Category Archives: General

Young, Diverse Generation Is Taking on Pro-Life Mission

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I do a lot of online research about pro-life issues, and I always seem to find something new and interesting – and usually not directly related to the thing I was researching.

That’s what happened the other day when I stumbled across this graphic from the Public Religion Research Institute. abortiondiversitybyage

The graphic compares older pro-lifers and younger pro-lifers based on religious affiliation. The older generation of pro-lifers is mostly made up of white Evangelicals, Protestants and Catholics; while the younger generation of pro-lifers is much more diverse.

According to PRRI, “Americans who oppose abortion today look significantly different from their older counterparts. They’re less white, less religious, and have attained higher levels of education. As the anti-abortion movement ramps up efforts to recruit a new generation of advocates, these changing demographics will demand new strategies.”

Our diversity is a reason to celebrate. This graphic shows that the pro-life message truly does resonate with Americans from all walks of life. It’s just further evidence that our mission is strong.

As we approach October, which many Christians celebrate as Respect Life Month, I think we need to keep our changing demographics in mind. The man standing next to you during 40 Days for Life may not be Catholic. The woman holding a Life Chain sign down the street may not be Evangelical. The family donating diapers to the local pregnancy center may not be religious at all.

I just encourage everyone to keep this in mind this fall as pro-lifers gather together at events all across the state. Let’s continue to welcome and build new relationships with pro-lifers in our communities. United, we can become an even stronger force as we work to protect and value every human life.

Why Do People Turn a Blind Eye to 56 Million Aborted Babies?

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A few days ago, a retired doctor visited our office. As he talked with us, he wondered out loud about an aspect of the abortion issue that I puzzle over, too.

Unborn child2The issue was this: How can people be so distraught by horrible human rights abuses such as school shootings, persecution of religious groups, or discrimination against minorities – and yet turn a blind eye to the 56 million preborn babies who’ve been aborted? How can so many Americans sit by and do nothing to end the killing of preborn babies?

I’ve been thinking a lot about these questions, too. As I was mulling the questions, a thought came to me about how abortion is almost an invisible tragedy. So few people actually see the victim, the preborn baby, or have a relationship with him or her.

My point is that we connect more with people who we relate to. We are more likely to send a meal to the family down the street whose house burned down than we are to a family in Haiti who can’t even afford one meal a day.

It’s hard to relate to a preborn baby if you’re not his/her mother or father. Sometimes it may be hard to relate even when you are the mother or father. It doesn’t mean that preborn babies are less valuable. We just have a harder time relating to them.

So, how can we help people relate to preborn babies in the womb and open their eyes to the tragedy of abortion?

One way is just to remind them that abortions are happening. I think people honestly just forget sometimes. Share an article on your Facebook page or invite them to attend a pro-life event in your area.

Another way may be to share facts and photos about preborn babies. Every time I help at a fair booth, I see people’s amazed faces as they pick up our fetal models or look at the photos of tiny babies in the womb. When people see a baby at 12 weeks sucking their thumb or twins interacting in utero, they begin to relate to preborn babies.

These are just some of my thoughts and ideas about making people more aware about abortion. I’d like to hear your thoughts, too. Please feel free to email me at lifelines@paprolife.org or comment on our Facebook page.

Where the Candidates for Governor Stand on Life

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Our Legislative Director Maria Gallagher just finished a new fact sheet comparing Gov. Tom Corbett and challenger Tom Wolf on abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion.

Click here find out where the candidates stand on these important issues.NRLC-Vote

Abortion rates have been dropping in Pennsylvania in the past four years, and abortion centers have been closing their doors. But there is still a lot of work to do.

Every 15 minutes, a baby dies in an abortion in Pennsylvania. Every 15 minutes, we are losing another precious human life in our state. Every 15 minutes, a woman is being subjected to an abortion, a tragedy that may stay with her for the rest of her life.

Babies and their moms deserve better than abortion. Pennsylvania needs leaders who are dedicated to supporting and protecting both baby and mom from this far too common tragedy.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 4 in Pennsylvania. If you aren’t registered to vote, you still have time to. Click here for details.

Stand for Life at One of These Pro-Life Events This Fall

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Fall is almost here, and my calendar is already peppered with pro-life events all across the state.

Many of our chapters and volunteers hold special events of their own or participate in national ones. Please consider getting involved in one of these events this fall:

2014 Celebrate Life Banquet – Come to hear about what’s been happening in Pennsylvania, and connect with pro-lifers from all across the state. This special event will be Sept. 30 in Harrisburg. For details, click here.

40 days for life40 Days for Life – Groups in nine locations throughout Pennsylvania will peacefully and prayerfully rally against abortion. Almost 9,000 babies and their moms have been spared from the pain of abortion through this powerful movement. The fall campaign will begin on Sept. 24. Learn more here.

Life Chains – Sunday, Oct. 5 is set aside as a day to pray and witness publically about the tragedy of abortion and life-affirming alternatives. This year will mark the 27th anniversary of the united Life Chain effort to end abortion. Many Life Chains are organized by our local chapters. (In fact, it was a Life Chain that inspired me to get involved in the pro-life movement.) Click here to find a Life Chain near you.

These are just a few ways you can get involved this fall. Click here for even more pro-life events happening across Pennsylvania.

Columnist Wesley Smith Explains Terms “Embryo,” “Blastocyst”

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I’m always fascinated when I learn a new detail about a baby’s development in the womb, and I read a lot about human development for work. Still, I’m often confused by medical terms, especially those that define earliest stages of development.

Image of a baby at seven weeks

Image of a baby at seven weeks

Today, I was happy to discover an article by pro-life columnist Wesley J. Smith that explains the terms “embryo” and “blastocyst.” I hope you find his column as helpful as I did:

How often have I heard scientists and political hacks lie by claiming that an embryo isn’t an embryo until it is implanted in a uterus. Before that, they have often said, it is just a “ball of cells,” a “pre-embryo,” or just a “blastocyst.”
By lying about the nature of the embryo, pro embryonic stem cell research advocates hoped to manipulate society into supporting their research agendas.
These arguments were always–and remain–false. When you get down to it, we are all just big balls of cells, so that’s a meaningless term. An embryo, unlike say a tumor, is an organism, in other words, a human embryo is a nascent, developing human being.
Nor is there such a thing biologically as a pre-embryo – as Princeton biologist Lee Silver admitted. That is a political term invented to skew ethical debates and decisions to permit the manipulation of human life.
As for the blastocyst, the term describes an embryo’s stage of development, not a different thing than an embryo. Thus, the, “It’s not an embryo, it’s a blastocyst,” is also junk biology.

Read Smith’s full column here.

Just another fact to remember: When the baby is about eight weeks along, he/she is referred to as a fetus. The seven-week-old baby in the photo above is still considered an embryo.

As pro-lifers, it’s important that we have a basic knowledge about human development. The science is on our side. Let’s use it!

NY Times Hails Doctor for Group That Sends Dangerous Abortion Drugs by Mail

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This morning, I read a long New York Times article about a group that mails chemical abortion drugs all across the world.

Rebecca Gomperts began Women on Web to provide abortions in countries where Telemed abortionsmost preborn babies are protected by the law. NYT hails Gomperts as a heroine for her abortion work, implying that she is saving thousands of desperate women from unsafe abortions.

According to the article: “Almost 40 percent of the world’s population lives in countries, primarily in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Persian Gulf, where abortion is either banned or severely restricted. The World Health Organization estimated in 2008 that 21.6 million unsafe abortions took place that year worldwide, leading to about 47,000 deaths.”

Of course, they fail to mention that those abortions also took the lives of 21.6 million preborn babies.

Now, Gomperts’ motives seem good but they are extremely and dangerously misplaced (I talked about this in a previous blog). She seems to believe that her abortion work will help women and protect them from back-alley abortionists like Kermit Gosnell or desperate do-it-yourself attempts.

But her work and her motives seem quite ironic. First, she fails to acknowledge that an abortion involves two people, one of whom almost always ends up dead; and second, her work strikes me as similar to the unsafe abortions that she says she is trying to protect women from.

Her group mails RU-486 abortion drugs to women and instructs them by email about how to take the drugs. The group also counsels women to hide the abortion so that they won’t get in trouble with the law. No doctor’s visit, no connections to local medical staff  if something goes wrong.

When a woman emails, Gomperts said she tells them, “We cannot judge your situation over a distance, so we advise you to visit your doctor. This is the limitation of the service.”

Gomperts may mean to help women, but she is doing it by selling women a dangerous abortion procedure and then abandoning them to deal with the consequences alone.

Women don’t need more abortions. Our world, at 21.6 million per year, doesn’t need more abortions. I just hope Gomperts will come to realize that and redirect her efforts toward supporting both women and their babies, which is what our world really needs more of.

Former Abortion Counselor Says Her Problem Was Misplaced Compassion for Women

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Have you ever wondered, “Why, oh, why would someone ever work at an abortion center?”

Linda Couri, a former Planned Parenthood counselor, answers, “Good intentions.”

But, Couri says, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”Mom-and-Child

I listened to Couri’s story a few days ago through LifeNews.com, and her honesty and candor impressed me. Her story is about an hour long, but it’s well worth watching here.

She talked about something I’ve long suspected about many of the people who work at abortion centers like Planned Parenthood. They have good intentions. They truly want to help women. But their compassion is misplaced (all for the woman, none for the baby).

Couri said she took a pay cut to work at Planned Parenthood, because she truly wanted to help women in difficult circumstances. When she met with women who were unexpectedly pregnant, afraid and unprepared for motherhood, she counseled them to abort. She thought it was the best option.

Only after a series of events did Couri realize the terrible mistake in her reasoning and its consequences. One day, a teenager asked if she was killing her child. Couri struggled to answer, but the question haunted her. Later, she began reading journal entries written by women as they were recovering from their abortions. Couri was shocked to find how distraught many of the women were.

And she wondered if abortion really helps women. She wondered how she could continue to justify killing preborn babies. When she realized the truth, she quit her job. Now she is a pro-life speaker.

I think it’s important that we really listen to pro-lifers like Couri because she helps us to understand why many abortion center workers and abortion advocates do what they do. If we work to listen and understand them, we can help encourage them to extend their compassion to both mother and child.

Know the Facts Before You Take the Ice Bucket Challenge

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By now, I’m sure you have heard about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The fundraising effort for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) has taken off like wildfire. QuestionmarkEverywhere on Facebook and Instagram, people are donating money to ALS research or taking a bucket of ice water over their heads.

Within the past few days, though, some pro-life advocates have raised concerns, because the primary organization receiving the support, the ALS Association, funds life-destroying embryonic stem cell research.

We certainly never want to discourage anyone from giving to a worthy cause. It’s amazing how much support and enthusiasm there’s been for helping people with ALS. Pro-lifers are spreading the word to donate to alternative research organizations for ALS. Find them here. The ALS Association also told the Washington Post that people may donate and specify that the money not be used for embryonic stem cell research.

Please feel free to contact us anytime if you’re not sure whether a non-profit is connected to embryonic stem cell research or abortion. You also can click here for a list of organizations that support embryonic stem cell research.

Cartoons, Cupcakes and Chalk: Six Pro-Life Ideas for Youth

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October is Respect Life Month. What better time to get your youth group, Sunday school class, or children/grandchildren involved in speaking out for the right to life?

Here are six pro-life activities for young people this fall:

National Pro-Life Chalk Day on Thursday, October 2 – Grab a bucket of chalk, chalk2gather a group of friends, and head to a sidewalk near you. Use big letters and bold colors to write pro-life messages such as “Choose Life!” or “Heartbeat begins at just 21 days.” Click here for ideas and tips.

Wear your support for babies in the womb — Organize a group of people to wear pro-life themed T-shirt on a specific day or week, and encourage them to start conversations with their friends about why there’s always a reason to choose life.

Pro-Life Cupcake Day on Thursday, October 9 – Bake and decorate a big batch of cupcakes, and share them with people at work or school. The idea is to start conversatiCupcakeons with people about how every baby deserves a right to life – and a birthday!

Use your voice for life – Encourage students to enter our Pro-Life Oratory Contest. We have exciting changes this year. We’ve started a Novice Division for 9th and 10th grade students in addition to the Oratory Contest for 11th and 12th graders. And now, all students will be asked to record their speeches and submit the videos to us for judging. Students have the chance to win cash or a trip to New Orleans. Click here for details.

Use the power of the pen – Share our Pro-Life Essay Contest with junior and senior high school students. Winners will receive cash prizes, and the top two essays will be published in our state-wide newspaper, LifeLines. Click here for details.

Get to know Umbert the Unborn – Introduce younger children to the pro-life comic strip, Umbert the Unborn. Umbert is a preborn baby boy who goes on adventures in the womb. Visit creator Gary Cangemi’s website to find games, coloring pages, and other activities.

More Evidence that Candidate Tom Wolf Is Pro-Abortion

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Tom Wolf, the millionaire candidate for governor, donates to America’s largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood.

Wolf’s financial records from 2010 list donations to Planned Parenthood of Central PA, imagesaccording to this news report.

What did Wolf’s money support? In 2011, Planned Parenthood performed a record number of abortions: 333,964, according to its national report. Abortion made up 92 percent of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy services, while prenatal care and adoption referrals made up only about 7 percent.

Wolf also received an endorsement from NARAL, which supports abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy.

It’s not difficult to see where Wolf’s priorities are.