Tag: featured

What Planned Parenthood does and does not do

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A few days ago I posted a link on my Facebook wall to one of the videos concerning the recent Planned Parenthood scandal. In a response, one of my friends wrote “…in low income and rural areas planned parenthood is the only clinic available to women for women’s health”. My friend Rachel asked what kind of services they provide, but never received a reply.

Well, undeterred, Rachel did some digging and yesterday she posted a link on my wall to something posted by Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee. I wanted to reproduce it here in its entirety:

AbbyJohnson

This is for people who say Planned Parenthood provides so many services for women. Here are the facts. Planned Parenthood should NEVER be your “go to” for healthcare.

Planned Parenthood does NOT provide:

-Mammograms
-Prenatal Care
-Breast Biopsies
-Breast Cancer Diagnostic Care
-Primary Health Care
-Diabetes Treatment
-Treatment for Elevated Cholesterol
-Treatment for Elevated Blood Pressure
-Holistic Medicine
-Obstetrical Care
-Pediatric Care
-Care for HIV Positive Individuals
-Infertility Treatments
-Natural Family Planning Instruction
-Care for Uterine Fibroids
-Treatment for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
-Adoption Placement
-Prostate Exams
-Uterine Laser Ablation
-Cervical Laser Ablation
-Miscarriage Management
-Bladder Disorders and Urinary Problems
-Prolapsed Pelvic Floor Concerns
-Laparoscopic Procedures
-Hysterectomy
-Treatment of Endometriosis
-Polyp Removal
-Endometrial Ablation
-BRCA Testing
-Bone Density Testing
-Treatment of Pelvic Pain
-Treatment of Vulvar Pain
-Molar Pregnancy Follow Up

Planned Parenthood DOES provide:

-First and Second Trimester Abortions
-Limited STD testing and treatment
-Pap Smears for Women in Child Bearing Years
-Limited Contraceptive Methods

Just wanted to put some of the myths to rest.

Discussions about marriage

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Facebook continues to buzz with threads discussing the SCOTUS decision concerning same-sex marriage. I have engaged in some of these online discussions but I’ve continued to find them disappointing. As I pointed out in my earlier post, I’ve found the level of argumentation displayed in these exchanges typically to be rather low. I’ve found that even to call into question the soundness of the SCOTUS decision is to simply invite a tirade of abuse and name-calling.

There have, however, been a few occasions where the exchanges have more closely resembled a dialogue. As I’ve previously written, when involved in apologetics, I try to be socratic in my approach, mainly restricting myself to asking questions. Today’s post is simply to share the kinds of questions I typically ask when discussing the subject of same-sex marriage…

SCOTUS

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Christian Hypocrites: The Sanctuary and the Stage

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The word “hypocrite” is used to describe Christians so regularly these days that it’s practically a cliché. What people intend to communicate when they describe Christians in this way is that Christians say one thing and yet do another.

In particular, they object to the fact that Christians say that one should not sin and yet they sin! As a result, some people think that the moniker of “hypocrite” is both justified and appropriate. Unfortunately, that’s not what the word means…

You keep using that word

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Facebook and Same-sex Marriage

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While I was on my blogging sabbatical, a lot happened. In particular, the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of redefining marriage to include unions between same-sex couples. In the run-up to the Court’s decision, Facebook was awash with memes, articles and status posts about the issue.

I’d like to spend today’s post reflecting upon some of the things I saw online this past month…

Facebook

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New Podcast: Catholic Bytes

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My friend Joe is studying at the North American College in Rome, where he’s surrounded by brilliant English-speaking Catholics from around the globe: classmates, professors, and various luminaries who pass through their halls while doing more important things. Together with some of his classmates, they’ve decided to take advantage of this fact and create a regular Catholic podcast: interviewing experts in liturgy, theology, Church history, and several other fields.

The result is Catholic Bytes podcast (CatholicBytesPodcast.com): it’s designed to be frequent (once or twice a week), short (under 10 minutes), clear (we’ve got multiple reviewers doing quality control), and orthodox. Oh, and the first episode got released today…enjoy 🙂

Getting that date: Five suggestions

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Date MeSo, a while back I wrote a series of posts on the subject of dating which turned out to be rather popular. People clearly love to read and talk about relationships! At the end of the series, several of my friends asked me if I would be writing more entries, but I told them that I’d already said everything I had to share on the subject.

Well…it turns out that I was wrong, because here I am, a year later, writing another post on the subject of dating. A while back, I had a friend of mine message me and say “I wanna ask someone out. Any ideas for a date and how should I ask her out?” Clearly, word had got around that I now have a beautiful girlfriend and this qualifies me to answer a question of this magnitude!

Seriously though, as I wrote in an earlier article, Catholic guys are generally pretty terrible at asking girls out, so I think it’s worth publishing the answer I gave my friend. Not everyone will agree with what I have to say, but that’s fine, please leave a message in the comment box.

Now, I have not always followed the suggestions I am about to give below, but I wish I had. My advice represents the solution to some of the different kinds of mistakes I’ve made in the past… 🙂

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What works in your diocese?

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I know that a lot of people who read this blog don’t live in San Diego. I also know that many of you are involved in ministry in some way, especially youth and young adult ministry. Therefore, I thought I’d do a post outlining some of the things we do here in San Diego which have proven popular, in case you wanted to try the same thing in your Diocese.

1. Theology On Tap
I expect most areas of the country have implemented a Theology On Tap programme. Simply put, you take over a restaurant or bar and have a speaker present on a topic for 45 minutes. There’s usually some Q&A and some group discussion. If you want a good turn-out make sure you do a talk on relationships every now and again 🙂

2. The Mega Series
This was something that we came up with in this diocese. Very often Catholics can feel isolated. This is particularly true of young Catholics when most of the people in their parish are significantly older. What the Mega Series attempts to do is bring large numbers of young adults together in traditional devotions, followed by a social. The goal of this is to remind Catholics that they are not alone and are part of a much larger Church. The three main “mega” events we’ve had have been:

(a) Mega Mass

(b) Mega Adoration

(c) Mega Rosary

3. Bible Study
One of the most popular events in the Diocese is the Young Adult Bible study and it’s very often one of the first “spiritual” events new arrivals attend. Given this, it’s important that the Bible study has a strong social and welcoming dimension.

4. Rosary and Adoration
Very often we try complicated, clever things to attract young adults and youths. However, I’ve seen time and again that simply having a night of adoration or recitation of the rosary attracts significant numbers of people.

5. Holiday Parties
The Young Adult Christmas Party in San Diego this is the social event of the year. Everyone gets dressed up, has dinner together and dances the night away. The other major holidays of the year (Memorial Day etc.) are likewise marked with a substantial gathering.

6. Sports
Here is San Diego there is a thriving Catholic Ultimate Frisbee community, in addition to many other sports.

7. Dancing
About four times a year I teach a dance lesson in the Diocese, usually either Salsa or Swing, and there’s always a solid turn-out.

Do any San Diegans have any other thoughts on what works well in our Diocese? What about those of you from elsewhere in the country? What events seem to be most engaging?

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