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| Deja vu all over again |
| By calcatholic.com |
| Published: 04/07/2009 |
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The California Catholic Conference has announced its agenda for the 11th Annual Catholic Lobby Day on April 28 at the state capitol in Sacramento. As in years past, the published agenda makes no mention of abortion or other life issues like euthanasia or embryonic stem cell research. Instead, the approximately 700 Catholics from across the state expected to attend the event will be lobbying state legislators on three pieces of legislation: AB 1057, sponsored by Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which would extend the amount of time food-stamp recipients have to requalify for benefits from once a quarter to once every six months; Senate Bill 300 by state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, which would permit the reevaluation of juveniles sentenced to life in prison without parole after 10 years imprisonment; and AB 1048 by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, which would extend from 72 hours to 30 days the amount of time a newborn can be surrendered by a parent without criminal consequences. Also listed on the agenda, but with no details provided, is “California State Budget.” Last year’s Catholic Lobby Day was held on April 22 -- on the same day Planned Parenthood conducted its annual lobbying event -- and abortion was also absent from the list of issues considered priorities by the Catholic Conference. Longtime pro-life Catholic activist Wynette Sills of Sacramento met personally with California Conference executive director Ned Dolejsi seeking to add life issues to the lobbying efforts, but met with little success. “A lot of lay Catholics in the Sacramento area wanted to include the sanctity of life of the unborn in the participant’s package,” she told California Catholic Daily at the time. “They’ve (the Catholic Conference) already established their priority bills… and it didn’t include that topic, because there isn’t currently any legislation to defend the dignity of life of the unborn. Since the CCC agenda includes the topic of the budget, we were hoping, under that umbrella, to include a request of our legislators to eliminate abortion funding from our state budget. Isn’t it time it time to have conscientious objection to using our tax dollars for such an atrocious service as abortion?” Stills wanted to know last year why California’s bishops were waiting for legislators to make protecting human life an agenda item instead of aggressively pushing for anti-abortion legislation themselves. “There was a long discussion of that with the director (Dolejsi), and we’re trying to work with the leadership that exists in the lobbying arm of our bishops, and I am trying to be amicable and respectful to those in leadership positions,” Sills explained in last year’s interview. “But that question reflects a view that is commonly held by many Catholics. If it is not already in the legislative pipeline, then why aren’t we working towards it?” As a consequence of her inability to reach an agreement with Dolejsi and the Catholic Conference, she organized the first-ever “Capitol Day for Life,” held on June 18, 2008. The event drew close to 250 pro-lifers to the state capitol to lobby legislators to cut abortion funding from California’s budget. Sills said after the rally that she was pleased by the turnout. “For a weekday event in 97 degree temperatures, I think it was a healthy show of support,” she said. “More pro-life legislators came to speak in support at our rally than we had anticipated. And we had plenty of people to visit all the offices.” A pro-life source told California Catholic Daily yesterday that a similar “Capitol Day for Life” will be held again this year, but that specifics have yet to be ironed out. The California Catholic Conference’s agenda this year offers the following arguments in favor of the lobbying items selected: AB 1057 – “The federal Food Stamp Program is the nation’s first line of defense against hunger and food insecurity. Unfortunately, California's food nutrition program ranks third worst in the nation -- with only half of those eligible participating. When recipients fail to keep up with the program’s paperwork they are removed from the rolls. To get back on, they must start the whole application process over again.” Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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