Vatican Summit: Abolish Nuclear Weapons! Vatican City was one of the first states to sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, doing so on September 20, 2017. On November 10-11, the Vatican followed up with an international symposium titled “Prospects for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament.” Among the participants in the symposium were Nobel Peace Laureates and CLN endorsers Adolfo Pérez Esquivel of Argentina (pictured top left) and Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Ireland (pictured top right). CLN Endorser Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International (pictured bottom), was part of that organization’s delegation to the conference.
Upcoming US Supreme Court Cases These two cases were recently accepted and are likely to be decided by the end of the Court’s term in June: In NIFLA v. Becerra, the Court will consider whether a California law that requires crisis pregnancy centers to put up a sign advising women of the availability of abortions violates the free-speech rights of the people running the centers.
In McCoy vs. Louisiana, Robert McCoy (pictured) experienced the astonishing circumstance of his attorney admitting his guilt at the trial, over his strenuous objections. The attorney thought admitting guilt would be the best strategy to avoid execution as the sentence. It didn’t work, since McCoy was sentenced to death, still maintaining his innocence. McCoy had tried to fire the attorney and wasn’t allowed to. So the question for the Court is whether McCoy was denied his right to counsel.
Latest CLN Blog Post: Plato’s Words on Eugenics This week John Cavanaugh-O'Keefe looks at the ancient Greek philosopher Plato’s advocacy of eugenics. Plato managed to include both pro-war and pro-abortion sentiments in his advocacy of his ideal society. Eugenics has been one of the driving forces behind huge numbers of deaths through war, racism, and classism, and Plato’s thinking was important in developing the ideas of eugenics.
Request for Info Carole Novielli has sent us this request: “I am gathering data on the accomplishments of pro-life women. Specifically, how society has benefited and/or how women generally have benefited from the work of feminist pro-life females since Roe v. Wade was legalized. Example: Pro-life women who started an organization that fights sex trafficking or opened a medical school, university or philanthropic endeavor that benefited others, etc. If you know of any examples, please send them my way.” Send directly to her at carolenovielli@gmail.com
Quotation of the Week Jim Kelly, Professor Emeritus, Fordham University In the September 1974 edition of its National Right to Life News, editor Janet Grant characterized legal abortion activists as upper class elites. “The rich,” she editorialized, want to ‘share’ abortion with the poor. But ‘sharing’ stops when it comes to wealth, clubs, and neighborhoods. In the same issue, Donna M. Sullivan asked, “Are social pressures now geared more to getting rid of poor babies than assisting their mothers with economic problems?” The March 1974 edition found it ironic that some congressmen were arguing that abortion lowered welfare costs when Congress had spent “billions to wage a war in Indochina.”
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