Offices of Marriage, Family Life & Pro Life

Cardinal O'Malley Presents 2013 People of Life Awards to Three Women Leaders

WASHINGTON — A lawyer, a Franciscan health care executive, and a diocesan leader and social worker received the 2013 People of Life Award for lifetime commitment to the pro-life movement during an August 4 ceremony at the annual Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference held this year in Boston. The honorees were Frances X. Hogan, Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein and Barbara Thorp.

HHS Final Rule Still Requires Action in Congress, By Courts Says Cardinal Dolan

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ final rule on its mandate that requires employee health insurance for contraceptives, including abortion-causing drugs, and female sterilization does not appear, on first analysis, to eliminate “the need to continue defending our rights in Congress and the courts,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said July 3.

Gosnell Convictions Draw Attention to Tragedy of Abortion

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called for reflection, greater respect for human life and healing in the wake of the May 13 convictions of Dr. Kermit Gosnell of Philadelphia.

The Booklet 'Blessing of the Child in the Womb'

WASHINGTON—A new booklet on “The Blessing of the Child in the Womb” co-authored by the vice president and associate general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is now available from Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. “The Gift of Joy,” by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, and Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, explains the vocation of Christian mothers and fathers and how it relates to parish life and society as a whole.

Human Cloning Inconsistent with Human Dignity

WASHINGTON — Human cloning for any purpose is inconsistent with the moral responsibility to “treat each member of the human family as a unique gift of God, as a person with his or her own inherent dignity,” said the chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Cardinal O'Malley: New Vermont Assisted Suicide Law Reveals Slippery Slope

WASHINGTON - Cardinal Seán O'Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, warned of an "alarming trend nationwide" after Vermont legalized physician-assisted suicide, May 20. He called for "all people of good will to fight the future passage of such laws."

Bishop Blaire Welcomes Repeal of Death Penalty in Maryland

WASHINGTON — The repeal of the death penalty in Maryland represents a courageous step toward a culture of life, said the bishop who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

Office of Pro Life