Just three people have been executed in the past 56 years in Pennsylvania, yet more than 466 death warrants have been signed since 1985.Currently there are 150 inmates on death row. In 2012, the Joint State Government Commission was asked to study the practice and process of capital p

Bishop Alfred Schlert of the Diocese of Allentown has released the following statement calling for our nation’s leaders to treat all people with compassion and respect they deserve as human beings while dealing with the immigration crisis: “Reasonable people may disagree o

UPDATE: On June 13, 2018, House Bill 2050 was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a vote of 10-5. The next step will be a vote on the floor of the Senate. Urge your state Senator to vote YES to protect children with Down syndrome in the womb through the Catholic Advoca

A group of lawmakers are rallying for a change that will lead to a better life for human trafficking victims. Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R – Bucks, Montgomery) spearheaded the call to action for the House of Representatives to pass his legislation, Senate Bill 554 which would pr

Religious News Service reporter Bobby Ross, Jr. recently asked this question, “When adoption agencies can turn away gay prospective parents, what happens to the kids?” With conflicts between religious based adoption and foster care agencies and government non-discrimination regulation

There will be a shift at the helm of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference beginning June 1, 2018. Eric A. Failing, PCC’s current social concerns director, will assume the role upon the retirement of Robert J. O’Hara, Jr. after his 21 years as executive director. Prior to joining the P

Legislation that would prohibit the abortion of a child due solely to a diagnosis of possible Down syndrome passed the House of Representatives on April 16 by a vote of 139-56. Under current law, a woman can obtain an abortion prior to 24 weeks gestational age for any reason, except i

Pennsylvania House Health Committee took a decisive 17-9 vote in support of House Bill 2050, the Down syndrome Protection Act. The legislation (and its companion Senate Bill 1050) would ban abortion of an unborn child as a result of a Down syndrome diagnosis. The bill proceeded to the

“It was a wave of humanity that lifted us out of institutions, brought us home, got us into schools and included us in the community of life, and now it will require another wave of humanity to stop the targeting of Down syndrome around the world.” Karen Gaffney, Disability Rights Cha

“We’re raising the concern in Pennsylvania because of some tragic trends in European countries. In Iceland, they’ve become notorious for the claim that Down syndrome has been nearly eliminated. What they fail to mention is that Iceland has a 100 percent abortion rate of pre-born child