Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Toledo Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, made a nationwide call to prayer earlier this week following a court ruling that allows Medicaid funding to continue for Planned Parenthood and other big abortion providers.
They said that history was made recently when Planned Parenthood and other big abortion businesses were banned from receiving federal Medicaid funds for a year. However, Planned Parenthood sued in federal court and a judge granted part of a preliminary injunction requiring that funding to the organization continue. “Otherwise, children’s lives could be saved every day,” they added.
According to the USCCB statement, “Americans should not be forced to pay for the killing of preborn children or fund the clinics that kill them. The USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities is inviting Catholics to join a focused effort of prayer to stop taxpayer funding of the abortion industry. In particular, we will invoke the intercession of St. Joseph, defender of life with this prayer (en español):
Dearest St. Joseph, at the word of an angel, you lovingly took Mary into your home. As God’s humble servant, you guided the Holy Family on the road to Bethlehem, welcomed Jesus as your own son in the shelter of a manger, and fled far from your homeland for the safety of both mother and child. We praise God that as their faithful protector, you never hesitated to sacrifice for those entrusted to you. May your example inspire us also to welcome, cherish, and safeguard God’s most precious gift of life. Help us to faithfully commit ourselves to the service and defense of human life — especially where it is vulnerable or threatened. Obtain for us the grace to do the will of God in all things. Amen.”
The bishops are asking Catholics to offer this prayer daily through Oct. 1, the beginning of Respect Life Month. Free online and print versions of the prayer are available here.
Archbishop Broglio, a native of the Cleveland Diocese, leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.