The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation sent the following letter along with thousands of petition signatures on October 15, 2021.
Dear Trustees,
Enclosed please find the names of
thousands of people who have signed our petition calling on the University of
Pittsburgh to cease its research using the body parts of aborted babies.
These gruesome experiments, which
include grafting human scalps onto laboratory mice, are unethical and a
violation of time-tested principles of responsible research.
We are especially troubled by
published reports alleging that human organs were harvested from babies whose
hearts were still beating. These reports, based on documentation collected by
the Center for Medical Progress and Judicial Watch, raise significant questions
about whether the research at issue is in violation of state and federal
statutes.
We have learned that you have hired
an outside legal firm to investigate this research. But we are mystified by
reports that the results of that investigation may not be released to the
public. In the interest of complete transparency, we further call on you to
make public the findings of this investigation.
As taxpayers whose hard-earned tax dollars help to support the University of Pittsburgh, we call upon you to stop conducting dehumanizing research using aborted baby body parts.
Brad
was his name. He was the first student I
ever taught who had Down syndrome.
I was just entering my second year of full-time teaching. I held a Reading Specialist certificate and had taken several special education courses. So one might think I’d feel well prepared.
Yet, I found myself a bit nervous about having Brad in my sixth-grade Language Arts classroom. While I admired my school district for blazing a trail with inclusive classrooms, I had no practical experience teaching students with an extra chromosome. In fact, at 25 years old I had very little life experience interacting with people with Down syndrome.
But
I need not have worried. Brad was an
amazing addition to our class. He read on a sixth-grade level, better than some
of his “typical” classmates. I loved when he volunteered to read out loud,
showcasing his excellent decoding skills and impressing his peers.
Brad
was pleasant and cooperative, not every day but most days– but the same could
be said about the other 150 students I taught. Middle schoolers in general are
a very fickle group!
On
one of his tougher days, Brad hid under a desk for most of class. While his
support teacher worked with him, his classmates dutifully carried on, modeling
for Brad how he should behave.
On
better days, Brad exuded love and happiness to the extreme! He accepted everyone as his friend and found
joy in the ordinary, modeling for us how we should behave.
What Brad contributed to our classroom was far greater than anything I expected. He brought out the best in all of us. He challenged me to hone my teaching methodology so that concepts could be presented in novel ways, and in doing so, I was able to reach more students of varying aptitudes. I became a more creative, more thoughtful teacher with Brad in the room.
He challenged his peers to rethink stereotypes and perceived limitations, and to reach out to someone who was different but not less. It was heartwarming to see a student choose Brad to be his partner for a class activity or to see how several students welcomed him into a group project and helped him find a role. These students discovered that Brad was a just another human being, a person who laughed and cried, a person who achieved goals but also made mistakes, a person who had good days and bad.
And they also discovered that Brad was a person who offered unconditional acceptance and unbounded love.
We
need more Brads in the world, not less.
I
believe if more of us interacted with people with Down syndrome we would discover
what a gift they are. We would stop trying to “eradicate” them, as they have
done in Iceland through abortion. And we would stop aborting them in alarming
numbers in our own country.
When
receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, parents are often presented
with problems they could potentially face, rather than possibilities. Perhaps they or their doctor never had a Brad
in their classroom and witnessed the beauty, the value, and the dignity of his
life.
Why
are we so afraid of Down syndrome? Why do we routinely test for it during
pregnancy?
While
it should be acknowledged that parenting a child with an extra chromosome can pose
challenges, it is true that parenting any child can pose challenges, including
those with autism, ADHD, depression, a cognitive impairment, a chronic medical condition, a hearing or
visual impairment, or a host of other things that makes a person, makes us,
anything less than “perfect.”
Shall we “eradicate” anyone who fails to meet society’s definition of perfection? If we continue to move in that direction of eugenics, who will be missing from our world?
We would be missing all the Brads who teach us so much more than we teach them…the Brads who inspire us to think differently and to love more than we thought we could.
It was a child’s curiosity that started it all. She was exploring her parents’ bookshelves when one particular worn-out book caught her eye. Paging through, she was horrified at what she saw. She quickly shut the book, but compelled by an instinct to better understand what she had seen, she opened it again. She stared in disbelief and profound sadness, thinking of her own baby sister’s ultrasound picture. How could this be?
That moment was the
genesis of Lila Rose’s pro-life advocacy. That book was A Handbook on Abortion by Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Wilke, founders of the
National Right to Life. That child, even though just nine years old, felt called
to do something. That something would eventually evolve into Live Action, an
influential pro-life media and news organization that Lila founded when she was
just 15 years old.
In her book Fighting for Life: Becoming a Force for Change
in a Wounded World, Lila Rose details her journey from a little girl who
wanted to save babies to being the president of a pro-life nonprofit that has
worldwide reach. Reflecting on learning
about abortion at a young age and the impact it had on her, Lila writes, “Deep
grief is often the starting point for righting an injustice.”
Motivated to make a
difference, Lila raised money for pregnancy resource centers, prayed outside
abortion facilities, and started a pro-life club at her school. Her intention
was always to take the next small step to help women and to teach others about
abortion.
One small step led to
another, however, and Lila’s advocacy grew. In college, she expanded the
pro-life presence on the liberal campus of UCLA and even went undercover into
Planned Parenthood facilities to investigate whether they were complying with
the law.
What would enable a young
woman to take such risks and face certain adversity? Lila was open to learning
from mentors who helped her develop skills in apologetics, fundraising, public
speaking, and more. She found her heroes in Mother Teresa, St. Maximilian
Kolbe, and Corrie Ten Boom, people who exemplified courage and self-sacrifice. As
she matured and delved deeper into the abortion battleground, Lila recognized the
need to remain close to God. She deepened her prayer life and sought spiritual
direction. All of these were integral to staying centered while maintaining her
mission.
While her journey to becoming
a “pro-life rock star” is itself a compelling story, it is perhaps her transparency
that readers might find most surprising in this book. She openly acknowledges
her fears, insecurities, and personal battles, including struggles with depression,
an eating disorder, cutting, and complex family issues.
Many may know only a
picture-perfect version of Lila from social media or public appearances, but her
book candidly discloses her own vulnerabilities. Like all of us, she has experienced suffering.
She credits her pro-life advocacy for helping her heal and thrive because she
found a cause bigger than herself, one in which she can serve others.
She uses her earned wisdom to offer simple but sage advice to anyone fighting for a cause close to their heart. The chapter titles reflect lessons learned and wise counsel: Know Your Gifts, Prepare to Stand Alone, Leave Your Comfort Zone, Be Teachable, etc. Without being preachy, Lila gives advice that is realistic and encouraging.
Now a wife and mother, Lila’s passion for life is stronger than ever. She urges everyone, whatever their background, to get involved in the pro-life movement. “The fight needs all of us, no matter our wounds or mistakes or imperfections…Together we can rebuild the broken foundations, restore what has been devastated, and renew our wounded world. Together we can celebrate the new beginning.”
What to do about the vast number of poor, starving children? That was the question that Jonathan Swift, best known for writing Gulliver’s Travels, answered in his 1729 essay A Modest Proposal.In response to the poverty that crippled Ireland at the time, Swift offered what he believed to be a win-win proposition. Having been told that “a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled…” Swift recommended that children “at a year old be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune” for their consumption.
In this way, “the constant breeders will be rid of the charge of maintaining them after the first year.” The population of the lower class will be kept in check, the appetites of the rich satisfied, and the well-being of the ruling elite preserved.
Swift’s piece was, of course, satirical. Even his contemporaries recognized that. He did not want to kill poor children and feed them to the rich. He did not espouse cannibalization. His point in proposing such a ridiculous notion was to highlight the failure of politicians to address the very real problems of his day.
Yet, Swift’s sinister solution has taken root in our modern culture, albeit in a less conspicuous, but no less distasteful, form. While thankfully we are not killing one year olds to feed the wealthiest in society, tragically we are killing unborn babies en masse and using their livers, hearts, brains, scalps, and more to “feed” scientific research. An entire industry has risen from this…one that starts with the abortion provider, moves to a tissue procurement company, and ends at university-level research labs.
It’s a lucrative business. Past invoices indicate intact fetal hearts from a child 18-24 weeks gestation sell for $595. Half of a pre-natal liver for $350. A thymus for $500. Lives of unwanted babies are ended and their muchwanted body parts commodified. (Click HERE to see documentation.)
In an even more ghoulish turn, there are allegations that the hearts of babies may still be beating at the time of organ harvesting. Grant applications from the University of Pittsburgh to the National Institute of Health reference “ischemia,” the point at which organs lose their blood supply, and indicate that does not happen until “after the tissue collection procedure.” The implication is that babies are born alive and killed by dissection. In this way, pristine tissue and in-tact organs, the coveted “gold standard”, are obtained for research.
Utilitarianism
at its best. Or at its worst. Babies are being killed for the “sin of
unwantedness” and their body parts collected and sold to the highest
bidder. And sometimes those babies might
be alive when they are cut open. We
would not do this to puppies (rightfully so), but we will do it to the unwanted
child. And then justify it because it is, after all, in the name of science.
What
a Swiftian notion! Eliminate the undesirables, and in the process, utilize them
for the betterment of the born. What was
once a work of fiction has materialized into a real-life horror story.
Shame on us if we let this continue. We must stop this cannibalization of the most innocent and vulnerable. If we are to truly progress as a society, we must use ethically-obtained tissue for future medical research, not feed our babies to the scientific elites.
To sign our petition to the University Of Pittsburgh Board Of Trustees, click here.
Tiffany
and Jay Gilbert are busy. Along with pastoring a fast-growing church in the
Mount Washington area of Pittsburgh, PA, they are also growing two adorable young
sons. Despite a full schedule of faith and family, the couple remains open to
doing more to serve others. Most recently “that more” was to help stem the rate
of abortion by providing life-affirming alternatives to women in a Pittsburgh
neighborhood.
Although
only having started to explore possibilities late last year, the East Liberty Women’s Care Center opened in
record time this past April and has already offered a safe haven and welcoming
arms to several women facing unplanned pregnancies.
The
founding of this Pregnancy Resource Center comes at a critical time: Pittsburgh
has the second highest abortion rate in Pennsylvania, second only to
Philadelphia. And we are learning more and
more about the
disturbing allegations against the University of Pittsburgh with regard to procurement
of organs from aborted babies. For certain, the addition of another
life-affirming resource center in Pittsburgh is welcome news.
The
location of this Pregnancy Resource Center is also significant. It is one block
from Allegheny Reproductive, where the greatest number of abortions are
performed in the county. According to the PA Department of Health Abortion
Statistics Report, in 2019 there were 6474 induced abortions performed in
Allegheny County, comprising 20% of the annual abortions in the state. Being in such close proximity to the abortion
center provides an opportunity to reach vulnerable women with other options before
making a permanent, life-ending decision.
Only after opening Women’s Care Center did Tiffany learn an ironic fact: the very building in which they are located once housed Allegheny Reproductive. The space where babies’ lives were once sacrificed for profit is now the sanctuary where mothers and their babies are offered free and unconditional protection, where they are loved into life.
The
center’s services go far beyond pregnancy tests and abortion alternatives. They
offer resources to the entire family, including grandparents who may need
assistance in raising their children’s children. In addition to providing immediate material
support of clothes, diapers, and the like, East Liberty has an Economic
Self-Reliance program that empowers clients for the long term. This is a
partnership with other community organizations to provide technology training
that can lead to jobs with higher paying salaries. In this way, they hope to
break the generational cycle of poverty that can grip families.
Among
other services offered are post-abortion counseling, earn-while-you-learn
classes for new and prospective parents, and a woman’s group that focuses on
emotional healing. And they are just getting started as they train more
volunteers and look to increase open hours.
Tiffany
is in awe at how everything has come together in such a short time. The Center
was even blessed with the donation of an ultrasound machine. Until they can
secure their own nurse sonographer, the Center is partnering with a mobile van
unit that provides ultrasounds.
And that is key.
A recent
study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that
abortion-minded women who visit pregnancy centers are at least 30 percent more
likely to change their minds and give birth to their babies.
And we know from other studies that a majority of women who see their baby via
ultrasound choose life.
Inside the center, the Gilberts, their team of volunteers, and their donors have created a calm and beautiful space for clients. Soft blue walls frame a tastefully decorated and cozy sitting area with a nearby coffee station. A confidential counseling room is right down the hall. This is a place where women are welcomed, affirmed, helped, and healed, where relationships are built and life is chosen, a vast improvement over what used to happen: the exchange of money for a life. The building has undergone a rebirth.
Outside is a city streetlight, a rather quaint lamppost seemingly standing guard over this new beacon of hope. It serves as a fitting symbol of a place that is bringing light and life to the darkened corners of East Liberty, illuminating a new path forward for women, their children, and an entire community in a city that so desperately needs it.
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The University of Pittsburgh should be thoroughly investigated amid allegations of researchers there harvesting body parts from babies whose hearts are still beating.
“The Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act makes it clear—you cannot take the life of a precious baby to harvest organs. For the sake of babies, mothers, and taxpayers throughout the Commonwealth, it’s time to investigate the University of Pittsburgh,” said Maria Gallagher, legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, an affiliate of National Right to Life.
Under Pennsylvania law, it is a felony to experiment on a living unborn baby or to refuse to offer medical care to an infant who has been born alive.
The Center for Medical Progress notes that Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania abortion providers supply the aborted babies, while the University of Pittsburgh provides sponsorship to Planned Parenthood’s operations in what appears to be an illegal quid pro quo for unborn baby body parts. That would be a violation of 42 U.S. Code 289g-2 and 18 Pennsylvania Statutes 3216.
After securing hundreds of pages of public records, the non-profit group Judicial Watch has found that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has channeled at least $2.7 million into a project at the University of Pittsburgh that uses a tissue bank with body parts from aborted babies.
Pitt’s application for one project stated that the university planned “to develop a pipeline to the acquisition, quality control and distribution of (urinary and genital organs and functions) samples obtained throughout development (6-42 weeks gestation).” A baby born at 40 weeks is considered full-term by the National Institutes of Health, while a baby born at 42 weeks is considered overdue.
According to the Center for Medical Progress, “If the (preborn baby’s) heartbeat and blood circulation continue in a labor induction abortion for harvesting organs, it means the (baby) is being delivered while still alive and the cause of death is the removal of the organs.”
“The allegations read like something out of a horror movie—gruesome and disgusting,” said Gallagher. “It is deeply disturbing to think that full-term babies could be treated in such an inhumane manner. We call on both federal and local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the University of Pittsburgh’s research practices,” Gallagher added.
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************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.
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Pro-Life
Federation has sent a direct message to the U.S. Supreme Court: Overturn Roe v. Wade.
The Federation has filed an amicus
brief in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson
Women’s Health Organization. The case involves Mississippi’s protective
law banning abortion at 15 weeks.
In this well-reasoned brief, the
Federation “seeks an overturn of Roe
v. Wade, so that States may once again provide protection for
vulnerable unborn human life.”
The brief further states, “Roe was a radical decision that
overrode the legislative judgments of all 50 states. It was based on a flawed
understanding of the humanity of the unborn child and views of obstetrical
practice that are outdated because they fail to treat unborn children as second
patients in pregnancy.”
Roe v. Wade is the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which
legalized abortion throughout the country. It is estimated that more than 62
million Americans have died from legal abortion since the decision went into
effect. Countless numbers of women have also been forced to grieve children
lost to abortion.
While pro-lifers may be
adept at debating the abortion issue, some may feel less confident arguing
against another threat to life: assisted suicide. That is why Stephanie Gray
Connors’ latest offering is a treasure that all of us should delve into.
Start with What: 10 Principles for Thinking About Assisted Suicide is relatively short but highly engaging. Those who know the author from her previous book, Love Unleashes Life, or her many debates with pro-abortion advocates, or her famous talk at Google, will rediscover in this book her gifts of clear thinking and illuminating storytelling. Those reading her for the first time will find a fresh yet experienced pro-life voice. Although dealing with the heavy topics of suffering and death, Gray Connors adroitly leaves the reader feeling uplifted by showcasing the strength of the human spirit.
The title of the book comes from the very first principle offered: when bad things happen, such as illness, an accident, or any event that causes suffering, we should not ask “Why?” but rather “What?” What can I do in light of this situation? What good can be brought out of it? When we change the question, we change our perspective, and discover possibilities to grow and to love in ways previously unknown.
Gray Connors says that if a loved one desires assisted suicide, those around him should not act on that disordered wish, but instead help the person discover their “What?”
“Perhaps their what is to empathize with another suffering soul, to become a writer, to be a listener, to teach people to how to slow down and enter into the present moment, to become an advocate for finding a cure for a disease…their what could simply be to teach others, by their need and total dependence, the life-changing power of vulnerability and love.”
Another principle Gray Connors offers is that we should strive to alleviate suffering without eliminating the sufferer. While putting down a sick pet can be regarded as a merciful act, “putting down” a human is not the same. We possess an inherent dignity that animals do not, and ending human life prematurely as a response to suffering is not only wrong, it puts us on a very slippery slope as to whose life is worth living.
The truly merciful choice is to seek palliative care, assessing and treating the pain that a person faces when encountering a life-threatening illness. Such pain management allows people to live fully and comfortably until the natural end of their lives. Gray Connors reminds us that those last weeks, days, and hours leading up to death provide conversations and opportunities between loved ones that are priceless. Assisted suicide stunts all of that.
A third principle to consider is that suffering unleashes love. Suffering elicits a response in others and within ourselves, changing the way we relate, altering the way we live. Through several heartening real-life stories, the author highlights the human flourishing that arises from difficult, often tragic, circumstances. While none of us desire suffering, she acknowledges the transformative power it can have.
“Suffering is part of the human experience. It cannot be avoided. But it can be shared. And it is when we share it, when we enter into it, when we wrestle and do battle with it, when we respond to it with creativity, it is then we begin to discover the power of suffering not just in the crushing but also in the re-building, the drawing-in, and the uniting.”
Through several additional principles, Gray Connors conveys even more wisdom. In many ways, Start with What is as much about intentional, purposeful living as much as anything else. Anyone who is alive, anyone who suffers, or anyone who will someday die should read it and ponder the truths within. If they do, they will be much more equipped to not just effectively make the case for life, but to find their own “what?” when faced with hardship.
The older I get, the more I value freedom and the more
I desire others to know true freedom.
I desire it particularly for women who find themselves
facing an unexpected pregnancy.
Those who do not feel free to choose life. Those who
feel coerced by the baby’s father, or parents, or friends.
Those who feel stifled by society’s lingering
stigma regarding unplanned pregnancies and adoption.
Those who feel imprisoned by fear of an unknown
future.
Those held hostage by an abusive relationship.
And those whose vulnerability is preyed upon
and exploited, trapped into ending their own child’s life.
Two-thirds of post-abortive women report feeling
explicitly or implicitly forced into abortion.
That is not freedom.
We must set them free.
We must embrace every opportunity to help women be free to choose life.
Free to protect the child within their womb, even those deemed “imperfect,” or not perfectly timed.
Free to parent a child or free to lovingly place him for adoption.
Free to pursue their dreams, even in the midst of pregnancy or parenting.
When we empower women, whether through our laws, our words, our material support, or whatever is needed to walk with them on their journey, we offer them true freedom. We give them what they need to make the best choice possible for themselves and their child. That choice can never be death.
I am so grateful that my own family gave me the freedom to choose life when I was just 18 years old.
My mother, relieved that I did not have a terminal
illness, assured me we could deal with a baby.
My oldest brother, a new father himself, told me that
all babies, at all times, are a blessing.
My youngest brother embraced me and thanked me for not
getting an abortion.
Does not every young woman deserve such support so
that they have the freedom to choose life?
As we celebrate our many freedoms, let us renew our
commitment to giving every human being, without qualification, the freedom to
live first and foremost, for without life, no other freedoms can exist.
Whenever we offer preborn babies (of the silicone
kind) on our Education Table, people naturally gravitate toward them more than
any other part of our display. They pick them up, turn them around, marvel at
the fully formed, anatomically correct features, and seem to discover anew the
miracle and sanctity of human life. We
encourage them to take one with them and use it to share the pro-life message.
At a recent event, a woman explained that she needed
another 12-week baby, not because she gave hers away or because she misplaced
it, but because her cat had actually “stolen” it.
At first, she worried her pet would use it as toy,
perhaps chewing on it or scratching it.
But that’s not what happened at all.
Rather, she saw the feline gently carrying the baby around the house, positioning it gingerly in her jaws, just as mama cat carries kittens. She snuggled with the baby when she slept, cradling it, and remained ever so protective of the baby when awake.
A common house cat recognized the inherent worth of a preborn baby, while so many humans fail to do so.
The natural instinct, whether animal or human, is to
protect life, born or unborn.
It is an instinct with which we are born. Ask a toddler what’s in mommy’s belly and she
will tell you “a baby.” No equivocation on the humanity or level of
development or wantedness. She will tell
you the unfiltered truth.
So at what point do people who support abortion forget
this self-evident truth? What impels them to violate the innate tendency to
protect, defend, nurture?
In a world that seems to protect puppies more than babies, that seems to elevate animals over humans, perhaps we should look to the animal kingdom to remind us of a fundamental fact: we mammals are wired to protect and defend life, not reject and destroy. We are made to love.
