About the Helpers in Charlotte

For more information, visit www.charlottehelpers.org

My comments to the HHS over the Contraception Mandate

Dear Ms. Sebelius,

I am writing today as a fellow Catholic woman with a grave concern about the contraception clause of the Affordable Care Act. Therein, contraceptive devices are being called "preventive" services. Of course, the goal of this clause is to reduce abortion instance in American which I know you (as a Catholic) are concerned with reducing. I laud and thank you for this.

However, abortion providers in the United States report that:

"Fifty-four percent [54%] of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant."
 ("Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States" August 2011, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html )

This means that 54% of women are seeking an abortion precisely because she relied on contraceptive use to avoid pregnancy. She may not have been using the method precisely (as the fact sheet further explains), but the mentality was there: that using the contraceptive, she hoped she wouldn't become pregnant.

Contraceptives give the false hope that procreation is eliminated from the sexual act. However, God designed nature so that the sexual act will result in bonding for the two persons and the possibility of procreation. When the man and woman are married to one another, this means that both they and the child benefit: the couple increases their intimacy, and the child has the loving care of one mother and one father to raise him/her.

The statistic above shows that even with access to and knowledge of contraceptive devices, people choose not to use them correctly.  Attempting to manipulate God's design -- as we have seen through 45 years of birth control pill use in the USA -- has resulted not in fewer abortion numbers, but in greater ones.

The 1994 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey demonstrated this when it said:

People ... , for two decades of economic and social developments, have organized intimate relationships and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail. [505 U.S. 833, 835]

This is a failure of our society toward children: both born and unborn. When the sexual act is treated as something that solely fulfills the sexual urges of adults, children suffer. Children suffer when they are not allowed to be born, but are rather aborted. Children suffer when they are deprived of two parents, but are in a single-parent home or have to split time between Mom's and Dad's house.

It is the responsibility of adults to protect the needs and lives of children, and by rejecting the contraception mentality, we can build up a culture where children thrive and become emotionally healthy members of society.

Thank you for your consideration of my comments.

Sincerely,
Mary Beth Worthington
Charlotte, NC

Monsignor Reilly on the Newtown shooting

From the North Pole

I have been a busy elf for the past several weeks getting everything all ready for a very special Christmas celebration! Indeed, Santa has given this little elf a lot to do!

Last night, my sister shared with me one of the neatest ways to fulfill my duties as elf: "5 Hands gift giving"

HANDmade
HAND-me-down
secondHAND
helping HAND (donations)
HAND-in-hand(time together)

Voting day

"I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected." 

This is recited by each member of the College of Cardinals as they cast their ballot for Pope. This might be a good practice for us to adopt personally when casting our votes.

All authority comes from God, and in a democracy, the authority given to those who lead us is given by God by means of the intelligent choice of the people.

This year more than ever, our vote must be taken seriously. If Barak Obama gets a second term, our religious liberties will be trampled more than we could have ever imagined. Our only hope for overturning the HHS mandate is the election of Mitt Romney today.

Storm damage

This photo is first of 102 on NY1 today chronicling the damage done by Hurricane Sandy in Queens, NYC. I find it telling that the Blessed Mother is the only one standing in the midst of rubble. In the same way, she is the refuge we each can take from the the trials of daily life.

Mourning with moms and dads

Infant section at Sacred Heart in Salisbury, NC

Yesterday was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, but every day should be. It's easy to see how parents would experience much sadness over the death of their infant or unborn child.

Because their website doesn't allow you to cut and paste text or images, I can't re-post their entire list of good ideas to help parents, but I think the most important is informing parents of their right to name the child and give him or her a proper burial.

Also, a name and a proper burial helps others to see the dignity of a child whose life was brief in this world, but whose life is just as important in the eyes of his or her parents and God-- who created that life together.