Category Archives: General

The Devastating Effects of a ‘Right’ to an Abortion

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Our organization runs an essay contest every year for students in junior and senior high school. I am always surprised by how profound these students can be.

But last year, there was one essay that really stuck with me. It was written by a middle school girl, who was thinking about women and abortion.SilentNoMore

She wrote: “I believe women are strong. Women are strong to give birth and strong enough to live with rejection. I don’t, however, think women are strong enough to live with the fact that they couldn’t be strong enough to do what their mothers did for them – give the gift of life.”

This young woman saw through the faulty pro-abortion arguments and pointed to a huge flaw: the idea that abortion is a good thing for women, and it should be a woman’s right.

So many women who have exercised their “right” to an abortion now understand the consequences of that “right.” As evidence, just look at the testimonies at the Silent No More Awareness Campaign:

Deborah found out she was pregnant when she was 17 years old. Her boyfriend urged her to have the abortion and she agreed, afraid to tell her parents that she was pregnant.

“I realized that I had done the most awful thing I could ever have done, and it had been done in the most inhumane way. I paid someone to kill my unborn baby. I could see it happening. I could see the doctor doing things inside of me to my baby in order to kill it. After that, I felt that I should suffer, and that it should hurt. I felt cheap and unworthy.”

Maggie prayed for a little girl, but when she became pregnant, she felt daunted by her husband’s and mother-in-law’s abuse. So, she had an abortion. Later, as she began her own healing process, she discovered how her abortion also hurt her other children.

“The consequences of abortion had not only devastated my children’s lives… but soon I discovered how destructive the consequences of abortion also had affected my other sibling’s lives. My brother’s girlfriend aborted their child when they were teens. Today my brother is 44 and childless. I cannot begin to tell you the effects this has had on him every day of his life.”

Women like Maggie and Deborah are not alone. Hundreds of others share their testimonies on Silent No More’s website. Read more testimonies here, and learn more here about post-abortion healing for women and men.

Abortion is a right that never should have been. Hundreds of thousands of women and men are hurting because of it. Some tell their stories, some don’t. And 56 million more will never have the opportunity to share any life story – because our society calls abortion a “right.”

Buffer Zones Hurt Women Seeking Alternatives to Abortion

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The U.S. Supreme Court is getting a lot of attention as religious groups and business owners of faith battle the Affordable Care Act HHS Mandate.

But the high court is about to hear another important case related to abortion and sidewalk counseling.

40 days for lifeIt involves buffer zones around abortion centers. The justices will look at a Massachusetts law that created a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion centers, supposedly to “protect” women from pro-lifers who are trying to offer them a better option.

Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby recently pointed out a serious flaw with these buffer zones — they not only restrict pro-lifer’s free speech but they also “buffer out” women’s right to hear the information that pro-lifers offer.

Jacoby writes:

The (Massachusetts) law, signed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2007, makes no allowance for peaceful or quiet protest. It doesn’t permit an individual to simply stand in silence, holding a sign or offering pamphlets. It forbids approaching even a willing listener who would like to hear — who might be desperate to hear — about a realistic alternative to abortion. The 35-foot boundary is marked with paint, and anyone who steps over it can be sentenced to as much as 2½ years in prison.

For years, the abortion industry has been pushing for buffer zones to help them hide the facts about abortion. They don’t want women to know the truth that abortion kills a baby and harms many women physically and emotionally. They don’t want women to know that help is available for them and their babies.

More than ever before, pregnant and new moms have access to counseling, temporary shelter, diapers, maternity clothes, and much more. But abortion providers are trying to prevent women from knowing that it’s there.

Do Our Tax Dollars Fund Abortions?

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The issue of tax dollars paying for abortions can be complex and confusing. But it is happening, and taxpayers deserve to know the truth.

abortion-is-not-healthcareYou may remember that in 2013, Pennsylvania legislators passed Act 13, which stops taxpayer funding of abortion in the health insurance exchange created in the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

It was a big victory for Pennsylvania. We know that more abortions occur when tax dollars pay for them. We also know that polls consistently show a strong majority of Americans don’t want their tax dollars to pay for abortions.

Unfortunately, there are other avenues through which our tax dollars pay for abortion.

The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, received $540 million in taxpayer funding in 2012. While the agency isn’t supposed to use that money for abortion, some former Planned Parenthood employees have said they do it anyway.

Another way our tax dollars go toward abortion is through the United Nations Population Fund. The U.S. gives millions to the UNFPA and other organizations that perform abortions overseas. Disturbingly, this includes support for the forced abortions that take place because of China’s One Child policy.

As if this isn’t enough, lately I’ve seen a growing push from pro-abortion advocates to overturn the pro-life Hyde Amendment, which protects our taxes from pay for abortions in health care programs such as Medicaid.

We have created a new petition to help us in our work to protect our tax dollars from paying for the deaths of innocent preborn babies. Sign the petition here.

PA Abortion Rate Down 5 Percent in 2012 – Good News for Women, Babies

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HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania’s abortion rate is on the decline—and that’s good news for women and their families, according to the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the state’s largest single-issue pro-life organization.

“Fewer unborn children are losing their lives to abortion, and more women are being ultrasoundempowered to make life-affirming decisions for themselves and their families,” said Maria Gallagher, legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation.

“Social media and 4D ultrasound are providing a window to the womb, showing the humanity of the unborn child. The Internet has also proven to be highly effective in linking pregnant women to the resources and comprehensive support they and their babies need. Technology is saving the day—and it’s saving unborn children and their mothers from the harm of abortion,” Gallagher added.

Statistics released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday show that abortions declined 4.8 percent in 2012. The closure of abortion facilities, the assistance offered by pregnancy help centers and state-of-the-art technology are all playing a role in the decrease in abortion totals in the Commonwealth.

“We know that Pennsylvania’s abortion rate would be much higher were it not for the state’s groundbreaking Alternatives to Abortion program, which is administered by Real Alternatives, Inc. Real Alternatives centers, coupled with other pregnancy resource centers around the state, offer everything from diapers to day care referrals, counseling to classes in parenting and life skills, to assist pregnant women,” Gallagher added.

“No pregnant woman should feel as if she is alone. Thanks to Pennsylvania’s innovative programs and policies, women have somewhere and someone to turn to when faced with unexpected pregnancies. As a result, they can experience the unexpected joys and blessings that babies bring,” Gallagher added.

To view the full report, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Health website.

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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.

Embracing the Unexpected and Discovering the Joys of Life

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A few weeks ago, I visited one of my oldest friends and her new baby boy. He was a beautiful, dark haired cuddly little thing. My friend looked beautiful, motherly and just a little tired as she held him and brushed his soft hair away from his eyes.

The visit seemed a little surreal somehow. As little girls, we often pretended we were grown up with husbands and children and houses of our own.

WomenrunningWhile I was visiting, my friend dug out a faded envelope from her closet. It was covered in pencil scrawling and tied with a rainbow shoelace. Inside were letters we had written as little girls to our adult selves. We predicted all our dreams and happiness fulfilled by age 20 – romance and marriage, motherhood and career success.

Both of us are now 28, and we laughed about our naïve childhood ideas of the perfect life. How different our dreams and expectations were compared to what our lives really are today.

We never imagined dirty dishes and piles of laundry. Student loans and mortgages. Husbands working late on advanced degrees. Sleepless nights and other new mom pains for one of us, and another year of longing for a child for the other. Neither of us the modern day L.M. Montgomery or Laura Ingalls Wilder who we once aspired to be. A husband losing his job. A father’s sudden illness. Discontentedness.

And yet, as I looked at my friend cradling her sleeping child softly in her arms, I felt glad that life isn’t always what we dreamed it would be.

The struggles of new motherhood are quickly forgotten when the baby smiles up at his mom. The pain of infertility also brings the time and the passion to help others. These are joys that we never could have predicted as children, joys made so much sweeter by the pains.

I wish I could share these reflections with women facing an unplanned pregnancy, women thinking about having an abortion.

Our dreams aren’t always what we imagine them to be. And often, life doesn’t turn out as we planned. But I’ve found that the joys are there anyway, and real life actually can turn out to be so much sweeter than our dreams – as long as we let it.

Bill Recommended by Gosnell Grand Jury Passes PA House

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The Pennsylvania House has taken another step forward to protect women and babies from the horrors that happened in Kermit Gosnell’s West Philadelphia abortion center.

House Bill 587, which passed the House on Tuesday, December 17, would increase the penalty for impersonating a doctor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Matt Baker, R-Bradford, Tioga, is based on a recommendation Gosnellmade by the grand jury that indicted abortionist Kermit Gosnell in connection with the murder of infants and the death of a female patient.

Gosnell is serving three consecutive life sentences in prison, following his murder conviction. Several of Gosnell’s staff members had no medical training at all. Two of his employees, Stephen Massof and Eileen O’Neill, both practiced as doctors at Gosnell’s center, but neither of them had a medical license.

The Pennsylvania Senate will now consider the bill.

Abortionist, Murderer Kermit Gosnell Gets 30 More Years on Drug Charges

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The numbers just keep stacking up in Kermit Gosnell’s crimes.

This spring, he was sentenced three times to life in prison for murdering three newborn babies and for his involvement in the death of a woman inside his filthy abortion center. He also was convicted of dozens of other charges involving his horrific abortion practices in Philadelphia.

On Monday, Jangosnell40uary 16, the former abortionist also was sentenced for the original crimes that caught investigators’ attention — illegal drug distribution.

According to National Right to Life News:

“Gosnell fought the drug charges—charges that he made a fortune writing bogus prescriptions for thousands of OxyContin, Percocet , and Xanax pills, on top of the fortune he made performing late, late abortions almost entirely on women of color.”

Read more here.

Planned Parenthood’s Priorities and a Sad Irony

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It’s ironic how timely things work out sometimes. Take yesterday for example.

Here in Pennsylvania, a group of pro-abortion advocates introduced a series of bills about women’s issues. Fortunately, most of them dealt with other women’s issues and left the abortion alone. A new bill proposing a state-wide buffer zone was the exception.abortion-is-not-healthcare

Some of the bills were written to protect women from discrimination and violence, while another bill would require employers to provide a private space for mothers who breast feed.

I found it ironic that Planned Parenthood was among the groups touting this legislative package, because that very same day I also was looking over the organization’s annual report, which had just been released. Read more here.

The report revealed that their priorities were much different from what the Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood advocates were touting to the press.

According to the Planned Parenthood 2012-2013 report:

– Cancer screening services dropped 14%
– Prenatal services declined by 32%
– Breast exams declined by 34% since 2009
– For every one adoption referral, Planned Parenthood performed 149 abortions
– Abortions made up about 94% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy services

While it is true that Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers also dropped by 2%, the data points to abortion as the focus of their industry. (Its revenues were at an all-time high, fueled by 327,166 abortions.)

It’s sadly ironic that Planned Parenthood is lobbying for lactating mothers even as the majority of its clinic income comes from depriving women of their babies through abortion.

Study Confirms Increased Risk of Breast Cancer after Abortion

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Women deserve to know the truth about the risks of abortion to their health.

We must never forget that abortion is wrong, first and foremost, because it kills the life of an innocent human being. But it’s also important to know that abortion is dangerous for women, too.

From what I understand, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade picbreastcancer8was partially based on the notion that abortion is safer than childbirth.

Yet, more and more new research is proving how truly risky abortion can be to a woman’s health.

According to LifeNews.com, a new study from China showed that just one abortion increased the risk of breast cancer by 44 percent. For a woman who has two abortions, that risk nearly doubles to 76 percent.

Learn more here about the science behind the abortion breast cancer link.

Sadly, the mainstream news media turn a blind eye to this new research. Some even toss off these studies as biased or insignificant.

But as the evidence mounts, it’s getting harder and harder to deny how bad abortion is for women.

‘Love Says It Is Good That You Exist’

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The other day I stumbled on a new blog and found a beautiful quote by Joseph Pieper, a German Catholic philosopher.

“Love says it is good that you exist.”

It really struck me. The blog post wasn’t about abortion, but the quote really says mother_and_childa lot about the issue.

How many times have you heard abortion portrayed as a compassionate choice for the child?

He may be born into poverty. She may be abused. He may never be able to function on his own. She may be bullied because she’s different. He may die right after he is born. She may never enjoy life like other children because of a disability. Abortion is the compassionate approach for these children; we don’t want them to suffer.

It may seem ridiculous to you and me, but many people see abortion this way.

When you describe love the way Pieper did, you acknowledge the hardships of life. Yes, there is suffering and pain. No, no child’s life is perfect.

But if we want to be a loving society, shouldn’t we start by first protecting a child’s very existence?