Tag Archives: Roe v. Wade

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.”

Pro-abortion Side Makes False, Misleading Statements during Political Debates

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It’s been hard to miss the abortion issue in the news lately. Pro-life protections have been introduced and, in some cases, passed in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, and, yes!, here in Pennsylvania, too.

All the media attention to these new bills and laws has people discussing abortion Gavelagain. Talk is a good thing, but misleading and incorrect information is not.

Here are some misleading or incorrect things I’ve read recently online in reference to the debates:

A commenter on PolicyMic.com wrote: “None of this will stop until a case makes its way back to SCOTUS. Given the current court the most likely outcome will be to reaffirm Roe v. Wade leaving it to the states.”

Our country’s education about this infamous Supreme Court decision is poor at best. Polls show it, and this comment demonstrates it.

Roe v. Wade actually did the opposite of what the commenter says. It took the abortion decision out of states’ hands by striking down laws – both those protecting life and those allowing abortion – in all 50 states. The ruling of seven men overrode the states’ interests. In their overarching power, the judges set a new rule in place: abortion for any reason up to birth.

Thankfully, since Roe, states have been fighting to reclaim their roles in protecting life by passing legislation to help preborn babies and their mothers.

The “brochoice” campaign attempts to recruit more young men to the pro-abortion side. A headline reads, “Bro-Choice: How #HB2 Hurts Texas Men Who Like Women.”

One of the key points in the article claims that men will lose their freedom to make decisions about their family if abortion becomes more regulated. The truth is that men lost most of that freedom in Roe v. Wade. The decision denied the man’s freedom to help make choices about his preborn child by saying that abortion should be a private decision between a woman and her doctor.

Just recently I heard from a man who was desperately seeking help because his girlfriend wanted to abort their baby and he didn’t. He wanted to know what he could do to protect his child. My heart broke when I had to tell him that legally he can’t do much of anything to protect his child’s life before he/she is born.

(A side note: Our laws do make it illegal for a man (or anyone else) to force a woman to kill their child in the womb.)

“Women’s health” – Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocates are using fear-mongering tactics by making women’s health synonymous with abortion. They claim that pro-lifers are trying to sabotage “women’s health” when what they really mean is end abortion.

Columnist Jonah Goldberg pointed this out in a recent column: “But it is bizarre to suggest that women’s health and abortion rights are interchangeable. The biggest killer of women is heart disease, followed by cancer, then stroke. … And yet President Barack Obama — and nearly every other abortion-rights supporter — blithely accuses Republicans of wanting to make women’s ‘health care choices’ for them.”

A procedure that kills one human life and often damages another is not health care. And, as Goldberg says, it’s disrespectful – sexist, even – to narrow the term “women’s health care” to mean sexual reproduction “as if women were nothing more than breeders.” Women are so much more than that.

We have truth on our side. Pro-lifers don’t have to resort to manipulative word-play to sway people, but we do need to equip ourselves with the truth about Roe v. Wade, abortion, and life in the womb.

Half a Million Join March for Life in Washington, D.C.

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You may not have heard it on the news, but this year’s March for Life brought a record crowd to Washington, D.C. on January 25. About half a million people from all across the country braved the wind and snow to stand up for the rights of the preborn.

Several thousand of these people were from Pennsylvania. According to one news report, churches in the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg alone provided transportation for 700 people.

Click here to check out photos of Pennsylvanians at the March or take a quick look at a few below:

Young people from Butler County during the March for Life

Young people from Butler County during the March for Life

Marchers with our Pocono Chapter pause for a group photo.

Marchers with our Pocono Chapter pause for a group photo.

Youth and adults with the People for Life of Erie bus trip head to the March.

Youth and adults with the People for Life of Erie bus trip head to the March.

 

Bells to Toll in Harrisburg for 40th Anniversary of Abortion Ruling, Roe v. Wade

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Church bells throughout the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg will toll 40 times on Tuesday, January 22, to mark the somber 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the tragic U.S. Supreme Court decision which brought us the nightmare of abortion on demand for any reason during all nine months of pregnancy.

But for whom will the bells toll?

• The nameless victims who never got to see a rainbow…never got to feel the sun’s warmth, or a gentle mother’s kiss on their foreheads. It is estimated that there are more than 55 million of them now—black, Latino, Asian, Native American, white—all of them somebody’s child.

• The millions of mothers, many of them pressured by others, who were exploited by the profiteers of the abortion industry. Some lost their lives at the hands of their abortionists, others their health–witness the depravity and the disdain for women at abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s West Philadelphia abortion center, described by a grand jury as a House of Horrors. Watch the documentary series “3801 Lancaster” to hear testimonies from women butchered at Gosnell’s practice. And learn more about the brave witness of women who regret their abortions at http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/ .

• The millions of fathers, some of whom tried valiantly to save the lives of their children, only to be told they had no say in the matter. Find out more about their struggle at http://www.fatherhoodforever.org/ .

• The millions of brothers, sisters, and cousins who grew up in families where someone important was missing. College students can get involved by going to http://studentsforlife.org/ .

• The millions of grandparents who struggle to come to grips with the loss of the grandchildren they never knew. They can find healing at http://www.rachelsvineyard.org/ .

And yet, there is tragically more. The phrase “for whom the bell tolls” comes from a work by poet John Dunne:

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

The church bells of Harrisburg will be tolling for each one of us, for, whether we knew these 55 million children or not, we have all been diminished by their deaths.

Things You Can Do at the 2013 March for Life in D.C.

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A record-breaking number of pro-lifers are expected to participate in the national March for Life on Friday, January 25 in Washington, D.C.

This year, the March will take place on the National Mall between 7th and 9th Streets. The rally will begin at noon, and the march will follow at about 1:30 p.m.

When you are at the March for Life, consider participating in one of the many other pro-life opportunities available:

• Pennsylvania legislators reception — U.S. Representatives to Congress and U.S. Senator Pat Toomey will hold a reception from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday, January 25 in the 345 Cannon Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building. Sen. Toomey plans to address those present at 2:15 p.m. Sen. Robert Casey Jr. also will meet with pro-lifers at 2:45 p.m. Friday in the Hart Building 902. Please take advantage of this opportunity to meet and speak with our U.S. legislators about the right to life. Be advised that everyone entering a federal building must pass through security; so plan to arrive early.

• National Pro-Life Prayer Service – Hosted by the National Pro-Life Religious Council, the interdenominational service will take place from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 25, at the DAR Constitution Hall, 1776 D Street NW. The Rev. Frank Pavone, president of the council, will deliver the sermon.

• March for Life Exhibit Hall – The exhibit will be open noon to 9 p.m. on Thursday, January 24, and 8 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, January 25, in the lower lobby level of the Hyatt Regency hotel.

• Silent No More Testimonies – Post-abortive women will share their stories immediately after the March on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court Building.

• The 5K March for Life Run – This new event will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, January 26, in the West Potomac Park. There is no cost to participate, but donations to the March for Life are encouraged. Click here for a brochure.

• Stand True Youth Rally – Strong pro-life advocates Melissa Ohden, Lila Rose and Abby Johnson are featured speakers at the rally, which will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, January 24, in the Regency Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The event is free. For more information, click here.

• The 31st Annual Rose Dinner – This special evening will be held Friday evening at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington. Tickets cost $85 online or $100 at the door. Click here for more information.

For information about traveling to the March with a group in your area, contact the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation at lifelines@paprolife.org or 717-541-0034.

Women in Poverty Need Support, not Abortion

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The pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher research group released some interesting new abortion graphics this week in recognition of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. (Look at them here.)

It’s funny – though not in a “ha ha” way – how the graphics really seem to point to the opposite of what the pro-abortion group intends.

Several graphics show links between poverty and abortion, supposedly to encourage support for more abortion access for women in poverty.

When I look at the graphics, I feel concern – as I’m sure Guttmacher wants me to – but not because of access to abortion.

No, these numbers tell me that greater access to abortion is NOT the answer to helping women.

Guttmacher reports that 69 percent of the women who have abortions are economically disadvantaged, and that some give up food or utilities or shelter to pay for an abortion.

These facts tug at my heart strings. If only these women knew that they don’t have to give up food or heat or shelter or their preborn child’s life!

Guttmacher is wrong to suggest that greater access to abortion will empower these financially-strained women.

Pregnant women in poverty need better knowledge of and access to financial resources, not abortion. Women should not be forced to choose between a meal and a baby’s life.

For more information about pregnancy resources in your area, click here.

‘Taking the Long Road Home’ to End Abortion in the U.S.

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On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court issued one of its most tragic rulings – Roe v. Wade. The decision struck down all state bans on abortion, basically allowing preborn babies to be killed at any time for any reason.

Dr. Alveda King, during her visit to Central Pa. this fall, told pro-lifers how hard she prayed that the Supreme Court would uphold the sanctity of human life and reverse Roe v. Wade.

When the justices instead upheld their devastating decision, King cried out to God and asked why.

Watch her explain the answer here.

God told her, “… the hearts of the people are too hard, so we are going to have to take the long road home.”

The road to ending abortion is full of obstacles, but we are persevering along the path to a brighter future for our preborn babies.

Taking the long road, we work one by one to change hearts and minds. And we are doing just that: Dr. Bernard Nathanson, Abby Johnson, Alveda King each had or participated in abortions before they became pro-life advocates.

Taking the long road home, we ensure that women have access to accurate information about abortion, adoption, and parenting.

Taking the long road home, we offer support to pregnant and new mothers in crisis.

Taking the long road home, we are achieving victories for the right to life as we carry the truth that every life — from conception to natural death — must be granted the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Find out how you can help defend the right to life by contacting us at lifelines@paprolife.org or 717-541-0034.

Make a New Year’s Resolution to Attend the March for Life

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When I was about 6 years old, my parents pulled out the stroller, bundled up my sister and me, and took us to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life.

I remember the Washington Monument outlined by the sunny cold blue sky of winter. When my dad lifted me onto his shoulders, I remember seeing the mass of people packed onto the lawn. The crowd amazed me.

But for many years, I didn’t go back. I was busy with school,  work, volunteering, family, wedding plans. And some years, I’m ashamed to admit, I forgot.

Two years ago, I made the commitment to start going again. My sisters, cousins, a friend, and I stuffed ourselves into the family van and drove down to the March on a bitterly cold day.

The crowd amazed me, just as it had when I was 6. Hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets and flowed through the winding road to the U.S. Supreme Court building. I thrilled in the realization that we all were standing there united for one single purpose – to protect and defend every single human life.

This year, it is more critical than ever to participate in prolife efforts such as the March for Life. First, this January marks the 40th year since the Supreme Court’s devastating opinion in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which opened the doors to abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy. And, second, our nation faces new threats to life because of the abortion provisions and medical rationing in President Obama’s health care law.

Maybe you have been thinking about going to the March for years but never made it. Maybe you have faithfully attended every year, but you know a friend who has never gone. Make 2013 the year you attend or invite that friend.

This year, it is more critical than ever that we join together on this day to stand united against this lawful taking of innocent lives.

The 2013 March for Life is scheduled for Friday, January 25 in downtown Washington, D.C. For information about bus trips to the March or community prolife events in January, contact us at lifelines@paprolife.org or 717-541-0034.

Teaching Young People the Truth about Abortion

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“How many abortions do you think have happened in the past 40 years? Just take a guess.”

I watched a pro-lifer pose this question to a young man recently. The well-educated 20-something hesitated and then shrugged.

“Just a rough estimate?” the pro-lifer prompted.

“OK,” he said. “Maybe about 100,000.”

The pro-lifer replied, “Actually, it’s more than 54 million.”

The young man looked shocked.

This simple experience made me wonder how many Americans don’t know the sheer number of abortions that occur every year. How many 20-somethings – the age group having the most abortions – have no concept of how prevalent these tragic deaths are in America.

We believe it is so important that we reach youth with the culture of life, and tell them the devastating effects of abortion.

The video here CE1Dz1ufbOo shows me, a 20-something, speaking to the people at our 2012 Celebrate Life Banquet about this critical effort. Please watch it and think about ways you can help us promote a culture of life in the younger generations.

Maybe by asking a question, as my fellow pro-lifer did above.

Maybe by encouraging a young person in your family to get involved in our essay and oratory contests.

Maybe by promoting alternatives to abortion, pregnancy resource centers, and crisis pregnancy hotlines at your church or community group.

Maybe by giving a donation to the Federation.

Maybe by praying.

You can help make a difference by partnering with us in this outreach to youth.

Alveda King Delivers Message of Hope for Future

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Dr. Alveda King’s life is full of reminders about the significance of every single human life.

Alveda King speaks to the crowd at the 2012 Celebrate Life Banquet in Camp Hill.

Her strong pro-life family, her birthday, even her own name seemed to point Alveda toward advocacy for the preborn. However, her young adult life started down a very different path.

A strong pro-life advocate and the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Alveda King shared her life story Tuesday during the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation’s 2012 Celebrate Life Banquet in Camp Hill.

Before Alveda even was born, her life came very close to being wiped out by abortion. When her mother became pregnant out of wedlock, some people suggested she could “get help for her mysterious female ailment.” When her mother began to question this “mysterious” abortion procedure, she turned to Alveda’s grandfather, Martin Luther “Daddy” King Sr.

“He said, ‘That’s not just cells,’” King said. “That’s my granddaughter. I saw her in a dream three years ago with bright red hair. She’s going to be a blessing.’”

Alveda was born on January 22 – a date that perhaps seemed insignificant at the time. Today, we remember it as the day when the U.S. Supreme Court made its tragic decision about abortion in Roe v. Wade.

Even the name her parents chose for her seemed to foretell her future as an advocate for life. The root of Alveda’s name is “vita,” which is Latin for “life.”

When she grew up, though, Alveda King strayed from the truth. Instead, she trusted the lies of abortion centers like Planned Parenthood, and had two abortions.

Then, Daddy King intervened. Pregnant for a third time, Alveda was again considering an abortion, but her grandfather presented her with the truth: That is not a lump of flesh; it is a child.

Since then, Alveda has joined her family of freedom fighters in its charge to protect and defend every human life, from conception to natural death.

She challenged the crowd of 500 people from all across Pennsylvania to not lose courage in the fight for life. Just as God turned her life around, so God can change our nation, she said.

Despite setbacks like Roe v. Wade and pro-abortion political agendas, God works all things together for good, King said. She shared Mark 9:23, “… with God, all things are possible” and encouraged everyone to repeat the verse with her.

“We stand, and as we continue to stand, God will continue to bless,” King said. “With God, all things are possible.”