Monthly Archives: May 2014

Rape Victims Hurt by Assumption That They Want Abortion

Posted on by
Translator

Victims of rape deserve our utmost compassion and support, but they’re not getting it in today’s abortion-minded society.

Mom-and-ChildAn article this week in the Christian Science Monitor explores a major problem that’s never addressed in debates about abortion and rape: People automatically assume that rape victims who become pregnant want to have an abortion.

The assumption is very dangerous because, first, it denies the fact that there is a second victim involved, the preborn child, and, second, it pressures these victimized women toward abortion.

Analyn Megison, a mother in Florida who was raped and had a daughter as a result, explained how she was criticized and condemned for choosing life.

“People ridicule you and distrust you because you chose to have your child – ‘Oh, you must not have been raped,’ ” Megison says. “It’s such a strange world we live in where you have to be questioned as a mother why you love the child that … you nurse and play with and pray with and read stories with.” Read the rest of the report here.

What has our society become that we fail to protect and support the most victimized among us?

Gosnell Case Continues as Staffer Faces Sentencing

Posted on by
Translator

The case of Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” abortion center continues, and most of the media is back to ignoring it.

Karnamaya Mongar

Karnamaya Mongar

Lynda Williams, one of Gosnell’s staffers, was sentenced last week for her involvement in his criminal drug distribution, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

Gosnell and his staff made money off of selling prescription pain killers illegally. It was Gosnell’s “pill mill” and not his deathly abortion practices that first led investigators to his West Philadelphia facility.

This week, Williams is expected to be sentenced for her role in the deaths of a newborn baby and female patient Karnamaya Mongar. She already pled guilty to third-degree murder for their deaths. Williams, like most of Gosnell’s staff, was not a licensed medical professional.

The mainstream media would prefer that we forget about Williams and Gosnell and the Philadelphia “house of horrors” abortion center. Though the case continues more than a year after Kermit Gosnell’s murder convictions, we hear almost nothing in the news about it.

I share this update on the case so that we as pro-lifers don’t forget.

When Life Begins According to Embryology Textbooks

Posted on by
Translator

I just wanted to follow up my post yesterday with this link to scientific evidence about the beginning of life.

Baby feetThis LifeNews.com article lists nine academic sources showing scientific proof that a new human life begins at the moment of fertilization.

Here is just one for you: “The fusion of sperm and egg membranes initiates the life of a sexually reproducing organism.” — Marsden et al., Model systems for membrane fusion, CHEM. SOC. REV. 40(3):1572 (Mar. 2011)

Despite what the deniers may say, scientific evidence is on our side. Keep this article handy, so the next time someone denies the truth about when life begins you can point them to these sources.

MSNBC Says Life Isn’t a Scientific Term

Posted on by
Translator

I rarely read MSNBC anymore, but curiosity got the better of me. I clicked on their response to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s comment about liberals denying the science of life and abortion.

Handsholdingfetus

Baby at 6-8 weeks

The MSNBC headline read, “Marco Rubio’s scientific blunder on abortion.”

Here’s what the third paragraph said, “In fact, ‘life’ and ‘conception’ aren’t scientific terms, and the rights of a blastocyst, embryo or fetus compared to the pregnant woman aren’t up to scientists; they’re subjective, based on personal, religious, or political commitments.”

I couldn’t help but scoff at that sentence. It made me wonder how journalism has sunk to this new low. (My background is in journalism, by the way.)

Their statement that life and conception aren’t scientific terms is ridiculous (and I don’t use that word lightly). Even the determination of when life begins is a scientific fact, as Sen. Rubio stated.

Life, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.”

These terms are not subjective. If they were subjective, then how could scientists look for life on Mars or in the Mariana Trench? If they were subjective, how can we determine whether you or I are alive?

Sometimes I think our head-to-the-iPhone culture saturates our minds with so much information that we forget to think about what we’re reading.

As pro-lifers, we need to step up and be critical thinkers – whether we’re reading an article from a pro-life perspective or a pro-abortion perspective.

Our mission is too critical. We are fighting against 40-plus years of legalized abortion. We are fighting for the 56 million babies who lost their lives as a result, and the millions more who are vulnerable to the threat.

Woman Shares Her Journey to Healing after Eight Abortions

Posted on by
Translator

When I met Tammi Morris for the first time, she helped me to understand something I’ve struggled with many times – why a woman would have multiple abortions.

Tammi had eight.

Tammi came from a difficult background. She grew up in a very poor neighborhood. Her mother was battling substance abuse.35a420_d8ea7fbe3e57414eb756db83b7bdcbda

Tammi found herself pregnant at 16, and people looked down on her for it. Not long after giving birth to her baby girl, everyone around Tammi basically abandoned her, and she became homeless. When she was just 17, she had to battle her in-laws to keep custody of her baby daughter. She was young, frightened, and all alone.

It was then that she found herself pregnant again. Already at her whits end, she didn’t see any way she could have another baby. So, Tammi had an abortion.

“They say there’s no fate worse than death, but it my mind there was – and that was me being your mother,” Tammi told me. “And I would go on to believe that for 13 years.”

Tammi was determined to change her life. She got her GED, went to college, and worked multiple jobs. She eventually gained the success that she had dreamed of: a good job, house in the suburbs, SUV, and pool in the backyard. But inside, she was still broken. She continued to have abortions.

One day, Tammi said God touched her broken heart in a powerful way. She cleaned up her life and eventually found healing and forgiveness for aborting eight of her children.

Now, she is sharing her story publicly because she wants to help other post-abortive women know that there is forgiveness in Christ. She also has a strong desire to encourage pregnant women to choose life.

There is much more to Tammi’s story, and I would strongly encourage you to listen to her tell it on our April LifeLines podcast. Or visit Tammi’s website.

Tammi, in her humility, helped me to understand how her brokenness and desperation led to her abortions, and how desperately pregnant and new moms need our encouragement and support and post-abortive women need our forgiveness and compassion.

—-

If you or someone you know is pregnant and needs help, contact the Pennsylvania pregnancy hotline at 1-888-LIFE-AID or click here to find a pregnancy center near you.

If you or someone you know is seeking healing after an abortion, contact Rachel’s Vineyard here.

Our New Website Is Here – Same Location, New Look

Posted on by
Translator

Our new website is here! We’ve been working on updating our old site for quite a while now, and thanks to the talent and hard work of our IT Director Bill and graphics designer Keith, it’s finally ready to launch.

The site launched on Sunday, May 11, in honor of Mother’s Day.NewWebsite

We’re still at the same address, www.paprolife.org, but we have introduced a whole new look – with new features, updated content and easy-to-access pro-life information. The site was designed to be compatible with today’s browsers and mobile devices, so it’s easier to navigate, too.

We want paprolife.org to be the go-to place for Pennsylvanians seeking answers about life. Please visit our new site and send us your feedback at lifelines@paprolife.org.

And keep checking in. We will be adding more new content in the coming weeks.

We’re Back from Our Pro-Life Town Hall Meetings

Posted on by
Translator

Well, we’re back. Our Executive Director Michael Ciccocioppo and I hit the road last week for our annual pro-life town hall meetings.

It was an exhausting week with two speaking stops per day and hundreds of miles in the car, but it also was an encouraging week that I’ll never forget.

TownHallGettysburg

Our Town Hall meeting in Gettysburg

Everywhere we stopped, people were anxious to learn the truth about what’s happening in our nation.

The purpose of our town hall meetings is to bring pro-life education to people in their own communities. This year, we talked about the pro-life gains in Pennsylvania, notorious abortionists in our state, the abortion and medical rationing components of Obamacare, a Millennial’s perspective on abortion, and effective methods for defending our pro-life beliefs.

We go out to teach and inspire, but we always come back having learned and been inspired ourselves.

This year, I came back reminded about just how unique and beautiful every individual is. I saw hundreds of people at our meetings. I talked with them, shook hands with them. And I marveled at how different and beautiful every single person is. One of a kind. Unique. Unlike any other on the earth in all of history.

And I was reminded of what being pro-life really means – recognizing each individual as a unique treasure and protecting that treasure from harm.

Check back soon for photos from the tour.