Bill Donohue comments on the California Medical Association joining the ACLU’s attacks on Catholic hospitals:

In an unprecedented move, the California Medical Association has filed a motion to join an ACLU lawsuit that would force Catholic hospitals to act in violation of Church moral teaching. The lawsuit, which has already been rejected by a Superior Court in San Francisco, would force Mercy Medical Center in Redding, as well as the 29 other Catholic facilities in the Dignity Health network, to perform sterilization procedures in violation of Catholic teaching.

By its own admission, this is the first time the California Medical Association has moved to take legal action challenging a religious hospital system over its faith-based rules. In doing so, it is joining the ACLU’s nationwide campaign of aggression against the religious freedom of Catholic hospitals—a campaign that has been repeatedly struck down by the courts. As San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith said in his January ruling in favor of Mercy Medical Center, “Religious-based hospitals have an enshrined place in American history and its communities, and the religious beliefs reflected in their operation are not to be interfered with by courts at this moment in history.”

This is not exclusively a Catholic issue. As law professor Steven H. Resnicoff, co-director of the Center for Jewish Law and Judaic Studies at DePaul University, explains, “Jewish law generally opposes abortion. Governmental measures that would require Jews or Jewish organizations to assist or enable conduct that violates Jewish law, such as religiously impermissible abortions, would impinge on their religious freedom.”

Yet the ACLU seems exclusively focused on attacking the religious freedom of Catholic hospitals to operate according to their religious beliefs. The California Medical Association should think long and hard about whether they want to be led down that road of religious intolerance by the ACLU.

Bill Donohue comments on the Catholic League’s campaign against the ABC show, “The Real O’Neals,” and why he is asking Geico to drop its sponsorship:

Please contact Tony Blue in Geico public relations and tell him how offended Catholics are by a show that is based on the life of an obscene anti-Catholic bigot, Dan Savage (who is also an executive producer), and why we are requesting that Geico stop advertising on the show.

Contact: anblue@geico.com

Bill Donohue comments on the Catholic League’s ongoing campaign against the ABC show, “The Real O’Neals”:

It is extremely important that our supporters continue to ask the advertisers on this show to reconsider their sponsorship. For example, we have had productive conversations with several sponsors lately. In particular, we would like to single out Goya Foods, Inc. for their assurance that they will no longer advertise on the show.

We will ask our supporters to contact another sponsor starting again tomorrow.

Bill Donohue comments on the Catholic League’s campaign against the ABC show, “The Real O’Neals,” and why he is asking the Subaru Car Company to drop its sponsorship:

Please contact Michael McHale, Director of Corporate Communications for Subaru and tell him how offended Catholics are by a show that is based on the life of an obscene anti-Catholic bigot, Dan Savage (who is also an executive producer), and why we are requesting that Subaru stop advertising on the show.

Contact: mmchale@subaru.com   

Bill Donohue comments on a new study by researchers at Northwestern University on what happens at conception:

The results of this study, published in Scientific Reports, are encouraging, but they are also cause for concern.

The researchers found that the moment the sperm and egg meet, they give off a bright flash of light. The microscopic zinc sparks are captured on video, providing graphic evidence of the beginning of human life. Due to legal restrictions, eggs were not fertilized with sperm; instead, they were injected with sperm enzyme.

This study is encouraging because it offers a birds-eye view of the “fireworks” that are emitted at the first stage of life, thus undercutting the pro-abortion position. After all, if conception is nothing more than the existence of “blobs,” or “material,” then how do the abortion-rights enthusiasts account for the light-emitting molecule probes that occur when the sperm and egg meet? Magic?

The researchers also found that the brighter the spark, the better the quality of the egg. This is cause for concern. As one of the senior researchers told the press, “This means if you can look at the zinc spark at the time of fertilization, you will know immediately which eggs are the good ones to transfer to in vitro fertilization.”

So what are we going to do with the eggs that emit a low-intensity light? Discard them (the way we do now)? What if the spark is a false alarm? In other words, what if the bright flash proves deceiving, and the parents subsequently learn that their baby is not Olympic healthy?

Science tells us what we can do—it does not tell us what to do. That’s where ethical guidelines are needed, and no institution has thought this issue through better than the Catholic Church. Embryos are not “stuff”—they are how we all began.

Bill Donohue comments on last night’s episode of the ABC show, “The Real O’Neals”:

Every time I think this show cannot get any worse, I am proven wrong. Last night’s episode featured Kenny, the adolescent homosexual, playing the role of Romeo in the school play, “Romeo and Juliet.”

His mother, Eileen, took the occasion to throw a make-believe wedding ceremony, even to the point of penning a seating chart. She did so because this is about as close as she’ll ever come to watching poor Kenny walk down the aisle.

After the play is over, Kenny says, “I do want to get married one day.” To which his brilliant mother says, “But not in a Catholic Church.” Kenny then shows his chops by replying, “I don’t know about that. The new pope drives a Fiat.”

Good thing they have canned laughter in this show. Imagine how lines like these would go over in front of a live audience. Pathetic is too mild a word to describe this script.

Contact Disney-ABC chief: ben.sherwood@abc.com

Bill Donohue comments on the Catholic League’s campaign against the ABC show, “The Real O’Neals,” and why he is asking Goya Foods, Inc. to drop its sponsorship:

Please contact Natalie Maniscalco, press contact for Goya Foods, Inc. and tell her how offended Catholics are by a show that is based on the life of an obscene anti-Catholic bigot, Dan Savage (who is also an executive producer), and why we are requesting that Goya Foods, Inc. stop advertising on the show.

Contact: Natalie@retromedianyc.com

Bill Donohue comments on the Catholic League’s campaign against the ABC show, “The Real O’Neals,” and why he is asking Ford, owner of Lincoln Motor Company, to drop its sponsorship:

Please contact Ford and tell them how offended Catholics are by a show that is based on the life of an obscene anti-Catholic bigot, Dan Savage (who is also an executive producer), and why we are requesting that they stop advertising Lincoln Motor Company on the show.

Contact: media@ford.com

Bill Donohue replies to a critical article on the Catholic Church:

Last week I saw an article on a British website, The Conversation, that was critical of the Church. I did not respond, but I will now: it has been picked up by Newsweek and was posted on the front page of Yahoo.

The author, Brendan Canavan, teaches marketing in England. He seeks to account for the alleged collapse of Catholicism and, fortunately, provides links to articles that support his position. I say “fortunately” because in point of fact the support is often thin, non-existent, or even contradictory.

He says the Church is one of the “most profitable brands in history.” This may come as a shock to a marketing professor in the U.K., but the Church is not a “brand.” As for its alleged “profitability,” the author links to an article that details how unprofitable it is today.

Similarly, he concludes that the sexual abuse scandal “has irreparably” tarnished the Church. He links to an article in a British tabloid that discusses how one man said he was molested 35 years ago, and mentions a study about priestly sexual abuse that covered decades-old cases.

He cites the decline in Catholic congregations as a sign that it needs to become more relevant, yet the piece he links to admits that the trendy Protestant denominations have been in free-fall for decades. Hello! He says the Church’s problems with gays threaten a “schism,” yet the linked article never mentions anything about a “schism.” That’s a big charge—it demands big evidence. There isn’t any.

To substantiate his position that the Catholic “brand” needs updating, he links to articles that discuss the tobacco and auto industry. Swell. Similarly, he says, “Research suggests that anti-gay and anti-science attitudes are turning people away from religion in the U.S.” The linked article quotes one young woman, and she complained about politicians.

In short, Newsweek and Yahoo have been had. But I guess they liked the story so much that the lack of supporting data were deemed irrelevant.

Bill Donohue comments on the Catholic League’s campaign against the ABC show, “The Real O’Neals,” and why he is asking Delta Airlines to drop its sponsorship:

Please contact Kevin Shinkle, Senior VP and Chief Communications Officer for Delta Airlines and tell him how offended Catholics are by a show that is based on the life of an obscene anti-Catholic bigot, Dan Savage (who is also an executive producer), and why we are requesting that Delta Airlines stop advertising on the show.

Contact: Kevin.shinkle@delta.com