Bigotry against Babies with Down Syndrome
by Sarah Terzo Worldwide, most babies diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome are aborted. US statistics vary, but one study put the overall number at 67%. People Who Want to Abort Babies with Down Syndrome Give Their Reasons Rayna Rapp, who aborted a baby with Down syndrome herself, interviewed parents who were waiting for the…
Presenting about Abortion: Sharing Experiences
by Fr. Jim Hewes In the early 1970’s, I was on the speakers’ bureau of the Rochester Right to Life Committee, giving talks to many groups in our area. ;where I began the presentation by showing slides/photos of the developing pre-born child. Today, with not only the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but the deep…
The Logic of Escalation: Nuclear Threats in Belarus and South Korea
by John Whitehead Twice this year, within the span of roughly a month, two powerful nations issued threats based on their nuclear weapons arsenals. The first was Russia, which is stationing nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus and training Belarusians in how to use them. The second was the United States, which is sending a nuclear-armed…
Better Living (for men) Through Surgery (for women)
This was first published in Sisterlife, the newsletter of Feminists for Life of America, Fall 1989. It was reprinted in the book ProLife Feminism: Yesterday and Today. by Leslie Keech (1954-1989) We are all used to it by now: the media establishment portraying prolifers as insensitive, sexist clods, while…
Insights from Mennonites
compiled by Rachel MacNair Mennonites are one of the historic peace churches. Membership in the church can be used as evidence for conscientious objector status to the draft in the United States. The “New Call to Peacemaking” was a cooperative project of the three such churches (including Quakers and Church of the Brethren). From Article…
Displaced and Brought Together by War: The Tale of Giovanni’s Island
by John Whitehead The many ways war and its aftermath can devastate people’s lives, but also the bonds that can form among those enduring such hardships, is the subject of Giovanni’s Island, an animated movie produced by Japanese studio Production I.G. Although originally released in 2014, the movie became available in North America for…
Medicine’s Movement towards Abandonment
by Jim Hewes We trust ourselves to a doctor because we suppose he/she knows his/her profession. We judge they would not act as they do unless the remedy were necessary, and we must rely on their knowledge and skill. Yet both the medical community and the larger society are moving towards a place of…
Work and Life
by Ms. Boomer-ang Claims that having fewer children than one would like and that spending most of the day working away from one’s children (and other dependents) are necessary for the economy and good behavior rule out many occupations that are responsible, are not lazy or idle, and are for some people psychologically enjoyable. Instead,…
The Violence That Didn’t Happen
by Julia Smucker “As long as you can look at them as anything but human, you won’t have any problems.” This is what Richard “Mac” McKinney recalls being told in his Marine Corps training, recounted in the Oscar-nominated documentary short film “Stranger at the Gate.” (You can watch it here.) McKinney describes how this…
The Death Penalty and Abortion: Perspectives on Connections
Quotation collected by Rachel MacNair Helen Prejean Endorsing the book, Consistently Opposing Killing The societal wounds of racism, poverty, and a penchant for using violence to address problems are intimately connected to the death penalty, to war, to the killing of the old and demented, and to the killing of children, unborn and…