Book Talk at the Gospel of Life Society at St Mary's in Norwalk, CT

Eileen Bianchini, Leticia Velasquez and Mary Rose Garych

I was honored to be invited by my friend Eileen Bianchini to address the Gospel of Life Society at St Mary's in Norwalk, CT on April 13 after a lovely Mass in in the Extraordinary Form. St Mary's is a beautiful traditional church which features Mass in both Novus Ordo and EF. The parish is a mix of European Americans and recent immigrants from Africa, Asia and Latin America, a truly Catholic group. Fr Markey, the pastor is a wonderful homilist and inspires his parish to make a difference in the world for Christ.
 The Gospel of Life Society meets once a month after Mass to read from Blessed John Paul II's encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" and to pray for a culture of life. Then, after prayers, they roll up their sleeves and get to work. Most months a speaker will address the group on current issues affecting the culture, and many times they will respond to urgent legislative issues in Hartford. An most recent example is when legislators in Hartford considered a bill on Physician Assisted Suicide, while the bill was still in committee. Eileen Bianchini sent out various emails instructing the group how to contact committee members with pertinent information of the dangers of PAS and many members of the group arrived in the Capitol to wait all day to testify to the committee. The hearings began and thanks to the GOLS the members had heard the rebuttals to the lies told by the pro-death side promoting PAS. Their arguments fell flat since the truth had preceded them and the committee had to admit they did not have the votes for the Physician Assisted Suicide Bill to pass and it died in the committee. Thanks be to God!
I gave Eileen Bianchini the nickname "Terror of Hartford" for her amazing work defeating a bill which has lead to a tragedy where it has been legalized, in the state of Oregon suicides have risen 41% since approving PAS. Surely physicians are called to heal not to kill.
My talk, to a capacity crowd which included my Facebook friend Mary Rose Garych and many lovely families blessed by children with Down syndrome was warmly received and a lively question and answer session followed. Then I had the chance to meet the families and sign some books. I hope to meet with them again soon and give more talks, to medical students, doctors and all those who are helping mothers whose child has received a prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of Down syndrome to understand that their children are indeed blessings from God and opportunities to grow in holiness.

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

The day is not quite over, so we can still say Happy World Down Syndrome Day!  This is a special day for raising awareness and educating people about Down syndrome, and proclaiming the joy our loved ones with Down syndrome bring to our lives.



Here is a beautiful article that was forwarded to me today, written by Savannah Guthrie about her Uncle Pierce:  Savannah Guthrie: What World Down Syndrome Day means to me 

Pierce Franklin Long, Jr. was born on July 5, 1933. He was my mother’s older brother, my grandparents’ first child, their only son. Because he was born so close to the Fourth of July, my grandmother used to call him, “my little firecracker.” And it’s true that Pierce always sparkled with life and personality, with humor and charm....

Read the rest of this touching tribute to Savannah's Uncle Pierce here

Welcome "Faith and Culture" viewers

If you are on the blog because you saw Colleen Carroll Campbell interview Eileen Haupt and I last night, welcome! We filmed that interview a couple of years ago in St Louis. Meanwhile KIDS is going strong, as you can see by the posts about the March for Life from Eileen. I was down with the flu and watching on TV. It was a historic March for Life, the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade, freezing cold, with 650,000 participants braving the cold. The photo of Eileen Haupt's hand holding the KIDS sign made it onto the Washington Post Blog photo essay on the March.


KIDS marchers are a wonderful group and we welcome you to our mailing list if you are interested in joining us in the March or just supporting our efforts in prayer.

Leave a comment below and tell us who you are.

KIDS Re-airs on EWTN's Faith & Culture - Thursday 3/7

We just found out that Colleen Carroll Campbell's interview with Eileen and Leticia on her show Faith & Culture on EWTN will re-air on Thursday, March 7th, at 6:00 p.m. (EST). 

Leticia and I flew to St. Louis in October 2010 for the interview, and it first aired in the Spring of 2011.  It was a privilege for us to be guests on Colleen's show, reaching an international audience.  We talk about some of the joys and challenges of having a child with Down syndrome, promising new research that may alleviate some of the cognitive challenges that individuals with Down syndrome face, and more.

Come join us!  If you don't receive EWTN on your cable network, you can view EWTN livestream from this link:  http://www.ewtn.com/multimedia  (click on "Live.")

Dakota's Pride A New Parents Search for Positive News and Hope on Down S...

KIDS at the March for Life



KIDS before heading over to the March for Life



KIDS had another successful event at the National Right to Life Committee headquarters prior to the March for Life in D.C. on January 25.  About 60 people joined us at NRLC and in the march.  You can read about it here in my article at National Right to Life News Today.

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and several of the KIDS families

We were privileged to have Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers join us again this year.  She spoke to us about her journey to the Congress and her experience in discovering her son Cole had Down syndrome. She also informed us that passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act was being pursued, as well as funding for Down syndrome research and funding for the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act, which was signed into law by President Bush in 2008. 

We enjoy this time with the congresswoman so much and thank her for being a special friend to KIDS!

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and the Sloans

We enjoy catching up each year with the Setrans and Youth With A Mission (YWAM), Sloans, Jacksons, and Phillips families, as well as Ryan and his Fatima Caravan!

We are also very appreciative of NRLC for hosting this event and providing us with refreshments.

And we missed Leticia and her family this year!


KIDS in the March for Life



You can read more here: 

“KIDS” meet at the National Right to Life office and participate in 2013 March for Life

If you have Down syndrome or have a family member or friend with Down syndrome and want to join us next year, please contact Eileen to get on our e-mail list, so you can receive information about future events.





Eileen Haupt Writes a Response to the Today Show on Prenatal Testing

She does a wonderful job of saying what impact the language of prenatal testing does to our perception of Down syndrome when she says,   

It pains me to hear Down syndrome talked about in such a negative light, especially on a show that millions of people will watch and come away with the idea that Down syndrome is something they are fortunate to be “safe” from.

Congratulations Eileen on a moving and timely response to the Today Show. I hope it is read far and wide. 

Read the entire article at National Right to Life News.