Author Archives: Matthew Wagner

Pro-Life Volunteers Offer Hope to Hurting at Creation Festival

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Last week, six volunteers and I ran a pro-life outreach table at the annual Creation music festival in Central Pennsylvania. This year, I was surprised by the number of people seeking post-abortion healing.

P1060071One man in his 30s came up to ask how he could become involved. He shared his desire to serve in inner city Philadelphia where he grew up. After talking for a while, he told me that he and his girlfriend had an abortion many years ago.

P1060077McKennaugh, one of our volunteers, talked with a teenager who asked a number of questions about abortion. Her face grew more and more troubled as McKennaugh kindly explained when a baby’s heart begins beating and showed her what a baby looks like at 12 weeks gestation. The teen then revealed that she had had an abortion. McKennaugh tried to console her and offer information about post-abortion healing programs, but she ran away.P1060103

Our volunteer Tiffany listened as another teen shared about how troubled she was by her sister’s abortions. Tiffany offered her information about pregnancy and parenting support, as well as post-abortion healing programs.

These were just a few of our experiences across the four-day festival. By the end, we had given away almost all of our post-abortion healing materials.

We do outreach at Creation every year, but I’ve never heard as many abortion stories as I did this year. Abortion is a painful, controversial topic; and most people avoid it — especially when it has affected them personally. But this year, people opened up to us.

I pondered the fact with our executive director yesterday when I returned to the office, and he suggested that it was because of our volunteers’ attitudes. Thinking back across the week, I believe he is right.

Our volunteers this year were young, passionate pro-lifers who approached people with the utmost kindness and compassion as they shared the truth about abortion. They listened and spoke in love, even to several pro-choice people who approached our table. I know at least one pro-choice person walked away impressed by what we said.

The experience reminded me of how important it is that we be approachable as pro-lifers, that we exhibit an attitude of love. Our young volunteers touched hearts last week by speaking the truth in love. They shared about post-abortion healing programs and pregnancy hotlines, answered challenging questions, and listened to people who just needed to talk.

And as a result, I believe more people today are finding access to the help and healing they need.

If you know someone who is hurting after an abortion, visit RachelsVineyard.org.

Papal Encyclical Sends Clear Message on Value of Life

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By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
gallagher@paprolife.org

I firmly believe that abortion is a civil rights issue–in fact, the most critical civil rights issue of our time. People of many different faiths–or no religious faith at all–can come to the conclusion that human life needs to be cherished and protected, no matter what the individual’s age or stage of development.

popefrancis42That said, faith leaders do play an influential and essential role in helping their congregations understand the importance of respecting life throughout its beautiful spectrum.

So it is newsworthy when the most Googled faith leader alive says something on the issue of abortion.

Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Laudato Si’, is about the environment. Yet some pundits were surprised to see that it contains a pointed reference to abortion. The encyclical states:

“Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away.”

Pope Francis is sending a clear message–you can’t use your concern about the health of the environment to justify the killing of unborn children. It is especially significant because the Pope’s intended audience here is not just people who attend Catholic church on Sundays–but all people throughout the world.

The pontiff also talks about human life being a gift. Such a concept used to be a given in our society. However, with the push toward aborting babies who have disabilities, there is increasingly an effort to deny this fundamental fact of life.

But this is hardly the first time Pope Francis has spoken out about abortion. Before he became the leader of the Catholic Church, he once stated, “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you.”

These are not the words of a man ambivalent about abortion. They are the thoughts of an individual who sees children as the world’s greatest resource–and knows the devastation caused by our modern throwaway culture. And it’s a message that’s not meant for people of one particular faith, but for all people of good will.

My Dad Showed Me What It Means to Be Pro-Life

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As Father’s Day approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about how my dad (and mom, too!) helped to influence my work here at the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation.

Father At Home With Sleeping Newborn Baby DaughterMy dad just retired after 30-plus years as a pastor. Abortion wasn’t a frequent topic in his sermons, but he did speak courageously on the topic several times. More often, he preached pro-life through his actions: adopting my youngest sister when he was in his 50s, supporting local pregnancy centers, helping families with food, rent or heating bills, counseling couples, taking our church to the March for Life. And especially when it came to children, both his own and others, he went out of his way to make sure they felt welcome and valued.

When I was in elementary school, I remember my dad preached a sermon about abortion. I don’t remember the sermon, but I do remember what happened afterward. It was the first time I saw someone yell at my dad. A group of women had gathered around him after the service, and the atmosphere was tense. I watched one woman point her finger and yell at him for saying that abortion kills a baby, for “shaming” women.

But then I heard another woman’s voice cry out. She had tears on her face, but she was determined. She looked straight at the yelling woman and said that she had had an abortion — and because of my father’s sermon, she now knew the truth. She now could accept that her abortion was wrong; and though she was hurting, she could find healing. She let her defenses down and shared her painful past. She defended my father and thanked him in front of the others.

I don’t remember much else from that day, but that brave, hurting woman’s voice still echoes in my head. My dad spoke the truth in love and compassion, and that made all the difference to that hurting woman.

It left a lasting impact on me, too. My dad taught me to not be afraid to speak the truth, and to do it in a loving way. He showed me the reality that even when we fight for what’s right, there will always be people fighting against us – but we need to do it anyway. Because it’s through fighting for what is right that we can truly love others.

So, this Father’s Day, I just wanted to take a moment to thank my dad for showing me what it means to be pro-life, for doing what was right even when it was tough, and, most of all, for teaching me how to love others.

Thank you, Dad!

Hollywood Legends Were Haunted by Their Abortions

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By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
gallagher@paprolife.org

Hollywood is filled with the sad aftermath of abortion, and it has been for a long time.

patricianealThat was one of the surprising lessons I learned in the book “Oasis: Conversion Stories of Hollywood Legends” by Mary Claire Kendall.

I had picked up the book in order to discover more about the faith journeys of the cinematic stars of yesteryear. But what I came to realize is that many of these celebrities had been touched by the trauma and tragedy of abortion.

For instance, after screen legend Gary Cooper began an extra-marital affair with the actress Patricia Neal, Neal became pregnant. The book notes that the affair took an emotional toll on Cooper, his family, and Neal, “complicated by Neal’s pregnancy, which, to her later regret, she terminated.”

The actress Mary Astor, who starred in the movie “Meet Me in St. Louis” had an adulterous affair with a Fox executive and became pregnant. She chose to have an abortion and later remarked that the place she went to “committed such crimes under the fiction of ‘therapeutic treatment'” and gave her a “new burden of guilt to carry.” Years of painful substance abuse followed.

After the beautiful actress Lana Turner filed for divorce, she discovered she was pregnant. Her agent reminded her about MGM’s policy against having a baby while unmarried. She reluctantly had an abortion, and she later wrote that the abortionist nearly killed her as he took the life of her baby. During a subsequent pregnancy, she was pressured again to have an abortion because of career considerations.

In the end, these post-abortive women found hope and healing–but it was a long, painful path to travel. The sadness associated with these abortions lingered for an extended period of time. No amount of Hollywood acclaim could fill the holes in hearts that had been cracked open by the loss of their aborted children.

Reading the pages of the book, I wondered what the lives of these legendary actresses would have been like if they had only received support for carrying their lost children to term. How much heartache they could have avoided, how their lives could have been enriched, by these precious babies. They could have been the true stars of these actresses’ lives.

Hollywood has been promoting abortion for decades. But the American experience has taught us that abortion is not the solution to the problems that women face–problems such as lack of family support, coercion, and difficult relationships.

Abortion only creates additional problems that cannot be resolved in the length of a Hollywood movie. It can take years–decades even–for a woman to come to grips with the impact of her decision to abort her child. And that is a story few screenwriters are likely to tell.

Pro-Lifers Honor 47 Victims of Gosnell Buried in Unmarked Plot in Philadelphia

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A tiny blue silk flower is the only marker that memorializes the gravesite of 47 babies who lost their lives at the hands of notorious Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell.

IMG_0092Pro-lifers recently discovered that the City of Philadelphia cremated and buried the babies more than a year ago in an unmarked plot at the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

On Wednesday, some of our staff joined about 60 people at the gravesite for the first hmemorial service to honor and remember these tiny victims of Kermit Gosnell.

The short service began with a press conference and then a procession to the grave site.

The group placed white crosses and flowers on the unmarked ground where the babies were buried. The pro-life group Philly Alive also placed a temporary marker in the ground, which read, “May God welcome the souls of these children killed by Kermit Gosnell, and the souls of all children killed by abortion into the joy of Heaven.” However, the gravesite is owned by the city, so all the markers had to be pulled up again before we left.

Catherine Foster, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, reminded the crowd: “These babies were like any other … precious little persons. How a person dies doesn’t make anyone less human.”

“Today, we can say that the City of Philadelphia has heard us,” Foster said. “They gave these babies a place to be buried.”

And what a significant place it is. Though the babies’ gravesite is currently unmarked (something pro-lifers hope to change in the near future), their bodies are resting in one of the most important cemeteries in the United States. According to cemetery information, important war heroes, influential politicians, visionary artists and inventors, and industrialists are buried in its grounds.

At the gravesite, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, led the short service of songs and prayers. Mahoney encouraged the group to continue working to protect babies from abortion and not allow the Gosnell tragedy to be “swept under the carpet.”

The burial and memorial of the 47 babies is something that many pro-lifers have been attempting to do for years.

The babies’ bodies were taken from Gosnell’s disgusting abortion center after the state shut down his murderous practice. Gosnell kept the babies’ bodies in plastic containers on shelves and in the freezer.

After Gosnell’s trial, several pro-life and religious groups attempted to claim the babies’ bodies to give them a proper burial; but the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s office denied their requests.

In June 2013, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s office revealed that it planned to cremate and bury the babies’ bodies, but did not say where they would be buried. Until now, no one knew.

Bill Doran, the superintendent of Laurel Hill Cemetery, said the babies were buried about a year ago in a respectful manner, including a prayer service attended by cemetery staff.

The Philadelphia organizers said they also hope to organize a second, large-scale memorial service for the babies in September.

Check Out New Edition of Our Pennsylvania Pro-Life Newspaper

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It’s here! The Summer 2015 issue of our LifeLines newspaper is hot off the presses.

LifeLinesSummer2015deskphotoOur team puts a lot of effort into every issue of LifeLines, and this summer’s edition is no exception. In this issue:

  • The Fight for Life – and Against Assisted Suicide in Pennsylvania
  • State Government Website Linked Women to Pro-Abortion Group
  • First-place student essays from this year’s Pennsylvania Pro-Life Essay Contest
  • Healing programs for women and men who have been involved in abortions
  • ANNOUNCING: Our 2015 Celebrate Life Banquet speakers – Don’t miss this special event!
  • Real Alternatives celebrates 20 years of helping Pennsylvania moms and babies
  • And more …

Click here to read our LifeLines Summer 2015 issue online. We hope you enjoy it!

Vote Shows Many Senators Had Serious Concerns about Cortes, Nominee from Gosnell Era

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By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
gallagher@paprolife.org

This week’s vote in the Pennsylvania Senate on the confirmation of a Wolf Administration nominee shows continuing concerns that the Keystone State will return to the lax enforcement of abortion law seen during the Kermit Gosnell era.

gosnell40

Kermit Gosnell

Eighteen state Senators voted against confirmation for Pedro Cortes as Secretary of State. Cortes previously served in that capacity at a time when the Department of State took no action against notorious abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Gosnell is now serving time for killing three full-term babies and causing the death of a female patient. The grand jury believed that Gosnell was actually responsible for the deaths of hundreds of babies, but charges could only be filed in a handful of cases because he destroyed the records in the rest.

While 31 Senators voted for confirmation for Cortes, the sizeable number of negative votes demonstrates that a number of people in the state legislature have lingering worries about the Gosnell case.

In fact, more than 40 PA lawmakers in the PA House and Senate signed a letter to the governor raising concerns about Cortes. The letter stated, “To fully understand the gravity of the failures of the department throughout Secretary Cortes’ service, one needs to read directly from the grand jury’s damaging report.

According to the grand jury report: “Between 2002 and 2009, Board of Medicine attorneys reviewed five cases involving malpractice and other complaints against Gosnell. None of the assigned attorneys or their supervisors, suggested that the Board take action against the deviant doctor. In fact, despite serious allegations, three of the cases were closed without any investigation. The other two were investigated and then closed — without any action being taken.”

The letter from the lawmakers notes, “In his resume and biography Secretary Cortes takes credit for various achievements in dealing with occupational and professional licensure complaints and investigations during his tenure. Yet at the same time he takes no responsibility for the documented blatant failures of those same units under his leadership.”

The letter goes on to say, “…it is deeply troubling to us that you would nominate someone for such an important position as Secretary of the Commonwealth despite his deep ties to this national nightmare.”

The Wolf Administration has been put on notice — the old lax attitudes toward enforcement of abortion law will not be tolerated. We owe it to Gosnell’s victims to remain vigilant, to ensure that the PA Department of State cracks down on dangerous doctors who threaten the health and safety of women and children in the Commonwealth.

Save a Life This Summer through Our Pro-Life Fair Outreach

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Every summer, I’m reminded of the old cliche “seeing is believing” when I help with our fair/festival outreach.

People for Life of Erie's pro-life booth

Volunteers at People for Life of Erie’s pro-life booth

When it comes to abortion, our society is very good about distancing itself from the reality of what abortion is: the killing of a baby in the womb. Society talks about women, pregnancy, health care, poverty, politics – everything but the baby. As our Legislative Director Maria Gallagher puts it, our society has “photoshopped” the baby out of the debate.

And so, we work hard to remind people of what is truly at stake when abortion is legal – the lives of babies in the womb. Every summer, we focus on sharing visual reminders at local fairs and festivals.

We and our 40-plus chapters set up booths at local fairs/festivals and display colorful, family-friendly images and models of preborn babies.

Photo of baby at 6-8 weeks

Photo of baby at 6-8 weeks

We encourage people to stop and hold our life-like fetal models of babies at 12, 20, 26, and 30 weeks. When people hold them, they usually are surprised to hear that they look and weigh about what a baby would at that stage of development.

And the reality hits them when we tell them that it’s legal to abort a 30-week preborn baby in some states, and it’s legal to abort a 12-week preborn baby in every state.

Through these simple means, we help people realize that abortion is more than just a political issue or a women’s issue. It first and foremost involves killing an innocent human life.

As a result, every summer, dozens of people come up to us and thank us for what we do.

I’ll never forget last summer when a woman walked by our booth, smiled and said, “Because of you, I have a grandson. Thank you!” Or two summers ago when a young woman shared one of our 12-week fetal models with a friend who was considering abortion, and her friend chose life.

Please consider getting involved in our fair/festival outreach this summer. The Federation and our pro-life chapters will be at dozens of events throughout the summer. For details about volunteering in your community, click here.

You can help people see the truth about abortion and save lives!

Congratulations to the Winners of Our 2015 Student Contests

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We are pleased to announce the student winners of our 2015 Pro-Life Essay and Video Oratory Contests. This year, we heard from close to 350 students from all across Pennsylvania for our annual contests. The students’ passion and enthusiasm for life always encourages and amazes us.http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-choose-life-modified-one-way-street-sign-indicating-image33829429

ESSAY CONTEST
Senior High
First Place — Andrew Shaffer, of Nazareth, a senior at Bethlehem Catholic High School
Second Place – Josemaria Heil, of Camp Hill, a junior at Immaculata Academy Home School
Third Place – Catherine Federline, of Murrysville, a junior homeschooler

Junior High
First Place – Sarah McLaughlin, of Harleysville, an 8th grader at Indian Valley Middle School
Second Place – Brett Craskey, of Aston, an 8th grader at St. Francis de Sales School
Third Place – Mia Baranowski, of Chalk Hill, a 7th grader at St. John the Evangelist Regional Catholic School

VIDEO ORATORY CONTEST
First Place — Tim Zhang, of Bethlehem, a senior at Notre Dame High School. He will receive an all-expense paid trip to represent Pennsylvania at the National Right to Life Oratory Contest this July in New Orleans.
Second Place — Stephanie Hamilton, of Johnstown, a senior homeschooler
Third Place — Jarod Wingert, of Harrisburg, a junior at Susquehanna Township High School
Honorable Mention — Elias Buhl, of Erie, a junior from Green Summit High School
First Place, Novice Division — Greg Bianchi, of Bethlehem, a freshman at Notre Dame High School

Students received cash prizes and recognition in our upcoming LifeLines Summer 2015 issue. Please check back soon to read the top two student essays.

When an Invitation to the Prom Becomes So Much More

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By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
gallagher@paprolife.org

Ann Marie Lapkowicz is a friend of mine. Her daughter is now an international celebrity.

Mary and Ben

Mary and Ben

The story begins when Ann Marie’s daughter Mary was in 4th grade. As PennLive.com reports, her friend Ben Moser worked hard to make sure that Mary was included in the games the other fourth graders would play. His act of kindness was significant because Mary has Down syndrome. But to Ben, Mary was not a statistic—she was a friend.
Ben informed his mother that, when he was old enough, he would invite Mary to the high school prom.

But Ben and Mary ended up attending different high schools. As fate would have it, their paths crossed one day, and Ben decided to make good on his long-ago promise. As he told PennLive.com, “We got balloons and I wrote ‘prom’ on it. I presented her with the balloons and asked her to go to prom with me.”

But the fairy tale did not end there. News of the quarterback who asked his Down syndrome friend to the prom has gone viral. The pair even appeared on the cable program “Fox & Friends.” Ben told the Fox News anchor, “Mary’s the coolest person ever!” He also said his mother has never been prouder of him.

Mary’s mother, my friend Ann Marie, told me she was wondering if allowing PennLive to publicize the story was the right thing to do. After all, she is protective of her children, and is even reluctant to post pictures of them on Facebook. But she had heard that such positive stories can save the lives of Down syndrome children (It has been estimated that 90 percent of Down syndrome babies are aborted.). If it could save one life, she figured the discomfort of the spotlight would be worth it.

I have watched Mary grow up into a beautiful young woman. I have known her to rise very early to attend church with her family on weekday mornings. She is a very special girl, and it is heartwarming that the world has come to recognize that through the “prom-promise” made by an equally special young man.

Ben and Mary’s friendship should provide a lesson to us all.