Saturday, September 30, 2017

Sisters of Life at St. Malachy Philly Mission Project



The Sisters of Life are moving in on October 16th to St Malachy in North Philadelphia to start serving women and babies in crisis! I am happy to report we will be keeping the project open so we can continue to help the Sisters..The Sisters of Life have been reaching out with practical assistance and spiritual and emotional support to pregnant women in areas where women have little resources. 

The Visitation Mission is a mission of love, in person and by phone, to vulnerable, pregnant women. By providing the emotional and practical resources a woman needs, we hope to allow her the opportunity to respond with courage and dignity to one of life’s most difficult moments. The Sisters of Life take a vow of poverty and rely on donations...The project is just that! I will be collecting items to stock their shelves! I am posting items needed …..Please share this post with your friends.

Here is a list of items I will continue to collect...if you have the means to be a drop off location that would great..I will make weekly pick up trips.


Here is a list of items, in addition to diapers and wipes, that they will need for the Philly Mission:
cribs,
Strollers,
Baby carriers (strap on)
Baby clothes (oneness with big hoods and booties which are baby shoes)
Maternity clothes of all sizes are a must
baby blankets, receiving blankets
burp clothes
baby towels
pacifiers
book: what to expect when you are expecting

journals


For more information, please email dnswsnch@comcast.net


Pennsylvaia Pro-Life Legislative Alert: Contact Your State Senators on Newborn Protection Act




Maria V. Gallagher, Legislative Director
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation



Please call and email your state Senators and urge them to support House Bill 1139, which strengthens our Newborn Protection Act.

This bill will expand the number of options for women who give birth and who believe they cannot care for their newborn children. To read more about the bill, see the co-sponsorship memo here


If you don’t know who your state Senator is, or you need contact information, please use this link. 

This is a state bill, not a federal one, so you do not need to contact Senators Pat Toomey or Bob Casey.

The bill has already passed the House—a victory in the Senate would bring us much closer to final victory—and help save lives!

Thank you for making these important calls and sending these critical emails.



   
The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, Inc., is committed to promoting the dignity and value of human life from conception to natural death and to restoring legal protection for preborn children. Through legislation, political action, education and other legal means, we proclaim the truth about abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.  For more information or to find out how you can become involved, please use this link.  



Chloe’s Law, Rights, Wrongs and Abortion

 "...it is precisely these so-called flaws that magnify the glory of God, science, and humanity"


By Christine Flowers
National Right to Life

I recently read the obituary of a woman who sounded like a saint: An HIV social worker, a loving mother to three young sons who valiantly fought the cancer that finally took her life, a valued coworker, friend, and beloved wife. And then I came to this sentence: “She was a strong supporter of abortion rights.”

It initially seemed out of place with the tone of the piece, which was otherwise apolitical, uplifting and loving. But I realized that this was an indication of how the deceased wanted to be remembered, as someone who was on the forefront of progressive causes and reproductive rights. So be it, we all have the right to compose our own final codas.

Reading that obituary convinced me, though, of two things: (1) I would give clear instructions that my own obituary would include the line “She was a strong supporter of human rights, including and especially those of the unborn” and (2) the manipulation of words by the pro-choice movement extends to even epitaphs.
Calling abortion a “right” is technically correct, but it deflects attention from the true nature of the act. “Right” generally means something desirable and good, as in the “right to free speech” or the “right to bear arms” or the “right to … life.” So framing abortion as a “right,” which it is since Roe v. Wade, is a tidy way of insulating us from the reality of the thing done, and that is the termination of human life.
And it gets worse. We are not only concerned with the snuffing out of random lives any longer. We have become very specific about the things that we want to eliminate, and that is the perceived imperfections that are manifested in God’s creations. I say “perceived,” because it is precisely these so-called flaws that magnify the glory of God, science, and humanity.
I am really talking about a beautiful young woman named Chloe Kondrich. Chloe is a child so beloved that her father and mother have spent her lifetime bringing her story to strangers, and trying to teach us that she is the most perfect creature possible. Her story is an important one, and I can only tell it with the help of her father.
Kurt Kondrich and his wife Margie were given very little support when, during her pregnancy, they were pressured to have the prenatal test for Down syndrome but refused. When they asked what their options were if the test came back positive, they were told they could decide if they wanted to keep the baby.
Shortly after Chloe’s birth they were told that the baby had Down syndrome. Kurt has said that they were told much more about what Chloe would not be able to do (her disability), than what she could actually accomplish (her abilities). 

BROKEN PROMISE: Gov. Rauner Signs Bill Forcing Illinois Taxpayers to Pay for Abortions


By Susan-Michelle Hanson
Live Action News


On September 28, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R) signed HB40, the unpopular bill mandating taxpayer funding of abortion. He is the second governor to force taxpayers to pay for others’ abortions on demand — following in the footsteps of pro-abortion Governor Kate Brown (D) of Oregon. Gov. Rauner had previously said he would not sign HB40 if it passed, but changed his mind, after pressure from Planned Parenthood the abortion industry.
In a press conference announcing his decision, Rauner acknowledged, “The moral argument against HB40 is very powerful….it’s not debatable. It is irrefutable. I respect it very much.” But he also added, “On the other side, the arguments for women’s rights, health and equality are very powerful. I support them. I am pro choice.” 
He added that he feels women with limited financial means should have equal opportunity to abort their children. Rauner said he signed the bill because he was unable to find common ground on it. Without “common ground,” Gov. Rauner chose the side of Planned Parenthood and abortion on demand.

In announcing his decision, the governor said:
I understand abortion is a very emotional issue with passionate opinions on both sides. I sincerely respect those who believe abortion is morally wrong. They are good people motivated by principle.
But, as I have always said, I believe a woman should have the right to make that choice herself and I do not believe that choice should be determined by income. I do not think it’s fair to deny poor women the choice that wealthy women have.
That is why I am signing HB40. ….

The video below, filmed with former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino, illustrates the choice Gov. Rauner believes all women in Illinois should have, at taxpayer expense:

In April, Gov. Rauner spokesperson Allie Bovis said, “Governor Rauner does not support HB 40 and will veto the bill if it reaches his desk.” But, as Live Action News reported:
Rauner…has donated thousands of dollars to Planned Parenthood, as has his wife, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Rauner Family Foundation has also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Live Action News continues 

What Do Former Abortion Clinic Workers and Survivors of Botched Abortions Have in Common?

In a world that decries fake news, abortion survivors and converted abortion clinic workers...have long been targeted by pro-abortion supporters and the liberal media.


By Melissa Ohden
Life News

What do former abortion clinic workers and abortion survivors have in common?
More than you would think.

Of course, we’ve all witnessed firsthand the truth about abortion. Add in the women who have had abortions and share the pain of their experience, and we are together a powerful triad that highlight the devastation of abortion. We’ve seen it, heard it, and have to live with it and the memories of it.

It’s that very role as testaments to the truth about and devastation of abortion, however, that leads to another thing we have in common: we’re frequently told that we’re liars. It’s happens like clockwork—Abby Johnson does an interview on Fox and the insults are hurled at her left and right. 
“Liar! Liar! She’s lying!” When Gianna Jessen and I testified before Congress two years ago, the LA Times called us “survivors.” Emphasis on the air quotes there. In reality, my list of the media and pro-abortion supporters who have thrown insults our way over the years could go on and on.
Just this morning, I was reading a Live Action article about fellow survivor, Josiah Presley. Although most of the comments were positive, claims of his story and all of our stories being fabricated permeated the comment section.
In a world that decries fake news, abortion survivors and converted abortion clinic workers, even women who live with abortion regret, have long been targeted by pro-abortion supporters and the liberal media. 

Social media has certainly heightened this phenomenon. It’s easy to type accusations and insults in the comfort of anonymity, while those that you are attacking courageously live their lives in front of the world.
Not surprisingly, I’m contacted by survivors regularly who say that they will never come forward publicly, because they see the comments and attacks that come upon those of us who share our stories in the public arena. I know former clinic workers and women affected by their abortions who are public with their stories receive that same feedback from others with similar experiences.
Our abortion culture seeks to silence the voices of those whose experiences stand in opposition to the predominant narrative. Your life experience doesn’t support abortion as safe, legal and rare? It doesn’t fit with a woman’s right to choose? You are a liar!


Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on FacebookGoogle, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  


National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006  

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Friday, September 29, 2017

Pro-Life News and Information from New Jersey Right to Life



from Marie Tasy, Executive Director
New Jersey Right to Life 


State and National Pro-abortion groups are dumping lots of money to unseat many of our faithful pro-life legislators in the upcoming November 7, 2017 state legislative elections. One of these races which have seen a recent influx of pro-abortion money is the 25th legislative district which is comprised of towns in Morris and Somerset counties. We have been fortunate and grateful to have three very strong pro-life legislators currently representing that district; Senator Tony Bucco, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll and Assemblyman Tony Bucco. We need to make sure they win re-election in November.

The 25th district includes the following towns in Morris County: Boonton Township, Boonton, Chester Borough, Chester Township, Denville, Dover, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Mine Hill, Morris Township, Morristown, Mount Arlington, Mountain Lakes, Netcong, Randolph, Rockaway Borough, Roxbury, Victory Gardens, Washington, Wharton. It also includes Bernardsville in Somerset County.

If you live in one of these towns or have pro-life friends and family members who live in the 25th district, please pass this information on to them.

 

It is critically important that pro-life voters support our pro-life candidates by voting for them on November 7th. If it is possible and within your means, please also consider volunteering to help with their campaign. 



Below is an email sent out by Emily's list in support of a pro-abortion candidate to run against incumbent pro-life Senator Tony Bucco in the 25th legislative district. As you can see, they are making support for abortion the centerpiece of their campaign.

We can expect more of our pro-life candidates to face similar challenges by pro-abortion candidates in this election. We will provide you with additional information about other legislative races as it becomes available. We plan to provide a complete list of all our endorsed candidates as we get closer to the election.


EMILY's List Endorses Lisa Bhimani for New Jersey

Senate 25th District
Washington, DC- Today EMILY's List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Lisa Bhimani for Senate in the 25th District, which is comprised of 21 towns in Morris and Somerset Counties including Boonton Township, Boonton, Chester Borough, Chester Township, Denville, Dover, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Mine Hill, Morris Township, Morristown, Mount Arlington, Mountain Lakes, Netcong, Randolph, Rockaway Borough, Roxbury, Victory Gardens, Washington, Wharton and Bernardsville(Somerset)

"As a community activist and OB-GYN, Lisa Bhimani knows the importance of protecting access to quality health care. When women are given the right to choose, they gain economic empowerment," said EMILY's List Senior Director of State and Local Campaigns Geri Prado. "EMILY's List is proud to endorse her campaign for New Jersey Senate District 25 because she will be a true advocate for all in Trenton."
"I am truly honored to have the endorsement of one of the most important women's organizations in America." said Bhimani. "I share their goals of advocating for access to affordable and quality healthcare and I intend to give the women of our district a true advocate in Trenton for the first time in decades." 

Lisa is an OB/GYN who has lived in Mendham Township for 13 years, with her husband and her two children. She graduated from Brown University, and received her M.D. from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. She practiced medicine in Providence, RI, and at Overlook Hospital in Summit. After recovering from a battle with Lyme disease, which solidified her position as a staunch advocate for affordable health care, Lisa is currently semi-retired.

 
New Jersey Right to Life is the state’s largest and most active pro-life, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting and fostering the most basic value of our society – human life. As the premier pro-life organization in NJ, we continue to lead the effort on all public policy matters concerning the sanctity of human life at the state and federal level. We promote, uphold, and support reverence and respect for all innocent human life from conception to natural death, without regard to condition, or circumstances of conception, quality, age, race, religion, creed, or color, whether born or pre-born.  For more information or to make a donation to help them with their work, please use this link.



“The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Recognizes the Medical Evidence that Unborn Children Feel Pain”



By Rep. Chris Smith
National Right to Life


Pain. We all dread it. We avoid it. We fear it.

Our health care providers, who have taken an oath to “do no harm,” go to extraordinary lengths to mitigate the severity and duration of pain.

And yet, it is currently legal in the United States to not only kill very young children, but to inflict excruciating pain on them as well.
Abortionists all over America decapitate, dismember and chemically poison babies to death each and every day.
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is a modest but necessary attempt to at least protect babies who are 20 weeks old—and pain-capable—from having to suffer and die from abortion.
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act recognizes the medical evidence that unborn children feel pain.
It is no wonder that 60 percent of Americans believe that abortion should not be permitted after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
It is shocking that the United States is one of only 7 countries on Earth—including North Korea and China—that allows abortion on demand after 20 weeks.
American citizens and nearly every other nation recognize the truth: it is past time for our nation to do the right thing and end this violence against children.

Editor’s note. A genuine pro-life champion, Rep. Smith was part of a Tuesday news conference organized by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that eloquently explained why the House should pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Leader McCarthy announced the House would vote on the measure next Tuesday.

Judge Lets Abortion Clinics Deny Women Ultrasound of Their Baby Before Abortion


By Micaiah Bilger
Life News


Kentucky abortion facilities will not have to provide women with basic information prior to an abortion after a federal judge struck down a state informed consent law Wednesday.

The Ultrasound Informed Consent Act, which passed in January, requires abortionists to perform an ultrasound and describe the image of the unborn baby prior to an abortion. It also requires that women be given the opportunity to hear their unborn baby’s heartbeat, which begins about four weeks after conception.

But U.S. District Judge David Hale blocked the Kentucky law Wednesday, ruling it violates doctors’ First Amendment right to free speech, according to USA Today.

Hale, who was appointed by pro-abortion President Barack Obama, also basically said women are too emotionally fragile to handle basic, scientific facts about human development. It’s more important that they be shielded from the facts and allowed to abort their unborn babies in ignorance, than be told the harsh truth.
“Requiring physicians to force upon their patients the information mandated by [the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act] has more potential to harm the psychological well-being of the patient than to further the legitimate interests of the Commonwealth,” Hale wrote in his decision.
The ACLU and EMW Women’s Clinic, the last abortion facility in Kentucky, challenged the law earlier this year.

Gov. Matt Bevin, who is pro-life, has not indicated yet if the state will appeal the ruling.

The Ultrasound Informed Consent Act requires medical staff to perform an ultrasound prior to the abortion and allow the woman to see it if she chooses. It also requires the medical staff to describe the image of the unborn baby, its size, organs and other features and allow the mother to hear the baby’s heartbeat.

Woman Shares Heartbreaking Story of Abortion Regret: ‘His Name Would Have Been Jude’


By Cassy Fiano
Live Action News


When facing an unplanned pregnancy, it can be easy to feel like abortion is the only way out. But too often, women don’t realize that what seems their saving grace could back to haunt them. Post-abortion regret is a very real issue, and one woman chose to open up about her heartbreak for YourTango.com.

Jamie Berube says she was six weeks pregnant when she had her abortion. “He put on a song by Father John Misty called ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery,’ and for the rest of my life whenever I hear that song I will think ‘that was the song that was playing the first time I got pregnant — pregnant with a baby I couldn’t keep,'” Berube wrote.

“I’ve done a lot of ‘bad’ things in my life. I’ve made choices that will forever haunt me no matter how much money I shell out for a shrink,” she continued. 
“But the choice that I made on that day, the choice to sign my name on a piece of paper that would give my consent to terminating a pregnancy is chief among the ones I regret most. Yes, I regret my abortion. I regret not thinking through it more carefully. I regret not considering that I might have been a really great mom. And I regret that there’s no amount of regret that can reverse the decision I made.”
Berube also revealed that she had chosen baby names: Penelope Wren for a girl, and Amory Jude for a boy.

Berube underwent a medication abortion, and saw her baby in a sonogram photo before the abortion. “Seeing a picture of the ultrasound made my eyes tear up. I could hardly make out anything but simply knowing there was the beginnings of a human behind that photo made it hard to breathe,” she said. 

She explained to the father of the baby, who came to the appointment with her, that she just had to take some pills and then it would be over, saying it was less complicated than she had thought it would be. But that was just a facade. 
“Internally I felt suffocated by the grip of three thousand hands. How had my life come to this?” she asked.
She took the pills, and immediately knew that everything had changed. She asked him to stay with her after the abortion, but he refused. Their relationship was over. 
“I pulled back to kiss him but he turned his lips away so that mine landed on his cheek,” she recalled. “And that’s when I knew. I felt it in my gut. There was someone else. And after the abortion was over, we would be too.”


Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on FacebookGoogle, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  


National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006  

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Rep. Trent Franks Condemns ‘Inhumanity’ of Abortion: ‘Isn’t it About Time We Changed Direction?’


By Katie Yoder
Live Action News

One U.S. politician is challenging the media to accurately report on a bill he hopes will show the “humanity of the unborn.”

On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held a press conference with pro-life leaders and politicians to announce an Oct. 3 vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. Speakers at the Washington, D.C. event included Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser and the Pickering family.

In July 2012, Micah Pickering was born prematurely at twenty weeks (22 weeks gestation) to Clayton and Danielle. This piece of legislation aims to protect unborn babies after five months, or Micah’s age at birth, when SBA List reports babies can feel pain. Today, Micah is a healthy 5-year-old.

Following the press conference, Rep. Franks spoke with MRC Culture about how he wished media would cover the event: by reporting that Americans can agree on this legislation.

“I would simply want them to say that even though Americans are divided on the abortion issue, when it comes to protecting pain-capable unborn children that have reached the beginning of the sixth month, that we should all have the humanity to come together on something of that clarity and significance,” he urged.
“That I hope this bill will demonstrate the humanity of the unborn and the inhumanity of what’s being done to them.”
But he wasn’t confident that reporters would accurately cover the legislation.
“If the media will do that, they will have done their job,” he added. “I’m afraid that that will be a rare occurrence.”
Rep. Franks pointed to two “great challenges in the life movement.” The first, he said, was a lack of knowledge.
Citizens “simply didn’t know how real these little babies were, how human they were, how much they looked like babies, that we could take their fingerprints at 10 weeks and identify them at 50 years,” he said. “So there’s a lot of ignorance that occurs."

Abortion Activists: No, Unborn Babies Don’t Feel Pain in Dismemberment Abortions


By Father Frank Pavone
Life News


Of all the indefensible claims made by abortionists, there are some that apparently even they can’t bring themselves to take seriously — or argue in court.

Take, for example, the abortion lobby’s allegations against the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a law now being enforced in 15 states and with a national version set to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives next week.

The measure has been on the books since Nebraska passed the first such law in 2010, protecting from abortion any unborn babies old enough to feel the pain of having their arms and legs ripped from their bodies. Yet, while major abortion profiteers and their enablers verbalize opposition to the legislation year after year, they remain all talk and no lawsuit.
That’s because those who sit atop abortion’s carnage realize that there are some aspects of their trade that are so gruesome, so repulsive, that even they can’t spin them away with vague euphemisms. In their eyes, it’s better to keep such matters hidden in darkness.
That’s why the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, developed by the National Right to Life Committee, presents problems for the abortion industry — it makes facing the reality of abortion unavoidable. If the law were brought into court, two inescapable facts would come to the public’s attention: that aborted babies are people with arms, legs, and faces, not “clumps of cells”; and that these children suffer horrible pain when their appendages are wrenched from their bodies.

When pain-capable unborn child protection bills do come up in state legislatures, as they have in the last year when Ohio and Kentucky adopted them, abortion promoters oppose the measures with a couple of suppositions. First, they believe that 20-week-old unborn babies don’t really suffer when dismembered; second, that the Supreme Court would find any bill protecting any babies before the 24th week of life to be unconstitutional.
In other words, abortion promoters say that if you’re in doubt about whether children in the womb go through agony as their bodies are crushed and torn, err on the side of cruelty. And even if these boys and girls go through unspeakable pain,the abortion lobby believes that the Supreme Court will say that such suffering is simply the collateral damage of “reproductive freedom.”

The Scars Left By an Abortion, From a Grandmother’s Perspective

 "Only my husband knew that I was crying for the baby who had not survived.”


By Dave Andrusko
National Right to Life

Pro-lifers know that taking the life of an innocent unborn child can never be a “private” decision. The baby has—or ought to have—rights. There are fathers involved and far more often than we realize the child has siblings.

But now that my wife and I are grandparents we realize that grandparents rarely get talked about in the abortion context. I honestly can’t imagine the horror and the sense of helplessness. Someone’s grandchild is about to be obliterated by the child they’d hoped and prayed they’d raised to honor life, even—especially—in the tough times.

I was reminded of this yesterday when I re-read “Eyewitness to abortion.” It is a story from an unnamed grandmother to Amanda Cable of the Daily Mail. We will call her “Gladys.” It can be read—and should be read—in its entirety here.

But in case you can’t, let me quote just a few passages. The story begins….
My first granddaughter would have been six by now. I often watch children in the local playground and wonder what she would have been like. Other times, at night, I dream about her vividly, and know the answer.
Blonde-haired, blue-eyed and with a shy smile. Time and time again, I dream that she has just been born, and as she is handed to me, I name her Katie. Just as my heart is about to burst with joy, I wake up and realize that she does not exist.
I shall never know my granddaughter because her life was extinguished before it even had a chance to begin.
The story is chilling, on many levels. Her daughter thought she could never get pregnant, did so, and decided she must—must—have an abortion, even though it turned out she was not 15 or so weeks along but 23 weeks pregnant—one week short of the legal limit in Great Britain.



Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. 

To read our Mission Statement, use this link

Follow us on FacebookGoogle, and Pinterest. Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  


National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006  

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

BREAKING: Graham-Cassidy Bill Defunding Planned Parenthood Will Not Get a Vote



By Susan-Michelle Hanson
Live Action News


Tuesday afternoon update: According to Politico, the Senate vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill has been canceled, due to three Republican Senators declaring their opposition to it. This article’s headline has been updated to reflect the news.

Monday evening update: A tumultuous Monday on Capitol Hill led to continued internal debates on the Graham-Cassidy health care bill. The Associated Press reported on another revision to the bill:

Republicans have released a revised version of their legislation dismantling the Obama health care law. It contains added money and newly eased coverage requirements aimed at winning over GOP senators whose opposition could well sink the bill.
By Monday evening, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine had also stated her public opposition to the bill, joining Sens. McCain, Paul, and Cruz. The Associated Press reports that “Cruz aides say he’s seeking changes so he can vote ‘yes.'” It is likely debate and revisions will continue until the September 30 deadline.

Sunday night, Senate Republicans added money to the Graham-Cassidy health care bill in hopes of swaying its Republican opponents. Seen as an eleventh hour chance to undo Obamacare, the Graham-Cassidy bill is facing defeat as some Republican senators announced they will not support it. The latest amendment is their last hope for the 50 votes needed before September 30, when the budget reconciliation period ends.
320,000 preborn children will be poisoned, dismembered, and starved to death next year at the hands of Planned Parenthood, with help from half a billion of your taxpayer dollars, if this bill does not pass.
The next 12 days could be our last chance this year to defund the abortion giant — especially if pro-lifers don’t maintain a majority in Congress next year.

Despite this, some Republican senators are vocally opposing the Graham-Cassidy bill: Rand Paul (Kentucky) and John McCain (Arizona). Paul’s spokesman told the Associated Press:
[Paul]wants a “significant” reduction in the law’s $1 trillion in spending, elimination of its coverage requirements and establishment of broad health plans consumers could join.
The Kentucky senator has indicated that unless those conditions are met, he will vote no. 

McCain criticized the hastiness of the bill, and President Trump said it’s McCain’s fault the health care bill didn’t pass in July:
“That’s the only reason we don’t have it, because of John McCain.”
Live Action News continues

Former Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic Managers Tell Pro-Lifers to Pray and End Abortion


By Shawn Carney
Life News


It really is go time!

And on the eve of the start of the largest 40 Days for Life campaign yet … I want to share words of encouragement from two former Planned Parenthood managers in this brand-new video!

Through 40 Days for Life, it’s possible to prayerfully reach out and change hearts and minds — women who are pondering abortions … passersby on the street … and even the people who work in the abortion business and see your public witness through the windows of their buildings.

Prayer Does Work!
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for this campaign to get started!

LifeNews.com Note: Shawn Carney is the campaign director for the 40 Days for Life pro-life prayer campaign against abortion.

Website: Life News

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. 

To read our Mission Statement, use this link. Follow us on FacebookGoogle, and Pinterest

Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  


National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006  

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Mother in Coma Heard Everything, Including How Doctors Shut Off Her Life Support and Said She’d Die


By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

Three little words changed an Arizona family’s entire outlook as they stood at their mother’s deathbed.

Doctors thought Lyndee Brown Pellettiere-Swapp, 47, was dying and would never wake from her coma. But soon after she was removed from life support, Pellettiere-Swapp said three words out loud: “I’m a fighter.”

The Daily Mail reports Pellettiere-Swapp was not brain dead but locked-in, a condition where she could hear things around her but was unable to respond or move.

Her family found her unconscious one day back in 2015 and rushed her to the hospital. She suffered several seizures, and after 12 days in the hospital, doctors said her organs were failing. They said the best option would be to turn off her life support, according to the report.

Doctors told her husband and children that she would never come out of her coma, and there was nothing more to be done.

So, on Oct. 29, 2015, doctors turned off her life support. Meanwhile, she said her husband was by her side whispering, “I need you to fight.”

Pellettiere-Swapp told CBS 5 that she heard everything that people around her were saying, including the plans to remove her life support. She said she remembered her niece coming into her hospital room and reading to her. She said she remembered doctors examining her and talking to her family about removing her life support.

But she was not able to respond until she almost died.
“In my head it was very clear what I was saying, but it wasn’t to them. I was finally able to get out ‘I’m a fighter,’ which is what my husband was whispering in my ear,” she told CBS5.
The Arizona mother has had a long and difficult recovery, with several hospital stays and surgeries since she awoke. Her husband and two children said they are so grateful she is alive.
“Just because you are not conscious does not mean you cannot hear,” she said. “So you should talk to your loved ones if you are in that situation. They hear you.”
Life News continues

“Catholics for Choice” Renews Campaign to Gut Life-Saving Hyde Amendment

  
By Dave Andrusko
National Right to Life


In Washington, DC, if you waiting for a metro or a bus, often times you’ll find a nearby news box containing free copies of what the Washington Post calls its “Express.” Essentially it’s a shopper with a few excerpts from news stories, the Style section, and the like.

The Post’s advertisers get a captive audience and the readers get to peruse the headlines amidst eighty gazillion ads. Well, guess who purchased a four-page [!] cover ad for today’s Express? (I have no idea what it cost, but you know it was plenty.)

The Absurdly Named “Catholic for Choice”

It’s the usual-usual from the organization originally named Catholics for a Free Choice. The front cover portion gives you the message.
The headline reads, “Abortion in Good Faith” (the name for the campaign) with the subhead making the have-it-both-ways case: “It it because of my Catholic faith, not in spite of it, that I support women who make conscience-based decisions to have an abortion.” (Signed mother and grandmother.)
The mission is on page two: eliminate the Hyde Amendment, credited with saving 2 million lives. There is overwhelming support for the Hyde Amendment which prohibits virtually all federal funding of abortion but that never gives the Abortion Industry even the slightest pause.

So faced with longstanding opposition, the “Abortion in Good Faith” campaign needs to recast picking the public’s pocket as not still more pro-abortion propaganda in service of reversing the decline in the number of abortions but a “Catholic Social Justice value.”

We’re Told Federal Funding of Abortion is a “Moral Necessity.” Seriously.

This is not a new initiative. Last year “Catholics for Choice” published full page ads in major newspapers. That prompted the following statement, issued by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who was then chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. It was intended to “alert the public to a deceptive ad campaign calling for taxpayer funding of abortion in the name of the Catholic faith.”

An abortion advocacy organization called “Catholics for Choice” (CFC) placed deceptive full-page newspaper ads in multiple cities on September 12 calling for taxpayer funding of abortion in the name of the Catholic faith.
As the U.S. Catholic bishops have stated for many years, the use of the name ‘Catholic’ as a platform to promote the taking of innocent human life is offensive not only to Catholics, but to all who expect honesty and forthrightness in public discourse.
National Right to Life continues 

Despite What Science Tells Us, Pro-Choice Lies Continue to Bury Preborn Children Alive


By Sarah-Marie Hoduski
Live Action News


Paris, 1786, was a year of heavy rains and flooding. The graveyard Les Innocents was overflowing with corpses; accordingly, an edict went out that the cemetery could take no more bodies. The corpses must be moved to tunneled catacombs. As the bodies were exhumed, they were found to be on their stomachs. So many crumpled skeletons were found that the public became fearful that they were in great danger of being buried alive.

With the images of fingernail marks on coffins, bodies on their sides, and torn shrouds, this fear swept, and the safety coffin became a thing of fashion. Ingenious coffins were constructed to aid those that had been buried alive. Some of which included bells that were tied to the hands and feet to alert rescuers, while others had tubes installed for food and oxygen.

Famously, Timothy Smith, after dying on Halloween, was lowered in his safety coffin. He had installed a window above his face; to this day, people still go to look down into his grave. It was with the invention of safety coffins that the tradition of graveyard watchers comes from. The watchmen were charged with listening for the ringing of bells and digging up those who had been buried alive.

READ: 40 quotes from medical experts and textbooks that prove human life begins at conception

The backwardness of science and medicine at this time led the public to advocate for grave watchers. Today, backward thinking has caused a different group of people to be in danger of being buried alive. In American Society, today, the unborn have been consigned to living graves; pro-abortion lies have buried the unborn.

Medical science used to say that quickening, or when a woman felt her child move in the womb for the first time, was when life begins; at one time, it was believed that when individual can feel pain is when life begins; others have said that a child’s ability to live apart from their mother establishes its value.

However, as science has progressed it has become undisputed medical opinion that human life begins at conception. “To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. 


The human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention, it is experimental evidence.” French geneticist Jerome L. LeJeune, while testifying before a Senate Subcommittee. (Francis Beckwith notes in Defending Life)

Today, American society needs another kind of bell ringer. Society needs a bell ringer that will sit in the graveyards of the abortion movement and dig for truth until the bodies of the unborn are exhumed. 

It needs watchmen that will listen for the toll of bells of truth and not leave for dead those buried by the lies of the abortion agenda. It needs its watchmen to stay awake through the long night and wait to exhume the living.


Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. 

To read our Mission Statement, use this link. Follow us on FacebookGoogle, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  


National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006  

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  


Monday, September 25, 2017

Strong Presence of Youth and Young Adults at 3rd Annual Walk for Life



Out of the 100 that braved the unseasonably hot fall Sunday, 80 of them represented high school, college and young adult groups in the Philadelphia area.

Barry Kirsch with members of Archbishop Carroll's pro life club
 

This year's speakers were Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America and Shawn Carney of 40 Days for Life.

"We wanted to have dynamic and passionate speakers to light up the city pro-lifers" said Steve Bozza of the Life and Family Office.

This year’s speakers were two passionate and dedicated leaders of two essential ministries in the pro-life movement, Kristan Hawkins and Shawn Carney.

Kristan Hawkins of Students of Life of America addressing the crowd
 

Connecting with an experience that would forever change her life, Hawkins shared when she was in high school and asked how she can help. It would soon shape her pro-life convictions.

Teresa Peterson provides praise and worship during the rally

She reminded everyone to “ask how they can be pro-life and do more for the cause.”

“I stumbled across a pro-life pregnancy center. They had me organize the diapers and formulas, newsletter, and computer work.”

 
Shawn Carney of 40 Day for Life
 
Shawn Carney, Director of 40 Days for Life Campaign, came all the way from Houston, TX to be a part of the event and was use to the sweltering heat.
Founded in 2007, 40 Days for Life takes place in the fall and spring (Six weeks prior to the General Election in the fall and Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday for spring). The ministry has 374 cities in twenty five different countries, including Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs.
 
Four young men leading the procession
 
 

 
After the rally everyone processed around the Cathedral in solidarity for life. It was later followed with a holy hour, recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and Sunday evening mass with Archbishop Chaput at the Basilica.
His Excellency welcomed the five members of the Sisters of Life who recently moved to the Philadelphia area and “grateful for their ministry”.
In his sermon, he reminded those gathered to “Recommit themselves to be change into the world with the lord walking with them.”
Archbishop Chaput poses with Sisters of Life after mass