Pro-lifers dodge a Molotov cocktail at Portugal’s March for Life
On March 21, thousands of people marched in Lisbon and a number of other cities around Portugal. The Portuguese Federation for Life stressed the focus of the March was on “the dignity of all human beings for life from the moment of conception until natural death, and for families.” The March was peaceful until near the end when a man hurled a Molotov cocktail (defined by the Canadian Oxford Dictionary as a “homemade incendiary device, usually consisting of a bottle filled with inflammable liquid, usually with a rag stuffed in the neck that is ignited just before throwing”) directly into the crowd which included a lot of children. Thankfully, the device did not ignite, although some people were sprayed with what seemed to be gasoline. The alleged assailant was taken away by police and the March concluded peacefully. Later, the Federation for Life condemned the act as a “terrorist attack” and noted that “the failure of the attack cannot obscure the fact that a political organization planned and sought to carry out an attack against a public event packed with families, youth and children.” In the latest parliamentary elections, the leftist government was thrown out and the center-left Social Democrats formed the government in a coalition with the second-placed hard-right Chega Party. A law legalizing euthanasia was approved in 2023, but has not yet come into force. The new government has made it clear that it has no intention of re-visiting the euthanasia bill, effectively rendering the bill dead.
‘When an ice rink became a sanctuary’
The Nelson Center Ice Hockey Rink in Springfield, Illinois, became a house of prayer for two thousand mostly students—Catholic grade school, high school, college Newman Centers across Illinois, and home-schooled children. The kids were packed to the rafters, but instead of hockey skates swishing on the ice, fans cheering, and sticks dueling for possession of the puck, there was a holy silence. The bleachers became pews, the goalie’s area at one end of the rink became the sacrificial altar, and the traditional organ that in every hockey rink warms up the crowd and players, was now the instrument of sacred music. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield concelebrated the Mass with dozens of priests from across the state. Bishop Paprocki is a hockey player, known as the “holy goalie,” who often spends weekends in that very rink. But this was a special occasion: Mass was being offered before the March for Life. Shouting and cheering would come later; right now, participating in the Mass and praying were foremost. Following the “Mass on Ice,” the rally was on the grounds of the Illinois State Capital, with Bishop Paprocki leading the crowd in prayer. This was followed by the head basketball coach at Millikin University, who compared pro-life work with sports: “… the pro-life community is a great team and everybody has to do their job.” Then the students joyfully and full of enthusiasm began the March around the Capital. Illinois lawmakers might want to pay attention to these young people. Illinois has expansive abortion laws, and physician-assisted suicide is scheduled to take effect in September. As one commenter at LifeSiteNews remarked: “These are the youth for the future. The voice of the voiceless.”
Radicals top list of potential future UN Secretary General
The race to elect the next United Nations Secretary-General to replace Antonio Guterres occurs later this year. By custom, the position rotates among continents and it is now Latin America’s turn to choose. A U.S. congressional letter is being circulated asking for a veto of the nomination of Chilean Michelle Bachelet, citing her longstanding aggressive sexual leftism. The letter is asking President Donald Trump to intervene and use his veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to stop her nomination. And the new pro-life government of Chile has withdrawn its support, calling her candidacy “non viable.” Stefano Gennarini, of C-Fam, a UN watchdog, has outlined the curriculum vitae of the three top contenders. In first place is the “undisputed” Michelle Bachelet, mentioned above. She served two terms as president of Chile and led the UN Agency for Women as well as the U.N. human rights office. She is known as the “Hillary Clinton of Latin America.” As president of Chile, she “shepherded a multi-year campaign” to successfully have abortion legalized. Her work with the UN was disastrous for the unborn. Holding the highest office as a UN human rights official, she streamlined the promotion of abortion and transgender rights within the bureaucracy. She also issued a “scathing attack against the U.S. Supreme Court” following the 2022 Dobbs decision that returned abortion matters to the states. She has falsely proclaimed that “abortion is at the core of women and girls’ autonomy.” In second place is Mia Mottley who has been prime minister of Barbados since 2018. She supports abortion, which is legal, and LGBT issues. She is working with the European Union to “expand access to reproductive health commodities, including abortion and contraception, in the Caribbean and Africa,” two geographical areas, outside of Barbados, where she has no legal standing. Third place belongs to Rebecca Grynspan, former vice president of Costa Rica. She also held the position of assistant to the UN Secretary-General and “interfered in internal debates about abortion in Nicaragua.” Whoever wins the job will have a large impact in shaping the U.N. Sustainable Development Agenda which expires in 2030, as well as using the UN to expand abortion in areas of the world which have traditionally opposed such “rights.”
Mail-order abortion
The abortion industry has upped the war against the life of the unborn. In 2021, the Biden administration legalized mail-order abortions in the United States, in contravention of the Comstock law which outlaws mailing abortifacients through the U.S. postal service. Otherwise called telehealth, or medical abortion, mail-order abortion allows the patient to access “abortion care” remotely, including on-line consultations and delivery of abortion pills without visiting a physician or facility in-person. Proponents of this dangerous law say that telehealth abortion is safe, effective, and acceptable, as safe as a visit for a surgical abortion. That is a lie. If you want antibiotics or certain other medications, you have to see a doctor for a prescription, before which tests may be ordered, and certainly follow-up appointments with the doctor. But not for chemical abortions. In the U.S., up to 10-weeks gestation, girls and women can log-in to an abortion site, order the pills, and have them delivered right to her door. Then, perhaps in the privacy of her bedroom (I would hazard a guess that she invites a few ‘close’ friends to witness the ‘event.’), she takes the pills, aborts her baby, and, barring complications, returns to her casual lifestyle, her parents none the wiser. Michael New, associate professor at the Catholic University of America found that abortion pills “undermine abortion and heartbeat laws” and “pro-life parental involvement laws that are in effect in over 30 states.” The more restrictions that are placed surgical and chemical abortions in a state, the more women and girls are simply going on-line for the abortion pill. There are dangers in mail-order abortions. High rates of hospitalization (four times the rate of surgical abortions), and the absence of in-person medical supervision, increase risks of severe consequences including death. Abortion-by-mail also allows men or other family members to order and obtain abortions and secretly give them to pregnant women to ingest. Making abortion pills harder to get may not completely girls or young women who are desperate or careless. As we regularly report on the March for Life around the world, young people are increasingly attending these events. Encourage them and get them involved in the pro-life movement; it could be the salvation of their soul.
