No sign of life

Pro-life, my ass.

This (above) is the kind of thing we can come to expect today from some of America's thoroughly politicized national "pro-life" organizations.

For the low, low price of $5, those seeking to uphold the sanctity of human life "from creation to natural death" can join the American Life League in making sport of the natural death of a politician they've officially designated as "the Other." Funny this should come from an organization that says we must fight Planned Parenthood because it sells sex "as bait to steal souls — your children’s souls."

With tacky revenue-generators like

"Bury Obamacare With Kennedy" and Pharisaical demands about whom the Roman Catholic prelate of Boston may or may not grant a Roman Catholic funeral, one must wonder what happened to ALL's "soul." Apparently, at some point the souls of ALL and other significant portions of the pro-life movement must have been pilfered by the Republican Party.

It had to be soul theft, because Lord knows the pro-life movement didn't get enough in return for it to be considered a transaction.

IF GROUPS such as the American Life League aren't mere tools of the GOP and the health-insurance industry, why is ALL condemning some Catholic organizations for signing on to the mere concept of health-care reform? From a recent ALL press release:

Catholic Charities USA, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association are urging their members to support "healthcare reform now," (i.e., current legislation that includes tax-subsidized abortion and rationed care for the sick and elderly).

ALL was alerted to the scandal when supporters passed along an action alert issued jointly by Catholic Charities and the de Paul Society, in which they tell members and supporters, " [W]e must maintain momentum for health care reform efforts with calls and emails supporting health care reform immediately. The groups that do not support health reform have been blanketing House members in opposition to any reform. Your members of Congress need to hear from you that you support health care reform, and that the system needs to be reformed now."

The Catholic Health Association produced a video which begins with a clip of President Obama, the most pro-abortion president in history, rallying Congress to support his health care plan. The de Paul Society inserted the video in its web site.

After American Life League issued a statement condemning this move, Catholic Charities USA described "online media reports" as "inaccurate," "disingenuous" and "politically motivated."

"We reported, verbatim, the statements these organizations sent their members," Brown responded. "These groups are apparently attempting to work out a backroom deal with the Obama administration. Their primary concern is universal health care, while the preborn and the elderly are left behind as collateral damage. As institutions rooted in Catholic social teaching, these groups should be at the forefront of the fight against the injustice of rationed care for the poorest of the poor, of tax-subsidized abortion and contraception, and of disregard for the health of the sick and elderly.

THE TROUBLE IS, today's health-care system is all about rationed care, as well as subsidized abortion and contraception -- all at the hands of private, profit-driven insurance companies. Every denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, every denial of payment for treatment received, every lifetime limit on claims and every denial of coverage for life-saving treatment is all about rationing care so that insurance companies' profits might be maximized.

Likewise, some 86 percent of private insurance policies now cover elective abortions. Who needs government, right?

One supposes that babies must somehow be less dead when dispatched with revenues from policyholders than when the deed is done by "government." If this supposition is false, then where are the all the ALL press releases hyperventilating against the evil, baby-killing private insurers?

If ALL and other "pro-life" groups are so committed to the sanctity of life "from creation to natural death," why do they rail against health-care reform period instead of merely decrying the objectionable proposals within the present health-care reform bills? This is especially relevant given that federal "death panels" exist only in the fevered imagination of Sarah Palin, and taxpayer-funded abortions under "Obamacare" are far from a done deal.

And what about ALL making sure reams of its tasteless, mean-spirited little "Obamacare" protest sign found their way all around the weekend "tea party" in Washington? What better way for a group to associate itself with stuff like this:

IN CASE you can't read everything, the yelling woman's sign calls President Obama a "fascist," and her shirt reads "The Cure for Obama Communism Is a New Era of McCarthyism." Fascist communists???

And ALL, in its infinite wisdom, also successfully managed to associate pro-lifers with this, too:


ONE THING can be said of ALL, just as it can be said for the "teabaggers" in general -- their zeal, and anger, is all-consuming.

In the name of the people, they do the bidding of corporate America.

In the name of freedom, they call -- or remain silent amid calls -- for a "new era of McCarthyism" . . . and the ideological witch hunts that accompanied the original era of McCarthyism.

And in the name of God and "a Christian nation," they tolerate threats of armed revolt, demonize those who disagree with them, make light of a senator's death, sow hatred and fear . . . and ultimately give aid and comfort to the Prince of Darkness and his evil designs.

The ironically named American Life League -- that which accuses others of stealing souls -- acts as if its primary directive is to steal the soul of the pro-life movement and set it against itself. And, once again, Americans are not without their reasons for equating "pro-life" with "pro-nut."

AS AN ORDINARY Catholic layman who believes what his church proclaims -- as someone who really does embrace the right to life from conception to natural death -- I find that there is indeed a last straw, and that it has disappeared.

And I now wish to disassociate myself from what is commonly understood to be "the pro-life movement."

This utterly and unfortunately politicized "movement" may be pro-something, but that something isn't necessarily life. Or the Author thereof.



IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED, here are some of the folks with whom the American Life League decided to get in bed.

Granted, these folks probably don't represent a majority of those at the Washington "tea party." But if they represent even 20 percent, be afraid. Be very afraid.