Roe v Wade—46 years later hurting Baby Turtles is illegal but, in America, killing Baby People is a “guaranteed right.”

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

By Larry Peterson

Loggerhead Turtle      en.wikipedia.org

Sea turtles are protected by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Act of 1977. They are also protected by federal law which prohibits disturbing sea turtles while they are “nesting” (aka; unborn). Also, the Marine Turtle Protection Act  states that “no person may take, possess, disturb, mutilate, destroy, cause to be destroyed, sell, offer for sale, transfer, molest or harass any marine sea turtle or its nests or eggs at any times.”

Yes, we sure love our turtles, especially here in Florida where they nest around the entire peninsula. In fact, we love them so much we have penalties for “disturbing” them.  A first offense could cost a person up to 60 days in jail and a $100--$500 fine. A second charge could put you in the slammer for six months with a punishment of $1000.  After that, the penalties continue to increase with each additional offense. Federal penalties include jail time and fines up to $15,000 for each offense.

Naturally, we do need laws to protect our wildlife and our environment. But what about “Baby People?” Don’t they count? Why is it perfectly “legal” to kill Baby People who have not been born and you can go to jail for harming or disturbing a baby turtle that has not been born? Does that make sense?  

The Loggerhead Sea Turtle is one of these protected turtles. It can be found (like Baby People) all over the world. However, its primary habitat is the Florida coast, north to Virginia. It is estimated that these turtles build 67,000 nests a year along the beaches. The female lays her eggs in the sand and buries them. After two months they hatch, crawl to the sea and begin their lives. Those that survive will live close to 60 years.

It is illegal to harm, harass, or kill any sea turtles, their eggs, or hatchlings. It is also illegal to import, sell, or transport turtles or their products. It is perfectly legal to kill Baby People who have not been born. Since Roe vs. Wade was passed in 1973, over 61,000,000 abortions have been performed in the United States. Sixty-one million baby people have been vanquished from existence, many of them burned alive via the Saline Abortion method. That extrapolates out to, on average since 1973,  1,326,086  Baby People a year killed in America.

In 2017 there were 3.86 million births in the United States. That means that approximately one out of every four pregnancies in our country results in a life extinguished. Sea turtles are given every chance to survive with the government going so far as to put people in prison who might interfere with their survival. On the other hand, Baby People are welcomed into legalized and sweetly painted extermination camps and, unmercifully and without fanfare or emotion, eradicated.

Whatever are we doing? We civilized people have allowed a portion of our past to be destroyed. We are allowing our present to be vilified by what can only be called a great lie fabricated as the virtue of "helping" women. We have short-circuited the future of our children and grandchildren. We have  taken away from them the possibility of another Rembrandt, or a Mozart or a Jonas Salk, or a Martin Luther King Jr., or even an Abraham Lincoln living among them.

Most of all, we have taken away the meaning of the beauty and wonder of human life. We have changed it from a wondrous mystery, given to us by God our Creator. Instead, we have turned it into a disposable commodity that can be discarded at will under the guise of “reproductive rights.” Does not “reproductive rights” mean having the freedom to reproduce---not to destroy? Un-reproducing leaves only one result; that result is death.

 There is a world-wide abortion counter that ticks off the abortions around the world as they happen. Look for yourself. More than one life a second is being aborted. Genocide of the innocent, living in and out of the womb, is rampant on planet Earth. Whatever have we wrought?

As the great Pope, St. John Paul II said, “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”                     

                          ©Larry Peterson 2019copyright

There is a Crisis of “Fatherless” Children in America; We Should Turn to St. Joseph for Help

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME 

By Larry Peterson

September 8 was the birthday of our heavenly mom, Mary. On her birthday I also always think of Mother Mary’s husband, St. Joseph.  Without him there would be no birthdays to celebrate, either on September 8 or December 25. When God chose Joseph of Nazareth to be the foster-father of His only Son, He certainly knew what He was doing.

I call St. Joseph the “Shadow Saint”. That is because so little is known about him. He never spoke a word that was recorded. He never wrote anything that was saved on parchment.  It does not matter. This young man, a “righteous Jew” true to the law, was confronted with being engaged to a woman pregnant with someone else’s child. The reality was a terrible thing for him to bear.

But Joseph, who was only about 19, was a man of faith and God was with him. The penalty for his betrothed could have been death by stoning. Joseph would have none of that. His Mary would not be harmed. He loved her. So he took her in and married her. The child she carried would be his.

St. Joseph’s example of selflessness is something that needs to be talked about with admiration, respect and pride. It might be used as a guide for so many who have, in this secular driven world, fathered children and then abandoned them. 

There is a crisis of “fatherless” children in America. Next to the disrespect and disregard for unborn life, this could be the most dangerous threat to our society. “Fatherlessness” is an ongoing tragedy that can find its roots planted when Roe vs. Wade was passed in 1973. When the destruction of human life was “legalized” the downward spiral of respect for life followed.


There is a "father factor"  involved in virtually all aspects of American life today. Yes, many homes still have fathers but many children live in homes with absentee fathers and the societal effects are felt all across the spectrum of American life.

Statistics show that in fatherless homes poverty is 4X  higher than average, teen pregnancy increases by a multiple of seven (7), abuse and neglect are much more widespread and drug use is more 

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prevalent. The list goes on and on.

St. Joseph could be used as a shining example for all men to emulate. He was poor, he was chaste and he respected women, especially his teenaged bride.  He was a man of faith and stayed true to the laws of God and man. Foremost in his life was his faith in God. This was his strength. This is what fortified him. This is what is missing in so many lives today.

Joseph of Nazareth is an example of how one should respect the law. We could explain to young people how he had to put his teenaged and pregnant wife on the back of a donkey and then walk over rocky, dusty roads for over 80 miles, a journey that probably took three days. And why did he do this? He did this because he was required to go to Bethlehem for the census. It was the law.

The story of young Joseph, taking his teenaged wife and baby boy, and escaping Bethlehem because King Herod wanted to kill his son, Jesus, would make any young person’s pulse amp up. The poor guy’s child was being hunted by Herod’s soldiers. His wife was recovering from child birth. He had to make it to Egypt. And he did…for his family. This is what a REAL man would do, or at least try to.

Joseph did whatever he had to do to take care of his wife and son. He worked hard to keep a roof over their heads, to feed them, clothe them, and protect them. He did not care about himself. His family came first, no matter what. He would have gladly died for them if necessary. He was a real MAN. His sacrifice and efforts for his wife and son allowed them to survive so that the salvific narrative would be fulfilled. We owe him so much.

His faith, courage, integrity and love of God resonate like the smashing of cymbals and the banging of drums for all of us to listen to. We need to follow his example. We need to celebrate his life. We need to honor his commitment to his responsibilities. We should cherish his devotion to family.

I realize the possibility of teaching about this quiet hero in public schools might be a ‘pipe dream’ but  I would hope Catholic schools would use him as an example for students to look up to and respect as a role model for what a husband and dad should try to be like.

St. Joseph, two thousand years after his death, is still the finest role model for, not only husbands and fathers, but for all men for all time.

                                     ©Larry Peterson 2016 All Rights Reserved

Honoring the Life of Theresa Mary on the Anniversary of Roe V Wade

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

By Larry Peterson

(This is a revised essay about Theresa Mary & Roe v Wade from a year ago).

The following is about our fourth child and how she touched our lives. September 6, 1978, our daughter, Theresa Mary, was born and died. If she had lived she might have had children like her older sister, Mary Dymphna. Maybe Mary and her little sister would have been best friends and confidants. Their kids would have been cousins. We probably would have all gotten together and had a party with cake and ice-cream and sang "Happy Birthday" like we and all of you do on those occasions. However, like so many other families, we have those empty days of birthday parties that never were and Christmas mornings with missing presents under the tree.

The anniversary of Roe V Wade is here. What this decision has wrought is the incredible disregard for life that now exists in our society. Planned Parenthood, marketed and promoted as the bastion of women's health in America, performs more abortions than any other organization in the country. It receives over one-half billion dollars a year in government funding and in 2014 it came to light that it is nothing more than a "chop-shop" for human body parts. Theresa Mary was in her sixth month of development and could have fit their criteria for body parts perfectly.

At the beginning of Loretta's sixth month of pregnancy she unexpectedly went into labor. Bleeding profusely she was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and Theresa Mary was born. She also lived and died very quickly, within minutes.  I had called ahead to Holy Trinity Catholic Church and a priest, Father Murray, was waiting for our arrival. Our baby was baptized and buried with my parents. She was our child, she was real and was a gift from God.

Theresa was not simply a "fetus".  She was not "products of conception". She was not an "annoyance", or an extra pair of shoes to worry about or another potentially "sleepless night". She did not mean less money in the bank.  No, Theresa Mary was worth far more than any of that multiplied a thousand times over.  Nothing can change the fact that she did exist. In God's world there is no "time" as we know it. He lives in the "Eternal Now".  Theresa Mary now lives there with Him.

As it is every year around this time, I once again contemplate what might have been in my own family's life.  I also cannot help but wonder what differences might have been in millions upon millions of other families’ lives. How many millions of birthday parties have never been celebrated? How many doctors, scientists, priests, nuns, teachers, baseball players, carpenters and astronauts, surgeons, auto-mechanics, hair-dressers, waitresses,  pharmacists and even trash collectors and hot dog vendors never made it past life in the womb? How many  living children in-vitro, with their own DNA and their own legs, arms, hands and feet, kidneys and livers and hearts and lungs, have been destroyed out of convenience or maybe just for those body parts?  Roe v Wade has been protecting this heinous behavior since 1973. Whatever have we wrought?

As I remember Theresa Mary I say to her, “Little one, you lived and died and the world will always know it. You were NOT a "product of conception" or a piece of "tissue". You were a living person. So many more like you were never given that recognition. It is a sad, sad, thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Addendum:  Roe v Wade has a twin. It is called Doe v Bolton  

January 22nd  will be the 43nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling known as "Roe vs Wade".  Simply put, the court, by a 7 to 2 majority, said that abortion is a citizen's fundamental right under the United States Constitution.  You are all familiar with how that ruling  has torn our nation apart.  What many people do not seem to be aware of is the other ruling that took place on that very same day.  It provided the proverbial  "double whammy" to the abortion issue. That  ruling is called "Doe Vs Bolton".  Once again, it was a 7 to 2 majority vote affirming the ruling.  The US Supreme Court had given birth to the "Roe & Doe" twins.

The ruling in the "Doe Vs Bolton" case is summed up here: (The link supplies the details:
The Court's opinion in Doe vs bolton stated that a woman may obtain an abortion after viability, if necessary to protect her health. The Court defined "health" as follows:

         "Whether in the words of the Georgia statute, "an abortion is necessary" is a professional judgement that the Georgia physician will be called upon to make routinely. We agree with the District Court, 319 F. Supp., at 1058, that the medical judgement may be exercised in the light of all factors-physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age-relevant to the well being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health."

Amazing as it is, if Roe vs Wade was ever overturned, Doe vs Bolton would take its place. Doe vs Bolton allows for abortion "after viability" for almost any conceivable reason. Read the excerpt above closely. According to Doe vs Bolton an abortion could be permitted at full term because the baby's crying when born might cause too much stress for someone in the house who has a psychological problem. Far fetched? Not really. Just get a doctor to sign off on it.


God help us today and tomorrow.

                                 ©Larry Peterson 2016 All Rights Reserved.

                          

January 22,1973 The United States Supreme Court Gave Birth to Twins: "Roe & Doe"

by Larry Peterson

 This coming Wednesday the annual March for Life will take place in Washington, D.C.  It is the 41st anniversary of Roe vs Wade.  Thousands upon thousands of "Pro-Life" advocates will  brave the freezing weather in defense of the unborn.  Millions more across the country will gather at state capitols, cities and small towns  lending their support to the most defenseless of the defenseless.  The hopes and prayers of all these folks (including myself) are for the High Court to overturn Roe vs Wade.  I am  a "pro-life" person who had an "up close and personal" experience with the miracle of life and the pain of death all on the same day.  If I had harbored any doubt whatsoever about the "viability of a fetus" that doubt was vanquished  forever 35 years ago.

At the beginning of the sixth month of pregnancy our fourth child, a daughter, was stillborn.  She was our child and was a gift from God.  She was baptized and buried with my parents. We had  prepared for the arrival but it came earlier than expected.  No matter, she was a real person who lived and died.  Her name is on a tombstone. It is Theresa Mary. Her birthday and date of death were Sept 6, 1978. She was not simply a "fetus".  She was not "products of conception". She was not an "annoyance", an extra pair of shoes to worry about or another "sleepless night". She did not mean  less money in the bank.  No, Theresa Mary was worth far more than any of that multiplied a thousand times over.  Nothing can change the fact that she did exist, albeit for the briefest of moments. In God's world there is no "time" as we know it. HE lives in the "Eternal Now".  Theresa Mary now lives there with HIM..

I  think of the millions of little people like Theresa Mary who have been put to death  in heinous fashion because they are unwanted, because they might cost money or might interfere with a career.  How many have been eradicated simply because people take no responsibility for having sex, getting pregnant, and deciding that this "thing" has to go before it "ruins" their lives. You know, having sex is NOT the same thing as breathing, eating, and sleeping.  Those bodily functions are instinctive and necessary for us to live. We do NOT have to have sex to live. We won't die if we say NO.  Many people actually choose to live a life of celibacy.  It is OKAY to do so. And make no mistake, none of them die from NOT doing "it".

January 22nd  will be the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling known as "Roe vs Wade".  Simply put, the court, by a 7 to 2 majority, said that abortion is a citizen's fundamental right under the United States Constitution.  You are all familiar with how that ruling  has torn our nation apart.  What many people do not seem to be aware of is the other ruling that took place on that very same day.  It provided the proverbial  "double whammy" to the abortion issue. That  ruling is called "Doe Vs Bolton".  Once again, it was a 7 to 2 majority vote affirming the ruling.  The US Supreme Court had given birth to the "Roe & Doe" twins.

The ruling in the "Doe Vs Bolton" case is summed up here:

The Court's opinion in Doe v. Bolton  stated that a woman may obtain an abortion after viability, if necessary to protect her health. The Court defined "health" as follows:

“

Whether, in the words of the Georgia statute, "an abortion is necessary" is a professional judgment that the Georgia physician will be called upon to make routinely. We agree with the District Court, 319 F. Supp., at 1058, that the medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age - relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.

Amazing as it is,  if Roe vs Wade was ever overturned, Doe vs Bolton would take its place.  Doe vs Bolton allows for abortion "after viability" for almost any conceivable reason. Read the excerpt above closely. According to Doe vs Bolton,  an  abortion could be permitted at full term because a baby's crying might cause too much stress for someone in the house who has a psychological problem. Far fetched?  Not really. Who needs Roe vs Wade when you have its twin, Doe vs Bolton?  Our fight for millions of little, unseen and helpless John and Jane Doe will continue. God help us today and tomorrow. 

Review: by Charlotte Ostermann re: "The Good Sinner"

The link is to the review by Charlotte Ostermann of the CWG on Elizabeth Schmeidler's new release, "The Good Sinner":  With the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade next week this is a timely release. Take a look.
http://wp.me/p2Mupb-3k