These past few weeks have been significant in the history of fighting the forces of evil, particularly for the Catholic and Lutheran residents of Missouri. Since we know you probably did not hear this good news from mainstream print and electronic media, we will inform you of what is happening.
Archbishop Robert Carlson of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri, and Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, issued a joint statement on October 5 dealing with the harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood and its cohorts. The statement refers specifically to the videos released by the Center for Medical Progress and, while defining them as “offensive,” points out that the facts in the videos speak for themselves.
In part, the statement reads,
It would be easier to forget what we have seen, to erase from our memories and our minds what we have heard. But the statements and actions of Planned Parenthood medical directors and technicians, captured on film and released by the Center for Medical Progress, are the kind we will not forget, the kind that cannot be unseen and unheard. . . .
The degradation of the bodies of these infant human beings is unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg. Those fetal tissue and organs are only available for sale because they are being killed through abortion. Over 57 million unborn children have been lost to abortion in our nation since 1973.
The toll of these lives lost is enormous. We are missing sons and daughters, siblings, spouses, coaches, scholars, mentors and friends.
Just two days later the Missouri Catholic Conference—the public policy organization that represents the Catholic bishops of Missouri—sent a letter to a St. Louis-based pathology lab urging it to end its business relationship with Planned Parenthood.
The lab, Pathology Services Inc., has been the target of ongoing pro-life protests led by Mary Maschmeier, founder of Defenders of the Unborn, who said, “All we know is that babies are brought here. What do they do to the babies? Where do they go from here?”
Even Missouri state health officials have publicly admitted that they have no idea what happens to the bodies of babies once Planned Parenthood aborts them. And to make matters worse, in late September, Missouri state officials found that Planned Parenthood did not mishandle the tissue from bodies of aborted children, thus exonerating everyone involved with the bloody business.
But wait!
Now the Missouri Catholic bishops and their conference have chosen to stand in the gap and defend truth. The MCC letter to Pathology Services makes that crystal clear, saying:
Your pathologists and technicians do not see these children in utero. They only receive fetal tissue in formaldehyde after the child’s life has been taken. Whether they fully appreciate it or not, your lab workers are part of the assembly line of the abortion industry. If you look back several steps and reflect upon what is going on, I am confident you will no longer want to be a part of this tragic process.
Mike Hoey, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, is to be commended for this principled, factual letter to a company that is involved in the blood-money ventures associated with Planned Parenthood.
And while we have yet to see a decision from Pathology Services indicating that it will no longer be partners with Planned Parenthood in this vile practice of using baby body parts for research, we are hopeful that such a decision is forthcoming.
In the meantime, we are grateful to the archbishop of St. Louis, Robert Carlson; President Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, Missouri Lutheran Synod; Bishop John Gaydos, Jefferson City, Missouri; Bishop James Johnston, Springfield-Cape Girardeau; Bishop Edward Rice, St. Louis; and of course Michael Hoey and the staff of the Missouri Catholic Conference. God bless them, each and every one.
If you would like to send these Godly men a note of appreciation for their dedication to preborn babies, their contact information is below.
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson: communications@archstl.org
Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison: lcms.org/contact-us
Bishop John Raymond Gaydos: diojeffcity.org/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=152
Bishop James V. Johnston Jr.:
The Catholic Center
601 S. Jefferson Ave.
Springfield, Missouri 65806
(417) 866-0841
Bishop Edward M. Rice: Auxbishop@archstl.org
Mike Hoey: mocatholic.org/contact-us-2
