World Over - 2020-04-02 - Full Episode with Raymond Arroyo

with a country on lockdown it's Easter approaches Catholic dioceses are suspending worship moral theologian dr. Janet Smith shares her efforts to get the US bishops to restore the sacraments and an Oklahoma priest Father Stephen Hamilton has an innovative solution which he's already implemented in his own parish Wisconsin congressman Brian's style is here to reveal the outrageous waste in a coronavirus stimulus package and what he plans to do about it a battle over abortion is being waged in Louisiana as a clinic defies a state order to suspend non-emergency services during the pandemic attorney Angie Thomas is here with details with three-quarters of the country on lockdown is our mental health endangered and what can we do about it dr. make knickers here with some timely advice the world over begins right now [Music] I'm Raymond Arroyo all of you joining us in the United States and the world over as our global confinement continues were grateful to be with you with an hour of news inspiration information you really need Janet Smith father Stephen Hamilton Congressman Brian's style angie thompson and dr. Meg Meeker are all straight ahead if you'd like to comment on tonight's show send me a tweet him at Raymond Arroyo lots to cover first some news on Monday Cardinal Angelo did on Dotty's the Pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome became the highest-ranking Catholic official known to test positive for coronavirus dead Dorothy's office said he was tested for the virus after feeling unwell and was admitted to a Rome hospital his closest aides have gone into voluntary quarantine as a precaution the Pope is the actual Bishop of Rome but appoints someone to act as his vicar to administrate the vast diocese dead or not these who is 66 is not believed to have had personal contact with Pope Francis recently the Vatican said on Saturday that the Pope and his closest aides did not have the virus at least 60 priests have died in Italy due to the coronavirus a total of 13,000 115 people in Italy have succumbed to the effects of this plague about a third of the deaths around the world on March 25th Italian bishop Angelo Maury she became the first bishop to parish after contracting the corona virus and the beloved pastor of a New York City Church has become the first Catholic priest in the United States to die from the virus father Jorge Ortiz Garre served as a pastor of st. Bridget's Church in Brooklyn he died in a hospital on Friday Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said quote this is a sad time and a tremendous loss for the Diocese of Brooklyn father Jorge was a great priest beloved by the Mexican people and a tireless worker for all the faithful in Brooklyn and Queens end quote father Jorge was born in Mexico City he became a priest in the US after working as a lawyer he was just 49 years old the corona virus has killed 1,200 New Yorkers which has become the us epicenter of the disease with a growing surge of cases and more sad news from Africa Cardinal Phillipe Wade that our goal of burkina faso was tested positive for the corona virus whether i go who is 75 is said to be in good condition and his close collaborators are self isolating the cardinal is president of the african continental bishops conference he's been archbishop of burkina faso for 10 years that country was the largest coronavirus outbreak in west africa with 249 documented cases as a march 31st the corona virus has spread throughout the african continent to 47 countries mm back here in the US with more of the country under stay at home orders catholic dioceses have suspended masses and other sacraments to comply with government orders old days before Holy Week but is the forced suspension of Catholic worship just or is it a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of religious expression my first guest is a moral theologian who believes the u.s. Bishop should resist the orders to close their churches she and other prominent Catholics have joined together in an open letter urging Catholic Bishops to restore the sacraments to the faithful who need them particularly now joining me is retired professor of moral theology at Sacred Heart major seminary in Detroit Michigan dr. Janet Smith dr. Smith I've been very concerned about the religious liberty implications here I mean at times as in 9/11 we cede liberties to the government that we never get back are you worried that the rush to protect people from this virus in the doing they might be trading a cherished American right to religious expression well I I am of course and I think that if unless the bishops make a really strong stand that these are essential services religion is not just something like football games on Sunday afternoon all right in and taking the Blessed Sacrament or taking the anointing of the sick to someone who is is dying in the hospital is not like taking roses all right this is an essential thing to Catholic people this is practicing our faith and so we're not just giving up something that is optional it's absolutely necessary to our spiritual face yes we can suspend things for for serious reasons but but we we we just doing it and it seems to be a bit cavalierly the bishops I heard of a bishop recently who was talking to his priests and one priest wanted to hold a mass in a parking lot everybody goes in their car everybody stays in their cars there's virtually no possibility of spreading the virus zilch none and the bishop said no and the reason he said no was he wasn't certain that it didn't violate the state directive that there can't be large public gatherings and I asked to be whole and asked all right did he call and ask why just say you know dr. Smith I wonder what the the every one of these conferences have lawyers at their behest they have a you know a team of lawyers that deal with all manner of things why can't believe mine the bishops you have a First Amendment right here you've a right to religious expression I mean and if you look closely if these statutes that are being passed in the states and the bans being passed in some of them in Texas in Florida there are carve outs and they're saying churches are essential services so they're giving the bishops and the priests the leeway and the pastor's the leeway to do something that's creative here now you've spearheaded a national campaign urging all the US bishops to restore the sacraments to the faithful after they were abruptly cut off because of this pandemic is this responsible given the spread of the coronavirus we don't intend to violate any of the public directives we think it all can be done with full respect for the public directives we don't want to put anybody at risk all right and we don't even want to at much risk as at much risk as is the typical grocery store clerk they're a tremendous race they're not as six feet from anybody all right they're touching this they're touching that everybody else is putting their card in and out we want people to go for parking in their cars and stay in their cars how is this service people that are giving confession they're definitely six six eight feet away from a priest who's hearing their confession this is fully in accord with all directives so why are we suspending that we're not bit mean abortion clinics are still operating liquor stores are still operating why can't churches people why can't people go and we can stay six feet apart we can have people just like there they are sanitizing restaurants and sanitizing grocery stores we can do all the well yeah a piece of it it seems to me is and maybe the bishops are being given legal counsel you don't want to be on the hook for this in case you know a pastor says well I'll let ten people into the church and somebody gets sick maybe that's the the precaution here but if you're talking about a car as the the next pastor will will will introduce you to he's implemented this and it's working beautifully as you'll see in a moment President Trump said this on Wednesday Janet I want you to listen my biggest disappointment is that churches can't meet in a time of need you know this is really a great time for churches to be together for people to get together on a Sunday or whenever any day and meet and yet if you do that if you do it close you're really giving this invisible enemy a very big advantage so it's it's the biggest I think the single biggest disappointment Janet do you think the administration and the state government should be granting waivers or carve outs for churches assuming they social distance absolutely it seems to me that they tend to think of religion again it's just some sort of social event like a sporting event it's not that right this is the deepest part of our being we think that we live in order to worship all right so yes living is extremely important but the purpose of our living is to worship and you're taking away our very purpose again if it were if it were in fact truly risking people's lives we would not ask for this but people and let's lay out briefly Janet what are you asking the bishops in this letter which has been signed by a slew of Catholic leaders run through some of the requests here well some of the requests masu fliest is to try their hardest to make certain that they we can get the sacraments that in ways that honor the directives you might say oh well they're trying to do that but we haven't and tell us that show us that and make an explanation about why you decided to do X Y or Z and then for instance they have dispensed us all from going to Mass on Sunday but what does that really mean what I mean people are watching it on TV does that count in some sense is it is it is there something else we should be doing do the bishop saying well you know if you can't go to Mass which you camped on Sunday unless it's in a car in a parking lot which police safe this you should be doing to sustain your spiritual life I want them to be giving us explanations and directives explanations on why they're doing what they're doing and I hope that their intention is that they're sitting around brainstorming with everybody to say how can we make certain that those who want to be baptized get baptized without risking anybody's lives how do we make certain that confessions or how do we make certain that people can go to Mass and adoration I mean even if it's a I've seen pictures of a bishop outside of a church with the monstrance and a pray do and he's praying there with the monstrance and people are driving by or parking their cars not doing adoration this is not the same thing as watching something on TV we are people are they were people the Incarnation you know if you go to a mass of four million people in the Philippines when the Holy Father comes you don't much see the Pope here so far you don't see them but you know you are there in a more meaningful way than the someone who is sitting at home and sees a close-up of the Pope on at the altar we believe that being exactly present matters and so we want that we want if we can do it safely and I just can't see that it'd be done safely yeah well Janet I I the thing that worries me is there the cultural analysis here which is if you begin to acclimate people to compartmentalizing their faith somewhere between the price is right and netflix I worry that it becomes a kind of dial-up religion that when it's over you just click it off and it's contained to the screen and they won't show up next Sunday when this thing lifts in a month from now two months from now I mean my personal belief is we're you know we could be talking at more weeks here of quarantine for the country or parts of the country what happens during that tongue Holy Week at home basically I think you've got to make extraordinary efforts as you wouldn't war time we keep talking about war time if this is war time act like it's war time and in war time you had heroic priests on the bow of ships in the battlefield we need as the Pope said early on we need the field hospital where is the field hospital at this point field hospital seems to be absent in the Catholic sense don't it again with the anointing of the sick that's the most serious one to mean we can we can live without the Blessed Sacrament but we shouldn't be dying without the Blessed Sacrament and if nurses and doctors go into these wards with their full equipment and and and feel reasonably safe I know I have a picture on facebook of one of my former students was a priest know he's got the whole personal protective equipment and then he goes into annoyed patients some dr. song Bishop Tobin in Cardinal Tobin is dropping permission to East denying permission to anoint the sick and I would say instead he should be calling every hospital and saying we insist upon this again this is not bringing flowers to the dead this is bringing something that is incredibly essential to this person this person is a catalyst and this person has practiced their faith and wants to practice their faith up to the last minute of their time on the face of this and in my you know I I don't know what could be I don't know what could be more important Janet and III with you I worry you know the Wuhan virus came to the United States in the world and it has transformed us all into Chinese Catholics in many ways underground everything's underground now and and I do worry there and there are exceptions to this we had Bishop Strickland here last week there bishops in the Midwest my next guests Bishop they are making a creative accommodations to try to find ways to within safety with it with an eye to public safety reach the faithful with the sacraments and that's their job have you heard from any bishops as a result of this campaign in this open letter no I don't expect to but what I I mean we're Catholics are creatures of hope and I full of hope maybe a fantasy but I believe in the miraculous I would just love to have the bishop say you know thank you thank you and thank Raymond Arroyo and thank all these people are trying to help we're laypeople and we're trying to help we're not trying to use this as an opportunity to slam the bishops one more time we're trying to say bishops deeds these are our spiritual needs right you are the ones responsible and it's open some bishop somewhere will say you know thank you uh you know we're so busy with so many things this is great to have this degree of feedback from very thoughtful Catholics who have have laid this out for us who have gotten all these other names to get our attention it's hard to get our attention because we're busy with all these things or send a look you make a phone call it's not going to be answered you put up an open there that's 10,000 20,000 40,000 signatures I hope we're gonna pay a little bit of attention and we're not we don't take this as adversarial we take this as a working cooperative no sermon on how this isn't when I read this I thought this is an urgent spiritual need that you are setting on on paper it's an urgent spiritual need and I'm not sure because it's a moment of crisis because you even have bishops who are ill with this thing this coab in 19 I think everybody's topsy-turvy and a little a little off balance but I can tell you as I read your letter as I as I'm watching what's playing out across the country I thought I wanted to have you here because if Mother Angelica were around today I can promise you almost with certainty that she would be urging more sacraments for more people in this dire moment that is the medicine the spiritual medicine needed perhaps more than any other at this moment and that will fortify our people on the front lines our doctors our nurses to continue in what is a hard and awful battle but you need the spiritual sustenance or you will just wither so the letter is we are an Easter people dot-com you can find it there that's the open letter that dr. Smith was talking about keep in touch with us let us know what the reaction is in the days ahead Janet all right thanks for having us on and thanks for the support ingenuity that is what Catholics and all people of faith seemed to want most when it comes to the sacraments a priest in Oklahoma has instituted drive up masses here to explain his vision is pastor of st. Monica's Catholic Church in the Diocese of Oklahoma City father Stephen Hamilton father thanks for being with us you ready to be with you Raymond now father were the masses in your diocese canceled when you came up with this idea to have these drive up masses so the masses were the public masses anyways were suspended that was announced on March 17th so I began thinking right away in that first week what I would do leading up to the first weekend which was Sunday at March 22nd hmm and and what was your ordinary archbishop Coakley's response to this request to have essentially drive-in masses right well I I called him up to ask him about the idea I assured him that it would be done reverently and appropriately and that was a certainly a big concern of his and that we would do the best we could to keep it orderly and to observe certain precautions like social singing so with those things in play he was very supportive of the creativity no when I read about this and I talked about it elsewhere I I was I was really impressed I think it's something others should do because I've seen the outdoor adoration I've seen the drive through confessions this is novel and you don't have communion though correct that is correct so because of the inability mingle and be that was one of the stipulations is that we would not be able to distribute Holy Communion that would have to explain and encourage spiritual communion now some the evangelical churches are having outdoor services as well they have pre sanitized communion packets but a pastor was explaining to me this week that's not possible in Catholic worship right so that that's not possible for us and we're we're not doing that but we're encouraging people to remember the grace of the spiritual communion which perhaps this is an as odd as this as the circumstances are an opportunity to really kind of relearn that standard Catholic practice so yeah the prepackaged packets for Holy Communion are not possible for us and we're not certainly not doing that even if you put them on the altar and consecrated them all at once well I suppose I would have to distribute them appropriately though that would then become the problem ah okay now you had full parking lots through these masses how many what are people saying first of all and how many people participated last weekend yes so I think the my set up at my campus here is is rather ideal for this because my parking lots you just kind of imagine that almost like an amphitheater in front of the main entrance to the church so that doesn't necessarily imply that everyone has a great line of sight but they can be in the front of the church where I've set up the altar and the parking lots have been full I would just estimate at least you know somewhere around 700 people I would think based on the number of cars and the number of people probably in each car the response has been incredible both from my own parishioners and people I know are coming from other parishes in the area and it really kind of all started in those first days after the public masses were suspended of hearing from people and my interactions with them the kind of the different reactions to this notion and how disorienting it is to not be able to attend mass or confusion sadness depression even anger and it just caused me to think about what can I do to at least bring the mass closer to the people in some fashion our other our other priests mimicking your innovation here I mean when I read about this when I saw the video I thought why isn't every parish that can do it obviously city parishes this would be more difficult but suburban parishes with big parking lots why couldn't they do this why couldn't they offer multiple masses a day well it's it's an idea and there are not other parishes locally that I'm aware of doing this but again what I would emphasize is that really my setup here as far as the plant is really ideal whereas other parishes in our area that I know of you know they have smaller parking lots and this one's kind of scattered in various areas it just would be difficult to pull off but I have this really nice set up at least for us in that the parking kind of fan out front of the church and then in the front of the front doors the church is what I call the PI that's just this open area and so I'm able to put the altar there and in function in that way so I'm really in an ideal place for this to work here now some parishes are offering drive-up confession drive up ways of the Cross in the in the lead up to Holy Week are you doing that as well I have not moved to drive up confessions yet so we're having confessions in the main Church to allow greater distancing between people and hearing confessions behind a screen only so right now we're still doing that I'm aware of those creative ideas out there of having drive up confessions I haven't started that myself although I do know a few other parishes in our archdiocese here where some priests are doing that or other versions of it where people come up maybe to a window outside of the office perhaps and walk up to confession but a lot of those creative ideas are out here too what do you what are you hearing from parishioners I mean I have to tell you as I could stay in contact with friends or I see them at the coffee shop with my mask on there is a real yearning to get back to normalcy and part of that is having our daily and Sunday worship in place I mean they want the mass they want the Eucharist what are you advising and what would you advise your brother priests and bishops to do given this circumstance and the yearning from the people trying to balance those two needs between public safety and the right to administer the sacraments certainly it's a great question and I think my encouragement would be that we want to observe what are the precautions that need to be taken like social distancing and in my case for the outdoor mass in our parking lot I clearly instruct people repeatedly they must stay in their cars that's the one major condition for this to go forward I think that we want to continue to observe those precautions but do what we can to try to bring the sacraments as close as we can to the people I know that's a really yearning for folks it's what I heard from my own people in that first week and it motivated me from a pastor's heart to try something that was unusual for me and unusual for all of us but better than than not having the ability to come to Mass at all so I just would encourage my brother priests and bishops out there to to observe the necessary precautions because that's key for health reasons but also to try to find ways where you have a setup like perhaps mine is where you can do something trade of outside and let people still close well father we thank you for your creativity for your ministry and happy birthday I'm told it's your birthday thank you that's right it's a birthday in quarantine oh well that's how we're celebrating all of them right now what are you doing for Good Friday before I let you go well so as of now I'm planning to do the sacred Triduum outdoors as well and we'll have the good Friday's out in front of the church I'm planning to do that at 3 p.m. since people kind of out of school and things will be able to kind of do that at that normally preferred time of 3 p.m. so as of now the plan is outdoors for that father Stephen Hamilton thank you for being with us and and and for your inspiration I think it's I hope it's it's an example a lot of bishops and priests look at particularly as we go into Holy Week this is people feel so abandoned and with everything turned upside down they need the solidity and surety of faith and this is a great way I think to share it with them so thank you Father we'll be in touch thanks Raymond Thank You congressman Brian's style is up next but first some more news after some delay the Catholics were Trump coalition launched this week a rally in Milwaukee Wisconsin originally scheduled for March 19th was postponed due to the corona virus pandemic Mercedes Lapp the senior advisor for strategic communications for the Trump campaign said in a statement quote President Trump is a steadfast supporter of the Catholic community and has delivered on his promises she went on to tout everything from his appointment of conservative judges to his religious liberty record to stopping money going to Planned Parenthood initially skeptical of candidate Trump in 2016 the president won the vote of self-identified Catholics by a margin of 52% to 45% and just last week Congress passed the coronavirus stimulus bill the largest aid package in American history it provides essential relief to American workers and an economy reeling from the kovat 19 crisis the two trillion-dollar stimulus bill provides direct payments to the American people and emergency loans but it also did something else the bill included outrageous expenditures of hundreds of millions of dollars for items totally unrelated to the pandemic joining me now to discuss how some of these questionable items remained in the bill his proposal to rescind the appropriation made to the Kennedy Center and much more a member of the House Financial Services Committee congressman brian style of Wisconsin congressman thank you for being here thanks for having me on congressman style was there much argument in the house over this Kennedy Center grant this twenty five million dollar grant on top of the 44 million-plus they already receive annually you know so we didn't get to a bring forth any amendments at all on the cares Act so we're spending two trillion dollars it was an up or down vote Americans were in need we needed to make sure we're protecting people who needed to cover their rent cover their mortgage pay their grocery bills make sure that our medical professionals had the resources they need to be able to fight the virus but buried inside this was a pet project the 25 million dollars for the Kennedy Center I spoke about it on the House floor the day we passed this last Friday but now after we see what the Kennedy Center did by laying people off we're gaining attention for the bill that I introduced yeah let's tell people about that Deborah Rutter who's the director at the Kennedy Center she is not paying the musicians there the National Symphony Orchestra despite the 25 million dollars in welfare so the question is you know the orchestra's told they're gonna lose their health care and we're talking about a group the Kennedy Center that's sitting on a hundred million dollar and Almond wasn't the relief money supposed to or purportedly set aside for workers well what's so appalling is the Kennedy Center got to jump to the front of the line they got a sweetheart deal that no other entity got and so they got a specific line item in the bill for 25 million dollars and then after they get that they go and lay off their employees and exactly what you said they gotta be looking for additional resources from themselves before they come for a sweetheart deal from the federal government it's amazing to me I mean with the endowment a big group and the annual that they receive and the annual appropriation from the federal government how much do they get each year congressman I my calculation it looks upwards of 44 million but there's so many grants and so many little honey pots it's hard to keep track it's it's hard to keep track but what was so appalling is in a bill that was put together to address the coronavirus to make sure right we're protecting workers who fallen on hard times to make sure nurses and doctors have protective equipment they were able to get a line item a sweetheart deal to get to the front of the line for the Kennedy Center a theater in Washington DC people here in Wisconsin who are struggling with the corona virus are rightfully upset and that's why we're working to make this money back well look I loved the Kennedy Center but I lived in Northern Virginia but why should the rest of the country finance our theater going it's ridiculous these are also by the way some of the most expensive and wealthy counties in America around DC they can afford their own theater tickets they don't need welfare here's my question you have a bill or you're proposing a bill that would rescind this money from the Kennedy Center how much support are you receiving and is it all from Republicans you know is we got to the start of this week and people realize what the Kennedy Center did after they got the twenty five million dollars we started getting phone calls left and right of people wanting to sign up so far it's been all Republicans but I look at this there's no reason this should be partisan this is an issue where one entity got a sweetheart deal they got to cut the line in front of everybody else this the moment we reach a band together and take this money back yeah I want to run through some of the other organizations that were funded under remember a corona virus relief bill ten billion dollars for International Development 350 million dollars for refugee resettlement 93 million dollars for Congress 25 million of which is for salaries and expenses 75 million for PBS and NPR 75 million for the National Foundation on the arts and humanities 75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities 50 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services and 7 million five hundred thousand dollars for the Smithsonian Institution now many of these are already federally run federally financed programs congressman that's almost 12 billion dollars listed there why are you focusing all your attention on rescinding the money from the Kennedy Center shouldn't these other groups be rescinded as well these other expenditures I'm all about looking at every single one of them this bill was directly at the Kennedy Center I am all about continuing that we are advocates for taxpayers this money should be going to either fight the corona virus protect workers who are laid off or back in taxpayers pockets I think we're just beginning the process of going back and looking at what happens when a two trillion dollar bill gets rushed through we need to be focused in to make sure that this money is well spent spent to protect workers fight the corona virus or otherwise should be in taxpayers pockets now President Trump said this about the next coronavirus relief bill which I can hardly believe we're talking about watch we have a zero interest rate essentially and I said wouldn't this be a great time to borrow money at zero interest rate and really build our infrastructure like we can do it now congressman speaker Pelosi on Monday told reporters in a conference call that she's already looking at new a new round of coronavirus relief legislation but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell does not seem to be in much of a hurry to start phase four let's see how things are going and respond accordingly but let's not I'm not going to allow this to be an opportunity for the Democrats and to achieve unrelated policy items congressman you serve on the Financial Services Committee the stimulus package is two trillion dollars and the expectation is the economy will recover from this setback due to the coronavirus can we afford another two trillion dollars worth of spending on coronavirus relief we need to make sure that any money we spend is fact driven that it's addressing the problems that we're actually having and not funding sweetheart deals and so my concern is in this fourth coronavirus package is that Nancy Pelosi is gonna walk in with a wish list of projects that she's gonna want to spend on that is not gonna be related to workers that are suffering not gonna be related actually fighting the coronavirus for our doctors and our nurses on the front lines and that's my biggest concern speaker Pelosi has appointed a coronavirus her own task force her House Select Committee on the coronavirus crisis now she claims it's gonna be bipartisan and that its goal will be and I'm gonna read this she wants to make sure that the money the money that's already been spent the money to be spent will be going to working families struggling to pay rent the panel will root out waste fraud and abuse do you believe that yeah it's hard to think that they're gonna weed out waste fraud and abuse Nancy Pelosi flew back to Washington DC to insert special projects into the third coronavirus bill that took days to negotiate back out and we still ended up with things like the Kennedy Center funding so I'm very concerned of what Nancy Pelosi is going to try to get into any future bills we should read them carefully this is a time where we need to be making sure we're protecting workers we're fighting the coronavirus this should not be an opportunity for people to put in their special special pet projects that get to the front of the line what do you say to those congressmen to me I'm gonna leave you with this they say Republicans got 25 billion in grants they got 25 billion in loans to the airline industry a series of regulatory changes by the banking industry so the Democrats got a couple of sweetheart deals and and money for the Kennedy Center that's the price of Democratic support for this bill that's not the way that we should be doing that politics as usual and that's what makes people so frustrated at home here we're actually suffering the impacts of the coronavirus they're suffering from losing jobs they're suffering from being sick or having loved ones who are sick and that is what makes people sick when they hear that that's the politics as usual in Washington we need to be fact driven we need to fight the virus we need to protect workers but this is not a time for sweetheart deals congressman style the Democratic National Committee has come out they've announced they are delaying their National Convention till August your thoughts on should the Republicans respond in kind or is this an effort to use if you will the corona virus pandemic to distort or shift our election season and the depending presidential election yeah I don't know what was in the thought making of the Democratic leaders who were shifting the date of their convention but I do know when we get to the end of this and we look and we say who do we want to be the leader for the next four years the track record of President Trump in the disastrous policies that the Democrats are putting forward is gonna make that decision very clear for people regardless of when the Democrats actually hold their edge congressman I thank you so much for being with us we'll check in with you as the days go on be safe the state of Texas will be allowed to enforce a temporary ban on nearly all abortions during the corona virus pandemic for the time being this according to a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which overturned a federal judge's decision earlier this week that put a hold on the ban claiming it would cause irreparable harm to patients Texas governor Greg Abbott put the abortion ban in place last week in an effort to curb the spread of the virus and free up medical resources to treat it Planned Parenthood and the center for reproductive rights are appealing that decision joining me now to discuss the Texas case and how it might affect a battle brewing over abortion in Louisiana his attorney and associate director of Louisiana right to life Angie Thomas Angie thanks for being with me we'll talk about the implications of that Texas ruling in a moment but I want to start with a group called June medical services it's an abortion provider in Louisiana now the Department of Louisiana health banned elective non-emergency procedures in the state so why is June medical services defying that order how are they getting away with this right Raymond it's just shameful it's it's they're they're reckless just pursuit of abortion on demand and whit needs to stop well there are two other abortion providers in Louisiana that have complied why is June medical the outlier here well as we've seen in the past years June medical uh tends to defy the orders and laws so you might remember June medical services from the Supreme Court case that oral arguments were just just heard last month at the US Supreme Court level June medical services did not want to comply with Louisiana law common-sense legislation about admitting privileges so here again June medical service is putting profits over patients and truly endangering women and our whole society now but what happens now if a woman has complications during or after an abortion and the doctor does not have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital well that patient is admitted into the ER and another doctor is has to assess the patient which is very difficult but because they don't know what has been done with that patient and so here again in this global pandemic where everyone is is changing the way they live you know June medical services is business as usual so if they have a patient that is admitted to the ER that would be a very difficult situation for the healthcare systems to deal with at this time but Angie I'm confused and I think otherwise I'm here in Louisiana and I'm sure other people watching or confused how is this group if in Texas you have the Fifth Circuit overturning that lower court ruling and it's allowing Texas to enforce a ban on elective procedures including abortion why is June services allowed to do this in Louisiana when when the Attorney General and and the governor have already come out against this right it's it's a it's a very interesting situation where they are just simply defying the orders and we just did find out today that the abortion clinic in Baton Rouge just reopened the day so they had been closed for the past two weeks but just found out that they reopened as well so they're claiming that abortion is essential um but certainly the wording in Louisiana especially our Department of Health issued guidelines that stated that the only medical and surgical procedures allowed are those that treat emergency medical conditions well certainly abortion as an elective procedure would not qualify and you know the other party that they're using very scarce personal protective equipment and they're taking that from the people who really need it in the ER okay but you've got the Fifth Circuit ruling for Fifth Circuit Court ruling now why can't Louisiana invoke that and go and force the the ban well right now we're really it's a wait-and-see this the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay allowing the Texas to continue while the case continues and through the process so really we are waiting to see what the Fifth Circuit is going to do here okay pro-choice abortion activists say this is just an opportunistic attempt to block women from their health care health care they're entitled to in a time of crisis is it well it's just a shame to see how abortion advocates continue to just put women at risk the narrative is that the abortion becomes an exception to all of the rules that they don't have to play by the rules but here we are in a global pandemic everyone is affected and the abortion clinics need to comply with these guidelines just like everyone else okay but Angie you're asking them to comply there's a ban in place so what are you actually asking do you want the authorities to go in and shut these clinics down are you asking the governor to send send officers over there what are you all actually asking it seems you've already got a ban in place they're defying it why aren't officers going in right it's it's fascinating I think it's because the resources are so scarce all of our government officials are putting all of their resources into fighting this pandemic Louisiana is such a hot spot and interestingly enough though of course New Orleans is a hot spot but Shreveport where June Medical Services has continued to defy this order for several weeks now that's becoming a real hot spot and in Raymond they have one one eye witness said that there were over 20 people who walked in with there with people walking with them women walking in before lunch so this is it's business as usual at jeune Medical Services well so well again if if churches are non-essential but this is so these people can congregate with abandon look here in New Orleans the the the mayor is sending out officers to break up groups of 10 or more congregating on a street corner so clearly this is running afoul of public safety bands at this point yes and putting women and their own staff at risk so what we're asking is a lot of medical professionals are looking at this and they are writing the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiner's there's also been a lot of letters written to the governor but again there the governor and the Department of Health are really very busy right now and so why is the abortion clinic continuing to just shamefully defy these guidelines we just don't know and we just break so this is in bel Edwards hands this isn't John bel Edwards hands who ran as a pro-life governor I guess this is a chance to see for real what he's what he's made of Angie I thank you for bringing to our attention and we'll check in in the days ahead Thank You Raymond finally tonight she has spent over three decades practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine and counseling teens and parents she's here tonight to discuss the challenges and pressures I think we're all facing as we power through this corona virus pandemic how can we best avoid the virus and maintain our mental health and our sanity while in quarantine here with some helpful tips is dr. Meg Meeker meg thanks for being here on Wednesday President Trump was asked about the pros and cons of people sheltering at home for a long period of time and the rise of domestic violence watch how the cost of of not getting our country working I mean people are now some people are getting along great I've also had the opposite question people families are coming together they're actually coming together they haven't talked for a long time and now all of a sudden they're talking again they're loving each other so I've heard that too but I also heard domestic violence much you know at a higher level and drug use because of in this case they lose their jobs dr. Meeker are you seeing this in your practice or locally a rise in domestic abuse and drug use stemming from this quarantine you know we're not seeing as much domestic violence we're seeing some anxiety that's pretty bad in kids and adults but really I'm seeing a lot of that but not domestic violence school districts across the country have switched a distance learning many parents are struggling with telework homeschooling the stress of everyone on top of each other what is your advice to parents at home who are feeling a little frayed let us say yeah yeah well first of all I think it's really important to get everybody in the home on a schedule you know when things turn upside down kids aren't in school mom and dad aren't working anymore whatever I think that we sort of let things go into a free-for-all and we can't do that it's really important for kids and parents to Maine state maintain some kind of schedule to keep their sanity we all need a rhythm and a balance to our day and I think that losing control of a schedule really sometimes can put people over the edge that is such great advice no we you know our kids because of the schools initially they have to check in in the morning and they start their virtual classes all three of them so that kind of gets everybody moving because then you've got to have breakfast and you have to have lunch and dinner at the appointed times and I'm still working so it it does keep everybody on point and I think moving through the day feeling they've accomplished something too now with the quarantine in place there's no school after school soccer or dance class or music lessons how should parents look at the extra time with their families what are some tips for parents to focus on the positive and really make use of this time set apart I mean we've never had time like this make know we haven't ten some people are really stressed out and some parents that really embracing it I think it's important to empathize with your kids and say if you have a senior in high school you know I'm really sorry you can't finish the soccer season Arthur or the basketball season whatever they're doing so empathize then I tell parents and their kids look come together and tell everybody where we need to come together and do the best we can I'm all about adding chores and work for kids during the day as well to keep them occupied it's also important for everybody to get outside if they possibly can get some fresh air ya know we've we've taken up biking in the arroyo household which I frankly haven't done since they were little kids you know I'm on the bike again it's nice are you concerned about the extra screen time that not only our children but all of us are consuming how do you balance that during this kovat quarantine well again I think that you work screen time into your daily schedule you know you don't want your 17 year old boys sitting in his room with his laptop or phone looking at whatever he's looking at all day so it's really important even if you have older kids to say okay from 4 to 6 you can have screen time but it's very important for parents to know what are they watching in that screen time what are they doing we tend to get a little bit lacks about that as parents because we're tired and we just don't want to deal with it but still really important to a schedule their their screen time and be know what they're watching it's very very important how should parents talk to children particularly young children about this virus because you were mentioning earlier people are anxious you don't want to provoke more anxiety how do you reassure them I think it's important first of all for parents to get hold up their anxiety because if you're anxious when you talk to your kids it doesn't matter what you say they're gonna pick up on it so it's important to really quell a child's anxiety by saying you know what it's a tough time our lives have changed but we're gonna be okay and you really can realistically say that to your kids because the truth is over 95 percent of us are gonna survive this kids in particular are gonna do better than adults because it seems so far to be an adult disease yeah yeah and III also I love the idea that when you're spending kids really just want to spend more time with you as a parent they they they our kids and our friends have been telling us you know it's amazing how they want a cocoon they want to be near you they want to go out and do things with you but how do you maintain a sense of normalcy amid a situation that is anything but and could drag on for months here and what's the role of prayer in all this make oh my prayer is huge it's interesting I'm writing an e-book for Regnery right now and I have a whole section on prayer prayer is extremely important because a it brings us before God it it allows God to come into our lives to focus on God and to ask him for help because the truth the matter is God wants that from us and he wants us to come to him and He will aid us so it's very important again to sort of factor some prayer time into your day I will tell you Raymond my experience is that kids are doing a lot better with this sort of being stuck in the home with their parents better than parents are because as you say kids do want more time with their parents and they're not getting enough what do you say to those who are struggling mightily with the job loss and that sense of identity that's luta they feel they're losing in the midst of all of this where I'm seeing a lot of that and one of the things I think I see is that you know fathers in particular and mothers who have a big part of their identity in their profession just say you know what that's not the sum of who you are so you need to put that aside a little bit and embrace the part of you that's the parent that's the father that is something different and ask God to help you with that financially again it can be really hard and you just have to you know rein it in and spend less and that's a good thing really for parents to do hmm what's your advice to moms and dads and how they can care for themselves so they can better care for their children it is tough being in such tight confines I mean unless you have a you know an enormous house who everybody can go to their corners and then you know come together it's it's difficult it is very hard I say you know find the thing very specifically that's causing you anxiety is it your job loss isn't the kids driving you crazy is it the relationships in the home and then once you identify that stress find a way to relieve it and again work that into your day some people are find relief in their stress through exercise some through quiet some through music and so say to your kids you know what mom or dad we need 45 minutes or an hour now to separate ourselves and go do something so don't feel that you need to be on top of your kids all the time it's perfectly fine to isolate yourself for a little bit during the day and do what you need to do to relieve your stress it's very important for parents to do yeah particularly when you're working in the home and you've got so you brought in some ways the work stress into the home environment rather than having it outside so you do have to curtail that that's a bit of a balancing act I think for all of us it is and working at home can be very difficult for parents when they have small kids at home and again I think it's really important to work something out where mom and dad sort of you know balance that you know one I'll say I'm going to work now and then the other will say I work now and then they hurried off with the kids yeah yeah I agree dr. Meg mica thank you for being here dr. Meg's most recent book raising a strong daughter in a toxic culture is available at bookstores and everywhere online and it's a great time to read it you can also follow her commentary at Meeker parenting calm thank you dr. Meg Thank You Raymond before we go some sad news jazz icon in New Orleans musical patriarch Ellis Marsalis passed away Wednesday the 85 year old pianist had been hospitalized with symptoms of coronavirus he was tested but was awaiting results the patriarch of the Marsellus family was a fixture of the jazz scene in New Orleans for decades but he was perhaps best known as a teacher of a generation of jazz musicians including Harry Connick jr. Terence Blanchard and his sons Wynton Branford Delfeayo and Jason I interviewed Ellis a few years ago where he had this to say about the importance of teaching the next generation what is the secret if there is a secret to training a master musician a musician that can really stand out well I don't know that it's fair to put that totally on me with the training while I was teaching at MOCA all of the students with the exception of the drummer's was studying privately with somebody but for the most part the whole concept is is not so much a secret but a respect for excellence the city of New Orleans is heartbroken along with jazz fans everywhere our prayers go out to the entire Marsalis family Ellis is survived by his six sons hey Ellis Marsalis rest in peace and I've been heartened by the letters and emails I've gotten from families reading the will Wilder books over the last few weeks I love that you're enjoying the adventure together one of the themes of the series is how older and younger generations rely on each other and how together they can take on whatever lies ahead the paperback edition of will Wilder 3 the amulet of power is now in bookstores and online all three will Wilder books are available as audio books as well as on Kindle go to will Wilder books calm or visit my Facebook and Twitter pages for more details happy reading the links are at Raymond Arroyo comm that's all the time we have for you now be safe stay together and be sure to catch us next week until then we'll be scouting the world over for all that is seen and unseen on behalf of the staff and crew of EWTN news thanks for watching I'm Raymond Arroyo from New Orleans I know [Music] you [Music]

Channel: EWTN

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Length: 55min 40sec (3340 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 02 2020