There has been so much going on that I have not had a chance to tell you about the MCFL 2013 Summer Academy. We had a spectacular group of 17 students including the winner of the National Right to Life Essay Contest and the student who represented Massachusetts at the National Right to Life Oratory Contest in DC. The speakers, Linda Thayer, Eva Murphy, Matt Hanafin, Cori Connor-Morse, Pam Hibbard, Jamie Brunault, Dr Cyril Shea, and Katie Elrod gave the young people an incredible background on all the life issues. One of them emailed me afterward to say, "Your kids are inspiring! I was impressed with their speeches and all their great work." We are also grateful to Katie O'Brien and Fr. Daniel Becker who made the local arrangements and Tina Poulin and John Triolo who managed the dinners. We are already looking for the location for next summer.
Eva Murphy, MCFL Legislative Director, and I testified before the Revenue Committee on our bill which would allow us to redirect the tax money now used for abortions to the Baby Safe Haven program. When we were there, we were thinking of every one of you who has ever testified. We were so sorry that you missed the chance to testify before a committee that ran smoothly, efficiently, politely, and respectfully. We were there for about an hour and got to make all our points
The doctor-prescribed suicide situation in New Jersey is still fragile. NJ has elections for all offices this November. It looks as though our people may do well in the elections. That will cause the "lame duck" legislature to put on a real push to pass DPS while they still can. As well as continuing your prayers, please think of any friends you may have in NJ and contact them to be ready to testify and contact their legislators.
Speaking of doctor-prescribed suicide, the "Death with Real Dignity" Conference in Worcester over the weekend was spectacular! I'll be sending out information on how you can hear the talks and we'll be posting power points on our web-site. Congratulations to Roger and Joyce Dubuque and their Witness for Life Committee who did an amazing job bringing together fine speakers and about 125 people.
In the Boston Mayoral election, both Connolly and Walsh favor legalized abortion. One of our members informs us that Marty Walsh took the pro-life position when he publicly opposed Question 2, Doctor-Prescribed Suicide. That issue is not going away.
More politics: in the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire Senate District (the "Knapik seat"), MCFL received back three questionnaires that were 100% pro-life. Madeline McComish tells me some people have wondered how the PAC chose the candidates they endorsed. Madeline says that City Councilor David Bartley is the only pro-life Democrat response and he is a fine candidate, so that was obvious. State Rep. Donald Humason and Mike Franco both returned 100% pro-life questionnaires in the Republican Primary. Madeline says, "It has been the policy of the MCFL PAC since its very beginnings to support pro-life incumbents when they run for reelection or for another office. This is the case with Mr. Humason. He has served as a State Representative for many years and has always answered our questionnaires correctly.
"Also, NARAL ranks Donald Humason as "anti-choice." The link below is to a newspaper article where Mr. Humason calls himself pro-life. http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/08/rep_donald_humason_to_seek_mas.html"
I want to add that I have received some emails quoting a website that claims Humason is not pro-life. This is not correct. The website is also incorrect on the life position of at least one other legislator in the same area. Since MCFL sticks only to the life issues, we are confident that our ratings are accurate, more so than a website which covers a variety of issues.
THE BANQUET IS ALMOST SOLD OUT. Hope to see you there!
Anne
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