Lansing Update: September 18, 2015

1. Legislation to Defund Planned Parenthood Passes U.S. House
2. For Upcoming Papal Visit, MCC Op/Ed Highlights Faith in Public Life
3. Follow Along with the Papal Visit and World Meeting of Families
4. Respect Life 2015 Message: “Every Life is Worth Living”

Legislation to Defund Planned Parenthood Passes U.S. House

On Friday, September 18, the U.S. House approved House Resolution 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, by a 241–187 vote. The bill would defund Planned Parenthood and its affiliates for one year. Additionally, after an amendment from Representative Renee Ellmers (R-NC) earlier this week, the legislation would also reallocate the $235 million in funding to community health centers. Here is a link to the vote on the House floor: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2015/roll505.xml. The engagement and response from Catholic Advocacy Network members and others with whom this alert has been shared has been very encouraging. Almost 1,500 individuals took action through our alert and sent messages to their U.S. Representatives. Thank you for your action and for sharing this alert with others. Michigan Catholic Conference will keep all apprised of future updates as this legislation now continues to the U.S. Senate.

For Upcoming Papal Visit, MCC Op/Ed Highlights Faith in Public Life

The Detroit Free Press ran an op/ed column this week from Paul Long, MCC President and CEO, regarding Pope Francis’ forthcoming visit to the United States from September 22–September 27. The theme of the column is “Faith Enriches Public Life,” which encourages those of faith to follow the model set by the Holy Father to be active in society and to change the world for the better. Read the full article here: http://on.freep.com/1izamoo.

Follow Along with the Papal Visit and World Meeting of Families

As mentioned above, next week Pope Francis will be in the United States, traveling from Cuba to Washington DC on Tuesday, September 22. From there, he will continue onto New York City and finish his trip in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, a worldwide Catholic event held every three years to celebrate and promote families. During his time in the United States, he will speak to a joint session of Congress, meet with President Obama at the White House, speak to the United Nations, canonize a new saint, and conduct many other important events. Check out this graphic from the Diocese of Grand Rapids with the schedule of events (if you have trouble viewing it, click here: http://on.fb.me/1iSgrwc).

Live coverage of the papal visit will be available on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website at www.usccb.org/live/. You may also follow along with the events of the papal visit and the World Meeting of Families on social media. The hashtags for the papal visit are #PopeinUS and #PapaEnUSA, and the hashtags for the World Meeting of Families are #WMF2015, #PopeinPhilly, and #LoveisMIMission (for Michigan attendees). The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will also be making content available on its first mobile app, the USA Catholic Church app, which was just released earlier this week. It is free to download at Google Play and Apple ITunes in English and Spanish.

Respect Life 2015 Message: “Every Life is Worth Living”

Each year, the month of October is designated as Respect Life Month within U.S. Catholic churches. The goal of the month is to celebrate the gift of human life and to promote a culture that recognizes the dignity of all people. This year’s theme for the month, which kicks off with Respect Life Sunday on October 4th, is “Every Life is Worth Living.” Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston and chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the USCCB, issued a statement highlighting this theme, calling all lives “a good and perfect gift,” whether they last “for a brief moment or for a hundred years.” To find more information on the upcoming Respect Life Month, click here: http://bit.ly/1NHZTnA.

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