Author Archives: Matthew Wagner

Planned Parenthood Sells Abortion in 11 Pa. Communities

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Over at the pro-life youth website Live Action News, there is a very informative article about the dangers of having a Planned Parenthood facility in your community.

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America, and while not all their PlannedParenthood1facilities perform abortions, they all refer to and promote abortions.

Here in Pennsylvania, 11 of the 19 abortion facilities in our state are run by Planned Parenthood, according to the state Department of Health.

Planned Parenthood does not have a good reputation. According to the article:

“Planned Parenthood has been under government investigation for tax fraud. Corruption is widespread. Planned Parenthood takes over $1.4 million (yes, million) each day in our taxpayer dollars. And, every 90 seconds, they end the life of another baby through abortion.”

Undercover investigations have found Planned Parenthood covering up sexual abuse and lying to women, too. I encourage you to read the rest of the article here.

Behind Planned Parenthood’s catchy slogans and logos, the center of their business is abortion. They do not make their money offering women pregnancy and parenting resources or adoption referrals. Their money comes from abortion, and that’s what they sell to women.

We believe that there’s always a better option than abortion. That’s why there are about 200 pregnancy and parenting resource organizations across the state, dedicated to helping women and their babies. If someone you know is pregnant and needs help, click here.

To Be “for the People,” Gov. Wolf Should Break Ties with Abortion Industry

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By Maria Gallagher
Legislative Director

As he takes the helm of state government, new Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is promising a “government that works.”

Pennsylvania: A Pro-Life StateIn order to make good on that pledge, he will have to show his independence from the abortion industry.

It’s a tough task, given the fact that the nation’s largest abortion operation, Planned Parenthood, served on his transition team.

In addition, the man he nominated for Secretary of State, Pedro Cortes, has been sharply criticized for his failure to put abortionist Kermit Gosnell out of business when he had a chance. The grand jury report in the Gosnell murder case cited several instances in which the Department of State, which Cortes previously headed, failed to take action following revelations of trouble at Gosnell’s facility. Gosnell is now in prison after being convicted of the deaths of three full-term infants and in connection with the death of a female patient.

At his low-key inauguration, Wolf also pledged a government for the people rather than the special interests. Again, it will be difficult for him to fulfill his pledge as long as he maintains close ties with the abortion industry.

Pennsylvania made tremendous progress during Governor Tom Corbett’s administration in terms of holding abortion businesses accountable. As a result of a law signed by Corbett, abortion facilities in Pennsylvania must abide by the safety standards of outpatient surgery centers. They must also be subject to regular inspections.
Pennsylvanians will need to keep a close eye on the Wolf Administration to ensure that enforcement of abortion regulations does not take a giant step backward. Women’s health and safety depend on it.

Wolf has also promised to be an unconventional governor. That would mean not following in the footsteps of previous Governors Tom Ridge and Ed Rendell, whose policies were governed by pro-abortion politics. Consider this assessment from the Gosnell grand jury, regarding the decision of pro-abortion governors to stop inspecting abortion centers: “Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased, even though, as Gosnell proved, that meant both women and babies would pay.”

Let’s not have a replay of Ridge-Rendell. Let’s challenge the new governor to safeguard women and children through aggressive enforcement of abortion center regulations. Only then will Pennsylvania really achieve a government that works.

My Friend’s Suicide Was Tragic, Why Wasn’t Brittany Maynard’s?

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I remember waking up in the middle of the night to the urgent sound of our phone ringing.

A late-night call at our house usually meant one thing: Someone was dying. My dad is a pastor, and he occasionally received midnight calls to come to the bedside of a dying parishioner.

SadwomanNo one else seemed to be awake, so I made myself get up and answer it. A young woman’s voice asked to speak to the pastor. I woke my dad, then returned to bed.

The next morning when I opened my eyes, my mom was sitting on the side of my bed. It startled me, because she almost never came in to wake me up.

She rubbed my back, paused, and then said, “Sweetie, that phone call last night … I just wanted you to know that Matt committed suicide.”

It seemed so unreal. Matt (not his real name), the happy-go-lucky kid from our small town community, had taken his own life. I didn’t know him well, but I knew that he hadn’t had an easy life. I wondered how much he was suffering behind his mask of smiles.

It’s been more than ten years since that day, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately — especially as I read about the tragic case of Brittany Maynard, the 29 year old who had terminal brain cancer and committed doctor-prescribed suicide last November. Her suicide is being treated so differently from the death of that young man. His suicide was called tragic, preventable. Hers? Courageous.

What’s the difference? How can one person’s suicide be celebrated and another’s be mourned? Assisted suicide advocates are trying to draw lines in the sand that determine when killing a human life is ok and when it isn’t, but the lines aren’t meaningful, really.

Suicide is always tragic. It takes away something we can never get back – a precious human life. Suffering can be treated and relieved, but death is permanent.

Suicide is not a solution. Not to Brittany Maynard’s problems, not to Matt’s problems, not to anyone’s problems. It’s time we erase these meaningless lines, and remind people that every life is valuable, and every life deserves protection under the law.

(As a side note, the Patients Rights Action Fund, a disability rights group, also addresses the suicide double standard in its January newsletter. Read the excellent article here.)

Find Out Number of Babies Lost to Abortion in Your Community

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The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s statistics on abortion are always a helpful reminder to me. Abortion is often a silent tragedy, and sometimes it’s easy to forget that there are women right in our own communities who are having abortions.

When I look at the statistics for my rural Central Pennsylvania county, they remind me that I need to be doing more to help educate and support women and their babies right here where I live.

Please take a minute and find your county on the state report below. It shows the number of women living in your county who had abortions in 2013 (click on image to see larger version):

A-L abortionsL-Y abortionsAnd please consider how you can help restore a culture of life in your community.

Our Littlest Comedians: Babies Understand Humor at 9 Months

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By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

Is that a future Ben Stiller sitting in that high chair near you? Is a would-be Tina Fey in that crib at your daughter’s house?

CuteNewbornBabyNew research suggests that those little cutie pies may just be comedic geniuses. A recent NBC News report stated that babies as young as nine months may understand humor. In fact, scientists now believe that humor is an important part of a baby’s cognitive development.

The report made me think about the key role humor plays in life. As the daughter of a man who tried his hand at stand-up comedy when he was young, jokes were second nature in my family. And I remember as a youngster that my greatest joy came from making my little sister laugh.

As it turns out, research now confirms that babies and laughter are inseparable. Since laughter is an expression of joy, it can be said that babies and joy are deeply connected as well.

Babies teach us so many serious-minded things: responsibility, legacy, accountability. But now science has proven that babies also teach adults how to laugh.

With every abortion, a life is ended and laughter is silenced. It kills joy and, therefore, a little piece of ourselves dies with each abortion. Roe v. Wade has made our country a sadder place, a place less hospitable to life and laughter. Our profound national tragedy has given rise to an ocean of tears. It is only in reverencing the child and her laughter that true joy can be restored.

Celebrating an F on Pennsylvania’s Report Card

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Every year, the radical pro-abortion group NARAL gives out grades based on state laws related to abortion.This year, Pennsylvania got an F on its report card.

Here are some of the reasons why:

  • Choose Life!Women in Pennsylvania must be offered accurate information about the abortion procedure, its risks and alternatives before having an abortion.
  • Our legislature provides money for our state’s innovative Alternatives to Abortion program administered by Real Alternatives, which ensures that pregnant and parenting moms don’t feel like abortion is their only option. This funding goes to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, and other social service organizations that offer women physical and emotional support while they are pregnant and parenting.
  • Young women under age 18 must have a parent’s consent before having an abortion.
  • Our state holds abortion centers accountable for meeting basic health and safety standards in their facilities.
  • Abortions are not allowed after a baby is viable outside the womb.

You can see their full list of reasons for our grade on NARAL’s website.

Pennsylvania’s report card is a reason to celebrate. Pro-abortion groups like NARAL are feeling afraid because of these basic, common sense provisions in our state. It’s evidence that we are making a difference. That’s why they gave us an F.

Abortions in Pennsylvania dropped to a historic low in 2013, and more women are being empowered with the resources to choose life for their babies. Please help us keep Pennsylvania a strong leader in the fight to protect babies and their moms from the tragedy of abortion. Click here to find out about how you can get involved.

Unnamed

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By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

News spread like a contagion recently about a terror attack at a publication office in Paris. It all seemed a little unreal to me, until I saw the names of the victims.

Unborn baby pictureAs a news consumer, I often find myself yearning to learn the names of people who perished in automobile accidents, in street violence, or as a result of deadly disease outbreaks. I use news stories as an occasion for prayer, and I want to pray for the victims by name.

This is the great dilemma we face as pro-life advocates. We cannot name the victims of abortion. We do not know, for the most part, whether their mothers and fathers had chosen names for their aborted offspring.

The casualty count from legal abortion in this country now stands at 57 million. Those are 57 million unnamed individuals. They are invisible to us because we don’t know them.

When we are introduced to new people, the introduction begins with a name. We identify the individual because of the name associated with him or her. The name makes the person real to us.

When glancing through the obituary page of the local newspaper, we hunt for names. People’s appearances can change quite a bit over the years, so accompanying pictures may not be that helpful in the identification process. But the name says it all.

As part of their healing experience, post-abortive women are often encouraged to name their aborted children. The naming process can be quite powerful. In naming their child, they form a connection with him or her that lives after death.

Even in celebrity culture, names carry great meaning. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter tease users with posts about the latest celebrity baby names. Once we learned about the existence of babies Blue Ivy and North, those words took on new meaning and yes, even personhood.

It is a credit to the pro-life movement that, 42 years after the dreadful U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, we continue to fight for the rights of people we do not even know by name. But unnamed does not mean unwanted. Every child deserves a fighting chance at life, whether known as Emily or Justin or just Baby A. We may not know the names of each unborn child, but we do know their value: priceless.

Join Us: When I See a Pregnant Woman, #iSEETWO

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This month as our nation remembers 42 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on abortion, Focus on the Family is working with several pro-life organizations to remind people that abortion involves two people, not just one.

Quotes - MariaMaria Gallagher, our legislative director, was chosen as one of five women to share their stories as part of the organization’s #iSEETWO campaign.

Once a pro-choice journalist, Maria said her heart began to change when she started reading more about the issue:

“… as I began to put my journalistic skills to work, conducting more in-depth research, I discovered some startling facts—that a heart starts beating only 24 days after conception…that brain waves can be detected a mere 43 days after a child is conceived.

“I came to see that life must have a logical beginning, not an arbitrary one based on subjective feelings.  Reason led me to the pro-life movement; careful analytical thinking keeps me there. …

“Where once I saw only one individual, now #iSEETWO – mother and child, connected by a sacred bond that no human being has a right to sever.”

Maria joins Dr. Alveda King of Priests for Life and the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Freda Bush, M.D., OB/GYN, lawyer Anne O’Connor from the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, and abortion center manager-turned pro-lifer Susan Thayer. Each woman is sharing her story this month as part of the #iSEETWO campaign.

Focus on the Family says the purpose of #iSEETWO is to show love and respect for both the preborn baby and the mother.

Focus urges pro-lifers to “change the tone of the discussion from one that encourages taking sides, to one that embraces life-affirming action that expresses respect for both mother and child.”

To participate, just take a selfie with the #iSEETWO sign here and make it your profile photo on your social media accounts this month. Then share a short message about why you are pro-life.

Help us remind people that when we look at a pregnant women, we see two precious individuals who deserve equal rights and protections.

10 Important Facts about Abortions in Pennsylvania

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Abortions reached a historic low in 2013 in Pennsylvania, as unsafe abortion centers shut down and women had better access to life-affirming pregnancy resources. A lot of the credit goes to the thousands of dedicated pro-life volunteers across the state who work to protect every child and mother from the devastation of abortion. mother_and_child

Still, 32,108 abortions happened in 2013, and that means we  have a lot of work to do. The report from the state Department of Health points to key areas where we can focus our efforts.

Here are ten important facts from the report:

1. More than 88 percent of abortions were to unmarried women.

2. For more than half of the women, it was her first abortion.

3. More than half already had at least one child.

4. About 42 percent of abortions were to African American women, a disproportionately high percentage.

5. Most women were in their 20s.

6. Women are increasingly at risk of abortion injuries. The abortion complication rate increased 22 percent in 2013. (Abortion centers do not always report complications to the state; so the rate is probably even higher.)

7. More women are having medical abortions, which have a higher complication rate.

8. Almost all abortions (92.5 percent) were performed during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and almost 60 percent were at 8 weeks or earlier.

9. Almost half of all abortions in 2013 were performed in Philadelphia.

10. In 2013, there were 18 freestanding, non-hospital abortion facilities in Pennsylvania.

To me, many of these facts seem to indicate that women need better support. They are facing a pregnancy without a commitment from the baby’s father. They may have other children They may be in school or just starting a career. They may be told the lie that in the first trimester, it’s not a real baby yet — just a blob of tissue.

Because of pregnancy education and support, more women are choosing life for their babies; but we need your help to keep providing education and support to more Pennsylvania families.

If you are pregnant and need help, click here or call the Pennsylvania pregnancy hotline at 1-888-LIFE-AID to find free, confidential, caring support near you.

Abortions Drop to All-Time Low in Pennsylvania in 2013

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HARRISBURG, Pa. – Abortions have dropped to an all-time low in Pennsylvania, according to 2013 abortion statistics released Wednesday by the state Department of Health.

Choose Life!“As abortion centers close and more life-affirming information and resources become available, more women are being empowered to choose life,” said Ms. Micaiah Bilger, education director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation.

In 2013, the number of abortions in Pennsylvania dropped by 7 percent to 32,108, according to the report. The closure of abortion facilities, the assistance offered by pregnancy resource centers and state-of-the-art technology are all playing a role in the decrease in abortion totals in the Commonwealth.

“Modern technology is making it easier to see the value of life in the womb and the tragedy of abortion,” Bilger said. “Ultrasounds allow parents to see their baby smiling or sucking his or her thumb, and a new study from the University of Florida showed that preborn babies can learn nursery rhymes in the womb.”

Tragically, however, more women are being harmed by abortions in our state. In 2013, abortion complications rose by almost 22 percent, according to the report.

“Women deserve to know the risks of abortion and their alternatives,” Bilger said. “Thanks to Pennsylvania pregnancy resources centers and our state Alternatives to Abortion program administered by Real Alternatives, Inc., more pregnant and parenting moms have access to this information and support.”

Real Alternatives offers free, confidential caring pregnancy services including pregnancy testing, temporary shelter, diapers and other baby supplies, food and shelter assistance referrals, counseling, and more. Learn more at www.realalternatives.org.

“This is key to ensuring that pregnant and parenting women have access to the support that they and their families deserve,” Bilger said. “We will continue to work so that every woman and her preborn child are protected and valued under the law.”

Read the full 2013 Pennsylvania Abortion Statistics report.