The Uniqueness of the Fetal Body: A Distinct Human Life
by Fr. Jim Hewes Introduction March 30 marks the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s The Gospel of Life. Just days earlier, on March 25, Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation—the moment Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb. This prompts a profound question: Was Jesus, at His conception, a mere part of…
Turning Back the Nuclear Threat: Some Practical Steps
by John Whitehead The following is adapted from remarks given at the Vigil to End the Nuclear Danger, a peace witness outside the White House on March 8, 2025. The vigil was co-sponsored by the Consistent Life Network, as well as the American Solidarity Party of DC and Maryland, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, and Rehumanize…
Not Panicked / Always Panicked
by Rachel MacNair I was visiting a large Quaker Meeting for Worship in January 2025, just days into Donald Trump sending a lot of heads reeling with his initial set of executive orders and actions. We Quakers (Friends) are the type of folks especially inclined to be upset about many of those. This was expressed…
Preborn Babies, Infants, and Government Programs
by Sarah Terzo A recent study looked at food insecurity and government benefits among pregnant people in the United States. Researchers determined that 14% of their sample was “food insecure,” meaning they couldn’t afford enough to eat. These were all people who weren’t receiving government assistance through SNAP or WIC, two programs that provide food…
Seeking an End to a Catastrophic War: The Ukraine War after Three Years
by John Whitehead The Ukraine-Russia war will soon enter its fourth year. The war has become, in one sense, a relatively static conflict, with neither the Ukrainian nor Russian forces advancing dramatically and battles being fought over very small pieces of territory. However, in another sense, the war has changed significantly over time by becoming…
The Preferential Option for Nonviolence in Just War Theory: Opportunities for Just War & Pacifist Collaboration
by Thad Crouch The Disagreements At the 25th anniversary conference of the Consistent Life Network in 2012, the new, young, rising star, Aimee Murphy — of the then one-year-old Life Matters Journal — gave a speech. When it ended, a seasoned CLE activist aggressively laid into Murphy’s opposition to “aggressive war” rather than taking a…
Confronting MAID: Misleading Language
This is a companion piece to Confronting MAID: Is it Autonomy? by Ms. Boomer-ang Project Censored observes that on some issues, the most commonly-heard voices “distract our attention from what we really need to know” and “keep us focused on minor or misleading parts of the story,” while “the important things…continue moving forward largely free from journalistic…
Confronting MAID: Is it Autonomy?
by Ms. Boomer-ang Referring to Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) as an individual’s autonomous action can divert discussions to when autonomy is desirable and away from whether MAID really gives the patient/victim autonomy. MAID requires the cooperation of other people. Autonomy implies self-initiation. But how many fatal prescriptions are first suggested or initiated by…
Claims About Third-Trimester Abortions
by Sarah Terzo Abortion supporters often say that abortionists only do third-trimester abortions when there’s a serious risk to the pregnant person’s life or health. One example is from pro-abortion politician Pete Buttigieg. In an interview, he was asked, “Just to be clear, you’re saying that you would be okay with a woman well into…
Christmas Carols
Solstice: December 21 Christmas: December 25 Hanukkah: this year, sundown December 25 – sundown January 2 Kwanzaa: December 26 – January 1 New Year: January 1 1500s: A Haunting Song The Coventry Carol, 1534 Traditional With a haunting melody, it’s about Herod’s massacre of babies. See our holiday issues on the Massacre…