Author Archives: maria

Planned Parenthood and the Language of Double-Speak

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Leanna Wen

 

By Maria V. Gallagher, Legislative Director

The double-speak coming out of Planned Parenthood these days is truly outrageous.

As a woman, I was appalled when I heard new Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen tell hosts of CBS This Morning that the abortion giant provides “lifesaving care.”

This claim ignores the fact that Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion operation in the country, ending the lives of more than 300,000 preborn babies each year.

Wen further stated that she wants a society where “we trust all people to make the best decisions for themselves and their bodies.” But when she refers to “all people” she is excluding the human beings inside their mothers’ wombs. They never get to make a decision about their bodies, because they are denied a chance to live.

She refers to people of color, yet seems to be in denial about the fact that a disproportionate number of the babies aborted each year are African-American. This flies in the face of advocacy for minority rights.

As a doctor, Wen says that “My job is to give medically accurate information to my patients and allow them to make the best choices about their health.” But she fails to mention the adverse health effects abortion can have on women, including a greater likelihood of depression, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, and eating disorders.

Planned Parenthood may have new leadership, but its tragic song remains the same: more children dying, more women crying. Rather than trusting women, Planned Parenthood shows its utter distrust in their ability to problem solve and parent. It also dishonors women by severing the sacred bond between mother and child. “Banned Parenthood” would be a more accurate name.

Save Lives with Your IRA

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Baby ballerina

 

By Michael Ciccocioppo                                                                                                      Executive Director                                                                              ciccocioppo@paprolife.org

They say two things are inevitable: death and taxes!  The first you don’t control.  But there are ways you can control the amount of taxes you pay—especially if you are 70 ½ or older and have an individual retirement account (IRA).

As the 2018 tax year comes to a close, please consider making a gift to the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Education Fund from your IRA to reap important tax benefits while also helping save preborn babies’ lives and sparing their mothers from the devastating effects of abortion.

Here’s how it works. Federal legislation allows individuals 70 ½ or older to make gifts directly from their IRA to qualifying charities like the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Education Fund.  These gifts are excluded from your gross income, which means lower taxes for you. Your gift can also count as part of your required minimum distribution for 2018. This is an easy, convenient, and tax-beneficial way to make a gift from one of your major assets.

To qualify for these benefits in 2018:

  • You must be 70 ½ or older at the time of your gift
  • The gift must transfer directly from your IRA to the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Education Fund
  • Your gift must be received on or before December 31, 2018
  • Your combined IRA gift(s) cannot exceed $100,000 per year

Seek your own legal and tax advice and instruct your IRA custodian to issue a check directly to the:

Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Education Fund

4800 Jonestown Rd, Ste 102

Harrisburg, PA  17109-1741

There is no better way to save lives and to help us make sure that everyone in Pennsylvania knows that, “There’s always a reason to choose LIFE!”

More Precious Than a Diamond

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Baby sleeping

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

I vividly recall the diamond that my father bought to replace the ring that had been stolen from my mother in a hotel room during their honeymoon.

The diamond was small, yet exquisite to my child’s eyes. It was all that my father could afford. I found it to be elegant and regal, and so befitting my mother’s royal-like bearing.

The fact that the diamond was tiny made it no less spectacular to me. In fact, I believe that I respected it all the more–so much beauty contained in such a tiny package.

This memory reminds me of why it is so important to protect preborn children at the earliest stages of development. They are no less worthy of respect, just because they are small.

The heart of an unborn child can beat just 24 days after conception. Brain waves can be detected a mere 43 days post-conception. At 49 days, the preborn baby looks like a miniature doll with arms and legs, fingers, toes, and ears.

How grand the creation of a child is, only a few weeks after conception. Do supporters of legal abortion know such facts about fetal development, or does their political ideology blind them to the truth?

In any case, any unborn baby at any stage of development deserves complete legal protection. Our shared humanity demands it. One day, I believe that our U.S. Supreme Court will recognize it, too.

The Pro-Life Movement is a Youth Movement

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prolife-998x697

By Maria V. Gallagher, Legislative Director

I was once again reminded recently that the pro-life movement is indeed a youth movement.

A college student approached me about an internship with the National Right to Life affiliate for which I work, the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. She was thrilled at the prospect of learning how to spread the pro-life message both in her local community and across the Commonwealth.

I also heard from a young woman who was eager to accompany me to pro-life events. She said she greatly admired the work we do at the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation and she wanted to be a part of it.

It should be no surprise why the i-Generation–named for the ubiquitous nature of the iPhone–is so passionate about the pro-life cause. They are the survivor generation, because they have survived the tragic U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade. As a result of Roe, nearly a million precious preborn babies lose their lives each year. These young people have lost brothers, sisters, cousins, and potential friends because of legal abortion. Their hearts grieve for the lost members of their generation.

We will see the youth sector of the pro-life movement on full display at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on January 18th. High school and college students from across the country will converge on the nation’s capital to show their solidarity with pregnant women and their babies. It is incredibly inspiring to see so many young people fired up for life.

The i-Generation may have a reputation for being so obsessed with their cell phones they don’t care about the world around them. Don’t believe it. They are not just the future of the pro-life movement–they are its energetic present. May they be the generation that will finally toss Roe to the ash heap of history!

Pro-Life Victories at the Polls

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Choose Life!

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative/PAC Director

In spite of an incredibly challenging election year, pro-life candidates managed to achieve some key victories at the polls November 6th.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives…buoyed by bipartisan support for the pro-life cause…retains its pro-life majority following the contentious election. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Senate also held onto its pro-life advantage despite some difficult election contests.

Pro-Life Candidates Rise to the Challenge of Redistricting

The new Congressional districts in Pennsylvania represented a great challenge for pro-life candidates. This was not unexpected, since the PA Supreme Court—which is dominated by pro-abortion Democrats—threw out the old Congressional map and replaced it with one placing pro-life candidates at a disadvantage. Still, pro-life candidates managed to secure nine of the 18 seats in PA’s Congressional delegation.

It is important for us to begin lobbying the new Congressional representatives so that they know that the pro-life issue matters to many of their constituents. We must be no less energetic than before in lobbying for legislation that protects pregnant women and their babies from the harm of abortion.

The Presidential Firewall

Fortunately, our pro-life President, Donald Trump, continues to fight for the right to life. As a result, even if the U.S. House of Representatives tries to pass pro-abortion legislation, it will not advance past the President’s desk. This in essence creates an Executive Branch firewall against dangerous pro-abortion bills. The fact that Republicans retain control of the U.S. Senate is also good news for the President’s strict constructionist judicial nominees.

Beauty is Overcoming the Ugliness of Abortion

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Child with flowersBy Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

“Beauty will save the world,” wrote author Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

I believe this is especially true when it comes to the issue of abortion.

Abortion is inherently ugly, its gruesomeness shown in the suctioning of a preborn baby’s body and the ripping apart of tiny legs and arms. It is a ghastly enterprise, perhaps best demonstrated in the story of West Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who was ultimately convicted of murdering three full-term babies and causing the death of a female immigrant patient, Karnamaya Mongar. Gosnell plied an ugly trade and is suspected of killing hundreds of babies by “snipping” their spinal cords.

In sharp contrast, a baby is inherently beautiful, as indicated by the “oohs” and “ahhs” which accompany the miracle known as birth. To see the face of a newborn is to catch a glimpse of heaven. It stirs the soul and lifts the spirit–as all beauty does.

With each abortion, the abortionist is killing beauty. He or she is depriving the world of an unrepeatable, intrinsically lovely creation.

The pro-life movement challenges our nation and our world to rediscover beauty–the beauty of a baby’s eyes, the gorgeousness of a smile, the preciousness of little feet.

In celebrating life we are celebrating beauty, that other-worldly attribute which will indeed save the world.

Marking the Anniversary of an Abortion Center Closure

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Hillcrest

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

This is definitely an anniversary worth celebrating.

It has been nearly a year since the troubled Hillcrest abortion facility in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania permanently shut its doors after decades of operation.

And the city is still standing.

I mention that because abortion advocates routinely issue dire predictions when an abortion center is in danger of closing. While it is true that, sadly, Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion operation, continues to perform abortions in Harrisburg, it is also true that the city is better off without Hillcrest.

Still, even after Pennsylvania Health Department inspectors uncovered 44 pages’ worth of health and safety violations at the abortion center, they did not immediately move to shutter the facility. It was only after dedicated pro-lifers made the safety report known to the press–and determined state Senators demanded Hillcrest’s closing–that regulators temporarily closed it. Some weeks later, the facility gave up its license to perform abortions in the Keystone State.

Women in Harrisburg are safer with the closing of Hillcrest. And precious preborn babies have been spared a cruel fate inside Hillcrest’s walls. But Hillcrest’s history shows the abortion industry cannot be trusted to police itself–even when health violations are as plain as the two-feet high unmowed grass that surrounded Hillcrest during its final months.

Back to School and the Sacredness of Life

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Student

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

In cities and towns across the U.S., students are returning to school–or just about to. But in all the back to school reports on the local news, no mention will be made of all the students who are missing because of abortion. It is estimated that as many as one in five pregnancies in the U.S. ends in abortion. Nearly one million American children are lost to abortion each year. It is a tragedy of epic proportions–yet all too often ignored by the mainstream media.

But back to school time can also be a time of tremendous hope. Many faith-based schools organize bus trips to the annual March for Life…host pro-life clubs on campus…and encourage students to spiritually adopt preborn babies as they pray for the little ones each day.

Those who are parents and grandparents can also use this time to instill in our offspring a great respect for the dignity and incalculable value of human life. We can make sure middle schoolers know the stages of life in the womb, and that high schoolers know the location of the nearest pro-life pregnancy resource center.

We can also use this time to educate ourselves about pro-life issues, turning to trusted pro-life organizations, such as the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation and National Right to Life, to find out the latest developments on the pro-life front. Education is power, and with our newfound knowledge we may just save a life–or change a mind.

In addition, we can recommit ourselves to working for an overturn of the tragic U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.  Someday, the issue of abortion will return to the states, and we must be prepared to pass meaningful pro-life laws. Let us look forward to the day when Roe is just an unpleasant asterisk in student history books, and when all children have a real chance at life.

Saving Precious Lives–Online!

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20060704231516_independence day baby

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

When the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade back in 1973, the Justices had limited knowledge of the development of the preborn child. In the decades since then, technology has revolutionized the abortion debate. With the advent of 4D Ultrasound, mothers can view their babies smiling and somersaulting in the womb.

Technology has also proven to be an incredible gift to the pro-life movement. Parents routinely share Ultrasounds of their preborn children on Facebook. On Twitter, pro-lifers can share the latest research about abortion and euthanasia with lightening speed. Those who attend the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. can post pictures and videos on Instagram for all their followers to see. On Pinterest, those with a heart for the pro-life cause can instantaneously share breathtaking photos of a baby growing in her mother’s womb. And on LinkedIn, savvy pro-lifers can post point-by-point refutations of pro-abortion arguments in a manner that is not only persuasive, but also winsome.

Some of the dedicated pro-lifers I know have compiled large email lists of like-minded people, allowing them to share breaking news which affects preborn children, their mothers, fathers, and grandparents, the frail elderly, and people with disabilities.

National Right to Life and its affiliates have a strong presence on social media. While a number of analysts decry the negativity on various Internet platforms, pro-lifers are a positive force, educating people with the best high-tech tools at their disposal. 

So while you’re scrolling through your Facebook or Twitter feed today, why not take a few moments to post a helpful pro-life article (This article may be a start!). Just one post can save a precious life!

Life at the Fair

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Erie People for Life Chrerry Festival 2012b

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

She came to the festival booth with a secret–a life-affirming secret that she had been permitted to share. The year before, she had visited this very educational table and taken a soft-touch fetal model to show a pregnant woman considering abortion. The result? A life had been saved, and a mother had been spared a lifetime of grief.

Such is the power of pro-life educational displays at summer fairs and festivals. Local chapters of National Right to Life and the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation have been busy this summer, spreading the pro-life message at various community events. From fetal models to educational flyers, the materials on display persuade with a hope-filled message which cannot be denied.

One person reaches out to another with the scientific fact–that every human life is precious and needs to be protected. I recall vividly taking a little one to a church festival–and how she marveled at the models of preborn babies on display. They left an indelible impression which caused her to become passionately pro-life.

It may sound like a simple thing, handing a fetal model to a festival-goer. But in some communities, this is a profound act of courage. Abortion activists rail at fetal models–even going so far as to try to ban them from fairs. What they really fear is that people will find out the truth–that life begins at conception and that every abortion is an unspeakable tragedy.

Congratulations to those chapter volunteers who are rebuilding a culture of life in their communities. They make life worth celebrating!