Lent is a time to restore what has fallen into disrepair over the past year. Certainly the American Family has fallen into disrepair and needs a good bit of shoring up. Lent is an excellent time to strengthen our families by shared prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Return to praying the family rosary this Lent; enter the adventure of family fasting, especially on Fridays (“OK, everyone, we will not be having desert for the next forty days!”); learn to cultivate family almsgiving, guiding every child to give some gift to God from his or her allowance on Sunday.
The California Family, in particular, needs strengthening. Our State is only as good as our families. This week after Masses I am asking all parishioners to consider signing a petition to get the Parental Notification Initiative (PNI) on the November ballot.
What is the PNI? It is a change in our state law that would require a doctor to notify an “unemancipated minor” girl’s parents 48 hours before she undergoes an abortion. We are only asking that the doctor inform her parents, not obtain consent. California does 25% of all abortions in this country; 20,000 a year are on underage girls. While most states have laws requiring parental notification, we do not. This means that even a ten-year-old girl can undergo a surgical abortion without her parents’ knowledge. The same girl cannot receive an aspirin from a school nurse, go on a field trip, get her ears pierced, or enter a tanning booth without parental permission, but a doctor can perform a surgical abortion on her without her parents’ knowledge. Many such girls get pregnant through rape, but under current law her parents are not allowed to know or help her. PNI has lost twice in the past ten years, largely due to the millions spent by Planned Parenthood on TV advertising. But this year Bay Area Planned Parenthood, for example, is bankrupt. Let’s pull together to restore loving protection for our children through their own parents. You may sign a petition in the plaza, and take more home for other signatures.
The California Family, in particular, needs strengthening. Our State is only as good as our families. This week after Masses I am asking all parishioners to consider signing a petition to get the Parental Notification Initiative (PNI) on the November ballot.
What is the PNI? It is a change in our state law that would require a doctor to notify an “unemancipated minor” girl’s parents 48 hours before she undergoes an abortion. We are only asking that the doctor inform her parents, not obtain consent. California does 25% of all abortions in this country; 20,000 a year are on underage girls. While most states have laws requiring parental notification, we do not. This means that even a ten-year-old girl can undergo a surgical abortion without her parents’ knowledge. The same girl cannot receive an aspirin from a school nurse, go on a field trip, get her ears pierced, or enter a tanning booth without parental permission, but a doctor can perform a surgical abortion on her without her parents’ knowledge. Many such girls get pregnant through rape, but under current law her parents are not allowed to know or help her. PNI has lost twice in the past ten years, largely due to the millions spent by Planned Parenthood on TV advertising. But this year Bay Area Planned Parenthood, for example, is bankrupt. Let’s pull together to restore loving protection for our children through their own parents. You may sign a petition in the plaza, and take more home for other signatures.
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