Pray for Life

With thanks to the Wolf Tracker at Kansas City Catholic:

Passing It Along
From the Respect Life Office of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Dear Faithful Bloggers:

Below is an email sent out from our office, the Respect Life Office at the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I respectfully ask you to consider blogging about our efforts to affirm one of the most consistent pro-life bills to pass a legislature in the last 30 years. At the very least, please encourage your readers to pray for our state as we work to educate our citizens on the tragedy of abortion and our call as Christians to try to defeat the culture of death that permeates our nation. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office. Thank you in advance for any consideration you can give.

__________________________

Dear Friends:

Pope John Paul II once said: "[W]e are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the “culture of death” and the “culture of life”. We find ourselves not only “faced with” but necessarily “in the midst of” this conflict: we are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.” (Evangelium Vitae, "The Gospel of Life", 28).

This past legislative session, the South Dakota legislature passed the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act (HB 1215). Pro-abortion individuals and groups, including Planned Parenthood and the inappropriately named "South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families", have collected enough signatures to place this bill on the November 7, 2006, ballot for a vote of the people. The bill will be entitled "Referred Law 6", and a "Yes" vote will affirm the bill, while a "No" vote will kill it.

South Dakota is "in the midst of" a great spiritual battle against the culture of death, as HB 1215 has brought the issue of abortion to the forefront in our state. The Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls has created several prayer and educational aids:

Letter to the Faithful from Apostolic Administrator Bishop Samuel J. Aquila
An educational booklet entitled "Response of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls to the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act (HB 1215 - Referred Law 6)"
Prayer Card - "Prayer to Affirm HB 1215 - Referred Law 6"
Prayer Guide - that includes a Prayer Service for the specific intent of a successful "Yes" vote on HB 1215 - Referred Law 6
All four of these, which many of you will also be receiving in hard copy through the mail, are available in printable formats on the Campaign to Affirm HB 1215 page of the Catholic Advocate Network (CAN) website at: www.sfcatholic.org/can. Please review these documents and pass them on through your networks to help in the education and prayer campaign in support of HB 1215.

In addition, citizens from across South Dakota, from different faiths, and all walks of life (including farmers, pastors, doctors, teachers, lawyers, counselors, and many others) have formed a citizen led group called “Vote Yes For Life” that is leading the campaign to educate South Dakotans on the importance of this bill, and to counter the pro-abortion forces in our state. Part of their educational campaign is a powerful DVD with testimonies from South Dakota women. Please visit their website at: www.voteyesforlife.com.

Let us join in daily prayer across our diocese and beyond, that hearts and minds will be open to the truth about abortion and that others will choose to be "unconditionally pro-life" so that we can prevail over the culture of death. If you have any questions about this campaign, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

In Christ's Love for Life,

Kelly J. Benson, Esq. Co-Director, Respect Life Office Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls 523 North Duluth Avenue Sioux Falls SD 57104-2714 605-988-3756