#657 - Peace & Life: Conscience/Peace Vigil/Good News - April 14, 2023
Supporting People of Conscience
Recent news stories report US deportation of Russians seeking asylum here because they oppose the Ukraine war. The Center on Conscience and War has created a public petition in response. The petition calls on President Biden to stop all deportations to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and to take seriously the asylum claims of those who could become prisoners of conscience for their refusal to participate in the war. The Consistent Life Network has signed the petition as an organization, and we encourage other peace-minded organizations and individuals to sign as well.
CLN Peace Vigil in Washington, D.C.
We are re-starting our quarterly peace vigils outside the White House to protest nuclear weapons and their threat to humanity. Our next vigil will be on Saturday, May 13th, from 10 am to 12 pm ET on the roadway in front of the White House. CLN member groups Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore and Rehumanize International are co-sponsoring and other groups are welcome to join us. For more information, contact John Whitehead at jwwhiteh@yahoo.com.
Good News
Stopping the horrendous war in Yemen has made considerable progress – a ceasefire, stopping the blockade, and negotiations for a permanent peace agreement.
In the U.S. state of Maryland, the General Assembly adjourned for the year without either house considering Physician Assisted Suicide legislation. Some had thought it might gain approval this year. It’s been brought up year after year, and once passed one chamber and failed in the other by only one vote.
From a study in the online JAMA Network Open, associated with the Journal of the American Medical Association, we find that children with Down Syndrome are being spared the fate of being killed for that condition in states with abortion bans at least at 20 weeks: “From our multivariable analysis, we found that births in states that enacted 20-week abortion bans were 1.22 times as likely to have a diagnosis of Down syndrome than those in states without 20-week bans. Assuming a baseline birth prevalence of 1 in 700, or 6000 births with a diagnosis of Down syndrome per year, a national 20-week abortion ban would be associated with an increase of 1320 cases annually.” How delightful!
Our Latest Blog Post
The Mennonites are a long-standing traditional pacifist denomination, and they do officially apply their nonviolence across the board. In Insights from Mennonites, we cover official statements on their stand against abortion and some good quotations.
Quotation of the Week
Interfaith note: We are in a confluence of major religious observances. Western Easter was last Sunday, Eastern Orthodox Easter is this coming Sunday, and Passover was celebrated April 5-13. We are still in Ramadan, March 22-April 20. The quotation is in honor of Ramadan.
Qur’an 17:31
And kill not your children for fear of poverty – We provide for them and for you. Surely the killing of them is a great wrong.
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