"Facts of Life" Email:  January 24, 2003

January 24, 2003

Bishop William K. Weigand, Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, called upon the integrity of Governor Gray Davis to acknowledge that anyone--politician or otherwise--who thinks it is acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts his or her soul at risk, and is not in good standing with the Church.  The Bishop's remarks, welcomed with a standing ovation by a standing-room only crowd at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament across from the State Capitol, were delivered in a homily at the annual January 22^nd Pro-Life Mass.  Bishop Weigand referenced the U.S. Catholic Conference's most recent statement on abortion, "A Matter of the Heart," as well as their 1998 statement, "Living the Gospel of Life," and the statement of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released just last week, directly addressing politicians.  The Bishop called upon Governor Davis to "choose of his own volition to abstain from receiving Holy Communion until he has a change of heart."  Read Bishop Weigand's remarks at http://www.diocese-sacramento.org/bishops/bishop.prolife.homily.2003.htm.

President George W. Bush addressed the 30^th Annual March for Life on the Mall in Washington, D. C. by phone from St. Louis, Missouri.  He thanked the crowd, which may have reached 100,000 people, and acknowledged the self-evident truths that call "us to value and to protect the lives of innocent children waiting to be born."  President Bush renewed his commitment to sign a partial-birth abortion ban and urged "Congress to ban all human cloning.  We must not create life to destroy life.  Human beings are not research material to be used in a cruel and reckless experiment."  See his remarks in their entirety at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030122-3.html.

As the Associated Press reported, The Democrats' six declared presidential hopefuls marked the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision with their first joint appearance and pledges to protect abortion rights.  Each had four minutes to tell 1300 people at the NARAL dinner celebrating 30 years of Roe v. Wade what they would do to protect the tragic decision which has resulted in the deaths of more than 42 million unborn children.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-cong/2003/jan//012108799.html

On January 15. The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), loosely affiliated with Planned Parenthood 
Federation of America, released a survey, "Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States 
in 2000."  Their generally respected statistical research, which is often relied upon by the federal Centers for 
Disease Control and states like California, which does not gather abortion statistics, claimed continuing 
declines in rates and numbers of abortions in America.  Their news release read, "[I]n 2000, a total of 1.31 
million pregnancies ended in abortion, down from a high of 1.61 million in 1990."  The abortion rate and 
numbers decreased in 35 states (including California) and in the District of Columbia.  The survey put 
California's abortions at 236,060 for the year 2000, down from 304,230 abortions in 1992, with the rate 
dropping from 41.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 to 31.2.  AGI reported that drug-induced 
abortions accounted for 37,000 abortions, or about 6% of the total in 2000, and a tripling of the number of 
partial-birth abortions from their 1996 estimate to 2200. The number of partial-birth abortions is a much 
disputed estimate, and is likely much higher, based on statements of facilities which do them and pro-abortion 
lobbyists.  See the AGI report at http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/3500603.pdf.

California ProLife Council (CPLC) (www.californiaprolife.org.) is the largest statewide organization in California solely dedicated to pro-life issues. CPLC is a non-sectarian, non-partisan, non-profit grassroots organization of pro-life groups and individuals in California dedicated to protecting and fostering the most basic value of our societyrespect for LIFE itself.  We seek to educate our community in regard to abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide, to identify and organize the pro-life population of the state into an effective team, and to restore respect for human life to public policy.  California ProLife Council is the California affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, Inc. (www.nrlc.org).