Respect Life
Date posted: February 13, 2012
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
Less than 24 hours after the New York Giants won the Super Bowl, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that our state was offering a new custom license plate in their honor. For an initial cost of $60, and an annual renewal fee of $31.25, you too can have the NFL Giants with the Super Bowl XLVI Champions logo on a moving mini-billboard on your car.
I have nothing against the New York Giants, but seriously? Our state has not issued a single new specialty license plate in eight years. That’s right, even a September 11 memorial plate and a Cure Childhood Cancer plate have been turned down.
Why? Because in 2004 the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended all new custom plates so they wouldn’t be forced to allow a “Choose Life” license plate on the road. That’s a message our New York State government happens to disagree with, and finds politically incorrect.
The DMV used to administratively approve new custom license plates with relative frequency, as evidenced by the hundreds of designs now on the road. But in 2001, the Children First Foundation, a pro-adoption organization, applied to the DMV for the “Choose Life” plate. They were rejected — repeatedly. The state claimed that a license plate advocating a “politically sensitive” and “emotionally charged” viewpoint is “patently offensive” and could incite “road rage.” (As an aside, why are they not similarly worried about potential road rage from New England Patriots fans?)
So the Children First Foundation sued the state. And in November of last year, they welcomed a favorable decision in United States District Court. The judge said the state DMV infringed on their right to free speech and ordered the DMV to allow the “Choose Life” plate on the road. But the State of New York appealed that decision, so, for now, as the case drags on, no new plates.
Unless, of course, you want a New York Giants Super Bowl Champions plate. That one the Governor will allow.
In addition to being insulting to the victims and heroes of 9/11, as well as to noble causes like cancer research, that’s just plain wrong. You can’t permit free speech for some but not for all. Governor, lift the moratorium. Let the Choose Life license plates on the road.
Date posted: February 2, 2012
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
Yesterday’s headlines were filled with the news that Pfizer was recalling a million packets of birth control pills because of a defect that could lead to unintended pregnancies. In case you missed it, Ann Curry of NBC’s Today Show interviewed a physician about the situation, one Dr. Keri Peterson, described as an internist and contributor to Women’s Health magazine. When asked what options there are for women who have been using the defective pills, Dr. Peterson suggested the use of other forms of birth control and, if a woman thinks she’s pregnant, there are “over-the-counter termination kits available.” (Read the transcript here.)
I can only assume she means the so-called “morning-after pill,” which the FDA classifies as a method of “contraception.” Abortion advocates scoff at the pro-life community when we dare to suggest that these drugs can act as an early abortion by preventing an already-conceived embryo from implanting in the uterine wall. But now we have a medical expert calling these pills a “termination kit.” Great. I welcome her honesty. It may sound harsh and insensitive, but that’s what abortion is – the termination of a developing human life. Let’s at least be frank in telling it like it is.
Date posted:
By Dennis Poust
Last month, the Obama administration rejected direct appeals from Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and announced that newly implemented regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services would NOT exempt religious ministries from a mandate requiring that contraceptive drugs and devices (birth control pill, IUD, “morning after pill,” etc.) and elective surgical sterilizations must be covered in all employee health insurance plans, without so much as a co-pay requirement.
The administration granted only a very narrow religious exemption. In effect, in order to be considered a religious organization, the employer must primarily serve people of the same faith and employ people of the same faith. Come again? Can the President and Washington bureaucrats have such a limited understanding of Catholicism and, indeed, Christianity, as to not understand that Jesus himself demanded that his followers care for the poor, the sick, the elderly, immigrants, vulnerable women and children, without regard for religious belief? Impossible. And, sadly, that leaves the only logical explanation being that the decision is a direct assault on our country’s guarantee of religious liberty in general, and on the Catholic Church in particular. More 
Date posted: January 24, 2012
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
Yesterday I spent some time down at the state
Capitol talking to legislators about the need for an “Unborn Victims of Violence Act.” Such a law would bring justice for families who suffer loss and anguish over the death or injury to an unborn loved one, only to have the state say their loved one never existed. In New York, the law says one must be “born alive” in order to be the victim of a crime or an attempted crime. Thirty-six other states have changed this antiquated rule and now allow perpetrators to face charges for crimes against the unborn.
This week I brought with me a woman named Marci Gaylord. Marci’s daughter Ashlie was almost full-term in her pregnancy when the family learned her former boyfriend had tried to hire a hit man to stab Ashlie in the stomach in order to kill her unborn daughter. Thankfully, police foiled the vicious plot, and Baby Sophia (pictured) is now a healthy one-year-old. But the perpetrator is serving a prison term only for attempted assault on Ashlie, who wasn’t his intended target. Marci and her family are frustrated that no charges could be brought for the attempted murder of Sophia.
We are working hard to change the law. Please help by urging your lawmakers to support the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act,” numbered S.4347 and A.1673. As Marci says, her family’s story is “one, unlike most cases out there, which didn’t have a tragic ending. We need to embrace this miracle and learn from it. Changes are needed.”
Date posted: January 18, 2012
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
Today the Albany Times Union ran a commentary I penned on late-term abortionists like Steven Brigham, and how the radical “Reproductive Health Act” would make New York State a safe haven for them to ply their trade here. Please give it a read. Then contact your state lawmakers and urge them to oppose this dangerous legislation.
Date posted: January 17, 2012
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
Congratulations to the Maternity & Early Childhood Foundation, Inc., which has been included in the Governor’s State Budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.
The Foundation funds critical programs for high-risk pregnant and parenting young women, many in low-income and isolated areas of the state, to empower them to bear their infants and raise their families with dignity. The Foundation has been down a rough fiscal road in the last couple of years; just a few years ago it received more than $1.2 million from the state, enabling it to serve in many counties.
But due to the economic downturn, that number has steadily decreased, and last year the Foundation was eliminated from the Governor’s Budget entirely. Thankfully, the Legislature saw fit to reinstate the Foundation, albeit at a significantly lower appropriation, about $300,000. That same amount is what has now been proposed for 2012-2013.
Considering that our Medicaid program spends millions of dollars each year for abortions, that’s not nearly enough, but it’s something. Let’s all urge the Legislature to increase state funding for the Maternity & Early Childhood Foundation, so young, vulnerable, pregnant women truly have a meaningful “choice.”
Date posted: January 10, 2012
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
The Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization, has featured an article of mine in the January edition of Columbia, their monthly magazine. It’s about the importance of preparing for end-of-life decision-making, as seen through my eyes following a family crisis. I encourage you to read it, and many thanks to the Knights for getting the message out there.
Date posted: January 5, 2012
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
Back in December, following a horrific Manhattan elevator accident in which a woman was killed, Governor Andrew Cuomo stated that the tragedy shows “how precious” life is: “When you kiss your loved ones good-bye in the morning, sometimes we take for granted just how precious the gift is and how random life can be.”
Hmmm…I guess some lives are more precious than others. Yesterday, in his written (but not spoken) State of the State address, the Governor expressed his support for the pending extreme abortion bill: “I will continue to vigorously protect a woman’s right to choose and will fight for passage of the Reproductive Health Act,” his statement read. This is a bill that would allow late-term abortions – in the 7th, 8th and 9th months of a pregnancy – for virtually any reason. It seems those fully-formed babies are not quite as precious as the ones who are born…
Date posted: December 30, 2011
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
Dr. Steven Brigham … just his name is enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. But there it was again, this time dampening my holiday season when news broke that he’d been indicted on 10 counts of murder in Maryland. Authorities had been investigating him for quite some time and found a freezer with 35 dead babies inside, at least one of which was 36 weeks of gestation. Apparently under Maryland’s fetal homicide law, it’s illegal to abort a viable unborn baby. (Wow! And the law is actually enforced!)
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Date posted: December 16, 2011
By Kathleen M. Gallagher
New York State still lags behind in protecting women and unborn children from acts of violence by third-party perpetrators. Add North Carolina to the list of 36 states – yes, 36! – which have amended their laws to hold assailants accountable for crimes committed against pregnant women and unborn children.
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