FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MA STATE LEGISLATURE OVERRIDES GOVERNOR, RAMS THROUGH EXTREME ABORTION BILL DURING COVID

Boston, MA -- December 29, 2020 -- In a vote of 107 to 46  in the House and 32 to 8 in the Senate, the Massachusetts State legislature chose to override Governor Baker’s veto of H.5179, also known as the “R.O.E.” Act. In an elitist gesture that not only ignored the governor’s commonsense rejection of special interests items in a state budget bill, but also tens of thousands of their constituents vocal opposition, the legislature has sent a clear message to Massachusetts citizens: We work for the abortion lobby, not for you or the public health. 

Myrna Maloney Flynn, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, issued the following statement: 

The ROE Act was introduced nearly two years ago. Every day since then, thousands of Massachusetts Citizens for Life members, who reside in every corner of our state, used their voices to speak for those who cannot. They learned the truth about this irresponsible and dangerous legislation and bravely spread that truth within their communities -- even during a pandemic. Almost as disheartening as this new law is the fact that legislators rammed this damaging bill through during Covid, inserting it into the state budget, knowing our opposition could not fight it in person due to quarantine restrictions.

So while we pause today to grieve for the many lives that will be severely damaged and lost as a result of the ROE Act, we anticipate, much as abolitionists did, the inevitability of a brighter tomorrow. 

Pro-lifers know setbacks. What we don't know how to do is give up, look the other way, and allow injustice to stand.

We know the truth is worth pursuing! We know the lives we work to protect are worth every minute of our time in this life. We know without a doubt that our supporters, by their advocacy over the last 24 months, changed minds and opened hearts, even our governor's. And we look forward to continuing our work alongside the citizens of Massachusetts, who already know the value of human life and are eager to educate and support others and to ultimately illuminate the inherent right to life of the unborn. 

As we have done since January 23, 1973, Massachusetts Citizens for Life will work tirelessly to make abortion unthinkable. And we will prevail.

At MCFL, we will continue to highlight the stories of women like Melissa Ohden, whose life would have been thrown away under “R.O.E.” Act provisions when she was born alive during a late-term abortion. We will continue to advocate for legal protection and medical support for babies like Hope Dupell and their mothers, who deserve physicians obligated by law to heal, not encouraged by laws like “R.O.E.” to discriminate against them because of a prenatal disability diagnosis. We will fight for women like Keisha Atkins, who lost her life to an extremist late-term abortion law in New Mexioc that prioritized “access” over safety. 

Massachusetts Citizens for Life is the Commonwealth's single solely dedicated pro-life human rights organization. Founded in 1973, MCFL continues to advocate for the most vulnerable citizens in the Bay State: the preborn and the elderly and disabled.

On July 30th, 2020, a little before noon, C.J. and Maria approached the State House, pulling a suitcase packed with thousands of citizens' signatures opposing the "ROE" Act.

 But even though we had contacted the Joint Committee on the Judiciary offices ahead of time, our team had an unpleasant surprise.

After trying three different angles with the security guards -- and then a fourth ("We have petitions to deliver." "It's time sensitive." "We aren't the general public." "Would you be willing to help us and carry the box upstairs?) C.J. and Maria retreated to the lobby. 

No one was working that day, they were told. Everyone is remote.

But if you really want to get something done -- and when lives, and the future of your state are involved -- you do it. In this case, the lives on the line are those of Massachusetts' women, babies like Hope and like Melissa, and our 13 and 14 year old girls' like Veronica.

Multiple phone calls later, C.J. reached Representative Michael Day's aide.

Thank you, Dan! Not only did Dan take the entire box of petitions, and your signatures opposing the "ROE" Act it contained, he gave us a social-distanced elbow-bump and good luck as well.

The campaign isn't over yet though. Due to the governor's declaration of a state of emergency, the legislature may continue to deliberate on bills past the July 31st date. 

Help us continue to advocate for our women and the unborn babies in Massachusetts by donating here today.

To all of you who have signed the petition, shared on social media, and called the committee offices with us every day, THANK YOU. 

The Supreme Court of the United States has has ruled again to protect the conscience rights of religious orders and pro-life organizations against the abortion lobby.

The Court ruled 7-2 in favor of the Sisters. Earlier this year, the Trump administration created exemptions in the ACA (Affordable Care Act) for organizations whose religious identity or other beliefs would not allow them to pay for the deaths of employees' children. 

In his majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote:

"For over 150 years, the Little Sisters have engaged in faithful service and sacrifice, motivated by a religious calling to surrender all for the sake of their brother. But for the past seven years, they -- like many other religious objectors who have participated in the litigation and rulemakings leading up to today’s decision -- have had to fight for the ability to continue in their noble work without violating their sincerely held religious beliefs."

While this decision seems natural in light of U.S. declared freedoms, it has been hotly contested for almost 8 years. 

Under the Obama Administration in 2012, HHS mandated that all employers be forced to provide abortion-inducing drugs to employee via their insurance plans. The Supreme Court dealt blows to this mandate twice following Obama's mandate, once in 2016 and once in 2017 (Hobby Lobby Stores v. Burwell and Zubik v. Burwell). 

When President Trump took office, his administration redefined rules regarding abortion in the ACA and HHS mandate. These new strictures affirmed the rights of pro-life organizations, and religious orders, to opt out of offering abortion to employees.

The only two justices in dissent were Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomeyer.

While the ACLU -- against its purported mission to secure civil liberties to citizens -- called the decision "shameful", Sister Veit of the Little Sisters of the Poor told media:

"We dedicate our lives to this because we believe in the dignity of every human life at every stage of life from conception until natural death. So, we've devoted our lives -- by religious vows -- to caring for the elderly. And, we literally are by their bedside holding their hand as they pass on to eternal life. So, it's unthinkable for us, on the one way, to be holding the hand of the dying elderly, and on the other hand, to possibly be facilitating the taking of innocent unborn life."

Sister Veit, via Fox News

President's Column

By Myrna Maloney Flynn, MCFL President

As far as this business of solitary confinement goes, the most important thing for survival is communication with someone . . . It makes all the difference. -John McCain

Joy’s text said the package arrived just in time. I'd sent her several issues of MCFL’s member magazine featuring her daughter, Hope, who was diagnosed at 12 weeks gestation with an occipital encephalocele, meaning her brain developed outside of her skull. Joy and her husband were told their child was “not compatible with life” and were advised to abort. Now five months old, Hope defied the odds. As I write this, the family is on their way to Boston for Hope’s first surgery this week. They wanted to make sure our magazine got to family and friends before they left. 

Please keep Hope, her doctors, and the Dupells in your thoughts and prayers. 

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About an hour after I sent my April 11 email, in which I shared the compelling story of a Springfield teen who’d recently chosen life for her son, I received a response from a new MCFL member and volunteer named Faith Delaney, who wrote, “MCFL helped me when I was pregnant at age 23, unwed, and my boyfriend wanted me to get an abortion. I was pro-life and followed my beliefs. . . My son is now 32, I went to law school, and have a successful practice in Merrimack Valley. I will donate again but would like to speak to teens when we are allowed to gather.”

Our summer magazine issue will include Faith’s story, along with several other timely, informative, and inspiring pieces. We have chosen to highlight the women of Massachusetts’ pro-life movement, past and present. I got a sneak peek at the contents last week; the issue's going to be one of our best.   

The magazine is just one MCFL membership benefit. Members receive voting privileges, ultimately electing the organization’s Board members at our Annual Meeting (due to the pandemic, this will likely be held in the second half of 2020). And when MCFL heads to Beacon Hill, we go on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, but we also represent our members at the State House and fight on their behalf. In fact, despite the shutdown, my team and I continue our first-of-its-kind strategic lobbying effort with partner organizations and will soon deliver this united message to state representatives on behalf of our thousands of supporters: “Say No to ROE!”

Perhaps the benefit most coveted by our members, though, are the advance event invitations they receive to our well-known and much-anticipated gatherings. 

• Members in 2020 will have first dibs on a seat at a November 10th Harvard debate between international pro-life activist Stephanie Gray and campus abortion rights supporters; 
• Our members are already looking forward to one of MCFL’s most influential traditions, the Massachusetts March for Life, to be held November 7; 
• Members out west will welcome Alveda King on October 15 to celebrate our postponed Mother’s Day Dinner;
• And, of course, MCFL members receive advance invitations to our premier event: the annual fundraising banquet, to be held on Thursday, September 17 at the Four Points Sheraton. It is my honor to announce Melissa Ohden as our keynote speaker.  

Melissa is the survivor of a failed saline infusion abortion in 1977. Despite the initial concerns regarding her future after surviving the attempt to end her life at approximately seven months gestation, Melissa has not only survived but thrived. She is a Master’s-level prepared social worker, the author of You Carried Me: A Daughter's Memoir, and the founder and director of The Abortion Survivors Network. Melissa is a frequent contributor to pro-life news outlets and a regular guest on radio and television programs around the world. Fulfilling the purpose that she believes God set out for her when He saved her from the certain death of the abortion attempt, Melissa is truly a voice for the voiceless.

If you’re an MCFL member, then you can relate to the value membership brings. If you’re not, I hope you will join today—to experience our events in a new way, to expand your knowledge though our magazine, to influence MCFL’s leadership and, with your powerful vote, propel this phenomenal organization toward a forward-thinking, vibrant, lifegiving new decade.  

I wish you a wonderful week! As we each continue our confinement, I hope you receive all varieties of communication from friends and family, as I have, that make you laugh, prompt a good deed, elicit a prayer, and ensure our common survival.

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Doctor Prescribed Suicide does not give patients the right to die; it gives doctors the right to kill

By Dr. Mark Rollo, Board of Directors, MCFL

Giving doctors the right to kill is dangerous.

Take Kate Cheney for instance.  She was an eighty five year old Oregonian with terminal cancer.  Her daughter, Erika, brought Kate to her physician to ask about assisted suicide.  However, Kate had mild dementia and her physician refused to prescribe suicide pills because he felt she lacked the capacity to understand the process.

Erika then engaged in "doctor shopping."  She took her mother to see a psychiatrist who rejected the request for assisted suicide on the same grounds as the former doctor, saying that Kate lacked the ability to weigh options about assisted suicide. The psychiatrist noted that Erika seemed coercive.

Undeterred, Erika continued to shop and took her mother to an “ethicist” at the HMO who determined that Kate was cognitively able to request suicide pills. Thus, poison was prescribed despite the obvious conflict of interest.  You see, Kate would no longer be an expense for the HMO if she were dead. After initial reluctance, Kate consumed the suicide cocktail. She had just spent a week in a nursing home, alone.

Kate is one of many people in Oregon who have been steered toward suicide.  This has been documented in the New England Journal of Medicine where patients doctor-shopped for suicide until they got what they wanted . . . . or what their family wanted for them.

It is estimated that about 10% of the elderly in Massachusetts are subject to abuse.  Doctor prescribed suicide is the perfect recipe for carrying out that abuse while simultaneously saving money for the health insurance carrier and providing the lure of a quick inheritance to family members.

All patients have the right to refuse care and take advantage of palliative care or hospice.  Doctor prescribed suicide is different. This act corrupts medicine by making the doctor, who should be committed to healing, complicit in killing.

Doctor prescribed suicide is dangerous indeed.  

Who would be the first Kate Cheney of Massachusetts to die at the hands of a “healer?”  

Bills that are before the Massachusetts joint committee on public health, S.1208 and H. 1926; “An act relative to end of life options,” would fuel elder abuse in Massachusetts and must be defeated.

Mark J Rollo, MD

By Anne Fox

When we worked so hard against The Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), we opposed it for four reasons. One of those reasons was its in-built rationing. 

According to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, an Obamacare provision penalized hospitals for readmitting Medicare patients within a month of being discharged and led to increased mortality rates among adults who experienced pneumonia and heart failure.  The provision imposed financial penalties on hospitals with too-high readmission rates for patients with heart failure, heart attacks or pneumonia starting in 2012. It was supposed to encourage better care. But it has encouraged something else: Medicare has levied approximately $2 billion in penalties on hospitals since 2012.

By Nancy Valko

When the Trump administration announced a new department of Conscience and Religious Freedom, the pushback from abortion and assisted suicide proponents like Planned Parenthood and Compassion and Choices was immediate and accompanied by apocalyptic predictions of harm to patients.

Now the term “conscientious objection” is increasingly being used rather than “conscience rights” when it comes to health care professionals. I believe this is not accidental. The term “conscience rights” is a powerful and accepted term about individual rights while “conscientious objection” is associated with the traditional definition of  “A person who refuses to serve in the military due to religious or strong philosophical views against war or killing” and who “may be required to perform some nonviolent work like driving an ambulance.” (Emphasis added)

By Anne Fox, President of Massachusetts Citizens for Life

Betsy McCaughey is the expert on medical care.  You must read her article, "Do you have a DNR? It may kill you." If you have a DNR (do not resuscitate order) on your hospital file, they will essentially deprive you of mach needed care. 

DNR means if your heart stops or you can’t breathe, medical staff will let you die naturally, instead of rushing to give you cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Correctly interpreted, a DNR bars just that one procedure, resuscitation. But scientists are discovering that many doctors and nurses take DNR to mean you want end-of-life care only. They misconstrue DNR as Dying Not Recovering.

In other words, the existence of a DNR order in your file creates mindset in doctors and nurses that you should receive less healthcare, that you’re going to die. For example, a survey at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that patients with a DNR were twice as likely to die in the hospital than those who didn’t have one. And it wasn’t just for those who were already mortally ill. For those patients who were the healthiest, their likelihood increased by five times.

Please read the whole article and let everyone else know about the danger of DNRs.

Usually we are working for others. This is important for others and for you!

By Nancy Valko

When abortion was legalized in the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, we were told that abortion should be a private decision between a woman and her doctor.

Now there is a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union to force the state of Maine to allow abortions by non-physicians such as nurses and midwives.

Why? Although Planned Parenthood and the ACLU claim that this is about the safety of first-trimester abortion and the lack of enough accessible abortion clinics as well as “threats of violence”, the truth is that it is getting harder and harder to find doctors willing to do abortions.

This new expansion of abortion is part of a larger movement to remove restrictions on abortion. According to the liberal Public Leadership Institute, already “California, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont allow trained and licensed APCs (advance practice clinicians like nurses and physician assistants) to perform aspiration abortions.” 

The Institute even provides model legislation for states called the “Qualified Providers of Abortion Act” and cites the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as recommending “expanding the pool of non-obstetrician/gynecologist abortion providers by training advanced-practice clinicians (APCs)—nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physician assistants—to perform aspiration (aka suction or vacuum) abortions.”

By Nancy Valko

As a nurse threatened with termination for refusing to participate in an unethical health care decision years ago, I have a special interest in conscience rights for health care professionals.

Over the past several decades, new threats to conscience rights have widened from refusing to participate in abortions to other deliberate death decisions like withdrawal of feedings from people with serious brain injuries, VSED (voluntary stopping of eating and drinking), terminal sedation and physician-assisted suicide.