From CNSNews:
Pro-Life Advocates Plan to Protest Opening of Largest Abortion Clinic in U.S.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer(CNSNews.com) – A coalition of pro-life advocates and religious leaders plan to gather in Houston on Jan. 18 to oppose what is expected to be the largest abortion clinic in the country.
Planned Parenthood is renovating a former bank, [THAT’s not irony…] turning it into a 78,000 square foot facility that will include a surgical wing equipped to provide late-term abortions.
“It’s an abortion super center,” Lou Engle, founder of the pro-life group The Call to Conscience, which is organizing the rally, told CNSNews.com. [One stop shopping. LAST stop for some!]
Joining Engle at the “prayer march” will be Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, and Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. Religious leaders expected to attend include Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church; Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Star Parker, president of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education; and Abby Johnson, the former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic. [Ummmm … isn’t there a Cardinal in Galveston-Houston who has something to do with the USCCB’s pro-life committee? I understand Card. DiNardo is a regular participant in sidewalk vigils, etc.]
Engle compared the fight for the rights of the unborn to another critical movement in America. “As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘It is time to subpoena the conscience of America,’” he said. [RIGHT! Remember… the pro-life cause is THE social justice cause.]
Engle said he believes the clinic was strategically located in a part of Houston that is surrounded by black and Hispanic neighborhoods. [Wasn’t the original purpose of Planned Parenthood to kill off those unwanted people?]
“We want to say that it’s not right to have an abortion super center that targets the minority community,” Engle said. He says Planned Parenthood actively markets its services, including abortion, to low-income, minority women. [Low-income… minority… tax-payer funded abortions… Planned Parenthood is just getting ready to get your money.]
Last month, Houston elected the first lesbian, Annise Parker, to hold the mayoral office in a major U.S. city. Until her inauguration this week, the director of Health and Environmental Policy for the mayor’s office was Elena Marks, chairwoman of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Attempts to reach Marks for comment on the clinic and the planned rally were unsuccessful.
Perhaps people in the Houston area should pay attention to this event.
Loading ...
Student at Rice University here, and I somehow had no idea about this. Thanks for posting this, Father!
While surely protesting an abortuary is a praiseworthy thing in itself, there is no way that I would participate in what is essentially a rally for a religious-political organization whose foundations are explicitly based on “dominion theology.” No thanks to the religious right’s version of liberation theology. I’m glad Cardinal DiNardo is apparently not going to be at this event. I remember reading that the Bishop of Oakland was at one of Lou Engel’s rallies in California, but I think that was not a very good idea.
May St. Michael the Archangel cast all evil spirits into hell! Amen!
jarthurcrank – Until it becomes apparent that the so-called “religious-political organization (…) based on ‘dominion theology'” is murdering hundreds of thousands of people each year, I don’t see a problem walking next to them or praying a rosary outside this place as a visible statement against their manifest sinfulness.
I’m not a “all Christian denominations are equal” kind of guy, but if we shouldn’t voice a common grievance with them, I’d like to know why not. It’s kinda like the Atheist Feminists that started being interested for a while in our Pro-Life group – there’s no good reason that in the context of trying to end the murder of innocent children you can’t work with other people with whom you disagree with in other contexts.
Rest assured Father Zuhlsdorf, the pro-life groups in Houston have been fighting the good fight.
We, as in the Houston Foundation for Life, have been fighting this tooth and nail for many years.
We have pro-actively engaged the contractors renovating the old bank building and have successfully postponed the ‘grand-opening’ many times (up to two years delayed on my last count). Unfortunately after waging this battle they are close to opening this facility.
The Houston City Council has been pretty devious in circumventing public attention to their ‘renovations’ of side-roads and sidewalks to this abortion mill, but we have been doing our best to keep them honest.
Though they seem to finally be able to open their death mill soon, we have one or two aces up our sleeves that should delay or ‘make it difficult’ to operate in their current location.
They may still be able to open, but we will fight them with prayer warriors and public pressure.
Cardinal DiNardo is integral to this and he alone can resolve this matter if he follows the footsteps of Saint Ambrose.
‘Houston Life Advocates’ have been fighting this at the city and state level for many years and we resolve to continue this battle until abortion is no longer available in Houston.
We (the laity of Galveston-Houston Archdiocese) have been paying attention to this opening for quite a long while and we are deeply embarrassed by this. We hope Cardinal DiNardo will make the closure of this abortion mill his top priority, especially since he is the Head of the USCCB Pro-Life committee.
May God grant us victory as we engage the agents of satan.
Ora pro nobis!
Can someone please help me out here, because this question has really been bugging me for a while.
Why doesn’t God actively punnish these people in a highly visiable manner to make examples of them e.g. a couple of natural disasters that only harm abortion facilities or ‘catholic’ politicians that vote for abortion dropping dead in the street for no apparent reason, instead the pelosi’s and kennedy’s seem to be doing pretty well in life. The Bible records numerous instances of this happening e.g. Core’s rebellion in Numbers, Lot’s wife, yet in modern times he seems to idly let all of this happen whilst little old me who was trying to be a good Catholic gets afflicted with terriable nureological disorders (autism in my case) that drive them absolutely insane and leaves me hanging on to the faith by my fingertips.
For Tito and other concerned Houston pro-lifers: a similar situation occurred in the late 1990s-early 2000s in Bettendorf, Iowa, when Planned Parenthood went through similar machinations to get an abortion clinic opened there. Pro-lifers in the area knew about it from the start and did everything they could to delay the project, but it did eventually open, I believe something like 3 or 4 years behind what was originally planned however.
What the pro-life community in the area did next, was to buy land ACROSS THE STREET from the abortion facility, and open up their own “Women’s Choice Center” (yes, that is the facility’s name) devoted to promoting the choice of life. It had a medical clinic area with ultrasounds and everything needed for prenatal care. It had doctors and nurses and counselors and other professionals signed up to help any woman who came there. It provided a “one stop shop” for everything a woman in a crisis pregnancy needs to know about pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, or adoption; and I believe they also offer post-abortion counseling and assistance too. At one time they were talking about adding a perinatal hospice program for women carrying babies with potentially fatal defects or disease — the kind of women who are often encouraged to undergo late term abortions.
The Women’s Choice Center is living proof (pardon the pun) that pro-lifers CAN beat Planned Parenthood at their own game, so to speak. This is NOT the end!
For more info check out their website at: http://www.womenschoicecenter.org/
“We want to say that it’s not right to have an abortion super center that targets the minority community,” Engle said.
Ok, I understand the reason for this statement. It is an attempt to rile support for the pro-life cause within the black and hispanic communities.
But, this type of statement has always bothered me. Would it be ok to have an abortion super center if it only “targeted” white people? I know thats not what he means or what he wants. But, I think these types of statements are divisive. I think an abortion super center is not right, period. It doesn’t matter if it’s located in Watts or Beverly Hills.
I think we need to be careful to never make this issue one of race or class. I can’t tell you how many times I have been told the “argument” by pro-choice folks, “are you going to raise the crack babies?” as if any one life has greater value than another.
Ok, had to get that off my chest. Sorry for the rant.
Question for you Reverend Fathers or anyone with Cannon Law experience.
As an employee of the constrution industry I have often wondered something. If you are a catholic employee of a contractor working on the construtction of this building, are you guilty of sin? If so, I wonder if any of the Bishop or any pastors have warned the workers?
Jack Hughes, I understand how you could feel so discouraged when we see people, especially ‘Catholics’ in the public arena, doing outrageous things. I give in sometimes to anger and frustration, too. I try to give these feelings over to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to change my heart. Remember too, that elsewhere in the Bible Our Lord says ‘Vengance is mine, I will repay.’ The people doing these evil things will stand before Almighty God one day and I have a feeling that it will be one of the lonliest, most terrifying moments of their lives. In the end, forever, there are two destinations, Heaven or Hell, period.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has already won the victory over sin and death and the evil one. If, we remain in Christ, we too, have already won. We know the last Chapter of The Book, we win!
Hold fast to your Faith! They that hope in the Lord will renew their courage, they’ll soar
with Eagles’ might!
Pray The Rosary, even if you don’t want to or like it at all. Pray for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of souls. Try even a decade each day, with a pardon me, if you already do so. Your life will change as will the lives of those around you, I promise.
I shall pray as well. A report came out this week indicating that the PP mega-abortuary in Aurora, IL, contributed much to the uptick in the number of abortions in IL in 2008.
Jack,
He will come back like a thief in the night. The keepers who are irresponsible and fall asleep in this world will be unaware and unready when He returns in perfect glory.
I’m sure the case could be made that God directly intervenes against sinners when doing so suits His needs. Think about how radically different (and impossible) Judaism (let alone Christianity) would have been if the rebellion of Korah had not been overwhelmingly and directly destroyed by God? The misery of abortion has a part to play in God’s plan, and your own sufferings have a part to play in your own salvation. I will say some prayers for you, Jack, because I know what it’s like to question God when things seem impossible and hopeless. They are not, and it is merely the voice of the dragon that makes them seem so. It would also help if you pray for the grace to see your sufferings as having a purpose, and your fight to maintain your faith as battle for the Lord. God bless you and keep you!
Jack, I have an autistic child myself. She is fairly high functioning although she will probably need lifelong supervision (She’s 14 but intellectually is about on the level of a 7 year old). She is my only child and for a long time I resented the fact that God seemed to have denied me the chance to have a “normal” child. One thing that helped me was looking at her autism as a part of who she is, not simply as an evil that had stolen her “real” self, or of which she had to be “cured” at all costs. Yes, it is difficult trying to get her to be more self-sufficient, follow directions, and control her annoying stimming habits like talking to herself… but I just want her to be the best, most self-sufficient (and holiest) autistic person she can be, which is all God expects of her too.
As for the ultimate justice awaiting pro-life and pro-abortion Catholics in the next world, my favorite quote on this subject comes from the late, great Congressman Henry Hyde:
“When the time comes as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the final judgment, I’ve often thought, as Fulton Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates, you are there alone standing before God and a terror will rip through your soul like nothing you can imagine.
“But I really think that those in the pro-life movement will not be alone. I think there will be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement. They will say to God, “Spare him because he loved us,” and God will look at you and say not, “Did you succeed?” but “Did you try?”
God bless you, Jack and Bookworm! I, too, have a high-functioning autistic daughter, now 17. I’ve become convinced that God created her as He did as an act of Divine Mercy and Love. Yes, it’s frustrating and exhausing a good part of the time. However, I would not want her to be any other way, because her autism has contributed to so much of who she is as a human being. Because she’s hard-wired to see relationships as an intellectual exercise, rather than emotional/heart-based committment, she mourns the tragedy of abortion for what it really is. Every year we go to the March for Life (she insists on being taken out of school to go), and she never ceases to mourn. She asks me, “Why did God allow me to live and let all those babies die?” “What will happen to my generation when a quarter of us weren’t allowed to be born?” Honestly, her insight is truly a great grace that God has given my family.
In Christ,
The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, a program of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston’s Respect Life Office sponsors a monthly pro-life Mass and peaceful and prayerful Rosary vigil. I am proud to say my brother Sir Knights from the Knights of Columbus Monsignor Wilhelm Assembly attend these Masses in full regalia and then, in social regalia, also participate in the rosary vigils held at abortion clinics. It just happens that this month’s pro-life Mass is scheduled for Jan. 16, two days before the event this post promotes, at the Catholic Charismatic Center, 1949 Cullen Blvd., just one exit north on the Gulf Freeway from the new Planned Parenthood Clinic. The Mass is at 8:45 a.m. and with the Rosary to follow at the new clinic, 4600 Gulf Freeway (IH-45 South @ Ernestine St./Lockwood Dr.). KC Council #3077, which has its Council Hall nearby on Telephone Rd at Ernestine Street, is planning to erect a Pro-Life Billboard on its property to spread the Pro-Life message to anyone headed down Ernestine towards the Clinic.
One little known fact about the whole matter is that when the building was initially sold to Planned Parenthood, the CEO of Sterling Bank in Houston was a very prominent Catholic. When it was found out that PP was buying the building, a campaign went up to stop the sale, since it was assumed that a daily communicant and member of several diocesan boards would never sign his name on the dotted line next to the CEO of the largest abortion chain in the world. Everyone was wrong. The pastor of the Opus Dei chapel downtown and also St. Anne’s came to the public defense of the Catholic executive. The CEO then began claiming that the then newly appointed Archbishop had counseled him to go ahead with the sale. The archbishop was publically silent on the matter, no doubt refusing to reveal anything that he was bound to keep confidential, even if that were to be counted by many as a black mark against his character or faithfulness. There were many harsh words exchanged between both sides. It was almost 3 years later that construction began, yet the memory of that fight seems to have tempered the archdiocese’s willingness to get involved in this fight. The Cardinal did participate in a march from a non-abortive Planned Parenthood in Huntsville to the prison where executions occur, but to my knowledge that is the only protest he’s engaged in. The archdiocese has co-sponsored the 40 Days for Life vigil in the past, however the pro-life office is very reluctant to engage in such things. There are many, many frustrated pro-life Catholics in Houston. Please pray.
Anyone who knows me knows that while I love my country (America) I have never been shy about forcefully and loudly saying exactly what is wrong with America. We need to face the fact that America is not a Catholic country, never has been and America will continue to be a bad country, in many ways the number one bad guy around until it becomes a Catholic country. Why are protestants shooting at Mexicans who cross the boarder, because those Mexicans are Catholics, most of whom will not tolerate the evil acts committed daily by the average American protestant.
Yes it is true that abortion should be illegal and the court decision that made it legal was unconstitutional, but the fact of the matter is that the constitution is a document and is not animate to stand up to the court. The constitution put them in power to have the final say so it really doesn’t matter if it was unconstitutional. The supreme court ruled and that makes it constitutional until congress does its job and impeaches them. (fat chance with the group we have now).
What we need in the U.S. is a revolution and a new constitution. Keep in mind we are already on our second constitution and it was a flawed document from the beginning. We need a revolution, a Catholic revolution in the U.S. We need to start the process of drafting a new constitution that will protect human life. We need to wake the people up and start the debate about what is best, not just what has been left to us. The current powers that be have trampled all over the old constitution so we need to replace it with one that will strip them of their power and give the power back to the people.
If we can start the debate then we will get people educated. With that, even if we do not actually get a new constitution, perhaps we can force the Federal Government to more closely follow the current constitution because they sure don’t seem to know how to do that very well.
It is ridiculous that we pay more to the federal government in taxes than to our state governments. Think about it, the feds are responsible for a grand total of two things: interstate commerce (that includes foreign trade) and national defence (making sure bad guys don’t kill our people) and NOTHING ELSE. The states on the other hand are responsible for: health care, education, roads, jails, police, parks, poverty assistance, public works, insurance, and basically anything else that we need government to do. We already have a government that can set up a universal health care system, your state government. But the liberals want to get around that for one very important reason.
The federal government is not democratic but the state governments are.
They know that at the state level the government listens to the people and that is why most states would outlaw abortion if they could. By making universal health care a federal responsibility (a government that can not hear the voice of the people) they know that they can force abortion down our throats.
Louisiana already has universal health care, why would their senators vote for this? Because the universal health care in Louisiana will not pay for abortions and they want it to.
You know, I am personally opposed to the death penalty but if someone decided to go and shoot Landrieu and Obama and Bidan and Pilosi well… I suppose that is just pro-choice for that person. I can’t stop them. Murder is legal in the U.S. after all.