Catholic Family Vignettes

From Human Life International:

How Many Heisman Winners Has Abortion Killed?

The sports world recently greeted the news that this year’s Heisman Trophy Winner, Tim Tebow from the University of Florida, was almost a casualty of abortion. Twenty-some years ago he was not the strapping 6’3”, 235 lb. beloved sports hero that he is today. At that time he was a one-inch-long unborn child whose existence, because of an amoebic infection, was defined as threat to his mother’s health. Pam Tebow, his mother, was told by a doctor that it would be in her best interests to abort this baby, and she refused. Her husband backed her up on that generous decision, and seven months later they gave birth to a perfectly healthy boy. Little did they know that twenty years later they would be standing on a national stage with a Heisman Trophy winner giving that magnificent witness to life. The world thanks you, Mr. and Mrs. Tebow! There cannot be a more touching Advent story than this.

I wonder if anyone has ever asked how many potential Heisman Trophy winners abortion has actually killed. The answer is, twelve. Reflect on that a bit as you read further because there is a larger lesson in the Tebows’ witness.

Dr. Brian Clowes, HLI researcher, has examined the data from the 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States (most recent census data) and extrapolated the numbers of the various professions and categories of Americans who have been eliminated in the wake of nearly 49 million legalized abortions, one third of all Americans conceived since 1973. The following numbers are based on the actual government estimates of the professions represented in America. So then, who have we lost to abortion?

* 2 US Presidents
* 7 Supreme Court Justices
* 102 US Senators and 589 Congressmen
* 8,123 Federal, district and local court judges
* 31 Nobel Prize laureates
* 328 Olympic medalists including 123 Gold medalists
* 6,092 professional athletes
* 134,841 physicians and surgeons
* 392,500 registered nurses
* 70,669 priests, ministers, rabbis and imams including
* 6,852 priests and 11,010 nuns (vocations “shortage”?)
* 1,102,443 teachers (K-12)
* 553,821 truck drivers
* 224,518 maids and housekeepers
* 336,939 janitors
* 134,028 farmers and ranchers
* 109,984 police officers and sheriff’s deputies
* 39,477 firefighters
* 17,221 barbers, and
* 24,450,000…women (the gender of roughly half of all children aborted).



These numbers of course are only the tip of the iceberg. Keep in mind that we get our statistics about abortion from the abortion industry itself which has a vested interest in under-reporting the numbers. Likewise, these categories are only a few of the professions that Americans actually work in and are by no means a full portrayal of the total American workforce. What they represent, however, is the immense human toll that abortion takes on a society. Abortion-promoters present abortion as an exclusively private choice, but thirty-five years of abortion exposes the perniciousness of that lie. There is a social toll that comes from abortion which cannot easily be corrected.

For three and a half decades the feminists have reveled in a misleading “freedom to choose,” and on the basis of that false “right” have eliminated their children and done immense damage to the family as the basic unit of society. Those who respect these sacred realities, on the other hand, have their wives and husbands to grow old with, their children to enjoy and their grandkids to play with and spoil. The love of life, marriage and family never leaves its adherents penniless, lonely or abandoned, and every now and then God throws in a Heisman Trophy just to show the rest of us that it’s all worth it.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,


Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International


Read more!

What would you say to a woman who chose death for her unborn child and permanent voluntary sterilization to demonstrate her commitment to "saving the planet?" Meet Toni Vernelli. Having laid her unborn child upon the sacrificial altar of environmental extremism, she will never have to worry about leaving behind a "carbon footprint" or anything else, for that matter.

Reality check: Toni Vernelli and the "eco-extremists" like her are a dying breed...this lunacy will leave no generational legacy.

She is also, may God have mercy, a Roman Catholic.

An excerpt from the Daily Mail:

While most parents view their children as the ultimate miracle of nature, Toni seems to see them as a sinister threat to the future.

It's an extreme stance which one might imagine is born from an unhappy childhood or an upbringing among parents who share similar, strong beliefs.

But nothing in Toni's safe, middle- class upbringing gave any clues as to the views which would shape her adult life. The eldest of three daughters, she enjoyed a loving, close-knit family life.

She excelled at her Roman Catholic school, and her doting parents fully expected her to grow up, settle down and start a family of her own.

"When I finished school, I got a job in retail and at 19, I met my first husband," says Toni.

"No sooner had we finished our wedding cake than all our relatives started to ask when they could expect a new addition to the family.

"I always told them that would never happen, but no one listened.

"When I was a child, I loved bird-watching, and in my teens that developed into a passion for the environment as well as the welfare of animals - I became a vegetarian when I was 15.

"Even my parents used to smile and say: 'You'll change your mind one day about babies.'

"The only person who understood how I felt was my first husband, who didn't want children either.

"We both passionately wanted to save the planet - not produce a new life which would only add to the problem."

So, instead of mapping out plans for a family, Toni and her husband began discussing medical options to ensure they would never reproduce.

Toni, from Taunton, Somerset, says: "When I was 21, I considered sterilisation for the first time.

"I'd been on the Pill for five years and didn't want to take hormone-based contraception indefinitely.

"I went to my GP, but she wouldn't even consider the idea.

"She said I was far too young and told me I could 'absolutely not' be sterilised, and that I was bound to change my mind one day.

"I found her attitude frustrating.

"We decided my husband would have a vasectomy instead. He was 25, just a few years older than me, but the GP allowed him to go ahead.

"I found it insulting that she thought that, just because I was a woman, I'd reach a point where an urge to breed would overcome all rational thought."

When Toni was 23, her marriage ended. She says: "We married very young and grew apart."

Toni found herself young, single and with a new life in London, working for an environmental charity.

But while other young women dream of marriage and babies, Toni was convinced it was her duty not to have a child.

She claims she was far from alone.

"Through my job I made many friends who, like me, were more interested in campaigning, trying to change society and save the planet rather than having families of our own.

"We used to say that if ever we did want children, we'd adopt, as there are so many children in need of a loving family.

"At least then, we'd be doing something positive for the world, rather than something negative."

Toni was happy, at last, with fellow environmentalists who shared her philosophy. But when she was 25, disaster struck.

"I discovered that despite taking the Pill, I'd accidentally fallen pregnant by my boyfriend.

"I was horrified. I knew straight away there was no option of having the baby.

"I went to my doctor about having a termination, and asked if I could be sterilised at the same time.

"This time it was a male doctor. I remember saying to him: 'I want to make sure this never happens again.'

"He said: 'You may not want a child, but one day you may meet a man who does'. He refused to consider it.

"I didn't like having a termination, but it would have been immoral to give birth to a child that I felt strongly would only be a burden to the world.

"I've never felt a twinge of guilt about what I did, and have honestly never wondered what might have been.

"After my abortion, I was more determined than ever to pursue sterilisation.

"By then, I had my mother's support - she realised I wasn't going to grow out of my beliefs, and was proud of my campaigning work."

At the age of 27, Toni moved to Brighton, where her dream of medical intervention was realised.

Toni says: "My new GP was more forward-thinking and referred me to hospital. I couldn't wait for the operation."

As Toni awaited the surgery which would destroy her fertility, she met her future husband, Ed, 38, an IT consultant.

"A week before my sterilisation, I went to an animal rights demonstration and met Ed.

"I liked him immediately, and I told him what I was doing straight away - because if he wanted children then he needed to know I wasn't the woman for him," she says.

"But Ed was relieved when I told him how I felt and said he didn't want children for the same reasons."

On the morning of surgery, Ed gave Toni a card saying "Congratulations".


You may read the rest of the article here.

Toni is not alone. As the nonsensical focus on global warming and overpopulation spin out of control, this is simply fruit from a very bad tree.

As the mother of nine "non-eco" friendly children, I'm happy to report that not only are they all leaving "carbon footprints", but we are managing a few fingerprints here and there, as well.

Pray for Toni Vernelli and the many man and women who share her mistaken perceptions. It is the new breed of selfishness.

Preserving the planet? For whom?

Read more!

The United Nations, of course. What other global entity could, on the one hand, pronounce the devastating effects of an "aging global population", and on the other join hands (again) with Planned Parenthood to campaign for legalized abortion in Africa?

A recent document published by the UN, World Population Aging 2007, outlines several "profound" (duh!) discoveries regarding our shrinking world population:

Population ageing is unprecedented, a process without parallel in the history of
humanity. A population ages when increases in the proportion of older persons
(that is, those aged 60 years or over) are accompanied by reductions in the proportion of children (persons under age 15) and then by declines in the proportions
of persons in the working ages (15 to 59). At the world level, the number of older
persons is expected to exceed the number of children for the first time in 2047. In
the more developed regions, where population ageing is far advanced, the number
of children dropped below that of older persons in 1998.

Population ageing is pervasive since it is affecting nearly all the countries of the
world. Population ageing results mainly from reductions of fertility that have
become virtually universal. The resulting slowdown in the growth of the number
of children coupled with the steady increase in the number of older persons has a
direct bearing on both the intergenerational and intragenerational equity and solidarity that are the foundations of society.

Population ageing is profound, having major consequences and implications for all
facets of human life. In the economic area, population ageing will have an impact
on economic growth, savings, investment, consumption, labour markets, pensions,
taxation and intergenerational transfers. In the social sphere, population ageing
influences family composition and living arrangements, housing demand, migration
trends, epidemiology and the need for health-care services. In the political
arena, population ageing may shape voting patterns and political representation.

Population ageing is enduring. Since 1950 the proportion of older persons has
been rising steadily, passing from 8 per cent in 1950 to 11 per cent in 2007, and
is expected to reach 22 per cent in 2050 (figure I). As long as old age mortality
continues to decline and fertility remains low, the proportion of older persons will
continue to increase.

Unprecedented, pervasive, profound and enduring. Strong words.

And the obvious conclusion to these "profound discoveries":

Because fertility levels are unlikely to rise again to the high levels common in the past, population ageing is irreversible and the young populations that were common until recently are likely to become rare over the course of the twenty-first century.

Irreversible. Well...it seems rather obvious that the biblical mandate "be fruitful and multiply" might possibly offer a solution to this irreversible "problem."

In a nutshell: the UN is forecasting, basically, an end to life on this planet as we know it due to an aging world population with no known solution. Their response to this devastating news? More abortion! Legalized abortion for Africa.

Working with Planned Parenthood, their goal is to "demystify taboos about abortion" through the promotion of the Maputo Plan of Action, which includes proposed health program costs, targets and measures for abortion services, calling on states to "enact policies and legal frameworks," to "prepare and implement national plans of action" as well as "refurbish and equip facilities for provision of comprehensive abortion care services."

An aging population, increased promotion of abortion and contraceptive services. Business as usual for the United Nations.

Beyond ridiculous.

I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live Deuteronomy 30:19

Read more!

Blessings to Margaret at Minnesota Mom for the "heads up" on this one. The imagery associated with and comparison of abortion to ritualistic demonic blood sacrifice, is horrifying. Please pray the Prayer to St. Michael, before reading:

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen..

The Demonic Abortion Industry
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer - President
Human Life International
(excerpt)

In what sense is abortion demonic?
The spiritual dimension of this grisly “business” is its systematizing of ritual blood sacrifice to the god of child murder, Moloch, who we know of from the severe condemnations of him in the Old Testament (Lev 18:21, 20:2-5, 1 Kings 11:5.33, 2 Kings 23:13 and Zephaniah 1:5). This demon of murder appears in many forms and cultures through history (Phoenician, Carthaginian, Canaanite, Celt, Indian, Aztec and others) but is always the same bloodthirsty beast that demands the killing of children as his form of worship. This demon is not content with a single act of murder here and there. His insatiable appetite for the death of innocents seeks public endorsement to justify his gruesome deeds, and he needs a systematic expression of it to increase his worship.

The modern abortion industry offers ritual blood sacrifice to the ancient abortion demon. It is in every way a demonic religion. It has its sacred dogma (“choice”), its ruling hierarchy (Planned Parenthood), its theologians (feminist ideologues), its sacrificing priesthood (abortionists), its temples (abortion mills), altars (surgical tables), ritual victims (primarily babies and secondarily women), acolytes and sacristans (clinic workers and death-scorts), congregations (all supporters of abortion) and its own unifying principle of sacramental “grace” (money). In short, the abortion industry is a perfect demonic system which offers a perverse form of worship to the devil.

The sacrificial victim in this demonic religion is not a brute animal as was offered to the Old Testament God of Israel in a legitimate system of religious sacrifices. In abortion, the victim is an innocent human being who is made in the “image and likeness of God” and who can never defend herself. This combination of innocence, parental participation and ritualized obliteration of the visage of God in human form is the devil’s way of blaspheming the Father with the misguided participation of God’s own children. The systematic destruction of the human body which St. Paul calls “the temple of the Holy Spirit” is a blasphemous insult to God. If the abortion business is not truly demonic, nothing is. (End of excerpt.)


The rest of Fr. Euteneuer's article made be read here. Please consider participating in the St. Michael Pray Campaign to End Abortion. The campaign began on March 25th, but it is never to late to join! Read more!

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Call it bad timing.

When former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was asked to respond to recent comments from a religious leader likening him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who condemned Jesus to be crucified, lightning from outside the debate site briefly cut off his microphone.

Giuliani couldn’t pass up commenting on the strange coincidence, joking, “For someone who went to parochial schools all his life, this is a frightening thing that’s happening right now.”

Giuliani then defended his religious beliefs and his position on abortion.

“Religion is an important thing to me and my life, but ultimately I’ve been in public life most of my life, and taken oaths of office to enforce the law, and I’ve got to make the decisions that I think are the right ones in a country like ours,” he said.

“My view on abortion is that it’s wrong but that ultimately, government should not be enforcing that decision on a woman.”

–CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney