“Roe says what all basic mainstream religions have historically concluded—that the right—that the existence of a human life and being is a question. Is it at the moment of conception? Is it six months? Is it six weeks?”

That’s what President Biden said following word that a draft of the Roe v. Wade decision had been leaked to the press.

Bill Donohue released the following statement to the media: “What ‘basic mainstream religions’ have to say about when life begins is interesting, but it should not be controlling. What matters is what science says. We have known for a long time that life begins at conception.”

Donohue said that people can debate all they want about when “personhood” begins, but they must be careful lest they slide down the eugenics slope.

The ultimate issue, he said, is this: “If what develops at fertilization proceeds undisturbed, the result many months later will be a baby boy or girl. Just as important, all of the characteristics that constitute the uniqueness of this new life were there from the time of conception. This is Biology 101.”

We are proud to note that the Catholic Church does not follow the science—it has been well out in front of it. There is no more “question” about when life begins: the answer is there for anyone not living in a state of delusion.

Biden’s biology is flawed. He needs to get up to speed.

In May of 2019, President Donald Trump spoke from the Rose Garden about the conscience rights of healthcare workers. He addressed the final new rules that his administration posited, strictures, he said, that will protect “physicians, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, students and faith-based charities. Together, we are building a culture that cherishes the dignity and worth of human life.”

Trump’s new rules made it easier for those in the medical profession to refuse to participate in morally objectionable procedures, such as abortion and sex-transition surgery. On November 8, 2019, when Trump first made mention of the final rules, Bill Donohue said, “Kudos to President Trump for affirming religious liberty and conscience rights.”

Immediately, pro-abortion groups sued and their objections were sustained by the courts. However, there are still some two dozen federal rules on the books that provide protection for conscience rights.

President Biden is now set to rescind all the conscience rights protections afforded by Trump. His Department of Health and Human Services, which is an ardent defender of abortion-on-demand, is leading the charge. It is expected to soon make public its agenda to eviscerate the First Amendment rights of religious doctors, nurses and hospital staff who cannot in good conscience participate in death-inducing procedures, as well as other morally detestable acts.

The passion that Biden shows for killing unborn children is unparalleled. There have been pro-abortion zealots at the local and state level, and there are some in the Congress today, but never before in American history has there been a president more determined to force Catholic healthcare workers to violate their faith-based conscience. Our “devout Catholic” president wins first prize.

On the morning of April 6, we contacted lawmakers in Suffolk County, Long Island about a proposed resolution that would abridge the right of a member of the clergy to determine the contents of his prayer invocation. After we published an email contact for the legislator who heads the Ways and Means Committee, and our subscribers let loose, the resolution was tabled before noon. It is not likely ever to be introduced again.

This story began on December 21, 2021 when Msgr. Robert Batule, who is the pastor at St. Margaret Parish in Selden, Long Island, gave a prayer invocation before Suffolk County lawmakers. He included a prayer for the unborn. That led one of them, Bridget Fleming, to propose a resolution that would only allow “neutral prayers.”

The lawmaker did not know that Msgr. Batule is on the board of directors of the Catholic League and a long-time friend of Bill Donohue.

In his letter to the members of the Ways and Means Committee, Donohue said Batule “had every constitutional and moral right” to offer such a prayer. He also said that the reasoning of the resolution, which was introduced January 3, 2022, was “constitutionally flawed.”

Donohue noted that the establishment clause of the First Amendment was not written to guarantee “pluralism among religions in governmental speech and practice,” as contended by Fleming. After explaining why Madison wrote it, he said that Fleming’s interpretation of a 1983 Supreme Court decision actually undercut her position.

A more pointed decision by the Supreme Court, Donohue said, was not mentioned by Fleming. In the 2014 Town of Greece, NY v. Galloway, the high court took up objections by two persons who were offended by the Christian themes of prayer invocations. The words “Lord,” “Jesus,” and “God” were frequently used by Christian ministers before town meetings.

The Supreme Court said such prayers did not violate the First Amendment. At the very outset, the high court rejected the contention that a prayer’s content determined its constitutionality. If it were otherwise, it ruled, courts would be converted into “supervisors and censors” of religious speech, something which itself would violate the First Amendment.

“The idea of a ‘neutral’ prayer,” Donohue said, “is an oxymoron.” He explained that “Prayers are never neutral—they are always normative, and they frequently reflect the personal beliefs of the prayer giver. Most significant, if government personnel were to sit in judgment determining whether a prayer were neutral, they would become the ‘supervisors and censors’ that the Supreme Court clearly rejected.”

Once again, our email subscribers played a key role in securing justice.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to institute “inclusion standards” governing eligibility for an Oscar, but not for all demographic categories: people of faith are not included. They will go into effect in 2024.

Those standards are based on race, ethnicity, sex, those with disabilities, sexual orientation and gender identity. Noticeably absent is any mention of religion.

This prompted Bill Donohue to write to the president of the Academy, David Rubin.

He pointed out that the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Civil rights laws were later extended to cover sexual orientation, gender identity, those with disabilities and veterans.

“The Academy’s criteria cover all of these categories save for religion and veteran status,” Donohue said. “I am particularly interested in why religion—one of the original categories cited in the 1964 Civil Rights Act—was not mentioned by the Academy.”

Donohue added that “It is no secret that Hollywood is a gay-friendly community. Nor is it a secret that it is not religion-friendly. Why, then, would the Academy demand that movie production companies do a better job hiring more ‘LBGTQ+ people’ but not practicing Catholics and Protestants? Clearly the former are already overrepresented; the latter are not.”

We don’t expect an answer. We just wanted to let the Academy know we are on to their game.

Twitter’s latest censoring of inoffensive speech drew a sharp response from Bill Donohue:

March 10, 2022

Mr. Parag Agrawal
CEO, Twitter
1355 Market St. Ste. 900
San Francisco, CA 94103

Dear Mr. Agrawal:

You and I are in a different line of work, but we share one thing in common: we both oppose hateful speech and conduct. In my case, I am mostly concerned about hateful speech directed at Catholics.

I am writing to you because I do not understand why those of us who publicly acknowledge the fact that there are only two sexes, one male and one female, is considered hateful speech by Twitter. This is simply a pedestrian observation, one that also happens to be grounded in science.

Yet Twitter recently suspended the personal account of a woman candidate for a senate seat in Missouri, Vicky Hartzler, because she tweeted, “Women’s sports are for women, not men pretending to be women.” She was referring to a male University of Pennsylvania swimmer who claims to be a woman and is allowed to compete in women’s sports.

Twitter has sanctioned at least three other persons who have made similar comments.

“The Twitter Rules” defines “Hateful conduct” as follows: “You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”

That sounds reasonable. Could you please identify what Ms. Hartzler said that violated this policy? She obviously did not promote violence against, threaten, or harass anyone. So on what basis was her account suspended?

Telling the truth can be painful, but as Catholics we are called to do so.

Sincerely,

William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President

When we went to press we had not heard from Mr. Agrawal, but we can assure you that he heard from our email subscribers, many of whom unloaded on him.

While a number of internet media outlets commented on this issue, we were the only national organization to directly confront Twitter. Many are understandably afraid to rattle the social media giant, but we chose not to succumb to intimidation. There is no virtue in remaining silent when those who hold to traditional moral values are being silenced by Big Tech.

On March 8, the White House released a “Fact Sheet” celebrating the first anniversary of the administration’s Gender Policy Council. What it chose to celebrate would not please many women.

There are 33 initiatives that the Biden administration has undertaken on this subject, and many have little to do with women, per se. Heralding an increase in the minimum wage is not exactly considered a woman’s right.

More important, those executive orders or policies that speak exclusively to women are highly politicized: they speak only to a small subset of women. Worse, some are clearly anti-women.

Women who are married with children are almost completely ignored: only one of the 33 listings addresses them. Women who homeschool their children are totally ignored.

Among those initiatives that target women, there are 5 on abortion and 10 on the growing smorgasbord of LGBTQI+ people, not all of whom are women, and not all of whom even exist.

Some of these policies cannot seriously be considered as pro-women’s rights; more accurately, they are anti-women.

Women’s rights are not enhanced by denying them the right to compete exclusively against biological females in women’s sports: they are retarded. Similarly, women’s rights are negated when they are forced to give up their privacy rights when sharing shower facilities and locker rooms with naked men.

The Biden administration’s idea of women’s rights is as twisted as it is dishonest.

In the course of a few days, two of the most prominent Catholic churches in the nation were desecrated by pro-abortion fanatics. They chose the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, to vandalize. The occasion was the run-up to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

On January 20, on the eve of the March for Life in D.C., there was a prayer vigil at the Basilica. An anti-Catholic group, Catholics for Choice, was responsible for what happened.

Led by lesbian activist Jamie Manson, this outfit managed to project pro-abortion slogans on the Basilica. “We have to talk back to the anti-choice movement in religious language,” she said.

Bill Donohue responded, “In other words, her idea of religious language is to disseminate pro-abortion messages at a Catholic pro-life event. That would be like using racist language at a pro-racial justice rally.”

On January 22, another anti-Catholic outfit, New York City for Abortion Rights, projected “God Loves Abortion” and other vile slogans on the exterior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Supporters of the group shouted obscenities at pro-life Catholics entering and exiting the Cathedral.

Both of these shell groups are on the losing side of the abortion issue. Over the past few decades, more and more Americans having been moving in a pro-life direction, and the pro-abortion activists know it. They also know that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade in June.

There have been a few legal challenges to light projection protests, but so far no court has ruled in favor of them. They are not seen as trespassing or in violation of nuisance statutes, nor have they resulted in economic harm. Therefore, they are seen as protected speech.

The media have a professional obligation to cover events like these ones, but they failed.

In a larger story on the March for Life, the New York Times and the Washington Post made mention of the desecration of the Basilica, but neither covered the assault on St. Patrick’s Cathedral. None of the other newspapers covered anything about either event, and all the TV broadcast networks and cable news channels were equally silent.

Had a Jewish synagogue or a Muslim mosque been targeted in this fashion, it’s a sure bet the media would have been all over these stories. But given their pro-abortion politics, and their hostility to Catholicism, it’s not surprising what happened.

We were the only lay Catholic organization in the country to register a protest. We enlisted our email subscribers to let their voice be known, and they did not hold back.

We have crossed swords with the National Football League (NFL) before, mostly for hosting anti-Catholic entertainers during the Super Bowl and for criticizing religious liberty legislation in the states. This year’s Super Bowl brought out the worst in the NFL.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said two years ago, “We at the National Football League condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people.”

To that end, he approved such things this season as the singing of the black national anthem before games, end zone inscriptions that read “End Racism,” and a host of anti-racist messages printed on the players’ apparel.

What about the behavior of the players? After all, it is widely known that the “N” word is commonly used by black football players. In 2014, the NFL said that it would penalize players for using it. Moreover, Section 3 of the current NFL Rulebook prohibits using such language.

This sure looks like a PR stunt after what happened at the Super Bowl.

For example, why did the NFL showcase foul-mouthed singers—who specialize in using the “N” word—during the Super Bowl’s halftime festivities?

Three of the five musical celebrities who were featured at the Super Bowl, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg, have a long history of dropping the “N” word and using obscenities.

The message to young people is that it is okay to use filthy language and drop the “N” word. The NFL is a disgrace.

On December 8, Bill Donohue released an open letter to the president of the National Education Association asking her to terminate a member of the national board of directors who publicly called for innocent religious Americans to be shot. Days later we learned that this person was released from her teaching job and was removed from the NEA’s board.

We were the only organization in the nation to call for this person to be terminated. Our email subscribers bombarded the NEA with complaints, making possible this victory.

Here is the text of the letter that Donohue wrote to Ms. Rebecca S. Pringle, President of the NEA:

Your role as president of the National Education Association is pivotal, and that is why I am urging you to remove Mollie Paige Mumau from the board of directors of the NEA; she is employed in the General McLane School District in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, which is part of Erie County.

In her December 7 Facebook post, Mumau did more than criticize those who are seeking a religious exemption from receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. She called for them to be shot. Here is an excerpt of her remarks (she was apparently responding to someone who chose not to get vaccinated, citing religious objections).

“Screw this guy and screw them all who are all about hiding behind religious exemptions because they don’t want anybody to tell them what to do….He and his ilk deserve whatever comes their way, including losing jobs, getting sick, and perhaps dying from this virus….I don’t know why the GOP doesn’t just take those guns they profess to love so much and just start shooting all of their constituents who think this way (my emphasis).”

As someone who spent 20 years teaching, 16 as a professor, and as the president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am calling on you to terminate Mumau’s membership on the board of directors of the NEA. Given all the gun violence that our nation has endured lately—including school shootings—it is beyond belief that an educator would make such a statement.

There is no legitimate place in public life for anyone who advocates the mass slaughter of innocent Americans, and it is doubly offensive that it should emanate from a teacher. Indeed, Mumau should be prosecuted for what she has done, and that is why I am contacting Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri.

Copies were sent to the NEA Executive Committee, Executive Officers of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, Dr. Matthew Lane, Superintendent of General McLane School District, and Jack Daneri, Erie County DA.

The year 2021 will be remembered as the year when church vandals and hate crimes against people of faith exploded, not just in the United States but in Europe as well.

We have been keeping tabs on instances of church vandalism and related crimes for decades, but this year we recorded many more cases than usual. It’s actually been in the past two years that the number has spiked.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops tallied well over 100 incidents of vandalism at Catholic churches and other institutions. Arson, graffiti and defaced statues were the most common acts.

While all such behavior is reprehensible, we always make a distinction between vandals who are drunken teenagers and those who are motivated by hatred of Catholicism.

In our research, we found that certain key words were associated with the vandalism, words that makes us think these were politically motivated acts. Abortion was frequently cited by the vandals. Black Lives Matter rioters were also responsible for many of the crimes.

The Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance against Christians in Europe recorded a 70% increase in hate crimes for the last year it collected data. The authors of the study found that “secular intolerance is the driving dynamic in most of the cases and areas of life we observed.” They concluded that the criminals are trying “to relegate religion to the private sphere.”

Radical left-wing secularists are the real threat.