Category Archives: General

Making a Family Love Connection through the Internet

Posted on by

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
Gallagher@paprolife.org

I happened to be reading through a magazine when an interesting tidbit caught my eye. It was a blurb about a website dedicated to “using the Internet to build families.”

Curious, I decided to type https://www.adopttogether.org/ into Picture1my Internet browser. The homepage featured a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk by Hank Fortener, the founder of the website. He starts by going “old school,” talking about how a couple adopted his grandfather in 1929 from an orphanage. His grandfather and grandmother had a son, Chuck, who with his wife Anne had three biological children. Then Chuck and Anne ended up providing foster care to 36 children in their home. They went on to adopt a number of other children from many different countries, creating a stunning family portrait which appears in the video.

Determined to help other children find families despite tremendous obstacles, Hank founded a non-profit crowdfunding platform to help lower the financial hurdles that prospective adoptive couples face. Fortener notes that adopting a child today can cost as much as a luxury car. That’s where his organization comes in. Couples complete an online profile, submit a homestudy and the parent organization of Adopt Together then awards grants for adoption to prospective adopting families.

The marriage of entrepreneurial spirit and the Internet to create a family love connection is truly inspiring. Let’s hope that others can create equally innovative ways to promote adoption, which is the truly loving option for children who, in today’s society, could otherwise face extinction through abortion.

Couple Offers to Adopt after Watching Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos

Posted on by

The undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s abortion practices have left many in our nation shocked and horrified.

kevincookBut one young couple who watched the undercover investigation decided they wanted to do something more.

LifeNews.com reports more about their story:

Kevin and Nicole Cook lost a baby to miscarriage almost two years ago and have been struggling with infertility ever since.

When the Kentucky couple saw the undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood profiting off aborted babies’ body parts, they were heartbroken, Live Action News reports.

“… it doesn’t break my heart .. it completely shatters it,” Kevin, a seminary student, wrote on his blog after watching the fourth undercover video, showing Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ Vice President and Medical Director, Dr. Savita Ginde, negotiating a fetal body parts deal, agreeing multiple times to illicit pricing per body part harvested, and suggesting ways to avoid legal consequences.

Kevin and his wife were moved to take action. Kevin sent out a call on his blog to mothers considering abortion:

If anyone out there reads this and is considering abortion, I will take your baby. My wife and I will gladly take all your babies! I’m completely serious. If you are pregnant and don’t want your child, we will. It’s not a fetus. It’s a blessing. Life matters.

That was in July. In October, the couple took their desire to adopt one step further and joined sidewalk counselors outside the abortion clinic in Lexington, Kentucky. Kevin and Nicole made signs that read: “God loves you and your baby” and “Please don’t abort … we will adopt your baby. Come talk to us!” Their passionate plea was met with mockery at the abortion facility, but they persevered.

Before going home, the Cooks took a picture of themselves outside the abortion center. They shared the photo and their dream to adopt on Facebook. Friends and family began to share the post and then it spread – to tens of thousands of others, according to the blog.

Four days later, Kevin shared good news on his blog – pregnant moms were messaging them about adoption.

He wrote:

The past few days have been insane! I’ve barely been able to touch my studies. … We’ve had literally thousands of messages from people all across the country. Many of them are supportive messages of encouragement. Even more are from families looking to adopt, either asking to be connected with a mother or for help in getting started.

… We’ve been in touch with dozens of pregnant women who were considering abortion, but after seeing our post reconsidered and messaged us. Amen to choosing life! However, a number of them seem to have fallen through for various reasons (miscarriage, no follow up communication, legal issues, etc).

We are still looking for the right situation for God to use us to save the life of a child who would otherwise be aborted, and we would love to be able to save two if God provides that!

The couple also has been very busy helping connect many of the pregnant women to local adoption agencies, according to the blog. They said many women who have contacted them want to choose adoption over abortion – but they just don’t know where to go.

The Cooks said they hope to “completely overwhelm” adoption agencies with birth mothers who have contacted them about their babies – and help save thousands of innocent lives from abortion.

Simple Reminders about the Value of Adoption

Posted on by

Editor’s note: We are re-running one of our old column this month as part of Adoption Awareness Month.

By Micaiah Bilger

As I sit here at my desk and type, I can see my little sister’s picture in the corner of my eye. Her face is vibrant as she poses in her pink and blue ballerina tutu with little fairy wings and a flower pinned in her hair.

PortraitBelow that is a funny little picture that she sketched in church one day, a scribbly portrait of me and my husband. Every time I look at it, I smile. My husband has one big curly hair coming off the top of his head, and I think I have a tail.

Sometimes, I forget that my little sister was adopted. Even though we are 20 years apart and I was married before she was part of our family, I don’t think of her with an “adopted” label.

But when I saw that November is National Adoption Awareness Month, I was reminded that adoption brought her into my family’s lives. She has been a blessing in big ways and small ways, from her scribbly picture that greets me every morning at work to her filling my parents’ empty nest with the joy that only a child can bring.

And I just want to thank her birth mother and every birth mother who makes the difficult decision to make an adoption plan. I don’t know if my little sister’s birth mother considered having an abortion, but I do know she had the wisdom to see the value of her little girl’s life.

This is a short, simple post, but I just wanted to remind you (as I remind myself) of the value of adoption.

Learn more about adoption in Pennsylvania at AdoptPAKids.org.

11th Video: Abortionist Laughs about Harvesting Aborted Babies’ Brains

Posted on by

The Center for Medical Progress released its 11th video today revealing more disturbing details about Planned Parenthood’s abortion practices.

Watch the video here. Warning: Some graphic content.

Undercover investigators catch abortionist Amna Dermish for Planned Parenthood in Austin, Texas, laughing as she talks about harvesting intact aborted babies’ brains.

Dermish says she has not been able to harvest intact heads yet, but exclaims with laughter, “This will give me something to strive for!”

Dermish also describes another staff member who is interested in organ development and often picks through the aborted babies’ body parts. She says the staff member enjoys identifying aborted babies’ hearts and kidneys.

“It’s cute,” Dermish says of the aborted babies’ hearts. “It’s amazing. It’s sort of, I have so much respect for development. It’s just incredible.”

Where is her respect for preborn babies — innocent human lives who Planned Parenthood destroys every day?

Read more about the undercover investigation here.

Congress Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood

Posted on by

The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal dangerous anti-life provisions of Obamacare.

PlannedParenthood1Thirteen Pennsylvania Congressmen were among those voting with the majority to strip $400 million from the abortion giant and remove Obamacare directives which can lead to rationing of essential health care.

Click here to see how your representative voted.

According to LifeNews.com:

“The legislation the House approved today would hopefully be able to overcome the Democrats’ filibuster and be approved on a majority vote in the Senate.  H.R. 3762 is a special once-a-year measure called the ‘reconciliation bill.’ Unlike almost every other kind of bill, the ‘reconciliation bill’ cannot be filibustered in the U.S. Senate — so it can pass with only 51 votes, rather than 60 (of 100 senators). Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in the U.S. Senate, 54-46.”

Watch the undercover videos that spurred the move here.

Abortion Case Similar to Gosnell Is Breaking in Michigan

Posted on by

A horrific abortion case eerily similar to Kermit Gosnell’s is being exposed in Michigan this week.

According to LifeNews.com:

michaelroth2“Local police have raided the upscale West Bloomfield, Michigan home of abortionist Michael Roth after acting on evidence that Roth may be performing illegal abortions — doing abortions either out of his home or in the private homes of his customers. In the course of the raid, police found what they believe are 14 containers that possibly contain the bodies of aborted babies along with other human tissue.

“The trunk of Roth’s car also contained medical equipment used for abortion procedures. Investigators confiscated medical ‘materials’ in bags and boxes at Roth’s home. Now, Roth is now under investigation by the Michigan Attorney General.”

These gruesome discoveries are reminiscent of what Pennsylvania officials discovered almost five years ago in Kermit Gosnell’s Philadelphia abortion center. Like Roth, Gosnell kept a grotesque collection of the aborted babies’ body parts on the shelves of his office and in the freezer.

It also is telling that authorities accidentally discovered these abortion horrors after investigating Roth and Gosnell for unrelated incidents.

In Roth’s case, police were investigating after “the doctor was driving … (and) hit a special needs child who was critically injured.” In the midst of the investigation, police found evidence that Roth was performing illegal abortions.

In Gosnell’s case, police raided his facility because of evidence that he was illegally selling prescription drugs.

Other similarities include botched abortions, injuries to women, unsanitary equipment, and drug-related violations of the law.

Tragically, Gosnell and Roth are not outliers. Abortionists like Steven Brigham, Doug Karpen, Ulrich Klopfer, and James Pendegraft are just a few others with similar reputations.

These are the back-alley butchers that Roe v. Wade was supposed to stop, according to abortion advocates’ narrative. But cases like these show that Roe v. Wade didn’t stop back alley butchers or protect vulnerable women. It simply opened the door to more horrors, including 58 million babies who were legally killed in abortions.

Millersville Student Stands Alone to Protest Planned Parenthood

Posted on by

Kaytee Moyer used to avoid the abortion issue.

KayteeMoyerBut after the Millersville University student watched the undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood harvesting aborted babies’ body parts, she decided that she could not be silent anymore.

“After watching that first video that came out, I feel like the issue blew me wide open,” Moyer told Glenn Beck’s news website The Blaze. “I have never felt so deeply for something so quickly, as when I watched those videos released.”

Moyer organized a small protest on campus with some of her friends, but when the date arrived, her friends got cold feet, according to The Blaze.

Not deterred, Moyer went ahead with the protest anyway. She stood alone at the busiest intersection in Millersville and handed out flyers exposing Planned Parenthood’s horrible abortion practices. Moyer also pinned price tags to different areas of her body as a visual statement, according to the site.

The abortion chain faces several Congressional investigations into whether it makes a profit from selling aborted babies’ body parts and whether it changes the abortion procedure to better harvest the parts – both of which are illegal. The investigations were prompted by the undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress.

Moyer said most students were receptive to the information. She told The Blaze that most people shook their heads in disgust when they read her flyer.

“The only negative reactions came from people that didn’t read the flyer. They saw Planned Parenthood and scoffed or crumbled up the flyer,” she said. “But the impact that I saw the knowledge having on my fellow students far outweighed those two minuscule reactions.”

Since The Blaze ran Kaytee’s story, several Pennsylvania news outlets have picked it up, too – bringing even more exposure to the truth about abortion.

Kaytee’s brave, one-woman protest is an encouraging example of how one person can  make a big difference for life.

Watch the undercover videos here. Warning: Some graphic content.

New TV Show Teaches Pro-Lifers to Answer Tough Questions

Posted on by

One of the first things I did when I began working in the pro-life movement was to attend a National Right to Life Convention.

oliviagansturner91The workshop “When They Say, You Say” was highly recommended, and I quickly found out why. Presenters Olivia Gans Turner and Mary Spalding Balch walked us through the most difficult questions that pro-lifers face and taught us how to respond logically, tactfully and compassionately. Turner and Balch addressed questions like “How many children have you adopted?” and “Won’t ending abortion lead to child abuse?” and “What about back alley abortions?”

I left the workshop with an 18-page handout and pages of notes. Throughout my first year here, I read, re-read and memorized that handout. I carried it with me whenever I did presentations or interviews. It’s now in a folder at my desk, tattered and faded from use.

It helped me to think through the tough questions and understand how to articulate my position. And now I often share bits and pieces of it when I give talks.

NRLC recently developed the workshop into a TV miniseries. “When They Say, You Say” is a five-part series that will air on EWTN all this week. The show will be on at 6:30 p.m. and 3 a.m. EST. Find details here.

I’d highly encourage people to watch the show. “When They Say, You Say” was such a valuable resource for me. I hope it will be for you, too.

A Famous Granddaughter’s Struggles with Teen Pregnancy, Abortion and Adoption

Posted on by

Our Celebrate Life Banquet is less than a month away, and we couldn’t be more excited about our special guest speakers. Ruth Graham and Windsor Bauders, the daughter and granddaughter of evangelist Billy Graham, have a powerful story of hope and perseverance to share.

Our Executive Director Michael Ciccocioppo had the opportunity to hear their story a few years ago, and he was profoundly touched by it. He writes:

“I literally experienced a sense of enlightenment when I recently listened as (Windsor) walked me … through her unexpected pregnancy.

“First, did Billy Graham’s 16-year-old granddaughter really become pregnant? So this even happens in such iconic families.

“Second, the survival of this child wasn’t the slam-dunk I was expecting. You mean even exemplary Christians admired by the world seriously consider aborting their offspring?

“Third, is it really that hard to place a baby that you are in no way prepared to take care of into the arms of an adoptive couple who will love, cherish and provide for every need that your child could ever experience in a lifetime? My heart broke, and I could not contain my tears for Windsor as she described her thoughts, fears and emotions through it all.

“Fourth, can it be true that this was just the first in a series of life encounters Windsor lived through? In the end she finds herself in a place where she has the humility and the courage to expose the good, the bad and the ugly to people she doesn’t even know. Why? Because if her story saves even one life – it will be worth it all!”

Please join us to hear Ruth and Windsor’s testimony about the value of every human life. It will be an evening of inspiration that you won’t want to miss.

The banquet is Tuesday, October 20 in Pittsburgh. To register or for more details, click here. We hope to see you there!

BanquetBanner2015

What I Learned from a Rainy Saturday in Central Pa.

Posted on by

I was so excited. We were getting ready for a new outreach at a street festival in Central Pa. It was an event we’d never attended before in a community that we’d struggled to reach out to. Now we were finally going.

Then I saw the forecast: rain. My heart sank. It was an hour-long drive on a Saturday morning for a festival that may not happen, and I considered staying home. But the organizers didn’t cancel, so I went, silently hoping that I wasn’t wasting my time.

In the short time before the rain started, a mother approached our table and told us about her daughter who was pregnant and worried. The mother (a grandmother, really) said her daughter hadn’t been able to find support for her and her baby. Desperate, her daughter was seriously thinking about having an abortion.

We told the mother about pregnancy resource centers and gave her information to pass along to her daughter. She was grateful — so much so that she stopped back to talk a second time. The rain forced us to pack up just a short time later, but as we left, I realized that we had been there for a reason.

Time is an interesting thing. We think we need a lot of it to make a difference, but that’s really not the case at all. It reminds me of situations when people are near the end of life, maybe an older adult or a preborn baby with a terminal diagnosis, and someone suggests abortion or assisted suicide. It’s assumed that they can’t contribute much because their time is so short.

It can be easy to underestimate the impact of a person’s time, whether in small ways like a few hours of pro-life outreach on a rainy Saturday morning or in big, dangerous ways like abortion or assisted suicide.

I’m glad I didn’t give into those thoughts. If I had, that mother may not have found a glimmer of hope on that rainy Saturday morning.