Is It a Good Idea for a Couple to Have 19 Kids?

I originally posted the entry that appears below with the title "Is It a Good Idea for a Couple to Have 18 Kids?" on February 2, 2009.

I'm reposting it today in response to this week's People magazine cover:



Seven weeks ago, the now famous Duggar family welcomed the birth of their 18th child.

The next day, a college friend of mine asked me what my take was on said birth.

My short answer: God bless 'em.

I wanted to write more than just this, but hadn't the time.

Now, however, I do.

It seems to me that the question really being asked here—not just by my friend, I suspect, but also countless others—is:

Is it a good idea for a couple to have 18 kids?

This, to my mind, is the wrong to question to ask (or, at least the wrong question to ask first).

Rather, the question to ask is:

Is a given married couple following God's will?

This question can be answered only by 3 people:

1. God
2. Husband
3. Wife

Well, five, really, since God is actually Three Persons, but I digress.

I have exactly no competence to diagnose whether a given married couple (be they the Duggars, or the parents of a guy I used to work with—who had 21 children—or the couple I see at the park who have one child) is following God's will in determining how many children they should have.

Heck, I have enough trouble discerning if I'm following God's will, much less trying to figure out if other people are.

On the contrary, acting in good faith, I can only assume that they are.

Of course, when it comes to morally licit options for planning a family, contraception is right out. (**Shameless plug follows**
And, as it happens, I was recently asked by Sunnyday, one of my e-friends in the Philippines, to speak to the question, "Will contraceptive use make parents more responsible?" in a Filipino parenting magazine. I did so here [PDF].)

Another point to make is that the Duggars endorse the Quiverfull movement (sometimes colloquially referred to as "providentialism"), which teaches that natural family planning is, for all intents and purposes, tantamount to contraception. On its face, such a notion is untenable.

But again, for a given married couple, the decision of whether they could or should use NFP to space pregnancies is up to them to determine—with God's help, natch.

On this topic, a Catholic friend of mine told me not long ago that in the course of an online discussion with other Catholic women about NFP, someone tried to convince the group that it was necessary for a couple to get their bishop's permission before they could use NFP.

When my friend told me that, I had a sudden urge to run to the nearest wall and start banging my head against it in sheer frustration that there could be such profound misunderstanding of what the Church really teaches about when a couple can use NFP.

Christopher West speaks to this topic more extensively in an article entitled "God, Sex, and Babies: What the Church Really Teaches about Responsible Parenthood". And, the uber-intelligent Dr. Janet Smith offers a lengthier, more scholarly treatment of this issue in an essay entitled "Moral Use of Natural Family Planning" [PDF].

All this is to say that while QuiverFull is based on a false belief (i.e., that natural family planning is incompatible with God's will), it is also most emphatically not true to say that a given couple who elects not to "use" NFP within their own marriage is acting irresponsibly by foregoing consultation of charts and thermometers—and by so doing, end up giving birth to 18, or 21, or [insert number here] children.

So, once again, my three word comment on the Duggars' welcoming their 18th child:

God bless 'em.

And indeed, He has.

FDA Puts the Brakes on Embryonic Stem Cell Research Trial

Earlier this year I wrote about the FDA's decision to approve a Geron Corporation embryonic stem cell trial in humans, for which I was interviewed by CBS2 News. (You can see the hopelessly biased story here.)

After the interview, off-camera, I remarked to the reporter that I hoped no spinal cord injury patients would end up getting hurt as a result of this trial, but given the tendency of embryonic stem cells to form tumors, I couldn't see much reason for optimism.

Now we find out that the trial is being "delayed". And, given Geron's history of snake oil salesmanship, the rapacious hucksters may never get their chance.

Meanwhile, advances in adult stem cell research continue apace.

Webinar Wrap-Up

I did my “Making the Case for Life” webinar last night, and I’m really happy with how it went!

Even if you weren’t ableto participate live, it was recorded, it's available here.)

You're Invited to a Free Pro-Life Webinar!

A few months ago, I traveled to Lansing, MI and gave my "Making the Case for Life" presentation for the Homeschoolers 4 Life club.

The club's moderator, Maureen Wittmann, told me afterward that both the kids and the adults really liked it, and she asked if I'd be interested in doing it again as an online seminar (webinar).

I was thrilled by the offer!

I'm happy to announce that I'll be doing it Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 8:30 PM Eastern time (7:30 PM Central time), and I'd like to invite you to attend.

If you've never been part of a webinar before, I encourage you to give it a try. You'll be able to hear and see me live as well as my talk, and you'll also be able to communicate with me and other attendees via an organized chat. (It's a lot like attending a live presentation, only you'll be in your own house.)

What will I be talking about? Here's the brief description listed on the information page:

Have you ever been in a conversation about abortion and found yourself struggling to defend your pro-life beliefs?

"Making the Case for Life" looks at the most common arguments used by abortion advocates and explains how to respond from a pro-life point of view.

This presentation is geared toward teenagers and adults.

This will be my first ever webinar, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Join thou me! You can register here.

Obama at Notre Dame

Thursday last I set out early in the morning for Michigan to give a talk to Homeschoolers 4 Life club in Lansing and to meet with the officers of the Pro-Life Club at Garden City High School in Garden City before heading to a Catholic grade school in Ypsilanti to give a chastity talk to a group of eighth graders that evening.

Both talks were very well received, I'm happy to say, and I was thrilled at all the good things the newly formed club at Garden City has done this past year.

Getting back Friday afternoon, I had opted to work from home the rest of the day instead of coming into the office.

Thus, I was the last Pro-Life Action League staff member to find out that President Obama had been invited to give the commencement address at Notre Dame.

Upon learning this via an e-mail that had come earlier in the day from one of our supporters, I momentarily wondered if it might be worth contacting my co-workers in the unlikely event they hadn't heard.

Moments later, though, I realized this wasn't necessary, as when I checked my e-mail again, I saw that my boss, Joe Scheidler, had just issued a press release.

And here's the article posted Friday on the PLAL homepage that accompanied it.

Throwing Good Money After Bad and Failing to Avoid "Ethical Drawbacks"

I just did a tag-team interview (along with my boss, Joe Scheidler) with a reporter from FOX 32 News for a story on Obama's decision to lift restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research throw good money after bad — which, incidentally, will result in the killings of yet more tiny human beings.

I'm told the story will air during their 9:00 pm news tonight.

Speaking of which, I couldn't help but notice this sentence in an article in Friday's Chicago Tribune about the latest advance in adult stem cell research (induced pluripotent stem cell — iPS cell — research, to be precise):

The [iPS] cells offer the benefits of embryonic stem cells without the ethical drawbacks.

So not killing human beings is seen merely as avoiding an "ethical drawback"?

Mmm-kay.

25 Things Pertaining to, about, Or Otherwise Concerning Me

Well, because of the ironclad Someone On Facebook Tagged Me rule, I'm now obliged to list 25 things about myself.

That said:

1. When I was a kid, I had a terrible stuttering problem, such that I had to ride the short bus twice a week from the Catholic school I attended to a nearby public school, where I took speech therapy.

2. My wife, Jocelyn -- who is the most beautiful woman in the world -- and I have four kids, and we're expecting our fifth in April. When people ask us how many children we want, we honestly tell them we don't know, but that we have no plans to stop any time soon.

3. It greatly bothers me when people throw things away that could be recycled.

4. I rarely go out to eat, but when I do, I believe it's critically important to tip at least 20%.

5. I think it's terribly rude to not say, "Thank you" to a server when he brings you your food at a restaurant.

6. I enjoy long, impassioned discussions about things that many other people would consider not worth arguing about.

7. I am probably the only person I know who is a fan of the Tridentine Mass (the "old" Latin Mass), and who doesn't mind a polka Mass. (Truth be told, I've only been to a polka Mass once in my life, but I rather liked it.)

8. I'm of the opinion that cluttering up people's inboxes with forwarded e-mails is one of the most annoying things a person can do.

9. I took a sick day from work on December 2, 2003, and before that, the last time I missed a day of school or work due to sickness prior to that was when I was in sixth grade (1989-1990). Since 12/2/03, I have taken only one sick day for myself, on October 17, 2008, when I had pink eye, although I would contend that that day would require a Roger Maris-like asterisk placed next to it, as Jocelyn was on her fifth straight day of being sick with a bad case of pneumonia, so I probably would have stayed home that day anyway to take care for her and watch our kids.

10. Although I've never lived in New York City myself, I've been there three times, and find the city utterly fascinating.

11. For many of the past eight winters, I've grown a beard, mostly because I like not having to worry about taking the time to shave in the morning.

12. I once ate a Pop Tart whose outside wrapper had been opened for at least a month. Before eating it, I said, a la Homer Simpson, "Mmmmmm.....month-old Pop Tart...aaaaaagggggghhhhhhh." Believe it or not, it tasted no different than a Pop Tart that had just been opened a few seconds earlier. Can you imagine how many preservatives must be in one of those things? (It might also be worth noting that I've not eaten a Pop Tart since.)

13. I'm a big fan of musicals. Among my favorites are "The Music Man", "Guys & Dolls", "Anything Goes", and "Fiddler on the Roof" (the last three of which I've had parts in productions thereof).

14. I think putting cry rooms in churches is an extraordinarily stupid idea.

15. I started drinking coffee when I started student-teaching, during my senior year of college. Every teacher I had in grade school and high school, as far as I can remember, drank coffee, so I figured all teachers probably did. In turn, I figured I'd better start. I hated it at first -- probably because I started on instant -- but I soon grew to like it. Now I love coffee, and drink 3-4 cups a day.

16. Most of the clothes I wear I've either received as gifts, or else I've bought at thrift stores. Some of my clothes I've had since high school, and at least one shirt I still wear I've had since 8th grade.

17. I have strongly held opinions on parenting, but when I talk to new or prospective parents, I always try to avoid giving parenting advice, preferring instead to tell them that if they'd like our advice, we'd be happy to give it if they'd like it. (This is largely because when Jocelyn and I were expecting Teresa, our first child, not a few people gave us entirely unsolicited advice -- most of which we didn't agree with. This, I thought, was terribly intrusive.)

18. I try to use archaic words whenever possible (e.g., "motorcar" instead of "car"; "aeroplane" instead of "airplane"; "constable" instead of "policeman" -- well, you get the idea).

19. I tend to admire people who are cynical toward most of the other members of their professions. This is most evident, I think, in my attitude toward doctors. If I (or more likely, somebody else in our family, per #9) get sick, I don't want to go to some AMA lackey who managed to not fail out of medical school; I want to go to someone who realizes that medicine is about treating not just the body, but the whole human person.

20. I have a shrew-like metabolism, and I like to eat (or at least don't mind eating) just about anything -- with one of few exceptions being eggplant.

21. I once came up with a theory that if a white guy was born in the 1970s, and if he was a geek during high school, then during those same high school years, it's a near certainty that he also had a fanatical devotion to one of three bands: Rush, Yes, or Jethro Tull. (I later added Pink Floyd as a fourth possibility, per the suggestion of my co-worker Matt Yonke.)

My fanatical devotion during high school was to Rush.

22. When I ride my bike to work -- which I frequently like to do during the spring, summer, and fall months -- the 12-mile commute often takes less time than it does on days when I drive.

23. My favorite writer is G.K. Chesterton.

24. At one time in my life, shortly after I started college, I believed that "overpopulation" posed a serious problem for the world, and had doubts about the Catholic Church's teaching against contraception. When I discovered that overpopulation, um, wasn't a problem, that prompted me to learn more about the Church's teachings on sexuality.

The wisdom in the Church's teachings blew me away. Not long thereafter, I began taking my faith more seriously, and for the first time in my life, I started going to confession regularly. I shudder to think at what my life would be like now, had I not come to that turning point.

25. For the past (almost) nine years since graduating from college, I've worked with teenagers -- for four years as a high school teacher, and for the past four+ as the co-director of a pro-life youth outreach. I love working with teenagers, and I hope I can continue doing so for a long time.

Is It a Good Idea for a Couple to Have 18 Kids?

Seven weeks ago, the now famous Duggar family welcomed the birth of their 18th child.

The next day, a college friend of mine asked me what my take was on said birth.

My short answer: God bless 'em.

I wanted to write more than just this, but hadn't the time.

Now, however, I do.

It seems to me that the question really being asked here—not just by my friend, I suspect, but also countless others—is:

Is it a good idea for a couple to have 18 kids?

This, to my mind, is the wrong to question to ask (or, at least the wrong question to ask first).

Rather, the question to ask is:

Is a given married couple following God's will?

This question can be answered only by 3 people:

1. God
2. Husband
3. Wife

Well, five, really, since God is actually Three Persons, but I digress.

I have exactly no competence to diagnose whether a given married couple (be they the Duggars, or the parents of a guy I used to work with—who had 21 children—or the couple I see at the park who have one child) is following God's will in determining how many children they should have.

Heck, I have enough trouble discerning if I'm following God's will, much less trying to figure out if other people are.

On the contrary, acting in good faith, I can only assume that they are.

Of course, when it comes to morally licit options for planning a family, contraception is right out. (**Shameless plug follows**
And, as it happens, I was recently asked by Sunnyday, one of my e-friends in the Philippines, to speak to the question, "Will contraceptive use make parents more responsible?" in a Filipino parenting magazine. I did so here [PDF].)

Another point to make is that the Duggars endorse the Quiverfull movement (sometimes colloquially referred to as "providentialism"), which teaches that natural family planning is, for all intents and purposes, tantamount to contraception. On its face, such a notion is untenable.

But again, for a given married couple, the decision of whether they could or should use NFP to space pregnancies is up to them to determine—with God's help, natch.

On this topic, a Catholic friend of mine told me not long ago that in the course of an online discussion with other Catholic women about NFP, someone tried to convince the group that it was necessary for a couple to get their bishop's permission before they could use NFP.

When my friend told me that, I had a sudden urge to run to the nearest wall and start banging my head against it in sheer frustration that there could be such profound misunderstanding of what the Church really teaches about when a couple can use NFP.

Christopher West speaks to this topic more extensively in an article entitled "God, Sex, and Babies: What the Church Really Teaches about Responsible Parenthood". And, the uber-intelligent Dr. Janet Smith offers a lengthier, more scholarly treatment of this issue in an essay entitled "Moral Use of Natural Family Planning" [PDF].

All this is to say that while QuiverFull is based on a false belief (i.e., that natural family planning is incompatible with God's will), it is also most emphatically not true to say that a given couple who elects not to "use" NFP within their own marriage is acting irresponsibly by foregoing consultation of charts and thermometers—and by so doing, end up giving birth to 18, or 21, or [insert number here] children.

So, once again, my three word comment on the Duggars' welcoming their 18th child:

God bless 'em.

And indeed, He has.

Never Say No to the Media

After flying back from Washington this morning after the March yesterday — which was HUGE, btw — I came directly into the office, and five minutes later got a call from CBS2 News asking if they could interview someone about this story.

Nearly all of my co-workers are still in Washington, so it fell on me as to whether to accept the interview or not.

My boss, Joe Scheidler, has always said that we should never turn down an interview request by the media, so even though I hadn't even heard about the story, I agreed to do it.

That gave me about an hour to read up on it.

The pro-life blogosphere's go-to guys on stem cell research matters are JivinJehoshaphat and Wesley Smith. True to form, Smith had already blogged about this story this morning, which was a big help to me.

I just finished the interview, which will supposedly air at 5:00pm tonight on CBS2 News.

Think "Wayne's World" — Only Completely Different

A few months ago, our office got a call from a woman named Rebecca Marcovitz, who had several questions about the legality of abortion in our country. Like so many Americans, she was incredulous that late-term abortions are legal, and I confirmed that despite how unbelievable it sounds, abortion is effectively legal at any point during pregnancy.

We had a long conversation, during which she asked many questions and during which I had the chance to tell her about the grassroots pro-life activism the Pro-Life Action League helps people to get involved with.

After talking with her for a while, she mentioned that she produces a Christian program called "A Fork in the Road" on a local cable access channel, and she asked if I would like to be on the show some time, where I would have 30 minutes to talk about whatever I felt inspired to talk about pertaining to the pro-life cause.

Even though I'd never done anything quite like this before, I told her I was flattered by invitation, and that I would gladly accept. (My boss, Joe Scheidler, always recommends to pro-lifers that they accept without hesitation any invitation from the media to share the pro-life message.)

In preparation for the show, I asked Joe if I could "borrow" the talk he's given hundreds of times on the spiritual underpinnings of the pro-life movement. The outline for his talk provided the basis for the first part of what I would talk about, after which I went into a discussion of one of the more controversial activist tactics we employ, and about which I have written previously herein—that of showing graphic abortion pictures in public.

The show was taped yesterday at a studio in Highland Park, IL, and I was happy with how it went. I'm told it will run once a week for two weeks (or more?) in numerous suburban markets in Chicagoland—mostly in the north and northwest suburbs, but apparently also some in and around Naperville as well—and, interestingly enough, 540 miles away in Hibbing, MN, which is right next to Chisholm, the town where I was born.

In Esteemed Company (Part 2)

The conference in Nebraska went very well. This was the first time I'd given a talk of any significant duration to a (mostly) adult audience, and I was pleased with it. And, talking with folks afterward, it seemed to be well received.

And there was much rejoicing...

The teen conference we ran earlier in the day also went very well. The organizers were hoping for at least 100 students; some 150 attended!

We also got a lot of great feedback on the conference evaluation forms. Here are some of the comments we received:


"I learned a lot being here. It changed my thinking on what abortion really is and it made me think of how I can help others to see what we see."

"I am glad I came. I think the pro-life message is important for today's young people to support because we are the future and change will only occur if we are willing to stand up for what we believe."

"The conference was inspirational and motivational! It made me want to go out and make a difference!"

"Very informative and motivating! I love babies!"

"I thought it was really good. I didn't know what to expect, but it was really well done, appealing, and getting to the point."

"You guys are awesome and I'm glad there's people who are trying to help every teen out in the fight for life."

"I thought it was very informative and inspired me to get more involved."

"Very good! Thank you so much! I've been very pro-life my entire life but I learned so much about WHY I am today."

"It was really informative, a great way to meet kids with the same values."

"I learned a lot and enjoyed seeing my peers believe in the same things."

"I thought it was good to learn how I can defend what I believe. It also really stuck out to me when the video said we need to educate ourselves -- showed me how much more responsible I need to become."

I particularly liked this one:

"I loved it soooo much and am going to argue with my pro-choice teacher about everything."

Heh.

***

On a completely different note: Gas is A LOT CHEAPER in Nebraska than what we're used to paying in Cook Crook County.

In Esteemed Company

This Saturday, the speakers at the Nebraska Catholic Conference's "Celebrating 40 Years of Humanae Vitae" conference will be:

• Dr. Janet Smith, Chair of Life Ethics, Professor of Moral Theology, Sacred Heart Major Seminary


• Sr. Renee Mirkes, Director, Center for NaPro Ethics, Pope Paul VI Institute


• Susan Wills, Esq., Director of Education, Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops


• Me

To say that I'm flattered at this privilege would be a colossal understatement.

The talk I'll be giving is titled "A Springtime in the Church: Forming and Activating the Next Generation".

Earlier in the day, my co-worker Annie Casselman and I will be running the teen segment of the conference, the theme for which is "Reclaiming Our Generation for Life".

That said, I'll have my hands full with preparations these next few days, so I likely shan't be blogging again till next week.

In the meantime, prayers would be sincerely appreciated.

On TV, Part 2

I mentioned a couple days ago that I was interviewed by a reporter for CLTV for a story dealing with teen pregnancy and the debate over abstinence education vs. so-called comprehensive sex education.

I can't seem to link directly to the story, but you can watch it by going here. Then, in the search field below the video screen, type in "teen pregnancy on the rise", and it should be the first result.

Commenter Autodidact noted that the story was pretty fair, and I'd have to agree (especially when one considers the Gomer Pyle Axiom of High and Low Expectations).

Interestingly, the interviewee representing the "other" side of the issue, Soo Ji Min, works for the Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health (ICAH).

Two years ago, ICAH held its (adults-only) annual fundraiser at the Playboy offices. Last year, their (adults-only) fundraiser featured a stripper.

It's the economy values, stupid.

On TV

I just finished doing an interview with a reporter from CLTV for a story about abstinence education.

I'm told it will air on the 5:00pm news tonight. (Apparently the news also replays every half hour before 10:00pm.)

On the Air

I'll be a guest on Radio Maria this afternoon from 2:00 - 3:00pm (CDT).

You can listen online here.

"Cancer Vaccine"?

One particularly loathsome pet peeve of mine is the labeling of Gardasil as a "cancer vaccine", such as in this AP article that appeared in today's Chicago Tribune.

And although it might be shoveling sand against the tide, I'm of the opinion that we need to be vigilant about preventing the terms "Gardasil" and "cancer vaccine" from becoming synonymous to the popular mind.

Although I'll be surprised if it runs, here's the letter I just sent to the Tribune:


January 4, 2008

Voice of the People
Chicago Tribune
435 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611


Dear Editor,

Early last year, the Tribune printed a letter I wrote criticizing the paper’s labeling of Gardasil as a “cancer vaccine”.

Unfortunately, the Tribune continues to use this misnomer. In the article “Now, this shot might sting … a lot” (News, January 4), the opening sentence refers to the “groundbreaking vaccine that prevents cervical cancer”. Such wording implies that Gardasil is an inoculation again cervical cancer itself. It is not.

Gardasil’s developer, Merck & Co., claims that it prevents 99 percent of infections caused by two strains of HPV that cause about 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer. Gardasil provides no protection against the other 30 percent, and thus it is both inaccurate and irresponsible to call it a “cancer vaccine”.


Sincerely,

John Jansen
Co-Director
Generations for Life
Chicago

On the Radio

I just got a call to be on WJJG-AM 1530 tomorrow morning from 7:00 - 8:00 to discuss matters pro-life.

Should be fun.

***UPDATE: 11/30, 12:55 PM: That was fun. What's more, as a thank-you for being on the show, I got a $100 gift certificate for Le Titi de Paris — a place neither my wife nor I have ever been.

Woo hoo! (Or should I say "Oui, oui!")

Mmmm...free food.

The show's host, Rob Sherman, is quite an interesting fellow, and on a personal level, I can't help but like the guy.

He's both indefatigably pro-life and indefatigably an atheist. He's in the local news not infrequently, most recently for suing the State of Illinois over its moment-of-silence-in-public-schools-law.

"The Death of the Soul in the Reign of Pro-Choice"

Via Mark Shea, yesterday I came across a tour de force of pro-life apologetics—one of the most cogent, articulate, and comprehensive I've seen in recent memory—on the blog FideCogitActio. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

One complaint, however: The post—and apparently the entire blog—has black bars over all of the links therein, such that one cannot actually see the text of said links until one places one's cursor on said black bars. One commenter pointed this out, thinking it was a problem with his browser (the poor soul was using Internet Explorer (shiver); apparently no one's ever told him about Firefox), but then the post's author, the Cogitator, said the black bars are part of his "CIA fetish".

De gustibus, I guess.

The annoying black bars notwithstanding, it's one heckuva series of smackdowns of vacuous pro-abortion arguments.

And now for something (not) completely different

When I arrived last week at St. Peter's Parish in Geneva, IL for the talk I was to give that evening (which was very well received, I'm quite pleased to say), I was really impressed to see the sobering pro-life display on the front lawn of the church consisting of 3,560 white crosses—one for every baby killed every day here in the United States:

Let's Talk About Planned Parenthood

Earlier this week on the Generations for Life blog, I wrote about Planned Parenthood's disgustingly cynical and condescending attitude toward pro-life teenagers.

Last week on GFL, I wrote about Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area's connection with the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH), a group that has featured pornographers and strippers at their annual fundraiser the past two years.

In that post, I mentioned that PP/CA and ICAH have formed a a coalition whose goal is to strip all funding of abstinence education for Illinois schools and require them to use so-called comprehensive sex education programs instead.

Yet Planned Parenthood calls itself a "trusted health care provider", and says it "has always made the health and safety of teens one of its top priorities" by, for example, providing contraception to teens and sponsoring and promoting "comprehensive" sex education programs.

Trusted health care provider, health and safety of teens, top priorities...

So they say.

On Wednesday, October 17th, I'll be giving a talk on the physical, emotional, and spiritual dangers of "comprehensive" sex education programs. The title of my talk is, simply: Don't Trust Planned Parenthood.

It will be held at St. Peter's Church in Geneva, IL, 1891 Kaneville Road (see map here) at 7:00pm.

My talk is open to high school age students.

At the same time, and at the same church, Patricia Bainbridge, chairman of Human Life International and the Respect Life Office Director for the Rockford Diocese, will be giving a talk on Planned Parenthood to adults.

A flyer with more information on the talks is available here [PDF].

On the Air Tonight

I've been asked by Stephanie Wood to be a guest tonight (Thursday) on Next Wave Live, a program for Catholic young adults on EWTN Radio.

I'll be on around 8:15pm central time.

You can listen live here.