The Baby

Massachusetts lawmakers pass bill removing all restrictions from abortion throughout pregnancy #Catholic The Massachusetts government this week moved to strip all restrictions from abortion and allow the procedure up until birth so long as a doctor approves of it.The state Senate passed Bill H.5595 on July 31, a little over a week after the state House passed the same measure. The bill now awaits Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s signature. The legislation removes all of the state’s current restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks, instead dictating that a late-term abortion may be done based upon “the professional judgment of the physician” performing it. Current state law, which H.5595 would change, only allows late-term abortions if they are necessary to preserve the life or “physical or mental health” of the mother, or if the baby has been diagnosed with a fatal condition. Abortions are also allowed to be performed in the state if a baby would require “extraordinary medical interventions” to survive after birth. If signed into law, the bill would make Massachusetts the 11th state to impose no limits whatsoever on abortion. Healey, who has served as the state’s governor since 2023, is an outspoken supporter of abortion. The passage of the bill drew rebuke from SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who said in a July 31 statement that the state’s already-generous abortion policy “isn’t enough for Democrats whose party holds the position of no limits on abortion whatsoever.”“These extreme laws that only 10% of Americans support are enabled by the ‘states-only’ philosophy on abortion,” she argued. “The GOP must abandon the failed ‘leave it to the states’ position and move the country toward a national protection for unborn children across this nation,” she said. Ahead of the July 31 vote, the state’s Catholic bishops had also criticized the measure. “The proposed elimination of any legal restraint on late-term abortion is, in our judgement, a radical measure which is gravely immoral,” the bishops’ July 29 statement read. The bishops urged Catholics “to pray for a renewal of reverence for all human life.”
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Massachusetts lawmakers pass bill removing all restrictions from abortion throughout pregnancy #Catholic The Massachusetts government this week moved to strip all restrictions from abortion and allow the procedure up until birth so long as a doctor approves of it.The state Senate passed Bill H.5595 on July 31, a little over a week after the state House passed the same measure. The bill now awaits Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s signature. The legislation removes all of the state’s current restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks, instead dictating that a late-term abortion may be done based upon “the professional judgment of the physician” performing it. Current state law, which H.5595 would change, only allows late-term abortions if they are necessary to preserve the life or “physical or mental health” of the mother, or if the baby has been diagnosed with a fatal condition. Abortions are also allowed to be performed in the state if a baby would require “extraordinary medical interventions” to survive after birth. If signed into law, the bill would make Massachusetts the 11th state to impose no limits whatsoever on abortion. Healey, who has served as the state’s governor since 2023, is an outspoken supporter of abortion. The passage of the bill drew rebuke from SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who said in a July 31 statement that the state’s already-generous abortion policy “isn’t enough for Democrats whose party holds the position of no limits on abortion whatsoever.”“These extreme laws that only 10% of Americans support are enabled by the ‘states-only’ philosophy on abortion,” she argued. “The GOP must abandon the failed ‘leave it to the states’ position and move the country toward a national protection for unborn children across this nation,” she said. Ahead of the July 31 vote, the state’s Catholic bishops had also criticized the measure. “The proposed elimination of any legal restraint on late-term abortion is, in our judgement, a radical measure which is gravely immoral,” the bishops’ July 29 statement read. The bishops urged Catholics “to pray for a renewal of reverence for all human life.”

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The measure, if signed by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, will remove the last few restrictions on abortion in the state and replace them with “the professional judgment of the physician.”

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U.S. Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha welcome fourth child #Catholic U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, announced the birth of their fourth child, a baby boy named Alec Neel Vance, on Sunday, July 19.In a statement shared on social media, the couple wrote: “We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning. Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother.”The Vances are already parents to Ewan (9), Vivek (6), and Mirabel (4). Vance was received into the Catholic Church in 2019 and recently released a book about his faith journey, titled “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”Usha Vance, who is Hindu and has said she has no plans to convert, has shared that the family attends Mass together and sends their children to Catholic schools. She said in a June 2025 interview with Megan McCain that after her husband converted, “we had to have a lot of real conversations about how” to raise their children.“When you convert to Catholicism it comes with several important obligations, like to raise your child in the faith and all that,” she said.The couple allows their children to discern whether to be baptized; their son Ewan has since chosen to become Catholic.Vice President Vance has long spoken of children as a profound blessing and vocation.In a March interview with podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance reflected: “If I have one regret, it’s that I wish we had started earlier and had more, because it’s the most rewarding thing; it’s the coolest thing.”He said his three children, who have “their own little personalities” are “so quirky and fun.”To young men thinking of becoming fathers, but waiting until “everything in your life is perfect,” Vance had this to say: “I think that’s a ridiculous attitude … You’re never ready. There’s no point at which you can sort of get all your little ducks in a row and get … your financial situation in a row. Whenever you have a baby, whatever stage of life, it will be shocking, it will be crazy, it will be the most difficult and the most rewarding thing that you’ve ever done.”“You have kids, you figure it out,” he continued. “They’re the thing that perfects life. Fatherhood is the absolute best motivator.”His words on fatherhood align with his public advocacy for a renewed culture of life. In his first public address as vice president at the National March for Life in January 2025, he declared: “I want more babies in the United States of America. I want more happy children in our country and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them.”The Vance’s happy news arrives against the backdrop of America’s ongoing demographic challenges.According to the latest CDC provisional data, U.S. births fell 1% in 2025 to 3.6 million, with the general fertility rate dropping to a record low of 53.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15–44. The total fertility rate remains well below the replacement level of 2.1, continuing a decline since 2007.Catholic leaders have repeatedly called attention to this trend as a spiritual and cultural crisis.Pope Leo in May decried “the time of drastic sterility” in which we are living, emphasizing that discouraging demographic data “are not merely statistics but speak of fatherhood, motherhood, and children. And children are the future!”The Church’s teaching affirms openness to life, the gift of children and the vocation of marriage and family as a “domestic church.”U.S. President Donald Trump offered warm congratulations to the couple in a post on Truth Social: “Congratulations! A perfect baby boy for the wonderful Vance family,” accompanied by a photo of the newborn with two of his siblings.Usha and JD Vance’s baby is the first in modern U.S. history (and the first in over 150 years) for a sitting American vice president’s family. The last time a baby was born to a U.S. vice president was in 1870, when Vice President Schuyler Colfax (under President Ulysses S. Grant) and his wife Ellen welcomed a son, Schuyler Colfax III.
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U.S. Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha welcome fourth child #Catholic U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, announced the birth of their fourth child, a baby boy named Alec Neel Vance, on Sunday, July 19.In a statement shared on social media, the couple wrote: “We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning. Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother.”The Vances are already parents to Ewan (9), Vivek (6), and Mirabel (4). Vance was received into the Catholic Church in 2019 and recently released a book about his faith journey, titled “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”Usha Vance, who is Hindu and has said she has no plans to convert, has shared that the family attends Mass together and sends their children to Catholic schools. She said in a June 2025 interview with Megan McCain that after her husband converted, “we had to have a lot of real conversations about how” to raise their children.“When you convert to Catholicism it comes with several important obligations, like to raise your child in the faith and all that,” she said.The couple allows their children to discern whether to be baptized; their son Ewan has since chosen to become Catholic.Vice President Vance has long spoken of children as a profound blessing and vocation.In a March interview with podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance reflected: “If I have one regret, it’s that I wish we had started earlier and had more, because it’s the most rewarding thing; it’s the coolest thing.”He said his three children, who have “their own little personalities” are “so quirky and fun.”To young men thinking of becoming fathers, but waiting until “everything in your life is perfect,” Vance had this to say: “I think that’s a ridiculous attitude … You’re never ready. There’s no point at which you can sort of get all your little ducks in a row and get … your financial situation in a row. Whenever you have a baby, whatever stage of life, it will be shocking, it will be crazy, it will be the most difficult and the most rewarding thing that you’ve ever done.”“You have kids, you figure it out,” he continued. “They’re the thing that perfects life. Fatherhood is the absolute best motivator.”His words on fatherhood align with his public advocacy for a renewed culture of life. In his first public address as vice president at the National March for Life in January 2025, he declared: “I want more babies in the United States of America. I want more happy children in our country and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them.”The Vance’s happy news arrives against the backdrop of America’s ongoing demographic challenges.According to the latest CDC provisional data, U.S. births fell 1% in 2025 to 3.6 million, with the general fertility rate dropping to a record low of 53.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15–44. The total fertility rate remains well below the replacement level of 2.1, continuing a decline since 2007.Catholic leaders have repeatedly called attention to this trend as a spiritual and cultural crisis.Pope Leo in May decried “the time of drastic sterility” in which we are living, emphasizing that discouraging demographic data “are not merely statistics but speak of fatherhood, motherhood, and children. And children are the future!”The Church’s teaching affirms openness to life, the gift of children and the vocation of marriage and family as a “domestic church.”U.S. President Donald Trump offered warm congratulations to the couple in a post on Truth Social: “Congratulations! A perfect baby boy for the wonderful Vance family,” accompanied by a photo of the newborn with two of his siblings.Usha and JD Vance’s baby is the first in modern U.S. history (and the first in over 150 years) for a sitting American vice president’s family. The last time a baby was born to a U.S. vice president was in 1870, when Vice President Schuyler Colfax (under President Ulysses S. Grant) and his wife Ellen welcomed a son, Schuyler Colfax III.

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“Children are the most rewarding thing,“ Vance said in an interview earlier this year.

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