A letter to Joe Biden

This was passed on to me and I hope that you enjoy it. I will never understand why the Democrat party makes abortion the number one issue all the time. It is for this reason that many people are turned off to the Democrat party.
Have a blessed day.


Today, Children of All Races Are Denied Recognition
as 'Persons'"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
Here is an open letter
addressed to Senator Joe Biden,
the Democratic candidate for vice president,
from the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus,
Carl Anderson.

It was published today as a full-page ad in various U.S. newspapers.
* * *
Dear Senator Biden:
I write to you today as a fellow Catholic layman,
on a subject that has become a major topic of concern
in this year's presidential campaign.
The bishops who have taken public issue with your remarks
on the Church's historical position on abortion are far from alone.
Senator Obama stressed your Catholic identity repeatedly
when he introduced you as his running mate,
and so your statements carry considerable weight,
whether they are correct or not.

You now have a unique responsibility
when you make public statements about Catholic teaching.
On NBC's Meet the Press,
you appealed to the 13th Century writings of St. Thomas Aquinas
to cast doubt on the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church
on abortion.
There are several problems with this.
First,
Aquinas obviously had only a medieval understanding of biology,
and thus could only speculate about how an unborn child develops in the womb.
I doubt that there is any other area of public policy
where you would appeal to a 13th Century knowledge of biology
as the basis for modern law.

Second,
Aquinas' theological view is in any case entirely consistent
with the long history of Catholic Church teaching in this area,
holding that abortion is a grave sin to be avoided at any time
during pregnancy.

This teaching dates all the way back to the Didache, written in the second century.
It is found in the writings of Tertullian, Jerome, Augustine and Aquinas,
and was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council,
which described abortion as "an unspeakable crime"
and held that the right to life must be protected
from the "moment of conception."

This consistent teaching was restated most recently last month
in the response of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
to remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Statements
that suggest that our Church
has anything less than a consistent teaching on abortion
are not merely incorrect;
they may lead Catholic women facing crisis pregnancies
to misunderstand the moral gravity of an abortion decision.

Neither should a discussion about a medieval understanding
of the first few days or weeks of life be allowed
to draw attention away from the remaining portion of an unborn child's life.

In those months,
even ancient and medieval doctors agreed that a child is developing in the womb.
And as you are well aware,
Roe v. Wade
allows for abortion at any point during a pregnancy.

While you voted for the ban on partial birth abortions,
your unconditional support for Roe is a de facto endorsement
of permitting all other late term abortions,
and thus calls into question your appeal to Aquinas.

I recognize that you struggle with your conscience on the issue,
and have said that you accept the Church's teaching
that life begins at conception - as a matter of faith.

But modern medical science leaves no doubt about the fact
that each person's life begins at conception.

It is not a matter of personal religious belief, but of science.

Finally,
your unwillingness to bring your Catholic moral views
into the public policy arena on this issue alone
is troubling.

There were several remarkable ironies in your first appearance
as Senator Obama's running mate on the steps of the old state capitol
in Springfield, Illinois.

His selection as the first black American to be the nominee
of a major party for president of the United States
owes an incalculable debt to two movements
that were led by people whose religious convictions motivated them
to confront the moral evils of their day -
the abolitionist movement of the 19th Century,
and the civil rights movement of the 20th Century.

Your rally in Springfield took place just a mile or so
from the tomb of Abraham Lincoln,
who in April 1859
wrote these words in a letter to Henry Pierce:
"This is a world of compensations;
and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave.
Those who deny freedom to others,
deserve it not for themselves;
and, under a just God, cannot long retain it."

Lincoln fought slavery in the name of
"a just God"
without embarrassment or apology.

He confronted an America
in which black Americans were not considered "persons"
under the law,
and were thus not entitled to fundamental Constitutional rights.

Today,
children of all races who are fully viable
and only minutes from being born
are also denied recognition
as "persons"
because of the Roe v. Wade regime
that you so strongly support.

Lincoln's reasoning regarding slavery applies with equal force
to children who are minutes, hours or days away from birth.

The American founders began our great national quest for liberty
by declaring that we are all
"created equal."

It took nearly a century to transform that bold statement
into the letter of the law,
and another century still to make it a reality.

The founders believed that we are
"endowed by Creator with certain unalienable rights,"
and that first among these is
"life."

You have a choice:
you can listen to your conscience and work
to secure the rights of the unborn to share in the fruits
of our hard-won liberty,
or
you can choose to turn your back on them.

On behalf of the
1.28 million members of the Knights of Columbus
and their families in the United States,
I appeal to you,
as a Catholic who acknowledges
that life begins at conception,
to resolve to protect this unalienable right.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues
personally with you
in greater detail during the weeks
between now and November 4.
Respectfully,
Carl A. Anderson Supreme Knight...