The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

Sr. Lucianne Siers, OP, an NGO representative, recently returned from visiting Amman, Jordan, where she met with two groups of Iraqi Dominican sisters currently in Jordan. Send postcards/letters to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and to your congregational representatives with this message:

The humanitarian needs of the Iraqi refugees are urgent. Basic security, food, clothing, and shelter are greatly needed by those fleeing their homeland. While the U.S. and allies are spending billions of dollars per month on the war effort, the people of Iraq are being driven out of their homes seeking safety. I urge you to respond to the needs of people who have been displaced from Iraq with a concentrated effort to assist them by opening doors in the U.S. and encouraging other Western countries to accept them.

Send your letter to:

Stop Killing in the Philippines

Sign an online petition letter asking various government leaders, U.N. officials, and the Holy Father to intervene to stop the killings of human rights defenders and labor and peasant leaders in the Philippines by the Armed Forces and National Police. The Holy Father is included because he recently met with the President of the Philippines when the country ended their use of the death penalty. To sign the petition, visit www.pinoyhr.net.

Women Say No to War

An international group of women, Women Say No to War, have made their own peace plan to end the occupation and violence in Iraq.  Read the plan and join them by signing the Women’s Call for Peace online at www.womensaynotowar.org. 

The Women’s Call for Peace document will be sent to U.S. embassies all over the world with one clear message:  we demand a political settlement in Iraq and a redirection of our world’s resources to care for our global family and planet.

Support Vital Human Rights Legislation

• With an approaching vote on Rep. McGovern’s new bill, HR 1217, you need to act now! 100 cosponsors are already signed on. Please do the following as soon as possible:
• Call your representative! Each phone call a representative receives directly impacts whether he/she will cosponsor HR 1217 and vote to suspend operations at the SOA/WHINSEC.
• Call the Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121
• Ask for the foreign policy legislative assistant of your representative
• Deliver the following message: "I am calling Congressman/woman _________ to remind him/her that Rep. Jim McGovern has introduced HR 1217, The Latin America Military Training Review Act of 2005, which would suspend and investigate the School of the Americas, which now uses the acronym WHINSEC. I urge _________ to contact Rep. McGovern’s office to become a co-sponsor of this bill. This would be one very concrete step to support human rights and promote peace and justice for the people of Latin America."
• Who is your representative? www.house.gov/writerep
• Is your representative a current supporter of HR 1217? www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=96 (click on "Legislative Action" page).
   

Vote to Stop the “Drive-Through Mastectomy”

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year more than half of the House of Representatives signed on. The purpose is to eliminate the “drive-through mastectomy” where women are forced to go home hours after surgery—against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia, and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. 

Sign the petition at www.lifetimetv.com/health/breast_mastectomy_pledge.html. It will take only a few sentences. You need not give more than your name and zip code number. Please ask friends and family to do the same.