Respect Life means to recognize every human person as a special creation of God, made in His image, and to value every human life from the moment of conception to natural death. The life and dignity of every person must be respected and protected at every stage and in every circumstance.
RESPECT LIFE PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
The Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish Respect Life Ministry collaborates with and supports the efforts of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. At the local, state and national level, the parish is committed to defending and protecting the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Through prayer and encouragement, parishioners are provided information and opportunities to actively support critical life issues.
RESPECT LIFE COMMITTEE
The Respect Life Committee is dedicated to the truth that life is a gift from God, beginning at conception and ending at natural death. We commit ourselves to help all innocent human life by making abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and destruction of human embryos socially, ethically, and legally unacceptable.
We educate our fellow parishioners through the Church’s Bulletin/Flocknote/Facebook communications about the evil of abortion. We also promote positive Christian alternatives to the evils of threatening all human life. Additionally, we encourage interaction with our federal and state legislators to bring about public recognition of the value of innocent human life.
The committee meets five times a year generally on the first Friday of the month at 1:00 PM for an hour. The 2023-2024 year runs from September through May (September, November, January, March, and May). Current members include: Ken Crabbe, Vienna Gasparetti, Maria Johnson, Barbara Kashen, Paul Llufrio, Jr., Rick Shown, and Joseph Wolf.
RESPECT LIFE NEWS
Constitutional Abortion Amendment on the November 2024 Ballot
The Maryland General Assembly passed a bill in 2023 that seeks to amend the Maryland Constitution that creates a state fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which would guarantee abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
In the 2023 bill, the term reproductive freedom is not defined, but the sponsors indicated new rights broader than abortion rights. According to the Maryland Right to Life, some of these new rights may include commercial use of human embryos and transgender rights that could include the use of puberty blocking drugs and surgical mutilation of genitalia, which could include children without parental consent.
Currently, Maryland is one of only three states that shields abortionists by failing to report annual abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control. Physicians now serve only as an indirect role on paper, either as remote medical directors for abortion clinics or distant prescribers of abortion drugs. According to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, Maryland state taxpayers paid more than $7.6 million in 2022 for Medicaid reimbursements to abortionists for more than 11,000 elective abortions.
The Right to Reproductive Freedom (i.e., Abortion Amendment) will be on the Maryland ballot in November 2024. If passed, this constitutional amendment will enshrine in Maryland a legal right to abortion through birth, plus other new rights broader than abortion rights. Do Not Be Afraid to Defend Helpless Babies in November 2024 by saying NO to the Right to Reproductive Freedom (i.e., Abortion Amendment) Question!
RESPECT LIFE QUOTES “Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection. And every elderly person… even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the ‘culture of waste’ suggests!” – Pope Francis - Speech to Catholic Healthcare Professionals and Gynecologists
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