pro-life legislation – Catholic Sistas

7 Quick Takes Friday, no. 16: Prayer Intentions

The most important thing we can do as Catholics is pray. I’m sure we have all seen examples of the amazing power of prayer in our lives or the lives of others. With this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to highlight the intentions we Catholic Sistas currently have high on our list. We invite you to pray with us on many of these matters and to add your own intentions in the comments or to our Prayer Requests page. Here are our seven high-priority prayer intentions, in no particular order.

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40 Days of Prayer for Conscience

There are two very pressing, current event prayer requests that are on all the Sistas’ minds. The first of these is the HHS Mandate that will go into effect August 1, 2013, which will force institutions and businesses that morally object to contraceptives and abortion to provide these things to all employees. This includes Catholic dioceses, schools, and hospitals. We’re praying our bishops will stay strong against the mandate and not be bullied into providing goods and services that our faith teaches are wrong. We hope you’re joining us for this 40 Days for Conscience Prayer Campaign that began July 1. We need everyone to pray. Follow our Facebook fan page to get the daily prayers.

Today’s prayer:

–2–

The Abortion Bill in Texas

The second pressing, current event on all our minds is the abortion bill in Texas, that would outlaw abortions past 20 weeks gestation. We happen to have several Sistas in Texas and many are in the Austin area. We are praying for their safety as they attend sessions at their state capitol, as well as praying for passage of this bill. To learn more, please check out these links and please join your prayers with ours.

Protect Babies and Women — Stand with Pro-Life Texas by Birgit

For Pro-Choicers: What Does the Texas Bill REALLY Say by Kerri

Word-FILLED Wednesday: They Chanted Hail Satan by Martina

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CS Prayer Requests: General Intentions, Homeward Bound, Teardrops, Heavenly Ambassadors

If you haven’t noticed, at the top of our page there is a link titled, “Prayer Requests.” Click on that link and it will bring you to a form where you can submit a prayer request for all of us to pray for. We keep four lists and post them in our private group for our members to pray over. These intentions include:

General Intentions: Anything on your heart

Homeward Bound: For Christian friends and family we’d like to see come home to the Catholic Church

Teardrops: For those who have lapsed from the Catholic faith

Heavenly Ambassadors: For children who have returned to our Heavenly Father through miscarriage, stillbirth, or death at any age.

–4–

Marriage

Praying for our marriages and those of our friends is always high on the priority list for us. Even those who aren’t married are praying for their future husbands. Praying for marriages (plural) in a much broader sense has taken on much more meaning of late due to the recent Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. Marriage is under attack in our country and we need to pray. We even had a recent prayer campaign for sacred matrimony in anticipation of the attacks on marriage we were all feeling. We have a great resource list here and you can see our prayer intentions here. Please pray for our individual marriages, those of friends and family, and for the strengthening of all marriages between one man and one woman.

–5–

All Priests and Religious

Pray for our priests and religious. They need our prayers! They are always in our prayers. Our priests have difficult jobs and both priests and religious live a very counter-cultural lives. They need our prayers to stay strong in their vocations. We also need to continue to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Please add your prayers to ours and don’t neglect this important intention.

–6–

Our Pope

The Pope always has the prayers of the Catholic Sistas. We hope he has your prayers too. Pray for our Pope to be a light to the world, to always be open to the Holy Spirit, and to keep the Church strong and united.

–7–

Holy Mother Church

It goes without saying that praying for Holy Mother Church is on all our prayer lists. We hope it is on yours, too. As the Church experiences more attacks across the world, we must pray for strength for all Her people.

Thanks to Jen F. for hosting the weekly Quick Takes. Check out her blog, Conversion Diary, for more Quick Takes posts from across the blogosphere.

Protect Babies and Women – Stand With Prolife Texas!

I’m not from Texas so you might be wondering why I would be all enthused about something that is happening in the Lone Star State. The answer is simple; this issue is relevant no matter where you are. What’s happening in Texas could have a very real, positive prolife impact across the nation!

A few days ago, I wrote about SB5, a far-reaching prolife bill before the Texas Senate. The gallant effort of the Texas prolife majority was beaten back, after a raunchy mob of abortion advocates screamed so loudly as to prevent conclusion of the vote and signing of the bill. Thank God that Texans are known for their larger than life tenacity and their conservative (read God-fearing) ways! Speaking at the recent National Right to Life Committee annual meeting, Governor Rick Perry said, “there is no higher calling than defending the right to life”. True to form, Governor Perry (R) called a 2nd special session (beginning July 1) and the bill has been revived as HB2.

Details About the Prolife Bill – HB2

On June, 28, 2013 – after the jeers of the pro-abortion crowd prevented the democratic process – a similar Prolife Omnibus Bill (HB2), was filed by Rep. Jodie Laubenberg (R). This bill relates to the regulation of abortion procedures, providers, and late term abortions. It prohibits abortion – without exceptions – after 20 weeks, keeping in mind medical evidence that babies at this stage are capable of feeling pain. Further, it requires that abortion mills are held to the same standards as other facilities that perform surgical procedures. Due to the lack of regulation currently required, even legal abortion is detrimental to the lives of women because they are performed in poorly maintained facilities by unskilled employees. This portion of the bill should be supported by anyone who cares about women because it seeks to protect their health and safety. Further, the bill would require abortionists to have privilege at a nearby hospital – in the event that emergency medical treatment was warranted. Again, this should be attractive to anyone concerned with the health and medical safety of women.

What Happened to Require a Second Session?

Pro-abortion Sen. Wendy Davis (D) managed to stage a one-woman filibuster of the bill – by remaining on the Senate floor for a total of 11 hours, partly due to wearing a catheter (yuck). Her pink sneakers belied a heart hardened against both the pain of babies and the health of women in a rabid bid for ‘choice’ at all costs. A vehemently angry mob of pro-abortion supporters then caused such a disturbance that it was impossible to sign into law the winning vote for this legislation- although the votes for passage were there. These extreme and hate-filled pro-abortion supporters seem willing to go to any lengths – by ignoring decorum and using bully tactics – to squash the will of the majority. Hopefully the democratic process – and will of the majority – will be successfully carried out during the special session.

What Can We Do If We’re Not in Texas?

As an ‘honorary’ Texan myself (I live in KY), I can share what I have done and continue to do:

Pray – there is nothing nearly as powerful as prayer. Keep this important legislation on your mind and in your intentions.

Share supportive prolife memes and information throughout all of your social media accounts. Tweet, share on Facebook, Google+ and more – all have audiences who will see your efforts. Don’t forget to ‘like’ prolife posts from friendly pages and individuals as a means for this effort to go viral. Each ‘like’ and ‘share’ will exponentially grow the message to a larger audience.

Talk to your friends and church members about this issue. Many people are simply unaware of the importance of what is happening in Texas. Be a shining light that illuminates the prolife precedent that Texas can create.

Maintain your dignity. This is a hot-button issue and it’s easy to be swept away with passion. Let’s demonstrate that we are a people of love. We won’t stoop to a mob mentality or the volatile methods of the opposition. Remember we have Truth on our side; we are fighting a holy battle for God’s glory.

Some Helpful Suggestions to Get You Started

FACEBOOK: I have created memes here, here and here, for ‘honorary’ Texans like myself. Feel free to go to my Designs by Birgit fan page and share from there. Make it your profile picture, share it on pages you moderate, Tweet it, ‘like’ it and help share the message. I will continue to create memes and such, so be sure to check back. I would also be happy to consider any suggestions you might have.

TWITTER: The hashtags to use are – #Stand4Life (this is the most important one – if you only have room for one, this is the one to use), #ProTXWomen , #ProtectBoth , and #HB2 . Use them frequently and show your support. Let’s get them trending!

BLOG: Do you have a blog? Are you willing to join us in sharing updates concerning this vital prolife legislation? Please consider giving the babies AND women a fair hearing through your posts. Don’t let the unruly mob silence the will of the people – support for both! Also please support the participants of the ProLIFE Blog Roll by reading what they have to say and leaving some love. If you want your own blog listed as a supporter, provide the link to your prolife post in the comments section and I’ll be happy to publicize it for you! Be sure to check back to see the updates as they come in.

OK – go! Let’s show the nation that we are still God-fearing, life-loving, citizens. And God bless Texas!

ProLIFE Blog Roll:

KERRI over at Journal of a Nobody shared her thoughts and some very good information in her post, For Pro-Choicers: What Does the Texas Bill REALLY Say. Check it out for details of the bill and some things that both sides of the debate can surely agree upon.

CHECK out my original post over on Designs by Birgit entitled, Midnight Vigil for Prolife Bill in Texas. In this post I outline what happened as the first Special Session came to a close and the vote was prevented by an unruly pro-abortion mob.

EMILY over at Dynamics of Davis also had a great perspective on the prolife battle waging in Texas. Check out her post, Why Wendy Davis is not my Hero – Telling the Truth.

MARTINA posted this post, Word-FILLED Wednesday: They Chanted HAIL SATAN, on Catholic Sistas.

BEATRICE wrote about the highly inappropriate signs held by children of the pro-abortion crowd in Texas on her blog, 400 Words for Women, in a post entitled A Sign of the Times.

UPDATED post of 7 Shocking Abortion News Items.

EYE WITNESS account of Austin TX goings on from Martina.

Be sure to submit your blog posts in the comments section so that I can add you to the ProLife Blog Roll!