Monthly Archives: January 2018

For Immediate Release: Pennsylvanians to Join Hundreds of Thousands at March for Life in DC

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           CONTACT: MARIA GALLAGHER, PPLF

January 16, 2018                                                                        717-541-0034

28 Marchers making their way up Constitution Ave                                                                                                                          

Pennsylvanians to Join Hundreds of Thousands at March for Life in DC 

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvanians are set to join hundreds of thousands of other Americans at the March for Life on Friday, January 19th in Washington, D.C. The event has been called the largest annual peaceful demonstration in the United States.

“It is highly appropriate that the theme of this year’s March is ‘Love Saves Lives,’” said Michael Ciccocioppo, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the state affiliate of National Right to Life. “The pro-life movement has empowered women across the country to make loving and life-affirming decisions for themselves and their families. On the other hand, abortion has had a devastating effect on women, leaving countless numbers of mothers to grieve for the children they have lost.”

Statistics obtained from abortion facilities themselves indicate that almost 60 million unborn children in the United States have died from abortion in the years since the tragic 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade. In Pennsylvania alone, over 30,000 unborn babies died from abortion in 2016, according to the most recent figures released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

“Nearly 100 children die each day from abortion in the Keystone State. That means we are losing the equivalent of about five kindergarten classes daily from abortion. It’s an unparalleled tragedy,” said Ciccocioppo.

Still, the abortion rate would be much higher were it not for a number of important developments. “Pro-life pregnancy centers, the miracle of 4D Ultrasound, the closing of abortion centers, and the prevalence of social media have all combined to bring down our abortion rate over the past few decades,” said Ciccocioppo.

As many as a half-million people are expected for the March for Life—the majority of them high school and college students and young professionals.  Chapters of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, along with a number of church groups, have organized bus trips to the annual March, as they have for decades.

“Our dream is the day when we no longer have to march—when abortion is not just illegal, but unthinkable so that the lives of all preborn children are protected and their mothers are saved from the heartache of abortion,” Ciccocioppo said.

Note:  If your news organization would like to know about buses to the March for Life from your area, please contact Maria Gallagher at 717-541-0034 or at gallagher@paprolife.org. 

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The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation is a grassroots right-to-life organization with members statewide.  As the state affiliate of National Right to Life, PPLF is committed to promoting the dignity and value of human life from conception to natural death and to restoring legal protection for preborn children.

 

 

Signs of Progress, 45 Years After Roe v. Wade

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Baby Superman with motherBy Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

gallagher@paprolife.org

As we mark the 45th anniversary of the tragic U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, I would like to offer 45 reasons for hope for the cause of protecting innocent human life:

  1. Statistics show the number of abortions in the U.S. are on the decline.
  2. Polls show the Millennial Generation is more pro-life than young people of generations past.
  3. President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order barring taxpayer funding of organizations that perform and promote abortions overseas.
  4. The White House supports no federal funding for abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
  5. Vice-President Mike Pence has been outspoken in his defense of innocent human life.
  6. Strict constructionist Neil Gorsuch now sits on the U.S. Supreme Court.
  7. The President has vowed to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will not legislate from the bench, hastening the day; when Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
  8. The annual March for Life continues to attract huge crowds, largely made up of young people.
  9. Pregnancy resource centers are reaching out to pregnant women everyday with compassion, love, and support.
  10. The number of pregnancy resource centers in the U.S. far outnumber abortion facilities.
  11. Abortion centers are closing all across the country.
  12. Congress boasts a pro-life majority, as do many state legislatures throughout the nation.
  13. 4D ultrasound technology is showing babies smiling in their mothers’ wombs.
  14. Women who regret their abortions and who want to help other women avoid similar heartache have found their voice in organizations such as the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.
  15. Healing retreats such as those of Rachel’s Vineyard are bringing hope to women scarred by abortion.
  16. A number of Planned Parenthood workers have left their jobs in the abortion industry and have become powerful spokespeople for the pro-life cause.
  17. Abortion survivors such as Melissa Ohden are speaking out about being targeted for abortion when they were preborn babies.
  18. A number of men are taking responsibility for pressuring their wives and girlfriends into having abortions.
  19. Scientific research supports the pro-life contention that abortion hurts women physically, mentally, and emotionally.
  20. The blogosphere is filled with pro-lifers willing to share their knowledge.
  21. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allow the pro-life movement to get accurate information out into cyberspace.
  22. Nurses who work with premature infants are sharing their experiences about the fragility of human life.
  23. A number of abortionists have stopped doing abortions and now promote life instead.
  24. College students are organizing and motivating their classmates to support pregnant women on campus.
  25. Teens for Life are finding innovative ways to promote life in their communities.
  26. Local chapters of National Right to Life are educating people about the life issue at area fairs and festivals.
  27. State affiliates of National Right to Life are passing pro-life laws and changing hearts and minds about abortion.
  28. Campaigns to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide have failed much more often than they have succeeded.
  29. Popular culture is recognizing the humanity of the preborn child by sharing Ultrasound  videos and praising “baby bumps.”
  30. People with Down syndrome are showing why it is inhumane to abort a child diagnosed with a disability in the womb.
  31. New attention is being focused on the brutal practice of dismemberment abortion, where a child is torn limb by limb from a mother’s womb.
  32. An increasing number of people are questioning the practice of sex selection abortions, in which babies are aborted just because of their sex.
  33. The gruesome practice of  partial-birth abortion, in which a baby is partly delivered, then killed, has been outlawed.
  34. A number of members of Congress are determined to shine a spotlight on allegations of baby body part harvesting in the abortion industry.
  35. Public opinion polls continue to show most people oppose most abortions.
  36. Polls also indicate that the vast majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion.
  37. Polls demonstrate that most Americans oppose late-term abortions.
  38. A number of states have passed laws ensuring that no taxpayer funding of abortion can occur in the health insurance exchanges created by Obamacare.
  39. Many Congressmen want to make the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer funding of abortion except in rare cases, permanent.
  40. A distinguished counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, spoke at the March for Life.
  41. Women across the country are courageously stating that Planned Parenthood does not speak for them.
  42. People with disabilities are leading the fight against doctor-prescribed suicide and euthanasia.
  43. Some people who joined the pro-life movement way back in 1973 continue to serve the cause with dignity and honor.
  44. A number of celebrities, such as actress Patricia Heaton, are bucking the Hollywood trend and boldly proclaiming their pro-life views.
  45. The end of Roe v. Wade is in sight, given anticipated changes in the makeup of the Supreme Court.

 

Either Suicide is a Big Deal…..or it isn’t

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Image result for assisted suicide

YouTube sensation Logan Paul has recently come under fire for an insensitive video he posted on YouTube.  In the offending video Paul, whose YouTube channel has over 15 million followers, visited Japan’s Aokigahara forest, also known as the “suicide forest.”  During their visit, Paul and his friends came across the body of someone who recently committed suicide and made jokes about the suicide victim.  Their insensitivity led to him to delete the video and issue an apology.

The backlash to the insensitivity of Paul and his friends has been swift and strong, and rightly so. What’s interesting is the notable silence of the Hemlock Society, rebranded as Compassion and Choices.  Its advocacy for legalizing doctor-prescribed suicide (and ultimately euthanasia) hinges on an assumption that suicide is no big deal and should be treated as cavalierly as Paul and his friends did.  The fact that the organization has not come out in full-throated defense of Paul is indicative of its hypocrisy.

Paul has stated he posted the video “to raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention” but admits he doesn’t expect to be forgiven.  He has even apologized to the family of the person who committed suicide.  Similarly, Compassion and Choices, and other advocates of doctor-prescribed suicide should apologize to all who commit suicide for the cavalier attitude they display toward suicide and should refocus their attention on reminding people considering suicide they can always choose life.