is not an exaggeration to say that millions are now living all over the world because of the never-ending efforts of the great men and women who founded and led the pro-life and pro-family movements over the past four decades. Our nation, our world, owes them a debt that can never be repaid. So the next time you see Joe Scheidler, president of the Pro-Life Action League; Judie Brown, president of the American Life League; Nellie Gray, president of the March for Life; Dr. Jack Willke, president of the International Right to Life Federation; or any other member of the pro-life movements Greatest Generation Tell them thanks. (Brian Clowes is research manager for Human Life International.)

Dr. Jack Willke, President of the International Right to Life Federation.

Joe Scheidler, President of the Pro-Life Action League, with Fr. Paul Marx, Founder of Human Life International.

Judie Brown, President of the American Life League,.

Nellie Gray, President of the March for Life.

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A Tribute to Joe Scheidler

n behalf of the staff and board of directors of Human Life International, it is my pleasure to pay a brief tribute to one of the most unassuming, dedicated, and effective prolife leaders in the history of the pro-life movement. Joe Scheidler and HLIs founder, Fr. Paul Marx, first met in 1973. Joe credits Fr. Marx with spurring him on to full time pro-life activism and for being his pro-life mentor. They eventually became close friends and colleagues. We at HLI are thrilled that Joe remains a member of the HLI family today. I first met Joe in 1992. As I jumped into an airport shuttle leaving the

Philadelphia airport, I immediately recognized the gentleman sitting in the back of the shuttle as the one and only Joe Scheidler. Since that time I discovered first hand that Joe is down to earth with a great sense of humor and he stands for truth regardless of the consequences. While he has worked tirelessly for unity in the movement, he will not compromise his core beliefs. He is one of the few pro-life leaders today who boldly speaks about the link between contraception and abortion. Hes the pro-life leader the proabortion crowd loves to hate. It was nice that some of them showed up tonight to honor Joe.

Although Joe is clearly recognized as the father of pro-life activism, he is unpretentioushe never engages in selfpromotion. He promotes the mission, not himself. He speaks about we and ours not I or my. He always gives credit where credit is due and genuinely rejoices in the successes of others. He is truly a role model for all those involved in building a culture of life. When Joes mother was 82 and on her death-bed, she said to him Joe, Im so proud of your pro-life work. Keep it up. Joe, we in this room are also so proud of your pro-life work. Keep it up!!!

A TRIbuTE TO
By Patricia Pitkus Bainbridge

JOE ScHEIdlER
This article is reproduced from a talk by Patricia Pikus Bainbridge, given in Chicago on April 2, 2011 at a special tribute event in honor of Joe Scheidler. More can be found online at www.joescheidlertribute.com

Pictured left to right are Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carmbula, Joseph Scheidler with his wife, Ann, and Patricia Bainbridge, Chairman of Human Life International.

FrontLines Summer 2011 |

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Inside: Summer 2011 Edition of FrontLines

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