Thursday, January 31, 2008

Washington State Takes Bronze in Funding, Performing Abortions

I just received the information below from a LeAnna Benn of Teen-Aid.

...According to this lastest report Washington State taxpayers pay $8.5 million for abortions. Washington State has the 3rd highest number (15,510) and price tag paid with public dollars ($8,528,000) for abortion. Only CA and NY use more state funds that Washington .

If I had a nickle for every person who said "keep the government out of abortion" but turned a blind eye to all the government involvement in abortion...

This report also comes on the heels of this week's lobbying efforts by Planned Parenthood of Western Washington to try and increase funding for their abortion generating Take Charge Program, which Jonathan has covered in detail here, here and here.

Planned Parenthood asks their supporters in an email dated 1/31/08 to contact the legislature and ask them to approve -
An emergency allocation of $8 million for family planning services across the state. (Maintain the $5 million for family planning in the Governor's budget and include an additional $3 million in the final budget.) This will provide family planning services for the nearly 33,000 low-income Washingtonians who are no longer able to participate in the federally funded Take Charge program, and will likely save nearly $126 million in pregnancy care costs.
Well, yes I suppose abortion is cheaper than pre-natal care.


Here's the rest of the report I recieved from LeAnna:
The Guttmacher Institute (under a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services) has just released a report that is a gold mine of information for the pro-life and abstinence movements.

The report, “Public funding for family planning, sterilization and abortion services, FY 1980–2006,” by Sonfield A, Alrich C and Gold RB, Occasional Report, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2008, No. 38., which can be found here has a lot of information (some of it unpublished) directly from the federal government.

The authors, of course, try to argue that over $1.6 billion a year (!!) in federally funded contraception isn’t enough. They use some interesting math to show that even though the family planning funding has grown astronomically, it still isn’t keeping up with inflation (I didn’t realize that the price of condoms, etc. was keeping pace with the inflation index, would like to see some proof of that). This is the old appropriations trick where interest groups try to downplay their enormous increases by saying it doesn’t keep up with inflation. The reality is it has gone up, a ton! The authors also argue that this enormous federal spending effort, of course, prevents tons of unintended pregnancies and abortions (not substantiated in this paper, either).

Some information that the new paper includes:

  • The numbers and state breakdown of 191 federally funded abortions in Fiscal Year 2009(under the Hyde amendment rape, incest and life of the mother abortions are paid for under Medicaid),
  • The federal gov’t paid for the most abortions in Illinois (89), Virginia (27), Ohio (20), Minnesota (16), and South Carolina (12). See table 3.9 on page 27
  • New updated info on how much in public funds goes to family planning ($1.85 billion in FY06--$1.6 billion of which is federal and $1.3 billion (or 71%) of which is from federal Medicaid funds.
I pulled out a couple key parts from the 36 page PDF and pasted them below. A good resource and bookmark for future reference.

The state and federal governments spent $89 million to fund 177,000 abortion procedures for low-income women in FY 2006. The federal government contributed
to the cost of only 191 procedures. Virtually all publicly funded abortion procedures occurred in the 17 states that have nonrestrictive abortion
policies.

Public expenditures for family planning client services totaled $1.85 billion in FY 2006. Medicaid accounted for 71% of the total, whereas state appropriations accounted for 13% and Title X accounted for 12% (Figure A). Together, other funding sources such as the MCH block grant, the SSBG and TANF, account for 5% of total funding. Although Medicaid was the dominant source of funding in most states, the other funding sources were vital in many specific states.


    Wednesday, January 30, 2008

    Delicious

    The pro-life movement can rejoice in the defeat of its biggest opponent in the Republican Party, Rudy Giuliani.

    How sweet it is.

    There was so much wrong with Giuliani, from his insults of pro-lifers to his taking credit for the reduction in the number of abortions in New York City, that you can't help but delight in his downfall.

    Tuesday, January 29, 2008

    March for Life 2008 Slideshow



    Here are my pictures from the March for Life 2008. Many are of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. I'm working on a You Tube video with some audio from the March. I'll try and get that posted soon.

    I encourage everyone to attend a March for Life just once if they get the chance. It was not a political event. It was more of a pilgrimage. Highlights of the march were meeting Fr. Euteneuer and Bill Williams of Human Life International, Georgette Forney of SNMA, and Ron Paul.

    The part of the march, however, that will stay with me until my dying day is standing in front of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, listening to the testimonies of the SNMA women and men. The rain struggled to pour out upon us through out the day but was held back. There were a few scattered drops here and there but never a down pour. Unexpectedly, about mid-way through the testimonies, a rainbow broke out right over the SNMA stage. It ended right smack in the middle of the supreme court building and over the heads of the women holding their "I regret my abortion" signs.

    Everyone stopped speaking to just gaze in wonder and ponder if God was promising to end it all right where it had started. Let's pray that he does. Let's pray that he does.

    Former Pro-Abortion Governor Endorses McCain

    Former Washington state governor Dan Evans has officially endorsed John McCain for president.

    McCain's Washington state committee includes AG Rob McKenna who recieved a "mixed choice" designation from Washington NARAL when he ran for AG.

    Something to ponder: If McCain is pro-life and wants to overturn Roe v. Wade as he claims, how will he be able to continue with his plan to federally fund embryonic stem cell research.

    Dan Evans is as radical as they come on the issue of abortion. Check out his school of public affairs at the UW and buried within you'll find all kinds of utopian plans for better living through fewer people.

    Monday, January 28, 2008

    More from Olympia March for Life


    Mary Firth and Dan Duringer of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Camas, Washington took these pictures and put together this great collage from the March for Life in Olympia 2008. Click on the image to get a better look at the faces and size of the crowd.
    Dan is also part of LifePac.org. They did a great job of covering the pro-choice McGavick campaign in 2006.

    New Pro-life Blogger in Washington State

    I'm proud and excited to add Matthew's Mom to our blog roll of pro-life bloggers in Washington state.

    She's got an excellent diary of the Hike 4 Life that just took place. Please read her account of the father whose child was aborted against his will on Day 1.

    Day 2
    Day 3
    Day 4 (includes Olympia March for Life)

    Please pray for all the men who are suffering after the abortion of their child.

    The Catholic Mind of Ron Paul

    The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

    I've been meaning to do this for some time now but have only now found a break in January's pro-life activities to come out and officially endorse Ron Paul for presdient.

    After reading Ron Paul's statements and listening to his speeches on what Hilarie Belloc called The Crisis of Civilization, I can only conclude that this is a man for our times. Just below the surface of Ron Paul's writings and thoughts one can detect an understanding of the best of Catholic thought --- the principle of subsidiary, just war theory, the problem of usury, and the modern return to slavery and cruelty. The part of his thinking that resonates most deeply with the American public (and the foreign public as well) is Dr. Paul's affirmation of free will over determinism or predestination.

    Dr. Paul is offering real hope, hope and belief in the people of this nation to live out the true definition of freedom -- Freedom that is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.

    Saturday, January 26, 2008

    Crowd Estimates for Olympia March for Life 2008

    Anti-abortion rally draws 2,500 people, protesters

    Or is it...

    The Washington State Patrol estimated there were 4,500 people in the crowd. Sgt. Larry Bradeen said 3,000 people can fit on the steps between the Legislative Building’s pillars: Tuesday’s crowd bulged beyond the pillars and spilled off the stairs and into the street.

    Thought Crimes Bills Tabled

    Not happy with Judge Leighton's decision that indeed the Washington Board of Pharmacy, Christine Gregoire and the abortion lobby were attempting to recind First Amemendment rights for pharmacists, the legislature considered passing their own thought crimes bills.

    Three bills were were written up: SB 6361, SB 6519 and SB 6189.

    All were flawed. In an attempt at compromise, even the one (SB 6361) written by Republican members had serious problems.

    Read more here in the PI.

    NARAL and the ACLU have appealed Judge Leighton's injunction in favor of the pharmacists to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Judge Leighton will hear the full case in October 2008.

    Thursday, January 24, 2008

    Abortion Lobby's Next Strategy?

    Every once in awhile I'll read something that seems important. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. Either way I thought I'd pass this one along to you and you can decide if it means anything.

    First I read this in a news story about --
    Montana NARAL calls the measure "an attempt to redefine when life begins and take away women’s ability to make private medical decisions."

    The group says that pro-life advocates support the measure because Montana’s constitution "contains greater protections" for abortion than the U.S. Constitution.

    (emphasis mine)

    Then I remembered something the "adamantly pro-choice" Alex Hays of the Washington Mainstream Republicans said on David Postman's blog when discussing judicial elections--

    No reasonable basis exists for injecting abortion into a debate about state judicial elections...and I hope we can keep it that way. The Washington State Constitution contains the strong protections for privacy rights -- an important fact I learned from Justice Jim Johnson.

    (emphasis mine)

    I've heard it repeated elsewhere that the Washington state constitution has "greater protection for privacy" than the U.S. Constitution.

    What these statements seem to be saying to me is that with abortion regulation being thrown back to the states, the abortion lobby and their friends are beginning to make the argument that state constitutions forbid any regulation of abortion.

    Is this a strategy to try and build a wall around the "right to abortion" at the state level?

    National Coverage of 2008 March for Life

    In case you missed it...


    Local coverage came from the Seattle Times twice, here and here.



    March for Life 2008 Olympia Photos

    I'm back. Had a great time in D.C. I'm quickly trying to get caught up.

    First, here are photos from Olympia March for Life.

    Update: Here's Andrew's commentary on the March. And photos of the chalk demonstration at Western Washington University.

    More great pictures here. And video here.

    Local coverage in the Tacoma News Tribune here and the Olympian here and here. Here's what the Seattle PI reported.

    Update: Michelle at Life of the Party posted her pictures here.

    Wednesday, January 23, 2008

    Republicans Walk Out of Hearing -- Democrats Reject Federal Funding

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    January 23, 2008

    Contact: Teen-Aid
    Contact Person: LeAnna Benn
    Telephone Number: 509 482 2868
    Fax Number: 509 482 7994
    Email Address: lbenn@teen-aid.org
    Web site address: www.teen-aid.org



    Republicans Walk Out of Hearing - Democrats Reject Federal Funding

    HB 2698 was to be heard today in the House Health Care Committee. Republicans walked out of the room since there was no possibility for modifying the bill or for testimony on both sides of the issue.

    HB 2698 effectively rejects $814,633 of federal funds. Why turn back funds to assist in an important part of the “comprehensive” Sex Education message?

    Last year, Democratic legislators assured abstinence education providers that abstinence would be a “major” emphasis for all programs. This year, those same prime sponsoring legislators are sponsoring legislation that will allow the DOH to not apply for funds to teach the teens in Washington State the benefits of abstinence.

    According to LeAnna Benn , Director of Teen-Aid and abstinence educator, “The legislators are unfairly focusing on teen pregnancy when teens have the lowest rate of pregnancy in 65 years. Instead of focusing on out of wedlock pregnancies and state funded abortions which cost the taxpayers millions, legislators are using 1980’s logic to beat up on non-voting teens.”

    The original legislation intended to disperse these dollars to qualified local abstinence providers. According to the federal funding source, Administration for Children and Youth, this can still be done even with a comprehensive sex education mandate in place.

    It is time to ask, “Why can’t abstinence funding be used to teach the abstinence portion of the “comprehensive” sex education message?”

    Saturday, January 19, 2008

    March for Life -- Washington DC

    I'm off to the March for Life in Washington, DC early tomorrow morning. I'm going with my friend Debbie who is going to give her testimony on the steps of the Supreme Court. I'm so honored to be going with her.

    There'll be coverage of the March on EWTN. CSPAN usually covers the March as well.

    I'm also going to try and get to the Bloggers for Life conference on the morning of the 22nd. I don't know about the afternoon. If you are going to be there, I'd like to meet you!

    Please pray for our safe travel to and from DC.
    Mary

    Thursday, January 17, 2008

    Thank You Western for Life!

    The Silent No More Awareness Campaign of Washington state headed to Bellingham last night and made a presentation to the students on campus. The students were fantstic and we were able to talk with one man who was grieving that loss of his child to abortion.

    The students graciously made all arrangements for a room and microphone. We spoke for about an hour and then took questions from the audience. One of the students video recorded our presentation. Hopefully, we can get that on the internet in the next few days.

    This is a great campus of pro-life students. They invited us back, perhaps in the fall of 2008 to present our message to a larger audience.

    Reactionary Radio?

    Planned Parenthood of Western Washington has blown a gasket over the Second Look Project's radio ads that are running on AM 1090 Progressive Talk in Seattle.

    Here's what Planned Parenthood emailed to their supporters yesterday.

    ACT NOW to KEEP ANTI-CHOICE VOICES OFF PROGRESSIVE RADIO

    This week, KPTK AM 1090 Progressive Talk started airing inflammatory and misleading ads about Roe v. Wade and a women's right to choose. These ads are paid for by Second Look, a campaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that targets progressive, pro-choice communities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, DC.

    A number of you have called Planned Parenthood to report your surprise and outrage at this ad being run on AM 1090. As consumers, we can let them know we are offended by these distorted ads! TAKE ACTION NOW!


    As Michelle at Life of the Party points out, Planned Parenthood isn't too fond of the 1st Amendment.

    Listen to the ads and see what you think.

    Your Rights
    Heartbeat

    I say it's about time progressive radio started acting progressive instead of reactionary and conservative. Isn't it all about questioning authority for these people? Planned Parenthood claims to be the undisputed authority on everything related to sex.

    Contact Bill Sigmar and Lisa Decker at AM 1090 and thank them for airing the voice of the revolution.

    Wednesday, January 16, 2008

    Washington Ranks 15th Worst in Protecting Life

    Americans United for Life has come out with their state rankings for protecting life.

    Washington ranks as the 36th "Most Pro-Life State", which translates to 15th worst.

    Their evaluation criteria can be found here (.pdf).

    One error I noticed in their assessment of Washington is the following: Only a physician licensed in Washington may perform an abortion.

    This is not true. Former Attorney General Christine Gregoire (now governor) in January 2004 signed off on an opinion stating that Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners may, "when consistent with his or her professional license, lawfully furnish or prescribe a drug to a woman for the purpose of inducing an abortion where the drug may lawfully be prescribed and the woman seeks to terminate her pregnancy before the fetus is viable or for the purpose of preserving the woman’s life or health."

    The general protocol for administering a chemical-medical abortion (RU-486) is to give the woman the drug and send her home, or at least somewhere away from the "clinic," to wait for her dead child, blood and placenta to fall from inside her.

    I thought legalized abortion was going to put abortion in the hands of caring, loving professionals not quacks who ply their wicked trade then leave the scene of the crime.

    The fallout from this decision is two-fold: Chemical abortion is on the rise in the state as are the complications and, the door has been opened to other "medical" professionals performing these abortions, either voluntarily or through state coercion, as we saw with the anti-conscience actions of the state Board of Pharmacy.




    Reality Check

    I thought I'd take an opportunity to share a few thoughts I had on the Silent No More Awareness Campaign and the courageous women and men who give testimony.

    This week's Fortune magazine features a cover story on Melinda Gates, wife of local billionaire Bill Gates

    The headline inside the magazine is -- Melinda Gates goes public. The author says, "Melinda has sacrificed privacy, security, simplicity, and normalcy." It goes on to describe Mrs. Gates working hard at her children's school during the day and then hosting a dozen dinner guests, including four African health ministers. But it is this paragraph that really hit me:

    By 10 P.M., after everyone had left, she was feeling frazzled and panicky about her speech the next morning. "Just go to bed!" Bill told her. "You know so much about malaria." Melinda dreads the spotlight, but the following morning she faced more than 300 scientists, doctors, and health officials. She unveiled an audacious plan to eradicate malaria - a disease that kills more than one million people annually and has eluded a cure for centuries - and then answered questions with Bill. Afterward the crowd buzzed about this woman whom even they, recipients of the Gateses' billions, hardly know.
    I applaud Melinda for her efforts to help eradicate malaria (don't get me started on her support for Planned Parenthood and population control efforts), but I couldn't help thinking --She really has no idea. Here is a woman with wealth, the "right" clothes, stylists, assistants, trainers, cooks and every convenience to make her every move just right; with thousands of adoring VIPs, world leaders, and rock stars who travel half way around the world to sit at her feet hoping that she will bestow some of her fortune upon them, and she's feeling frazzled and panicky?

    What a contrast with the women of SNMA who truly "go public" under circumstances in complete contrast to Melinda Gates. I know many of you struggle long hours over your testimony -- what will you say, how will you say it in only 2 minutes, and most importantly how can I reach that one woman who needs to hear my story? Many of you are up way past 10 pm after a long day of work, cooking, cleaning, and attending to children, family, and friends. You know more about abortion than you ever wanted to know. What you are going to say at a SNMA gathering is something many people don't want to hear and may try to prevent you from saying. You know who you are going to face but it could by anybody. Your testimony is audacious. You dread the "spotlight" and perhaps wish it wasn't you standing in it but learned along the way that God's will is the most important thing in the universe. While you speak, the crowd goes so silent you can hear a pin drop. A few tears fall silently to the ground. The shock and sound of applause at the end pushes all your emotions to the margins; all because you refused to be silent. You are handing out the truth. Who knew people were so desperate to get some?

    All of us have sacrificed privacy, security, simplicity by doing what we do as participants in SNMA. However, in contrast to Mrs. Gates I think we have actually gained "normalcy". It's when we are hiding and afraid of what might happen if we speak out that things don't seem right, a little 'off', that we aren't being true to ourselves and God. Sadly our whole culture appears to be living this inverted idea of what is "normal". It seems to be on a flight from reality. Thanks to SNMA I've begun to see that "normal" means speaking the truth and then living it. That's reality. We need to recapture that for ourselves and our culture. Thank you for being silent no more.

    Here are the details on the January 16th event:
    DATE and TIME
    WHO: Silent No More Awareness Campaign
    WHAT: Powerful testimonies revealing the truth about abortion
    WHEN: Wednesday, January 16th,7:00 pm
    WHERE: Campus of WWU, NOTE NEW ROOM: Bond Hall, Room 109, Bellingham, Washington
    SPONSORS: Western for Life and Silent No More Awareness Campaign

    Tuesday, January 15, 2008

    Tough Talk from Seattle Archdiocese

    Speaking of relativism, the Seattle Archdiocese has been coming out stronger in recent months against the abortion culture and state apparatus that supports it.

    Archbishop Brunett made this comment in the May 3rd issue of the Progress last year in reference to the fight to maintain First Amendment rights for pharmacists --

    Just before he was elected pope in April of 2005, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger delivered a homily in the Vatican Basilica to the College of Cardinals. In his talk he made the point that having a clear, definitive faith like that proclaimed in the Creed of the Church is today often labeled as fundamentalism.

    He said that allowing oneself to be tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine, on the other hand, seemed to be the only acceptable attitude in our current cultural environment. We are building, he said, a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.

    We don't need to look any further than the debate over pharmacists' right of conscience to recognize that he chose his words well. A society that denies individuals the right to act in accord with their conscience is a dictatorship of the most oppressive sort, and among its chief threats are Christians who possess what Pope Benedict XVI calls an adult faith.


    Take that Gov. Christine Gregoire.

    Now the Catholic newspaper the Northwest Progress has come out with a series of great articles on adoption and abortion. The truth is all there in black and white for anyone with the interest and time to read it.

    Crisis pregnancy options not always clear
    One chose abortion, one selected life
    Ad campaign asks TV viewers to ‘think about it’

    Hike 4 Life: January 19th to January 22

    The ‘Hike4Life' is a pro-life pilgrimage which will take place from January 19, to January 22, 2008. Ten to fifteen people of various ages will walk and drive to twelve abortion facilities between Bremerton and Olympia, culminating at the Washington State March for Life rally.

    Along the way, we will be quietly praying to God in reparation for the outrageous sin of abortion, in supplication for our pre-born brothers and sisters who have no voice and for all those involved in abortion in any way. We do not seek to provoke controversy, shout slogans or carry graphic signs. Willing to step out in faith, we are simply Christians, dedicated to the proposition that all human life is sacred. Called by name to be witnesses for the unborn, we are answering that call from our Lord.

    Following, are the cities where we will be praying during the Hike4Life 2008:

    Saturday, January 19, 2008 ~ Bremerton, Silverdale, Seattle
    Planned Parenthood, Bremerton
    Planned Parenthood, Silverdale Way
    Seattle Medical Clinic, Seattle
    Aurora Medical Services, Seattle
    Planned Parenthood, Seattle

    Sunday, January 20 ~ Renton, Kent, Federal Way
    Cedar River Late-term Abortion Facility, Renton
    Planned Parenthood of Kent Valley, Kent
    Planned Parenthood of Federal Way, Federal Way

    Monday, January 21 ~ Tacoma
    All Women’s Health Clinic, Tacoma
    Planned Parenthood, Tacoma, Tacoma
    Advanced Women’s Health Clinic, Tacoma

    Tuesday, January 22 ~ Olympia
    Planned Parenthood of Olympia, Olympia

    Monday, January 14, 2008

    Local Clergy Promote State Imposed Morality

    Coming on the heels of Pope Benedict's statement that moral relativism is at 'emergency' levels, this "guest columnist" piece, entitled Denial of Contraception is Immoral, appeared in the Seattle Times.

    The "emergency" to which the Holy Father referred was the growth of relativism. Young people, he said, find it difficult to develop "firm certainties and criteria upon which to build their lives." This failure of moral guidance, the Pope said, threatens "the very basis of coexistence and the future of society."

    Well, duh. When you have a bunch of no-nothings like Catherine Fransson and Jamal Rahman basically promoting the idea that one's personal opinion is to be the final arbiter for right and wrong, you are going to have confused people making bad, harmful decisions.

    What is truly frightening about this group of "clergy" is that they take it one step further and actually push for the legislation of morality. It's a twisted morality but it is nonetheless a demand that the State, through the force of law, make others conform to their opinion about morality.

    Fr. Frank Schuster makes this point in a response in a letter to the editor:

    By way of analogy: Are we ready to give government greater power to tell clerics what we can teach our people and what we can't? What if the state told all faith communities to hand out literature some of us fundamentally disagreed with? I don't know of many clerics who would like the state to go down that road.
    Amen, Father.

    They don't say it in the article but these two "clergy" are undoubtedly part of Planned Parenthood's posse of "religious leaders" who will do their bidding on an as needed basis.

    Healing the Culture: National Pro-Life Conference - Nov. 6-8, 2008

    Healing the Culture
    National Pro-Life Conference
    November 6-8, 2008
    Seattle, Washington

    Mark your calendar for the pro-life event of the year! Join Father Robert Spitzer, Camille De Blasi Pauley, and other nationally acclaimed speakers and guest celebrities at the 2008 Healing the Culture Conference in beautiful Seattle, Washington.

    Hailed in 2006 (Vancouver, British Columbia) as "one of the most important and useful pro-life conferences," Healing the Culture is bringing our power-packed, 2-day national conference to the first-class Bellevue Hilton Conference Center, near Seattle.

    This important event will include:
    Cutting-edge pro-life training and education,
    Nationally acclaimed speakers and guest celebrities,
    Generous time for networking and visiting the Exhibits Expo,
    All meals and refreshments, including the Grand Ballroom Banquet,
    Exquisite accommodations at the Bellevue Hilton.


    Be sure to mark November 6-8, 2008 for the Healing the Culture National Pro-Life Conference!

    Check out our website for continually updated information and registration.

    http://www.healingtheculture.com/

    Saturday, January 12, 2008

    Goodbye to Kathy McEntee, Founder and President of March for Life Washington

    Dear Friends of Life,
    Kathy McEntee, founder and president, March for Life of Washington, died this afternoon (Jan.12) around 3 PM. After suffering a massive stroke, she never regained consciousness. They removed life support after tests showed all brain activity had ceased.

    Please remember her and her husband, Dick, their children, grandchildren, and extended family in your prayers.

    Please also pray that her efforts for the cause of life will continue, and hopefully soon they will achieve the success for which Kathy and so many others like her, have strived for years to achieve, with little support, often facing ridicule and hardship for their efforts. But she, no doubt, would say that it was worth it, for the cause of God's little ones.

    I believe she received quite a welcome home today:

    "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

    Rest in peace, Kathy. You've earned it, dear!

    -Elenor

    Thursday, January 10, 2008

    Assisted Suicide Initiative Filed in Olympia

    Death as a salesman is knocking on the doors of Washington State again.

    The deceptively misnamed initiative Death with Dignity Act promotes assisted suicide. But they studiously refuse to use the word suicide. (To adapt a phrase from Richard John Neuhaus)
    They deny the undeniable in order to guide the unthinkable on its passage through the debatable on its way to becoming the justifiable until it is finally established as the unexceptionable.
    Read more...

    Wednesday, January 09, 2008

    "Life is Sacred" Conference in Portland to Feature National, Local Speakers January 26

    Great stuff happening in Portland, Oregon. I've posted the full Press Release below and links to articles here and here.

    Bobby Schinder whose sister Terri was starved to death by court order is an excellent speaker and will be there. The Silent No More Awareness campaign's own Esther Ripplinger will be also be speaking as part of the teen program. (Go Esther!)

    The passionately pro-life Lori Eckstine and a leader in Rachel's Vineyard Retreats will speak as part of the adult program.

    For tickets and more information, contact Susan Cloutier (360) 834-2126, ext. 202. Tickets will also be available at the door. Adults cost $25 and teens $15. Parking is $7, but light rail runs to the Expo Center.

    ______

    For a day in late January, the massive Expo Center in Portland will be home to an exciting, first-time, pro-life event.

    Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday January 26 for Life is Sacred 2008 – a day where people of all faiths can strengthen their resolve to publicly counter abortion, assisted suicide and other infringements on the sanctity of life. St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Camas, WA and the Archdiocese of Portland Office of Pro-Life Activities are major organizers of the event, which will include speakers, music and testimonials. Teens will have their own set of activities.
    Everyone is welcome to come and learn more about the dignity of human life, how it is under attack, and how they can respond. “My dream is that the people who attend can get an inspiration to do something themselves,” organizer Susan Cloutier of St. Thomas Church in Camas says. “You can know something in your mind and in your heart, but if you don’t do something it’s just knowledge.”

    Speakers will include nationally known spokesperson Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo, whose death in 2005 sparked debate over the issue of nutrition and hydration for those in a persistent vegetative state.

    With the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade occurring this month and the upcoming national election that will have huge implications for the make-up of the Supreme Court, many feel it’s prime time people speak up about life issues.

    “We are talking about a real loaves and fishes event here,” says Linda Mainard, a member of Christ the King Parish in Milwaukie who has become an organizer. “As human beings we need to be informed of the truths….We need to let the rest of the country know all people do not believe or support all that our state is known for.”

    Other speakers will include Jill Stanek, a labor and delivery nurse from Illinois, a national figure who went public after discovering not only were abortions being performed at the hospital at which she worked but babies were being aborted alive to die without medical care.

    Also set to speak and perform is Canadian recording artist David Hugh McDonald. He will share the personal story of an abortion he consented to with his girlfriend. At the time a Broadway and film star, he blew out his voice shortly after the abortion and couldn’t talk for 3 years. He now travels the country performing and talking to teens about the experience.

    After various other local speakers, the day will conclude with a 2 p.m. Mass, with Auxiliary Bishop Kenneth Steiner presiding. For tickets and more information, contact Susan Cloutier (360) 834-2126, ext. 202. Tickets will also be available at the door. Adults cost $25 and teens $15. Parking is $7, but light rail runs to the Expo Center.

    Tuesday, January 08, 2008

    Silent No More Awareness Campaign Travels to Campus of WWU

    Late last year the Silent No More Awareness Campaign was graciously invited to the campus of Western Washington University to give testimony about the reality of abortion. We accepted and we will be on campus January 16th, 2008 at 7:00 pm. We are tentatively scheduled to be in Fraser Hall, Room 2. Please join us!

    I hope to have lots of good photos for posting here.

    Below is our press release.
    __________

    Local Women Speak Truth to Power
    Women Deserve to Know the Truth

    Bellingham, Washington – It is one of the most common surgical procedures done on women every day in this country but rarely do you hear anyone talk about it. Until now. On Wednesday, January 16th, at 7:00 pm the Silent No More Awareness Campaign will come to the campus of Western Washington University and speak the truth about abortion -- What really happens during and after an abortion. What they heard and what they saw. They believe women deserve to know the truth about the emotional pain after abortion, and also the help that is available for those who are suffering as they once did.

    In one of the most daring developments since the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision 34 years ago, thousands of women across the nation are telling the truth about suicidal thoughts, infertility, alcoholism, drug overdose, nightmares, and giving up hope—all because of having an abortion.

    According to Nancy Johnson, co-Regional Coordinator for the Campaign, “The abortion industry has sugar-coated abortion with slogans and medical jargon. The fact is abortion affects women emotionally, physically and spiritually. We won’t allow the abortion industry to speak for us any longer.”

    Silent No More’s effectiveness is seen in an increase of the number of people seeking abortion after-care programs. While the American Psychological Association convenes a task force to look at the issue of the withdrawal of an official statement denying a link between abortion and psychological harm, 15 of Great Britain’s leading obstetricians and psychiatrists penned an open letter to the London Times acknowledging the psychological consequences of abortions. Clearly, women deserve to hear the truth about abortion.

    Since officially launching the Silent No More Awareness Campaign in 2003, 2,356 women and men have shared testimonies at 201 Gatherings that have occurred in 44 states and 6 countries with more than 15,931 spectators having heard the truth about abortion’s negative after-affects. More than 6,800 people have registered online to be silent no more. The Campaign is sponsored by Anglicans for Life and Priests for Life. Visit http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/.

    DATE and TIME

    WHO: Silent No More Awareness Campaign
    WHAT: Powerful testimonies revealing the truth about abortion
    WHEN: Wednesday, January 16th,7:00 pm
    WHERE: Campus of WWU, Room TBD, Bellingham, Wash
    SPONSORS: Western for Life and Silent No More Awareness Campaign

    Abortion Lobby Gains Another Seat in Olympia

    NARAL gal about town and abortion advocate Liz Loomis has been appointed to fill the seat vacated by John Lovick in the 44th Legislative District.

    Monday, January 07, 2008

    March for Life - Olympia 2008

    Washington's 30th Annual March for Life will take place on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at noon on the Capitol grounds in Olympia, Washington. You are cordially invited to attend 10:00 a.m. Mass at St. Michael's (1021 Boundary St SE, Olympia, WA 98501) prior to the March for Life. The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Eusebio Elizondo and priests from the Archdiocese.

    Saturday, January 05, 2008

    Fourth Annual "It's About Life Conference" to be held February 23 in Kennewick

    Once again the Knights of Columbus are hosting the It's About Life Conference. This confrence gets better and better each year. The organizers continue to bring in top-notch speakers and pro-life leaders from around the nation and state. If you are pro-life, you do not want to miss this conference.

    This year's featured speakers are:

    Fr. Frank Pavone. One of the most prominent pro-life leaders in the nation. He appears often
    on national programs such as Good Morning America, The O’Reilly Factor. He serves on Dr.
    James Dobson’s Focus on the Family Institute. He has addressed the pro-life caucus of the
    U.S. House of Representatives. He was with Terri Schaivo in her final moments and was an outspoken advocate for her life. He is also pastoral Director and Chairman of the Board of Rachel’s Vineyard, an international retreat program for post-abortion healing.

    Georgette Forney is President of Anglicans for Life, co-founder of Silent No More, and serves on the National Episcopal Church Standing Committee for National Concerns, and the National Pro-Life Religious Council’s Board of Directors. Georgette addresses the Pro-Life Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives concerning abortion and women, and the U.S.. Senate Commerce sub-committee on Science, Technology and Space, regarding the impact of abortion on women’s health. She has done numerous print, radio and television interviews for local, syndicated and national shows, papers and magazines.

    Wesley J. Smith is an award-wining author and lawyer, Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow
    at the Discover Institute in Seattle, and is one of the nations top expert thinkers in bioengineering. Smith’s Web Log “Secondhand Smoke,” which defends the unique moral value and importance of human life, is read by thousands of readers each week.

    When: Saturday, February 23, 2008
    Where: St. Joseph’s Parish, Dillon Hall, Kennewick

    Cost: $30 if pre-registered by Feb. 16, 2008.
    $40 at the door. Lunch: $10
    Youth/Student tickets: $10

    Lodging: Days Inn, Kennewick, located two miles from the conference, is offering a preferred room rate of $75 per night (queen bed). For room reservations call 509-735-9511 and mention the It’s About Life Conference.

    For more information contact Jeff Hylden, 509-737-0380 or e-mail: jlkhylden@aol.com