Tag Archives: Brian Sims

Mother Seeks Censure of Pro-Abortion Lawmaker

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Ashley Garecht

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

She had come seeking justice–not for herself, but for her daughters and their friend.

Ashley Garecht recently came to the state Capitol in Harrisburg, PA to do what she said was her job–advocating on behalf of her children.

You might not know Ashley’s name, but chances are you saw her face–trying to speak rationally and calmly to an out-of-control lawmaker in a video that went viral.

PA State Representative Brian Sims (D-Philadelphia) recorded himself berating and harassing Ashley, her teenage girls, and their friend. The group had been quietly praying outside a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood facility known for its shoddy safety record.

Sims even offered a bounty to anyone who would identify the teenagers and reveal their home addresses. In a separate video, he used the same tactics to try to intimidate an older woman who was simply exercising her First Amendment rights by peacefully praying in front of the abortion center.

Sims has failed to personally apologize to Ashley, her daughters, their friend, and the unidentified older woman.

But Ashley–along with many people both in Pennsylvania and around the country–want to see Sims held accountable for his actions. They are supporting a resolution, sponsored by state Representative Jerry Knowles (R-Schuylkill, Berks, and Carbon Counties), which would formally censure Sims and take away his committee assignments.

At last county, House Resolution 387 had nearly 40 co-sponsors. But so far, House leadership has been reluctant to take up the cause–despite the nearly universal condemnation of Sims’ behavior.

And so Ashley made the rounds of the Capitol, meeting lawmakers in leadership, hoping to hold Sims to account. The odds might be stacked against her, but she is willing to try–for the sake of the young people that Sims badgered–and for all young people struggling to be heard above the din of a culture which tolerates, and at times even celebrates, abortion on demand.

Action Item: If you live in PA, please call and email your state Representative and urge him or her to support HR 387. 

The Brian Sims Saga Continues

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Brian Sims

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

The saga surrounding pro-abortion Pennsylvania state Representative Brian Sims (D-Philadelphia) continues.

If you’ll recall, Sims made national headlines when he harassed a trio of teenagers and an older woman praying outside a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood facility. He immortalized the encounters by videotaping and posting them himself.

He even offered a bounty to anyone who would provide the names and addresses of the women he harassed.

His social media faux pas sparked a massive rally of more than 1,000 people who jammed the street in front of the abortion facility where the harassment occurred.

Following a national uproar, Sims issued a video “apology” which seemed to offer little in the way of real regret.

A Philadelphia television station is reporting that Sims made another attempt at an apology this week. But it does not appear that the women he harassed were present at the meeting at which the subsequent apology occurred.

Sims disgraced his office with his shameful behavior toward women. I myself encountered his dismissive attitude toward women when I sent him a questionnaire to document his views on the life issues. His response?

“Get a life, Maria.”

Now, a number of Sims’ colleagues are telling him to get a new job. They want to take away his committee assignments for his outrageous mistreatment of women.

If you live in Pennsylvania, please encourage your state representative to urge Rep. Sims to resign. It would be a just resolution of a dark episode in Pennsylvania politics.

 

The Birth Privilege of Brian Sims

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newborn babe arms outstretched

 By Bonnie Finnerty, Education Director

While not one major network has covered the story, thanks to social media, most people are aware of State Representative Brian Sims’ disgraceful harassment of a peaceful, prayerful, pro-life witness in front of a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood. In his eight minute tirade, which he filmed and posted online, proudly showcasing his bullying of “an old white woman”, the elected official assails her for her “white privilege.”  Sims is also white, but apparently he handles his “white privilege” in a morally superior fashion. Or at least that’s his self-perception.

Cambridge English Dictionary defines white privilege as “the fact of people with white skin having advantages in society that other people do not have.”

But what about “birth privilege”?  Would that not be defined then as “the fact of people who are allowed to be born having advantages in society that other people  (those denied birth) do not have”?

Unlike 61 million babies, Sims was allowed to live and grow inside his mother’s womb until he was ready to breathe his own air.  He was small, vulnerable, completely dependent, and completely human right from the moment of conception when his unique combination of DNA, never to be repeated again, came into existence.  He didn’t become human, like he didn’t become white.  He always was.

He wasn’t his mother’s body, some extension of her like a tooth or birthmark.  He was, genetically, an entirely different human being within her body. He was and is her child.

Everyday Sims enjoys the privilege of being born, enabling him to experience liberty and pursue happiness, to seek public office, to speak out for those he feels are under-represented. But not all are so lucky. Birth privilege is perfectly summed up in a now famous statement made by President Ronald Reagan: “I’ve noticed everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”

Those with birth privilege are in the position of power and strength over the weak and defenseless, the pre-born. So doesn’t that make abortion the ultimate form of bullying?

Sims, a former football player, a youngish lawyer, and an empowered public official, clearly bullies the lone, powerless, older woman. He berates her verbally, mocking her because of her age, race, and faith.  He attacks her character by asking how many children she had clothed that day.  He calls her a hypocrite.  And when she tries to walk away without comment, he follows.  And this blatant act of bullying was such a source of pride, he publicized it himself!

Of course, Sims is comfortable lording his physical presence and social status over someone less formidable than he.  After all, he advocates for abortion, which does the exact same thing: the strong and empowered refuse to recognize the dignity of those smaller and powerless, and they then proceed to destroy them.

Once we lose respect for the most vulnerable human life, it should come as no surprise that no one is off limits. Not babies. Not the elderly. Not innocent prayerful women. No one. Nothing is sacred.

We can only pray that Brian Sims, like many one-time abortion supporters,  repents and has a conversion of heart. Perhaps then, he can use his birth privilege to make this world one in which no human life is ever again bullied to death.