Monday, September 30, 2013

Day 6 of 40 Days for Life Campaign: 36 Babies Saved!


From Shawn Carney
Campaign Director

If you need a reason to look forward to Mondays, this is it! Mondays are the days we update all the reports of babies spared from abortion during your 40 Days for Life vigils.

Thus far during this 40 Days for Life campaign, we have reports of ...

... 36 babies saved ... that we know of!

Here are just a few of those stories.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Dan noticed a young mom he had recognized from earlier in the day, sitting on the doorsteps. "I asked her if she was going to be OK," he said. She responded, "What did you tell my boyfriend?"  

Dan told her, "Probably what I tell them all - go inside and get her out of there! The time is NOW to save your baby's life!"  

The woman looked surprised. "Seriously? That's all you said? Somehow, you lit him up. And it worked. He talked me out of it."  

"I was dumbstruck; but not for long," Dan said. "I told her about the free help across the street. She said she would check it out."
 
Abrepo, Ghana

Edward is leading the 40 Days for Life vigil in Ghana. "God has been good to us," he said.

"I received a phone call from a lady around 2:57 am on September 26," he said. The message – "I have decided to keep my pregnancy if there is HOPE!"

"After the first day, one baby saved," Edward said. "Amen!"
 
St. Louis, Missouri

Brian in St. Louis says one of the prayer volunteers approached a young woman as she was pulling into Planned Parenthood, and offered to take her across the street to Thrive's mobile medical unit.

Patricia, the volunteer - who gives credit to the Holy Spirit for this turnaround - said the woman was surprised but grateful for the alternate opportunity provided by Thrive.

"Sometimes," Brian said, "all it takes are the prayers of some faithful volunteers and a brochure to help women realize that there ARE other options besides the abortion agenda of Planned Parenthood."


Here's today's devotional from Rev. Paul Stallsworth, president of Lifewatch (United Methodist Church)...

Day 6 intention

That knowing the shortness of life, all may value it more deeply.

Scripture

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

-- Ecclesiastes 12:6-7

Reflection by Rev. Paul Stallsworth

God is giver of all life. Short lived or long lived, human lives are lived out in this world. The metaphors for death are many. But their meaning is clear and singular: all will die. Even so, death is not the absolute end. It is not the end of the story. For as certainly as God gave life, at death the life or spirit that God gave returns to God.

By God, we are created. For God, we live our given days. To God, we return at the end of our earthly days. And with God, we live through eternity. Clearly, all along the way, this gracious, loving God is with us. No human life is random or alone. No human life was created without purpose. Not one human life is without destiny.

All human lives, acknowledged or not, are related to God -- from beginning, to end, throughout eternity. Therefore, in this world, all human lives are to be respected and protected, for their lives are signs of God's sovereignty.

Prayer

O God, we too often try to live in ways that ignore our coming death. We forget that our days are numbered by You, that at the end of our days your judgment awaits, that You are the Lord of our destiny.

Help us to repent daily, and then to live each day in joyful obedience. Lead us to live in the light and promise of eternity. Prepare us to live fully and sacrificially. Prepare us to die faithfully and hopefully, so that we might live forever with You. Through Jesus Christ, who has gone before us, we trust and hope and love and pray, Amen.

Printable devotional

To download today's devotional as a formatted, printable PDF to share with friends:

http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2013day06print.pdf

Glenn Beck Will Headline Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Award Gala Event


by Bobby Schindler 

 The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network is delighted to announce that America’s leading multi-media personality, Mr. Glenn Beck, will be the honored speaker at the second annual Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network’s Award Gala, Thursday, March 27, 2014, at the Union League of Philadelphia.

“We are delighted to have Mr. Beck as the keynote speaker at our second annual Award Gala. Mr. Beck was closely involved with Terri’s case since 2001, and his testimony of how he became involved in Terri’s situation is extraordinary.

The “Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Award” honors an individual or family who defended the life of a loved one against overwhelming odds. Recipients of the first Life & Hope Award were Moe & Sana Maraachli, parents of Baby Joseph. Their story was an international case that erupted in 2011. The Maraachli’s were recognized for their courageous efforts to bring Joseph home to care for him.

continue reading at http://www.lifenews.com 




Contraception as a "Solution" to Abortion: No way!




by Steven W. Mosher President,
Population Research Institute

A good friend—at least I think we're still friends—recently told me that he had decided that the "solution" to abortion was more contraception.  Of course, this solution is not original with him. It has been around for decades and is constantly invoked by the Barack Obamas, the Hilary Clintons, and the Nancy Pelosis of the world.  But as he is a professing Christian (and should know better) I took the time to write him the following note: 

Dear Rich,

You propose contraception as a "solution" to abortion. But without the notion of "unwanted" or "unplanned" children that the contraceptive mentality fosters, there would be no abortion.  In fact, many forms of hormonal birth control can be abortifacient (cause early chemical abortions) by obstructing the implantation of the newly formed human embryo in his or her mother's womb.  After more than 40 years of killing through surgical abortion, and now with the new breed of chemical abortifacients such as Plan B, the Ortho Evra Patch, and Depo-Provera, the link between abortion and contraception is undeniable.  Professor Janet Smith describes the contraceptive mentality in this way:

"The connection between contraception and abortion is primarily this:  Contraception facilitates the kind of relationships and even the kind of attitudes and moral character that are likely to lead to abortion.  The contraceptive mentality treats sexual intercourse as though it had little connection with babies; it thinks of babies as an 'accident' of intercourse, as an unwelcome intrusion into a sexual relationship, as a burden.  The sexual revolution has no fondness —nor room for—the connection between sexual intercourse and babies..."[1]
Of course, there is big money to be made by Big Pharma in the population control enterprise, especially if governments can be persuaded to buy these powerful, steroid-based drugs (which pollute not only women's bodies but the environment as well) in huge lots and distribute them indiscriminately in the Developing World. A lot of the anti-people propaganda out there is thus profit-driven, which is reason enough to question it.

As a Christian, I do not believe that the same God who created us could have failed to provide us with a planet sufficient to our needs over time as our numbers expanded. Of course we need to intelligently respond to the challenges that our growing numbers cause, and we do, but those solutions should never involve eliminating human beings. Do you really think that the same God who brought us into existence to be fruitful and multiply now wants us to be barren and reduce our numbers? 

 [1] "The Connection Between Contraception and Abortion" Homiletic and Pastoral Review, April, 1993


The pro-life Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation." Find us at pop.org.


Sunday, September 29, 2013

Going to Court






From  Patrick J. Reilly, President
The Cardinal Newman Society

The Cardinal Newman Society and many Catholic organizations are represented in a class action lawsuit filed yesterday by the Christian Brothers Employee Benefits Trust and the Little Sisters of the Poor.

The Trust's health insurance plan – rooted in Catholic principles – is for us and other Catholic groups a last wall of defense against federal and state violations of religious freedom. With its "HHS mandate," the Obama administration threatens to take away our right to morally appropriate health insurance, but this lawsuit now stands in the way.


 The suit underscores the stark choice presented by the Obama administration: either abandon the faith or comply. Think of the impact on Catholics across the country, if the Newman Society and other Catholic apostolates are crippled by financial penalties. We've already done so much to support religious freedom (check out our resources here), and we're not backing down now. Please pray for victory in the courts!

And here's good reason for the survival of your Cardinal Newman Society: Whereas Loyola Marymount University seemed to drop abortion coverage in its health plan, responding to faculty concerns and our inquiries, many faculty are still fighting for abortion coverage. See the articles below, including our report on RenewLMU, a group that is urging the University to stay true to the Faith.
                                                                                                                                                 
And see our intrepid reporter Matt Archbold's most recent report on the Jesuit university law professor whose crusade for "transgender" rights has led him to reject marriage, sex-offender registries, drug and prostitution laws, and even the terms "male" and "female." This is one of the most radical professors at a Catholic university that we've ever come upon.


Blackburn One-Year Delay of Obamacare Approved by House






From Faithful in the 8th

While many of us may have been sleeping, there was a 12:11 A.M. vote on HJ Res 59 in the U.S. House of Representatives. As reported on the web site of Representative Marsha Blackburn:


    "Congressman [sic] Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) issued the following statement on House passage of a continuing resolution that includes her proposal to delay Obamacare for one year. The resolution approved by the House prevents a government shutdown, delays Obamacare for one year, and repeals the medical device tax. The House also acted on legislation to ensure our men and women in uniform get paid should the Senate fail to act to fund the government.

    "'House Republicans have acted in a responsible manner to provide the American people with what they want – a continuing resolution that prevents a government shutdown, controls spending, and protects families and businesses from the harmful effects of Obamacare,' Blackburn said. 'By repealing the unfair medical device tax, this CR also protects the jobs of the 10,000 men and women in Tennessee who work in the medical device industry.'

    "'By delaying Obamacare for one year, the House has shown we are listening to the American people who never wanted this law in the first place. Overwhelmingly, our constituents have told us that they want us to delay the onset of Obamacare. It’s too expensive to afford, families can’t keep the insurance plan they like, and it’s killing jobs. It’s become painfully clear that Obmacare is not ready for primetime and in fairness to hardworking Americans the entire law must be delayed. Now it’s time for the Senate to act.

    "'In addition to delaying Obamacare for one year, my amendment protects people from the radical HHS mandate which violates millions of Americans' deeply-held religious beliefs and it prevents taxpayer subsidies from going to insurance plans that include elective abortion coverage.'"
While not perfect, Heritage Action for America reminds us that "a delay is a step towards preventing the law’s entitlements from taking root":
"Over the past few months, conservatives around the country have focused on the need to defund Obamacare during the upcoming CR, primarily to prevent the law’s massive new entitlements from taking effect. The Blackburn Amendment presented by House Republicans is a delay of Obamacare’s provisions but does not fully defund implementation of Obamacare. Although it falls short of full defunding, Heritage Action will not key vote against the Blackburn Amendment because a delay is a step towards preventing the law’s entitlements from taking root.
"The Paulsen Amendment, which would permanently repeal the Medical Device Tax, does nothing to prevent the law’s entitlements from taking root and continues funding Obamacare in its entirety.  Like the rest of Obamacare, the tax is bad policy; however, repealing the tax will do little to exempt Americans from the impact of Obamacare.  Heritage Action opposes the Paulsen Amendment, which fails to address the core problems of Obamacare.  
"While passage of H.J.Res.59 would prevent Obamacare’s mandatory programs from coming online this Tuesday, it has failed to fully defund the law.  There is, however, a likely threat that Sen. Harry Reid will block the Blackburn Amendment and return the CR with nothing but the Medical Device Tax repeal. Heritage Action would strongly oppose such legislation and reserves the right to key vote against the Paulsen Amendment."

Gosnell Blames Catholic Presence for His Fate






Posted on September 25, 2013 by SBrinkmann
 
Philadelphia’s notorious abortionist, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, says he’s not a monster and feels “spiritually innocent” of murdering newborn infants, citing the “strong Catholic presence” in the homicide division of the district attorney’s office for bringing about his grim fate.

Speaking to Philadelphia magazine writer Steve Volk, Gosnell said he believed he was serving the best interests of his community when he brutally snipped the necks of babies born alive during abortion procedures in his filthy West Philadelphia clinic.

“In an ideal world,” he said, “we’d have no need for abortion. But bringing a child into the world when it cannot be provided for, that there are not sufficient systems to support, is a greater sin. I considered myself to be in a war against poverty, and I feel comfortable with the things I did and the decisions I made.”