Issue 2: Abortion On Guam

Dr. William Freeman and Dr. Edmund Griley were the only two physicians who practiced abortion in Guam.  Both are now retired and none of our local doctors are willing to take up the practice of abortion after them. Kudos to our local doctors, who did not leave their faith at the door of the church building.  Christianity is a lifestyle.  It is not to be left only at the doorsteps or inside the church building.  It is supposed to be with you in your home, work, school and daily life.  Christianity is not a religion.  It is a way of life.  

This is an era where Guam has seen a woman governor for the first time in history.  There were also more women elected to the Guam Legislature.  Unfortunately, I am very disappointed with our leaders.  So far, they have revived gambling in the Liberation Carnival.....an event that is supposed to be enjoyed by children and families.  So far, they have legalized "recreational" marijuana in the hopes to increase government revenue.  In short, the government is depending on the marijuana addiction of the people to increase its revenue. After all, just look at the tobacco industry.  They made millions of dollars from people addicted to tobacco.  And now, the government is looking for a doctor to provide abortion.  

In the past 40 years or so, our people have had to travel to either the Philippines or the U.S. to obtain medical assistance which our hospitals are unable to provide.  Those who needed open heart surgery had to travel thousands of miles off-island.  Those who needed cancer treatment had to travel thousands of miles off-island, and so on.  And our government was never concern about this.  We would see people fundraising for off-island medical treatment, and our government was never concern about this.     

After Dr. Freeman retired, abortions were no longer provided.  Suddenly, the government was very concern about this. Today, women who want abortion had to travel thousands of miles......in the same way as those who needed open heart surgery and other medical treatment that were not available on island.  Suddenly, the government was very concern.  BUT their concern were not for those who needed open heart surgery, cancer treatment, or other medical assistance needed to save a person's life.  

The Public Health Data showed that there were 289 abortions in Guam in 2016. Only 6 of them were teens ages 13-17.  Rape, incest, and medical problems were not the main reason for abortion.  Those numbers are very small.  Now, that there are no abortion providers in Guam, what we are seeing are a very small number of women from Guam going to Hawaii to obtain an abortion.  According to Time.com (the bold is mine): 

While Hawaii, a nearly eight-hour flight from Guam, is the closest U.S. state for a legal abortion, there have only been a handful of Guam women treated since last year, and none for an elective procedure, said Dr. Bliss Kaneshiro, an obstetrician-gynecologist and University of Hawaii professor........ 

She said, to her knowledge, all those who have come from Guam are "women with desired pregnancies where there are severe anomalies that have prompted their decision to terminate their pregnancies." 

"It's really quite a small number," she said. "I would say over the course of the past six months, we have seen two or three patients."   

In short, when abortion was provided in Guam, we saw over 200 abortions and most of them are elective abortions.  After Dr. Freeman retired in 2018 and abortion was no longer provided, we saw only 2 or 3 Guam women travel to Hawaii to obtain an abortion.  And these women wanted their babies, but needed an abortion due to severe anomalies.  Our government say that abortion is needed to save a woman's life, but these cases are very rare.  Rather, our government wants to provide abortion for all those other women whose lives are NOT at risk.  Pro-Choice is the belief that only the mother's life is sacred.  Pro-life is the belief that ALL human life is sacred including the life of the mother.   

Some people criticize the members of the Neocatechumenal Way.  They call us "crazy."  Why?  Because the families in the Way have many children and are happy with their many children.  They see their children as "gifts from God" rather than an economic or financial burden.  Below is a photo of the Palonis family.  This is a family with 12 children, and you can read their story here.

Some people call the members of the Neocatechumenal Way "crazy".  Why?  Because the parents are willing to leave their home, jobs, friends, and relatives to preach the Gospel in foreign lands.  Below is a photo of a mission family of seven children (the Cialdinis family from Italy), who chose to leave everything behind and travel as missionaries to Japan (a country with 2% Christians).  You can read their story here.

                                        

Some people say that the members of the Neocatechumenal Way are "crazy".  Why?  Because we teach single or unmarried people the virtue of chastity and abstinence rather than contraceptives. Abstinence is the only method guaranteed that one will not get pregnant and get a sexually transmitted disease.  Of course, the world says that our way of teaching this to our youth goes against what the world teaches about lust. The world teaches that lust is normal and not a sin.  But what did God say about who we are as Christians? 

John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you. 

We are no better than the people of this world, but we are indeed DIFFERENT from the people of this world.  We are Christians.  We are Catholics.  Our faith does not stop at the doorsteps of the church building.  We did not leave our faith inside the building.  Christianity is a lifestyle to be lived daily in our lives at home, at work, in school, and everywhere we go.  Christianity is how we live, and it can be seen even in our working lives.  Kudos to the local doctors who lived out their Christian faith.