Monthly Archives: April 2014

How Many Babies Are Missing in Your County Due to Abortion?

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Abortion is a crisis in our nation. 55 million babies have died because of it.

But 55 million is a difficult number to relate to. It’s hard for me to picture 55 million of anything. The number is just unimaginable.

So, when I need some perspective, I look at abortion numbers in my home community. Below is a list from the Pennsylvania Department of Health with the number of babies who died in abortions by county in 2012.

When I look at the list and the number beside my county, it reminds me of how real abortion is. I wonder whose baby isn’t crying next door, or whose child I won’t see playing in the park down the street. I think about how there will be nine fewer children starting kindergarten in a few years.

It can be easy to distance ourselves from the reality that abortion brutally kills preborn babies. So, I challenge you to think about the babies who aren’t here anymore, the babies who would have been. Please find your county and think about the number after it. If you’re a praying person, pray.

And then I challenge you to act. Get involved in protecting life in your community. With your help, we can get these numbers down to zero and restore protections for every single human life.

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CountiesAbortion2012-2(Please forgive me for the poor quality of these documents. I was having trouble formatting them. If you would like to see the numbers in the full report from the state Department of Health, click here. They are located on pages 4-5.)

State Investigates Allentown Abortion Center Allegedly Dodging Facility Inspection

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HARRISBURG, Pa. – Documents from an abortion center in Allentown have prompted state officials to investigate whether the center may be dodging unannounced state inspections.

A Planned Parenthood in Allentown allegedly rescheduled abortion procedures after finding out when the Pennsylvania Department of Health planned to inspect the facility, according to documents released to blogger Jill Stanek. The allegations that Planned Parenthood has inside information about inspections prompted speedy action by the Governor.

“Pro-life Governor Tom Corbett’s office is now looking into allegations that abortion giant Planned Parenthood may be getting preferential treatment when it comes to abortion center inspections,” said Maria Gallagher, legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, an affiliate of National Right to Life. “We commend the Governor for taking swift action to ensure the integrity of the inspection process. The health and safety of women across the Commonwealth are at stake.”

Stanek said the documents came from an informant from the Planned Parenthood Keystone affiliate, which oversees facilities in central and eastern Pennsylvania. One document shows a Planned Parenthood “Changes to Medical Center and Admin Building Schedules.” The schedule was updated on March 11 showing that abortions in Allentown would be moved from Friday, March 21, to Thursday, March 20, due to the Department of Health inspection.

In 2011, Pennsylvania enacted a new law requiring regular and unannounced inspections of abortion centers in an effort to protect the health and safety of women and babies in the Commonwealth.

“Pennsylvania has become a national leader in abortion center regulation and it is critically important that the inspection process not be compromised. We remember all too well the horrors that took place in West Philadelphia under the direction of abortionist and now convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell. We owe it to Gosnell’s victims to learn from the painful lessons of the past,” Gallagher added.

To view the original documents, visit: http://www.jillstanek.com/2014/04/pa-planned-parenthood-reschedules-abortions-to-dodge-inspectors/

Amazing Video of Conception to Birth Is Worth Watching Again

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No matter how many times I watch Alexander Tsiaras’s short film, “Conception to birth – visualized,” I walk away feeling amazed.

Tsiaras, a professor at Yale University, helped to create the stunning video that shows a baby’s development in the womb from conception to birth.

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In an amazing display of images, we watch as the baby’s cells split and spread out. Then his or her heart begins to beat. Then arms and hands form. Then a tiny nose and eyes appear. Within 44 just days, the baby is recognizably human. By 9 weeks, he or she is basically fully formed.

Every step of development is so beautiful. Yet, what’s most amazing of all is realizing that from that very moment of conception we are already living, growing human beings – completely unique and valuable.

Please take the time to watch the whole video here. It’s only about nine minutes. Then share it with people you know. These visual images, backed up by science, make it hard to deny that babies in the womb deserve the right to life.

(Family audiences, please not that there are some brief anatomically graphic images – not violent, but graphic.)

Candidate for PA Governor Says Get Over Fact that She Ran an Abortion Center

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Allyson Schwartz, a candidate for Pennsylvania governor, says Pennsylvanians should just “stop worrying” about the fact that she used to run an abortion center in Philadelphia.

In a new interview, Schwartz made it clear that while she supports abortion (she had allysonschwartza 100-percent pro-abortion voting record as a member of U.S. Congress), she doesn’t want to talk about what that means for Pennsylvanians.

Schwartz used to run an abortion center in Philadelphia, not far from Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors.” Yet, she has also refused to talk about Gosnell and whether her facility referred patients to him.

Read more at LifeNews.com.

Who Really Has Women’s Best Interests at Heart?

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Planned Parenthood with its bright pink logo and its catchy slogans claims to have women’s best interests at heart. But it doesn’t take much to see past the façade.

The abortion provider fights vehemently for “access to women’s reproductive health care” (translation: abortion). They oppose any and all abortion regulation laws – including those PlannedParenthood1meant to protect women’s health – all in the name of access.

But when it comes to real health care access issues, Planned Parenthood isn’t just silent. They’re actually promoting a law that cuts off access to basic health care for women and their families.

I’m talking about Obamcare.

Planned Parenthood is one of the biggest proponents of the federal health care law. The problem is that as more people sign up for new insurance plans, they are finding that their new plans exclude specialist doctors and highly-reputable health care centers, according to a report by the National Right to Life Committee.

National news outlets also are picking up on the restricting effects of the law. In an Oct. 21, 2013, piece in USA Today, Annika McGinnis wrote:

“In New Hampshire, the exchange has just Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which greatly reduces the number of hospital options, says State Sen. Andy Sanborn. Since more than 90% of doctors are affiliated with specific hospitals, the new plans will also exclude many doctors, he added. Plans don’t include the capital’s Concord Hospital, and the next-closest hospital uses Concord doctors, Sanborn said. So, he said, people will have to drive to a third hospital an hour away. They’ll even have to call an ambulance from a far-away hospital to pick them up, he said.”

And this is just one of many examples.

Planned Parenthood conveniently ignores the fact that Obamacare is forcing families to travel further to find basic health care. As long as women can have easy access to abortions, nothing else matters to them.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to conclude that Planned Parenthood cares only about abortion. No matter what.

Learn the Latest Pro-Life News and Information at Our Spring Town Hall Tour

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This winter seemed as though it would never end, but the signs of spring are finally appearing. I love the warmth and hope that spring holds. It reminds me that good things are ahead.

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Micaiah Bilger during our 2013 Town Hall Tour

I feel the same way during our annual Pro-Life Town Hall Tour, which is coming up April 28 to May 6.

It’s a time when we travel across the state and connect with pro-lifers, sharing the latest information about pro-life issues and ideas for restoring a culture of life in our state.

This year, we’ll be talking about the effects of Obamacare on abortion and euthanasia, notorious abortionists in our state, pro-life progress in Pennsylvania, tools for communicating the pro-life message, and more.

I really enjoy the time I spend talking with people before and after the meetings. I always feel so hopeful after hearing about what pro-lifers are doing in their towns to support and encourage families to choose life.

Please join me and our Executive Director Michael Ciccocioppo to learn, connect, and be inspired for life. Join us in:

Gettysburg – Noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 28
West Chester – 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, April 28
Danville – Noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29
Lewistown – 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 29
Clarion – 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 30
New Castle – Noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 1
Latrobe – 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 1
Huntingdon – Noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 2
Mechanicsburg – 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 6

For details, contact us at lifelines@paprolife.org or 717-541-0034.

Dancing with Disability

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By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

When I worked in TV news, we would talk about creating a “moment,”–a point
in time played out on the television screen that was particularly memorable.

As I was watching a replay of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” this week, I
witnessed such a moment, or, more accurately, a series of amy-purdy-contemporarymind-blowing
moments, when the couple known as “Amy and Derek” danced.

The ABC website reports that contestant Amy Purdy lost her legs at the age
of 19 following a bout with meningitis. Undaunted, she became a three-time
World Cup Para-snowboard champion.

Her contemporary dance with professional partner Derek Hough began with baby
steps on her artificial legs and feet. At times, she gracefully fell to the
floor, to be picked up again by her partner. At one point, Derek twirls
her about so that she appears to be flying, and by the end of the dance, it
looks as if she is walking on air.

The song that accompanies the dance is “Human,” in which the singer notes,
“I can do it,” before admitting, “I’m only human/And I crash and break
down.”

At the dance’s end, the face of guest judge Robin Roberts of “Good Morning
America” reflects immense human emotion. The dance is a brilliant gem of an
example of the courage, fortitude, strength, heroism,and endurance that
people with disabilities evidence everyday.

It was a profound moment of accomplishment, and showed the miraculous feats
that can be achieved through hard work and perseverance–a moment of triumph
over trauma.

Share this video with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. It is a
powerful argument against an attitude which says that a disability makes
life no longer worth living–or of no value from the start. The video is a
moment worth living again and again.

Click here to view the video.

Patterns in the Universe Point to the Value of Life at Conception

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A few weeks ago, there was big news about new scientific evidence involving the Big Bang theory.

USA Today summed up the findings this way, “In an achievement hailed as astounding, scientists have detected ripples made in the fabric of the universe just after the Big Bang, providing definitive evidence that that the universe underwent a fast and incomprehensibly massive growth spurt in its earliest infancy.” spaceimage

I don’t know where you stand on the whole beginning of the universe thing. Maybe it all began with one random, colossal bang of energy, or maybe God created it in six, consecutive 24-hour periods. My purpose isn’t to argue science or theology.

No matter what you believe, it’s hard to deny that our world is full of patterns. Our universe has an order, a predictability to it. As I was reading the news story, it made me think about the similarities between the beginning of the universe and the beginning of our lives.

I’m no scientist, but from what I understand, the Big Bang theory says the universe began with a huge explosion of random particles that suddenly turned into our universe – to put it very, very simply.

The point is that the universe didn’t gradually come into being – whether you believe the Biblical creation story or the Big Bang theory. Basically, there was nothing, and then a big event suddenly turned it into something: our universe.

That pattern should be familiar to us. We see it in the beginning of every human life. First, there’s nothing – just some random cells from a man and a woman. Then, as the matter meets, there’s suddenly something: a new human life.

It may seem like a simple observation, but the more I look at the world and explore the issues of life and death, the more I see how nature reinforces the principle that human life is valuable from the moment of conception.

Human life doesn’t gradually become valuable, just as the universe didn’t gradually become our universe.

We are valuable from our very beginning.