FW: [aaplog] An opportunity for women to be heard

[Guest guest]

Another angle.Les Ruppersberger, D.O.(this, in my opinion, needs women on the front line; if I, as a male Ob/Gyn, I lose a little credibility to the females of the opposite side as they posit this as a “women’s reproductive rights” issue; the female truth bearers must bear the witness in this battle to let women know that they know and use the sanctity of life and love concept to exercise their free wills in family planning and don’t need any chemicals or devices that have abortifacient, breast cancer causing, cervical cancer causing products to manage their fertility! From: aaplog [mailto:aaplog ] On Behalf Of Joe DeCookSent: Friday, March 09, 2012 2:18 PMTo: aaplog Subject: [aaplog] An opportunity for women to be heard March 9, 2012Dear Women ProLife Colleagues: Here is an opportunity to be heard on the contraception/conscience issue, whatever faith background you are from. The following is from the National Catholic Bioethics Center:All women of truth, reached directly, or indirectly by those who receive this:Please go to http://womenspeakforthemselves.com/ and sign the letter reflecting that as women " We Speak for Ourselves. " You will find my name there with an extraordinary list of women; and I invite you to join us.OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, SECRETARY SEBELIUS AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESSDON'T CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR ALL WOMENGo to http://womenspeakforthemselves.com/ and sign on if you are in accord. If you don't stand for your values, who will? This is the text of the letter:We are women who support the competing voice offered by Catholic institutions on matters of sex, marriage and family life. Most of us are Catholic, but some are not. We are Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Many, at some point in our careers, have worked for a Catholic institution. We are proud to have been part of the religious mission of that school, or hospital, or social service organization. We are proud to have been associated not only with the work Catholic institutions perform in the community – particularly for the most vulnerable -- but also with the shared sense of purpose found among colleagues who chose their job because, in a religious institution, a job is always also a vocation.Those currently invoking " women's health " in an attempt to shout down anyone who disagrees with forcing religious institutions or individuals to violate deeply held beliefs are more than a little mistaken, and more than a little dishonest. Even setting aside their simplistic equation of " costless " birth control with " equality, " note that they have never responded to the large body of scholarly research indicating that many forms of contraception have serious side effects, or that some forms act at some times to destroy embryos, or that government contraceptive programs inevitably change the sex, dating and marriage markets in ways that lead to more empty sex, more non-marital births and more abortions. It is women who suffer disproportionately when these things happen.No one speaks for all women on these issues. Those who purport to do so are simply attempting to deflect attention from the serious religious liberty issues currently at stake. Each of us, Catholic or not, is proud to stand with the Catholic Church and its rich, life-affirming teachings on sex, marriage and family life. We call on President Obama and our Representatives in Congress to allow religious institutions and individuals to continue to witness to their faiths in all their fullness.Marie T. Hilliard, JCL, PhD, RNDirector of Bioethics and Public PolicyThe National Catholic Bioethics Center6399 Drexel RoadPhiladelphia, PA 19151