SW News: In the US city of Toledo, Bishop Daniel Thomas called the City Council's planned resolution to divert $100,000 from COVID-19 relief funds to cover out-of-state abortion travel expenses "outrageous."

The municipal council will consider the ordinance on December 20. It will shift $100,000 in federal COVID relief funds for the provision of abortion-related logistical needs. The funds would be used to help the pro-abortion organization The Agnes Reynolds Jackson Fund, whose goal is to aid abortion clinics so that it is simple for women to get an abortion. The Agnes Reynolds Jackson Fund, or “Aggie Fund” for short, is an all-volunteer, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing abortion access in Toledo and the surrounding areas. The purpose of the organization is to make choosing to terminate a pregnancy financially accessible and to keep abortion safe and legal.

“It is outrageous to learn that an amendment to ordinance 530-21 has been proposed to Toledo City Council and will be voted on December 20, 2022, which would allocate $100,000 from COVID relief funds to a group whose sole purpose is to pay for travel and other expenses to procure abortions,” Bishop Thomas said in a December 14 statement.

The emergency measure declares that the law is required for the immediate protection of public peace, health, safety, and property and that it must take effect right away to give Toledo residents who need reproductive health services financial support.

Causing death can never be regarded as a sort of medical treatment, states Pope Saint John Paul II. It contradicts the medical field, which aims to be a passionate and unwavering proponent of life. (Evangelium Vitae, page 89).

Established on April 15, 1910, the Diocese of Toledo covers 8,222 square miles in a mix of urban and rural areas, stretches across 19 counties in Northwest Ohio, and serves about 320,000 Catholics in 122 parishes.

The Catholic Church is prepared to help women whenever they need it through programs like Walking With Moms In Need, which collaborates with pregnancy assistance centers to offer free resources for women and children.