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Peace & Life Connections: November 20, 2012 December 1st, 2012
We are now reproducing the Consistent Life “Peace & Life Connections” weekly newsletter on our website. If you are interested in more information, or in subscribing to the e-newsletter, please visit www.consistent-life.org/
2009: U.S. Abortion Rate Drops 5%
In the largest single-year drop since legalization, the Centers for Disease Control report the U.S. abortion rate dropped 5% in 2009, the latest year for which it has figures.
The number of abortion clinics plummeted more in the 8 years when Bill Clinton was president than during any other 8-year period. Now the first year of Barack Obama’s term has offered another steep decline of another kind. But unlike that in the Clinton years, this decline can’t be attributed to relative economic prosperity; 2009 was the worst year of the Great Recession.
There are many ideas on why the abortion rate fell. One is that grassroots pro-life people take more action when not relying on presidential lip service.
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America Magazine Examines Climate Change November 29th, 2012
A November 19, 2012 editorial in America magazine examines the issue of climate change. The editors note that “Hurricane Sandy was the latest in a series of extreme weather events that the overwhelming majority of scientists say is related to global climate change.” They go on to say that, “The decision not to address climate change at all in the presidential campaign now seems foolish. Both Republicans and Democrats deserve blame for this state of events . . . Until climate change is seen as an issue that affects all Americans, indeed the entire international community, we will fail to make progress in addressing its effects. Climate change is an issue that is vital to the common good and should be treated as such…”
“…Here is where the Catholic community can help. In an address in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that climate change is not a political issue but a human one . . . That same year, the U.S. bishops helped launch the Catholic Climate Covenant to bring climate change to the attention of all people of faith. The church directs our attention to where it should be focused: on the poor, who suffer the ravages of climate change more than anyone else.”
“In conclusion”, the editors at America say, “Climate change is an issue that transcends borders and demands an international response. The United States can and should play a key leadership role in this effort. Perhaps, moved by the plight of the storm’s victims and prompted by a renewed commitment from people of faith, it will finally assume that responsibility.”
Learn more on climate change and global warming at Catholic Coalition on Climate Change
Catholics Meet on Environmental Justice and Climate Change November 29th, 2012
Between November 8-10, 2012, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Catholic University of America, Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies (CUA) and Catholic Coalition on Climate Change co-sponsored a scholars conference titled: A Catholic Consultation on Environmental Justice and Climate Change: Assessing Pope Benedict XVI’s Ecological Vision for the Catholic Church in the United States. The USCCB published a press release about the conference.
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International Day for Human Rights November 29th, 2012
December 10, 2012 is International Human Rights Day. On this day, 64 years ago, member nations of the newly formed United Nations signed into International Law the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This doctrine of human rights adopted by the United Nations has its antecedents in Catholic Social Teaching – in the basic concept of human dignity.
What does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantee?
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Oblates Join Multi-Stakeholder Group Opposing Industry Challenge to Conflict Minerals Rule November 19th, 2012
The Missionary Oblates JPIC office joined a multi-stakeholder group (MSG) in a statement regarding the recent challenge to Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank bill that focuses on conflict minerals.
The organizations in the MSG consist of faith based investors, asset management groups, large corporations, and NGOs. The objective is to reiterate the commitment to eliminating the link between violence and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the face of the petition recently filed by three trade associations in Washington, DC.
The MSG agrees that an important part of the solution to ending violence in the region is a responsible mineral sourcing process, and pledges to continue to work toward this goal.
Multi-stakeholder statement here.
