Dear Silent No More Awareness Friends --
Are you willing to share a short version of your testimony with candidate for governor Dino Rossi?
He's set up this web site for people to "share comments, concerns and ways to improve our state": Tell Dino.
Men who regret participating in an abortion or wish they'd been given a chance to stand up for their child should also share their thoughts.
In the video linked from Life of the Party you'll see that Dino apparently feels that he will be prevented from helping to build a culture of life in this state since he can't overturn Roe and the legislature won't send him any pro-life bills.
I think he is wrong. There is a lot he could do.
Maybe you could give him some ideas to help women avoid abortion. Maybe he'd start to see that he doesn't need to be on the defensive. Maybe he'd start telling the voters how abortion is hurting the people of Washington and something needs to be done. Maybe he'd even take the lead despite the risk. Maybe he might even win this time.
Friday, July 25, 2008
40th Anniversary of Humane Vitae
This week the Catholic Church celebrated the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humane Vitae. Catholic or non-Catholic, love or hate the Church, everyone should read it for a full understanding of what the Church actually teaches and to help form your own conscience on contraception.
Here is one of the most prophetic sections of the encyclical:
Consequences of Artificial Methods
17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.
Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.
Remember, this was published in 1968. Does anyone doubt that these prophesies have come to pass.
Our state and nation promote the chemical sterilization of women through billions and billions of dollars given to Planned Parenthood and all the government agencies that push contraceptives on the American public. We also have massive overseas "family planning" programs under the auspices of the UN, USAID, World Bank and other governmental agencies that push contraceptives as tools to "fight poverty" and "promote security". Have we not given "into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife"?
Where are the libertarians, athiests, free-thinkers, demanding the government stay out of our personal lives?
This last week we were treated to news that "pro-choice" Commissioner for Public Lands, Doug Sutherland, was accused of, and admitted to, basically feeling-out a female subordinate and alluding to meeting up with her at her field office.
Yuck.
In his "pro-choice" contraceptive/abortion soaked mentality it seems as thought Mr. Sutherland has forgotten "the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduc[ing] her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires."
Where are the liberals, feminists, and pro-choice libertarians aghast at this clear violation of a woman's freedom and her body?
Here is one of the most prophetic sections of the encyclical:
Consequences of Artificial Methods
17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.
Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.
Remember, this was published in 1968. Does anyone doubt that these prophesies have come to pass.
Our state and nation promote the chemical sterilization of women through billions and billions of dollars given to Planned Parenthood and all the government agencies that push contraceptives on the American public. We also have massive overseas "family planning" programs under the auspices of the UN, USAID, World Bank and other governmental agencies that push contraceptives as tools to "fight poverty" and "promote security". Have we not given "into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife"?
Where are the libertarians, athiests, free-thinkers, demanding the government stay out of our personal lives?
This last week we were treated to news that "pro-choice" Commissioner for Public Lands, Doug Sutherland, was accused of, and admitted to, basically feeling-out a female subordinate and alluding to meeting up with her at her field office.
Yuck.
In his "pro-choice" contraceptive/abortion soaked mentality it seems as thought Mr. Sutherland has forgotten "the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduc[ing] her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires."
Where are the liberals, feminists, and pro-choice libertarians aghast at this clear violation of a woman's freedom and her body?
Friday, July 18, 2008
AIW Celebrates Third Year of Publishing
Abortion in Washington officially launched May 2005 when Jonathan put up our first simple post -- This blog has been created to publicize factual information relating to abortion in Washington State.
It was July 18th, 2005, however, that we published our first full length post.
From then on we posted information and commentary, analysis and investigative reporting on the abortion industry and their supporters. We also decided we want to cover pro-life events that were mostly ignored in the MSM. The Seattle Post Intelligencer, the Seattle Times and all three television stations on the west side of the mountains have refused to cover one of the most audacious and news worthy events in the debate over abortion since its legalization -- the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.
We covered it.
Here's more of what we've accomplished in just 3 short years:
It was July 18th, 2005, however, that we published our first full length post.
From then on we posted information and commentary, analysis and investigative reporting on the abortion industry and their supporters. We also decided we want to cover pro-life events that were mostly ignored in the MSM. The Seattle Post Intelligencer, the Seattle Times and all three television stations on the west side of the mountains have refused to cover one of the most audacious and news worthy events in the debate over abortion since its legalization -- the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.
We covered it.
Here's more of what we've accomplished in just 3 short years:
- We've had over 16,000 visitors and 24,500 page views since 2005.
- We are the only news source -- blogger, newspaper (online or otherwise) television or radio station -- that reported the details about the financial and professional relationships between Planned Parenthood, Professor Don Downing (UW School of Pharmacy), the
Washington State Pharmacy Assocation, the Washington State Board of Pharmacy and
Barr Laboratories (manufacturer of Plan B) in their ongoing efforts to force
pharmacists to sell their product (Plan B) or lose their job. See also here. - We are the only news source that has analyzed the finances of various Planned Parenthood affiliates of Washington and given a true accounting of the direct cost to the taxpayers of Washington state.
- We are the only news source to reveal that while Planned Parenthood, Professor Downing and the Washington State Board of Pharmacy were touting the ability of Plan B to reduce the abortion rate, the number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood had been increasing by 11% a year.
- We got Planned Parenthood of Western Washington to admit that Plan B wasn’t reducing the abortion rate, and to admit that it “didn’t really matter”.
- We are the only news source to reveal the truth behind Planned Parentood's claim that they were closing their Longview clinic due to suspension of the Take Charge Program, when in fact the Take Charge Program had been extended, and in fact Longview kicked them out because of their green and aggressive efforts to push their contraceptive/abortion agenda on the community.
- We've conducted interviews with executives of Planned Parenthood and NARAL and confronted them on their unwillingness to institute any safeguards to ensure women are given full informed consent to abortion without coercion.
- We interviewed the executive director of the abortion trade group NARAL Washington who told us, "abortion is a very hard thing for women emotionally." -- An admission akin to a cigarette company executive admitting that cigarettes are bad for your health.
- We exposed that Planned Parenthood affiliates of Washington State have seen their revenues and profits skyrocket because of the federal government’s Take Charge program, designed to reduce the tax dollars spent by Medicaid on childbirth, but that in fact that number grew by 50%.
- We are one of only seven blogs with a permanent link at Pharmacists for Life International.
- We are contributors to other important Washington state pro-life blogs Life of the Party and The Reagan Wing.
- State legislators have contributed feedback to our posts.
- Human Life of Washington regularly publishes and distributes our articles to their affiliates and list of pro-life activists state wide.
- Our readers come from the Washington state, United States, and around the globe -- including the Vatican. Planned Parenthood employees, NARAL Washington and NARAL national employees, federal and state government officials, pro-lifers, and university and high school students all visit our site.
We are glad that so many of you in the local abortion industry are reading the blog regularly. We continue to invite you to get out of the evil you are doing. For those who are knowingly killing children and scarring women or are addicted to the money, perhaps these words come too late. For the rest of you, who still feel the twinges of conscience, who desperately avoid looking into the eyes of the aborted babies before they are “disposed of”, we invite you to listen to that conscience, to look those babies in the eye.
We also invite you to contact us and let the world know what you saw.
We would remind you of the courage of P. Victor Gonzalez, the former CFO of Planned Parenthood of San Diego, who came clean and is now suing PP Affiliates of California, as a whistleblower under the False Claims Act, for $180 million because they fired him after he refused to go along with the systematic fraudulent billing of Medicaid under the 340B drug discount program. Let’s talk.
The only regrets are the stories we haven't had time to investigate or write up. Alas, we do this in our spare time. (Can you imagine if we got paid for this?)
Keep reading. Keep praying. The best is yet to come.
Blessings to our readers, contributors, friends, and supporters.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Contraception Deception
Not since the editorial board came out in support of partial birth abortion has the Seattle Times published such a wicked and shameful editorial. The editorial – Lift the Plan B Ban – is wicked because it willfully and haughtily lies to people about Plan B and misrepresents the pleas of the pharmacists who refuse to sell it. It is shameful because at a time when the public needs factual information about this drug in particular, how it came to be on the market, and the Constitutional issues surrounding the cause of the pharmacists we are given trite, shop worn propaganda about “women’s health”.
Enough.
There is no Plan B “ban”. Plan B and contraceptives are ubiquitous. They are in our schools. Advertisements for them litter the pages of glossy magazines. Our politicians, even those claiming “pro-life” credentials support their widespread distribution. The combined Planned Parenthood affiliates of Washington received about $20 million dollars from the state of Washington for the purchase and distribution of contraceptives in 2007. They are there for the asking. There are two maybe three pharmacists in the whole state who do not want to sell this product.
Plan B is not a prescription drug. Plan B is sold over the counter. No trip to the doctor is necessary. No prescription is required. It was after the granting of OTC status that sales of Plan B went through the roof. Doesn't sound like a "ban" or a lack of "access" to me.
Plan B is not health care. Plan B is an overdose of the steroid hormone progesterone. The makers and promoters of Plan B claim that for every 100 women who have unprotected sex one time during the second or third week of their monthly menstrual cycle, 8 of them will get pregnant. But if those same 100 women use Plan B, only one will get pregnant. Their hook is the claim that "Plan B reduces a woman’s risk of pregnancy by 89%." What very few people have bothered to notice or point out is that in this scenario 92 women have taken a drug that they didn’t need and unnecessarily exposed them to high levels of steroids. This is basic health care for women? Are we back to selling snake oil?
A debate over the First Amendment is not a “red herring.” This battle is part of the larger crisis facing the country: the loss of the rule of law under the Constitution and the ensuing creep toward totalitarianism. That every branch of our government would collude with Planned Parenthood and big business interests of the pharmaceutical companies to coerce private citizens to violate their conscience in the pursuit of unbridled profit and power should concern every citizen. That the media is complicit only makes this battle all the more acute.
John Senior, in his book the Death of Christian Culture, said it best, “If truth is nothing but opinion, then right springs from the barrel of a gun.”
The Northwest Women’s Law Center, Seattle Times, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, Professor Don Downing of the UW School of Pharmacy, and the Washington State Board of Pharmacy have not once addressed or corrected these errors and concerns. Instead they keep repeating the words ‘access’, ‘women’ and ‘health care’ like some magical prayer.
The so-called "free press" for its part has done nothing to inform the public as to background on this drug and who is driving it in the marketplace.
Plan B was initially developed in part by an investment from Planned Parenthood of Western Washington and approved by the FDA in 1997. PPWW sold their interest in the drug to Barr Laboratories in 2004 when Barr agreed to pay a total of approximately $21 million, including approximately $9 million of assumed liabilities.
Professor Don Downing of the UW School of Pharmacy came on the payroll of Barr Laboratories to get Plan B into every pharmacy in the nation and secure distribution without a doctor’s prescription by “leveraging” boards of pharmacy. (That's what the Seattle Times means when it says, "...pharmacists have been key partners in strengthening women's access to contraception".)
Professor Downing was also one of the biggest proponents of using Plan B to “prevent abortion.” A lie based on fantasy, which has sadly become apparent as nations like the United Kingdom and states like Washington see their abortion rates increase.
Since Plan B went OTC Planned Parenthood of Western Washington’s profits from the sale of birth control have skyrocketed from $0 just three years ago to an extraordinary $7m. This is on $2m of merchandise. In other words, they bought $2m of merchandise, and turned around and sold it for $9m, pocketing $7m in pure cash.
In abortion jurisprudence and media coverage of abortion there’s something called the “abortion distortion”. All laws, commentary and public policy on abortion are twisted and distorted to accommodate abortion to the point that keeping abortion legal takes precedence over any and all other concerns. What we have now is a “contraception deception.” If the Court rules against the pharmacists next April I’m afraid the deception, and coersion, will only get worse as every law is scrutinzied to ensure it supports the contraception agenda that will ultimately take precedence over the Constitution and the health of women.
Enough.
There is no Plan B “ban”. Plan B and contraceptives are ubiquitous. They are in our schools. Advertisements for them litter the pages of glossy magazines. Our politicians, even those claiming “pro-life” credentials support their widespread distribution. The combined Planned Parenthood affiliates of Washington received about $20 million dollars from the state of Washington for the purchase and distribution of contraceptives in 2007. They are there for the asking. There are two maybe three pharmacists in the whole state who do not want to sell this product.
Plan B is not a prescription drug. Plan B is sold over the counter. No trip to the doctor is necessary. No prescription is required. It was after the granting of OTC status that sales of Plan B went through the roof. Doesn't sound like a "ban" or a lack of "access" to me.
Plan B is not health care. Plan B is an overdose of the steroid hormone progesterone. The makers and promoters of Plan B claim that for every 100 women who have unprotected sex one time during the second or third week of their monthly menstrual cycle, 8 of them will get pregnant. But if those same 100 women use Plan B, only one will get pregnant. Their hook is the claim that "Plan B reduces a woman’s risk of pregnancy by 89%." What very few people have bothered to notice or point out is that in this scenario 92 women have taken a drug that they didn’t need and unnecessarily exposed them to high levels of steroids. This is basic health care for women? Are we back to selling snake oil?
A debate over the First Amendment is not a “red herring.” This battle is part of the larger crisis facing the country: the loss of the rule of law under the Constitution and the ensuing creep toward totalitarianism. That every branch of our government would collude with Planned Parenthood and big business interests of the pharmaceutical companies to coerce private citizens to violate their conscience in the pursuit of unbridled profit and power should concern every citizen. That the media is complicit only makes this battle all the more acute.
John Senior, in his book the Death of Christian Culture, said it best, “If truth is nothing but opinion, then right springs from the barrel of a gun.”
The Northwest Women’s Law Center, Seattle Times, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, Professor Don Downing of the UW School of Pharmacy, and the Washington State Board of Pharmacy have not once addressed or corrected these errors and concerns. Instead they keep repeating the words ‘access’, ‘women’ and ‘health care’ like some magical prayer.
The so-called "free press" for its part has done nothing to inform the public as to background on this drug and who is driving it in the marketplace.
Plan B was initially developed in part by an investment from Planned Parenthood of Western Washington and approved by the FDA in 1997. PPWW sold their interest in the drug to Barr Laboratories in 2004 when Barr agreed to pay a total of approximately $21 million, including approximately $9 million of assumed liabilities.
Professor Don Downing of the UW School of Pharmacy came on the payroll of Barr Laboratories to get Plan B into every pharmacy in the nation and secure distribution without a doctor’s prescription by “leveraging” boards of pharmacy. (That's what the Seattle Times means when it says, "...pharmacists have been key partners in strengthening women's access to contraception".)
Professor Downing was also one of the biggest proponents of using Plan B to “prevent abortion.” A lie based on fantasy, which has sadly become apparent as nations like the United Kingdom and states like Washington see their abortion rates increase.
Since Plan B went OTC Planned Parenthood of Western Washington’s profits from the sale of birth control have skyrocketed from $0 just three years ago to an extraordinary $7m. This is on $2m of merchandise. In other words, they bought $2m of merchandise, and turned around and sold it for $9m, pocketing $7m in pure cash.
In abortion jurisprudence and media coverage of abortion there’s something called the “abortion distortion”. All laws, commentary and public policy on abortion are twisted and distorted to accommodate abortion to the point that keeping abortion legal takes precedence over any and all other concerns. What we have now is a “contraception deception.” If the Court rules against the pharmacists next April I’m afraid the deception, and coersion, will only get worse as every law is scrutinzied to ensure it supports the contraception agenda that will ultimately take precedence over the Constitution and the health of women.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Planned Parenthood Refuses to Discuss Increased Demand for Abortion Services
We have recently documented the Washington abortion industry's awkward reluctance to talk about what they do.
PP of Spokane makes some provocative claims on their website. They claim that the demand for abortions in eastern Washington has declined in recent years. They also claim that the reasons for this are the Take Charge program and the distribution of emergency contraception.
As AIW readers know, there have been no studies anywhere in the world linking the availability of emergency contraception with lower abortion rates, and we have shown that the massive growth in the Take Charge program has been correlated with large increases in the number of abortions performed by PP of Western Washington. It's also correlated with large increases in sexually transmitted diseases so that today 1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD. In England and Wales the abortion rate hit a record high after a campaign of widespread distribution of Plan B in the United Kingdom began in 2001. "Among the very young, girls aged under 14, numbers have increased from 135 to 163, a jump of 21 per cent."
So we asked PP of Spokane (PPS) how they came to these conclusions. Unfortunately, it turned out to be much harder to get answers than you would hope.
At the very least, we wanted PPS to back up their claim of reduced abortion rates with actual numbers.
It took more than half a dozen phone calls and voicemails to PPS spokesman Jet Tilley to get a returned call. Eventually, we got through and spoke in person. We asked for answers to our above questions.
Ms. Tilley seemed reluctant to disclose any information about their abortion business, but indicated she would do so by email after some research.
No email was forthcoming.
We placed several follow-up phone calls with Ms. Tilley, speaking with her on several occasions.
She admitted that answering our questions was not a priority, but said she had tried to send the answers via emails but that "the emails had bounced", or that she didn't have our email address.
We sent emails to her to make sure she did have the correct email address, yet still no answers were forthcoming.
In fact, we have given her months to get us answers, yet we still have none.
Why is Planned Parenthood of Spokane unwilling to admit how many abortions they do every year? Why do they claim that emergecy contraception distribution and the Take Charge program has reduced the abortion rate when they can't back up this claim?
Is Planned Parenthood of Spokane lying?
If they had the guts to answer our questions, maybe we could find out.
by Jonathan B.
PP of Spokane makes some provocative claims on their website. They claim that the demand for abortions in eastern Washington has declined in recent years. They also claim that the reasons for this are the Take Charge program and the distribution of emergency contraception.
As AIW readers know, there have been no studies anywhere in the world linking the availability of emergency contraception with lower abortion rates, and we have shown that the massive growth in the Take Charge program has been correlated with large increases in the number of abortions performed by PP of Western Washington. It's also correlated with large increases in sexually transmitted diseases so that today 1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD. In England and Wales the abortion rate hit a record high after a campaign of widespread distribution of Plan B in the United Kingdom began in 2001. "Among the very young, girls aged under 14, numbers have increased from 135 to 163, a jump of 21 per cent."
So we asked PP of Spokane (PPS) how they came to these conclusions. Unfortunately, it turned out to be much harder to get answers than you would hope.
At the very least, we wanted PPS to back up their claim of reduced abortion rates with actual numbers.
It took more than half a dozen phone calls and voicemails to PPS spokesman Jet Tilley to get a returned call. Eventually, we got through and spoke in person. We asked for answers to our above questions.
Ms. Tilley seemed reluctant to disclose any information about their abortion business, but indicated she would do so by email after some research.
No email was forthcoming.
We placed several follow-up phone calls with Ms. Tilley, speaking with her on several occasions.
She admitted that answering our questions was not a priority, but said she had tried to send the answers via emails but that "the emails had bounced", or that she didn't have our email address.
We sent emails to her to make sure she did have the correct email address, yet still no answers were forthcoming.
In fact, we have given her months to get us answers, yet we still have none.
Why is Planned Parenthood of Spokane unwilling to admit how many abortions they do every year? Why do they claim that emergecy contraception distribution and the Take Charge program has reduced the abortion rate when they can't back up this claim?
Is Planned Parenthood of Spokane lying?
If they had the guts to answer our questions, maybe we could find out.
by Jonathan B.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Portland Vigil Brings out New Pro-lifers
By Christina
My parish, Holy Rosary Church in Portland, Oregon, is a fairly large parish with many wonderful large families and so many awesome young people. I realized though, that we all needed to be more activily involved in pro-life work as a parish, so after I finished my high school studies in January this year, I began to look at what I could do about this.
I was eager to get a pro-life youth group started there, but I soon saw that I needed to just get started in doing pro-life activities, and then form a group once people began to join me in these. So I set a date, July 5th, Saturday, for some pro-life activities at one of the big abortion mills in Portland, LoveJoy Surgicenter. I decided that we would hold a couple very beautiful, educational pro-life signs; pray the rosary; and hand out literature to passersby. This would all be a great start for the people of Holy Rosary.
A month before July 5th, I began personally inviting all kinds of parishioners to join me for this day at the abortion mill. Everyone was very supportive and eager to be a part of this, and said that they would try to make it over. The pastor of Holy Rosary, Fr. Anthony Patalano, was also wonderfully supportive and helpful! A week before the event, he announced it after all the Masses on Sunday for me! I'm very gratefull for his assistance and look forward to working with him more in pro-life activism.
I had never organized and lead a pro-life activity before, and I'll admit that besides being quite excited about it, I was a little nervous! I knew, however, that I just needed to jump in and get started, and that soon it would all be old hat!
Well, July 5th went very well! It was a perfect day, weatherwise, for this kind of thing, and everyone who came was wonderfully inspiring! The abortion mill was closed, since it was the day after Independence Day, but we were able to reach many people with signs and literature.
Most of us standing out there were young people, and I don't know if I've ever had such a great time doing pro-life work! They were so enthusiastic and inspiring in their zeal for what they were doing, and we were laughing almost the entire time! When it was time to leave, they wanted to stay, since they were having such a great time. And they were even setting the date for the next pro-life activity; I didn't have to! There were also several very awesome and fun-loving parents standing with us.
I am totally thrilled that this pro-life activity went so wonderfully, and am eager to do more of this with the parishioners of Holy Rosary. I was amazed at how, once they had someone to organize the event for them, they were all too eager to show up for it! And I am all excited to be a leader in the pro-life movement!
My parish, Holy Rosary Church in Portland, Oregon, is a fairly large parish with many wonderful large families and so many awesome young people. I realized though, that we all needed to be more activily involved in pro-life work as a parish, so after I finished my high school studies in January this year, I began to look at what I could do about this.
I was eager to get a pro-life youth group started there, but I soon saw that I needed to just get started in doing pro-life activities, and then form a group once people began to join me in these. So I set a date, July 5th, Saturday, for some pro-life activities at one of the big abortion mills in Portland, LoveJoy Surgicenter. I decided that we would hold a couple very beautiful, educational pro-life signs; pray the rosary; and hand out literature to passersby. This would all be a great start for the people of Holy Rosary.
A month before July 5th, I began personally inviting all kinds of parishioners to join me for this day at the abortion mill. Everyone was very supportive and eager to be a part of this, and said that they would try to make it over. The pastor of Holy Rosary, Fr. Anthony Patalano, was also wonderfully supportive and helpful! A week before the event, he announced it after all the Masses on Sunday for me! I'm very gratefull for his assistance and look forward to working with him more in pro-life activism.
I had never organized and lead a pro-life activity before, and I'll admit that besides being quite excited about it, I was a little nervous! I knew, however, that I just needed to jump in and get started, and that soon it would all be old hat!
Well, July 5th went very well! It was a perfect day, weatherwise, for this kind of thing, and everyone who came was wonderfully inspiring! The abortion mill was closed, since it was the day after Independence Day, but we were able to reach many people with signs and literature.
Most of us standing out there were young people, and I don't know if I've ever had such a great time doing pro-life work! They were so enthusiastic and inspiring in their zeal for what they were doing, and we were laughing almost the entire time! When it was time to leave, they wanted to stay, since they were having such a great time. And they were even setting the date for the next pro-life activity; I didn't have to! There were also several very awesome and fun-loving parents standing with us.
I am totally thrilled that this pro-life activity went so wonderfully, and am eager to do more of this with the parishioners of Holy Rosary. I was amazed at how, once they had someone to organize the event for them, they were all too eager to show up for it! And I am all excited to be a leader in the pro-life movement!
Monday, July 07, 2008
When Shepherds Lead
By Christina
We all know the importance of having our bishops and priests be actively involved in the pro-life movement, leading us in helping to end abortion in America.
The power that these spiritual leaders have, being the ones that we trust and depend on in our spiritual lives, is frankly amazing! I have seen some wonderful instances of them leading their people in pro-life work, and I am always surprised at what they can bring about, even by giving only a little encouragement to their people.
It’s a part of us to look to our priests and bishops for leadership and guidance. So when they show no interest in pro-life work, their people automatically go the same way. It’s up to the priests and bishops to instill in their people a love for pro-life activism.
Abortion is a spiritual battle, an intense battle between good and evil. This gives our priests and bishops an even greater responsibility to take an active interest in it. And imagine their responsibility to protect their young people from the evil of abortion!
I often truly wonder why they don’t do so very often. I honestly can’t come up with an answer to this one. If I was a priest or a bishop, I would take full advantage of my position to help end abortion. I will never understand otherwise.
After all the long years of study, all the hours of prayer and discernment, all the zeal and dedication that it took for our priests and bishops to get where they are, wouldn’t they be more than ready and eager to do all they can to eliminate the great evil of abortion?! Wouldn’t they be burning to fully excercise their sacred offices?! Wouldn’t they be on fire to do all the good they can?!
I don’t understand.
I think, however, that it is very important for us lay people to very specially help our priests and bishops with pro-life work. We need to be more dedicated to working with and for them, and not just asking and expecting them to do it all. I’ve been recently working with my pastor to do more pro-life activist work at my parish, and he has been very supportive! While asking him for a lot of support and help, I have been taking on a lot of the actual work and personally doing some of the time-consuming jobs. This is very helpful and encouraging to him because he can be involved in pro-life work but does not have to use up all his time on it.
One area that priests and bishops can assist the pro-life movement in a very special way is the 40 Days for Life. There is an incredible story about the success of a bishop leading this campaign in Texas. Wow! He had 89 different churches and 800 people all involved in the 40 Days for Life at one abortion mill! And yes, this mill just shut down! The story can be read here. It is an excellant example of the power that our spiritual shepherds have in leading their people in doing great things for the Church.
May we all do our best to encourage and support our priests and bishops in pro-life activism!
God bless.
We all know the importance of having our bishops and priests be actively involved in the pro-life movement, leading us in helping to end abortion in America.
The power that these spiritual leaders have, being the ones that we trust and depend on in our spiritual lives, is frankly amazing! I have seen some wonderful instances of them leading their people in pro-life work, and I am always surprised at what they can bring about, even by giving only a little encouragement to their people.
It’s a part of us to look to our priests and bishops for leadership and guidance. So when they show no interest in pro-life work, their people automatically go the same way. It’s up to the priests and bishops to instill in their people a love for pro-life activism.
Abortion is a spiritual battle, an intense battle between good and evil. This gives our priests and bishops an even greater responsibility to take an active interest in it. And imagine their responsibility to protect their young people from the evil of abortion!
I often truly wonder why they don’t do so very often. I honestly can’t come up with an answer to this one. If I was a priest or a bishop, I would take full advantage of my position to help end abortion. I will never understand otherwise.
After all the long years of study, all the hours of prayer and discernment, all the zeal and dedication that it took for our priests and bishops to get where they are, wouldn’t they be more than ready and eager to do all they can to eliminate the great evil of abortion?! Wouldn’t they be burning to fully excercise their sacred offices?! Wouldn’t they be on fire to do all the good they can?!
I don’t understand.
I think, however, that it is very important for us lay people to very specially help our priests and bishops with pro-life work. We need to be more dedicated to working with and for them, and not just asking and expecting them to do it all. I’ve been recently working with my pastor to do more pro-life activist work at my parish, and he has been very supportive! While asking him for a lot of support and help, I have been taking on a lot of the actual work and personally doing some of the time-consuming jobs. This is very helpful and encouraging to him because he can be involved in pro-life work but does not have to use up all his time on it.
One area that priests and bishops can assist the pro-life movement in a very special way is the 40 Days for Life. There is an incredible story about the success of a bishop leading this campaign in Texas. Wow! He had 89 different churches and 800 people all involved in the 40 Days for Life at one abortion mill! And yes, this mill just shut down! The story can be read here. It is an excellant example of the power that our spiritual shepherds have in leading their people in doing great things for the Church.
May we all do our best to encourage and support our priests and bishops in pro-life activism!
God bless.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
One Dead, Two Wounded
Posted by Christina
You’ve most probably seen the pro-life slogan that runs, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” I think that this slogan is wonderful for exposing the ruin that abortion brings to both mother and child, and it is a beautiful expression of our compassion for the mothers who are victims of abortion and not just the babies.
But you know, while I see it as truthful and beautiful, I also see it as incomplete. Every abortion does kill a baby, and every abortion does wound a mother, but in this slogan that mentions only the baby and his/her mother, we have again forgotten the father.
If we forget the fathers who are, along with the mothers, victims of every abortion, who will remember them? And if no one remembers them, who will help them?
We cry out indignantly against the pro-abortion movement’s constant downplay of fatherhood’s rights and dignity, and we accuse them of trampling a sacred and irremovable part of every family. And rightly we should. But do we also often forget fathers? Do we, through our forgetfullness, unwittingly assist the abortion industry in burying the importance of fathers in the lives of their children?
Abortion in America is built on two main pillars: lies and silence. One of the favorite lies is, of course, that fathers have no rights or say in the lives of their unborn children. And silence on this issue greatly helps to furthur the lie. Now if we too forget to speak up constantly in the defense of fathers and offer them help, what are we doing to combat such an evil combination of lies and silence?It’s easy to forget the fathers, in our efforts to reach out to the mothers whose babies are threatened by abortion. But if we do, we only furthur the anti-fatherhood cause that the pro-abortion movement has worked so long and so hard to uphold. They know that once fathers are given back the rights that are theirs, abortion won’t stand a chance. Because it is the nature of fatherhood to fiercely protect their children.
Why else would the pro-abortion movement so tenaciously guard the lie that fathers have no rights in regards to their children? Without the shield of this lie, abortion is pretty much gone.
So we can’t for one moment forget the importance and rights of every father in the lives of his children. Not only must we expose the pain of abortion for fathers, but also the responsibility and rights that they have, and that no one can take these away from any father.
The abortion problem is, if we think about it, largely a father’s issue, since in every family it is the father’s duty to protect and guard his wife and children.
Notice the almost unbelievable skill of the pro-abortion movement in effectively furthuring their cause: one of the first things they did in legalizing abortion back in 1973 was too strip fathers of their rights!
It’s up to us to come back in full force against the lies that are destroying the sacredness, duties, and rights of fatherhood! Lies that use a most despicable way to furthur the murder of innocent children! Terribly shameful!
But what else would be so effective a shield for the pro-abortion movement? It is one of hell’s worst deceptions!
Let us do our best to constantly combat one of abortions most supporting lies. And so, it is not, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” It is, “Abortion: One Dead, Two Wounded”!
You’ve most probably seen the pro-life slogan that runs, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” I think that this slogan is wonderful for exposing the ruin that abortion brings to both mother and child, and it is a beautiful expression of our compassion for the mothers who are victims of abortion and not just the babies.
But you know, while I see it as truthful and beautiful, I also see it as incomplete. Every abortion does kill a baby, and every abortion does wound a mother, but in this slogan that mentions only the baby and his/her mother, we have again forgotten the father.
If we forget the fathers who are, along with the mothers, victims of every abortion, who will remember them? And if no one remembers them, who will help them?
We cry out indignantly against the pro-abortion movement’s constant downplay of fatherhood’s rights and dignity, and we accuse them of trampling a sacred and irremovable part of every family. And rightly we should. But do we also often forget fathers? Do we, through our forgetfullness, unwittingly assist the abortion industry in burying the importance of fathers in the lives of their children?
Abortion in America is built on two main pillars: lies and silence. One of the favorite lies is, of course, that fathers have no rights or say in the lives of their unborn children. And silence on this issue greatly helps to furthur the lie. Now if we too forget to speak up constantly in the defense of fathers and offer them help, what are we doing to combat such an evil combination of lies and silence?It’s easy to forget the fathers, in our efforts to reach out to the mothers whose babies are threatened by abortion. But if we do, we only furthur the anti-fatherhood cause that the pro-abortion movement has worked so long and so hard to uphold. They know that once fathers are given back the rights that are theirs, abortion won’t stand a chance. Because it is the nature of fatherhood to fiercely protect their children.
Why else would the pro-abortion movement so tenaciously guard the lie that fathers have no rights in regards to their children? Without the shield of this lie, abortion is pretty much gone.
So we can’t for one moment forget the importance and rights of every father in the lives of his children. Not only must we expose the pain of abortion for fathers, but also the responsibility and rights that they have, and that no one can take these away from any father.
The abortion problem is, if we think about it, largely a father’s issue, since in every family it is the father’s duty to protect and guard his wife and children.
Notice the almost unbelievable skill of the pro-abortion movement in effectively furthuring their cause: one of the first things they did in legalizing abortion back in 1973 was too strip fathers of their rights!
It’s up to us to come back in full force against the lies that are destroying the sacredness, duties, and rights of fatherhood! Lies that use a most despicable way to furthur the murder of innocent children! Terribly shameful!
But what else would be so effective a shield for the pro-abortion movement? It is one of hell’s worst deceptions!
Let us do our best to constantly combat one of abortions most supporting lies. And so, it is not, “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded.” It is, “Abortion: One Dead, Two Wounded”!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
