Happy Easter from the Staff of Voices for Life

The staff of Voices for for Life/the Unborn wishes everyone a very blessed Easter. We would also like to thank you for your continued support for our ministry.

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues through the many postings on our blog and other social media sites.

We cover issues from conception until natural death, as well as family life issues. 

We are a Christian publication which puts Christ at the forefront of our battle against the source of all the evils in our society. 

We strive to bring you the most insightful information about the abortion issue, articles and links to the many Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Homes, as well as articles on adoption and natural family planning.

We are a voice for the unborn, the handicapped, the elderly, the disabled, family values and for all God’s children whose lives are in peril.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest. Help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.


“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” - Albert Einstein

April 11th: Pro-Life Students Will Protest Abortion After School Shooting Walkouts

By Nancy Flanders
Live Action News

On April 11, 2018, pro-life high school students will walk out of their schools at 10 am for 17 minutes, to stand up for the lives of preborn children and spark a much-needed conversation about abortion.

Brandon Gillespie, a student at Rocklin High School in Sacramento, California, saw an opportunity for a pro-life walkout after students across the country staged walkouts against access to guns and gun violence in schools. 

One of Gillespie’s teachers, Julianne Benzel, was placed on administrative leave after asking the students if they think there is a double standard and if there were an abortion walkout, whether the school would support it as they supported the gun violence walkout. That got Gillespie thinking.

“My teacher was placed on administrative leave because she simply asked the question of is there is a double standard,” Gillespie told Live Action News. “That really inspired me and I wanted to put that to the test and see if the school district would allow a walkout for students with a more conservative topic.”

Gillespie scheduled a meeting with the school principal Dave Stewart on March 23, 2018, and while he has yet to receive an answer, Gillespie is moving forward with a plan for the pro-life walkout.

“I met with him on Friday and he was unable to give me a direct answer as to whether or not I could have the walkout,” explained Gillespie. “He said he has to talk to more people from the school district about it. I’m asking for the exact same thing as the other group except it’s a different topic. He will be getting back to me on April 2nd.”

Gillespie believes he will receive approval for the walkout since he is requesting the exact same time and duration for his walkout as the school approved for the gun violence walkout. If the pro-life walkout is refused, that would prove there is a double standard.

“If he says we can’t do it, I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet,” said Gillespie. “But it would be a violation of my First Amendment and 14th Amendment rights. Most likely I would work with a legal team, but I’m not 100 percent sure yet.”

READ: Despite discrimination, pro-life student groups press on

Gillespie said that about 75 percent of Rocklin students participated in the walkout on gun violence, but he is unsure of how many students may join him for the pro-life walkout. However, students from around the United States have been contacting him on planning walkouts at their own schools.

“I’ve been spreading the word through social media on Twitter with #life and #prolifewalkout,” he said. “A lot of people have contacted me saying they like what I’m doing and they want to talk to their school about it.”

Students for Life of America has also reached out to Gillespie, providing him with support, legal help, and training, as well as advice on building a website and using social media.

Live Action News article continues here

13 Years After They Starved My Sister to Death, We Must Never Forget Terri Schiavo

By Bobby Schindler
Life News

Every year, I write to honor my sister, Terri Schiavo, on March 31st, the anniversary of her death. For those who do not remember, Terri, at the age of 26, experienced a still inexplicable collapse resulting in a severe brain injury. Terri’s case and condition continue to be inaccurately reported. For example, reports falsely suggesting Terri variously had a terminal condition, needed “machines,” was in a coma, or even was outright “brain dead” are all incorrect.

Sadly, after a few years of caring for Terri, Michael Schiavo, who was Terri’s husband and guardian, lost interest, and eventually petitioned the courts for permission to deliberately starve and dehydrate her to death by having her feeding tube removed. Due to her brain injury, she was unable to swallow using conventional utensils, and like many Americans required nutrition and hydration by feeding tube in order to live.

Another false description of Terri was that this sort of food and water constituted “life support,” when in fact she was lively and stable, and simply required food and water in the same way that any of us do. Nonetheless, by the order of Judge George W. Greer, Terri was deprived of water and food for more than 13 days. She died on March 31, 2005 of intentionally caused extreme dehydration.

In response to Terri’s death, my family established the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network to advocate for medically vulnerable persons, accessing families to resources they need to fight in their time of crisis. Too often, medically vulnerable persons and their families and advocates are confronted with having their basic care denied, as a rising “quality- of-life” mentality continues to influence the sort care they receive.

Indeed, if we look just this past year, you will see the progress of those who are advancing a “death-with-dignity” worldview, and that it ought to be our right to choose death. This view mistakes “dignity” for describing essentially “How independent I am”, rather than recognizing the principle that dignity is fundamental, innate, and not conditional based on our changing life circumstances. In addition to this, it is now legal in every U.S. state to deny a patient food and water, as in Terri’s situation, as the erosion of a patient’s right to receive proper care progresses.

In February, Oregon legislators passed a bill that made it legal for surrogates to decide to stop feeding Alzheimer’s patients (even if they have the ability to swallow food) if there is nothing expressed by the patient to indicate otherwise.

Canada recently legalized euthanasia and is already looking for ways to expand their “Medical Aid in Dying” umbrella to make death more attainable for larger numbers of people—even those who are unable to express their desire to die.

If we look to the Netherlands, it has been legal for clinicians to euthanize the terminally ill, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and the mentally ill who request death. Yet, although it is illegal to kill patients who do not ask to be killed, it has been done anyway. 

Certain studies suggest that hundreds of patients may be involuntarily euthanized annually. And incredibly, albeit unsurprisingly, the Dutch are now pushing to eliminate age restrictions entirely, underscoring that this was never really about “assisting” terminally ill persons already near death, but in fact has been about enabling on-demand death by suicide for any person, at any age, regardless of condition or situation. That’s the logical conclusion once a society accepts that “dignity” can sometimes only be preserved through self-annihilation.

Life News article continues here

Abortion Survivor Claire Culwell to Address Irish ‘Stand Up for Life’ Rally April 2nd

“My life is a miracle and I would be selfish 

to keep this gift of life to myself.”

Claire Culwell and Her Birthmother

By Dave Andrusko

National Right to Life

Abortion survivors, for obvious reasons, have incredibly testimonies. Many pro-lifers, including me, are more familiar with Melissa Ohden and Gianna Jessen, who both miraculously survived saline abortions. However they are not the only ones to have bested the abortionist’s best efforts to kill them.

Claire Culwell’s story is the most remarkable of all. We’re writing about her because a Donegal Now, an Irish newspaper reported today that she will share her story at a ‘Stand Up for Life” rally next week in Donegal.

As NRL News Today readers are well aware, there will be a referendum in the Republic of Ireland in May or June whether to repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution, which affords the mother and the unborn child equal rights, and give Parliament authority to pass abortion legislation.

A few years back LiveActionNews provided this wonderful overview of Claire’s incredible story:

Claire’s mom had grown up in a broken home and found herself pregnant at the young age of thirteen. When Claire’s grandmother found out, she brought her to the abortion clinic, where a surgical abortion was performed while Claire’s mom was five months pregnant.

Four week later, a friend encouraged her to go back to the doctor, as there appeared to be complications. She went back to the abortion clinic, where it was discovered that she was still pregnant. Claire’s twin had been aborted, but she had survived. With the amniotic sac broken, Claire was born just two weeks later. At 3 pounds, 2 ounces, little Claire struggled to live, spending the first two and a half months of her life in the hospital.

Claire is not angry at her birth mom; rather, she finds her to be one of her biggest heroes. The courage it took to tell Claire the story surrounding her birth has resulted in people’s lives being impacted.

Indeed since that story was published, Claire and her birth mother have reconciled but Claire is also very clear that she was blessed by the parents who adopted her. That LiveActionNews story included a beautiful testimony from her adoptive mother.

In the interview with Donegal Now, Claire recalled how: 

“One of us was aborted, one of us survived,” adding, “I’m a survivor of abortion. My life is a testimony that there are wonderful alternatives to abortion, such as adoption in my case.”

“An accidental or unwanted child still deserves life, even a child with disabilities. I was born two and half months early, weighed 3 lbs 2oz, had dislocated hips and club feet. I had to wear casts on my feet, a harness and eventually a body cast. The abortion still affects me today.”

Ahead of her Donegal visit, Culwell, who was put up for adoption by her mother shortly after she was born, explained why she wanted to visit Ireland: 

“I want to encourage women to seek alternatives to abortion because I would never want any woman to go through the grief and the pain that my birth mother went through simply because she didn’t know she had any other option.”

She now travels the world sharing her story, urging people to choose life instead of abortion. Culwell says she can’t imagine not sharing her story with others. 

“My life is a miracle and I would be selfish to keep this gift of life to myself,” she says.

Website: National Right to Life

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 Facebook, Google, 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 the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

Anti-abortion lawmakers lay groundwork for Roe challenge

Planned Parenthood Targets our Kids

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President

Susan B. Anthony List

Look at this disgusting message Planned Parenthood released:

  

Planned Parenthood’s goal is to deceive our children into believing the lives of innocent unborn babies have absolutely no value. If we don’t fight back against their lies, the next generation will grow up believing unborn babies can simply be aborted (and become customers of Planned Parenthood).

We’re fighting to protect our future generations from living in a world where abortions are as normal as getting a haircut or a manicure.

We may not have Planned Parenthood’s Hollywood donors bankrolling our cause, but we have YOU — the courageous Americans who proudly fight for the unborn and have built a growing movement that defends the sanctity of life.

I’m sick and tired of hearing Planned Parenthood lie to America by calling themselves “pro-choice.” They are pro-abortion — and the appalling message they just sent out proves it.

They’re willing to turn something as innocent as a Disney princess into a mouthpiece for the pro-abortion lobby.

Nothing is off the table for them, which is why we need to step up and FIGHT BACK.

Planned Parenthood will not rest until every American — even our kids — has been forcibly fed their disgusting propaganda that regards precious lives with utter contempt.

Please contact Alan Horn, Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Executive Team and let him know your thoughts about post-abortive princess. Encourage him to ignore Planned Parenthood's request.  Use this link to send your message. 

Ultrasounds Have "Complicated" the Abortion Agenda

Martin Fox, President
National Pro-Life Alliance

Looking at a sonogram of an unborn baby, the humanity of the unborn couldn’t be any clearer.

And the abortion lobby knows it.

In fact, even hardcore abortion advocates admit that the advance of ultrasound technology has “complicated” their agenda -- and they fear what that could mean for the abortion industry.

One such abortion advocate, Dr. David Garrow, confessed that thanks to the power of ultrasounds, “We are a much more fetally aware society than we were when Roe came down.”

So in order to counteract the life-giving reality of ultrasounds, abortionists will do whatever they can to prevent a mother from seeing a picture of her unborn child.

Instead, they lie to her, telling her that her child is just “tissue” or “clumps of cells,” -- all while urging her not to view the one image that they know would unveil the truth.

That’s why, in addition to fighting for a Life at Conception Act to ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade, you and I must also fight for the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act at both the state and federal levels.

These bills at both the state and federal level would require that mothers be shown an ultrasound prior to any abortion, ensuring that all mothers see that picture of life.

And since research shows that 78% of abortion-minded women choose life after seeing an ultrasound of their unborn child, this bill has the potential to save countless lives.

So if you haven’t already done so, please click here to sign your petition to pass the national Ultrasound Informed Consent Act.

And after signing your petition, please forward this post to you friends.

 

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 Facebook, Google, 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 the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

Center City Philadelphia Way of the Cross

Philly Missions will once again be conducting their annual Good Friday Service.

The day begins with a prayer vigil at 12th and Locust with a 9AM start time.

The rosary and divine mercy chaplet will be recited.

Following the prayer vigil, the kids along with chaperones will engage in a cross walk. They go around the city collecting intentions, which will be offered at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul 3PM service.

Following snacks, the missionaries will perform the living stations that end on the Race Street lawn of the Basilica.

All are welcome to attend. Way of the Cross will begin at St. Patrick's Church with 12:30 start time.

Obama HHS Abortion Mandate Suffers Massive Defeat, Can’t Force Catholic Employers to Fund Abortions

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

The Obama HHS abortion mandate has suffered another massive defeat.

After the Obama Administration put it in place and attempted to force Christians across the country to fund abortion drugs in their employee health care plans, it faced major lawsuits from organizations like Little Sisters of the Poor to businesses like Hobby Lobby. Now an association of Catholic employers is the latest organization to win a victory in court against the Obama administration’s abortion agenda.

The Obamacare Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate forcing Catholic non-profits to provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs was dealt a lethal blow by U.S. District Court Judge David Russell. 

He issued a permanent injunction stopping the federal government from enforcing the mandate against the Catholic Benefits Association (CBA). He also issued a declaratory judgment, holding that the mandate was illegal and asserting it violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The ruling also eliminates $6.9 billion in fines that have accumulated against CBA members. The judgment means that the government cannot force Catholic employers who are members of the CBA to cover abortions. The decision also declares the Mandate is illegal as applied to CBA members.

While an injunction stops the federal government from enforcing the CASC Mandate against CBA members, the declaratory judgment speaks directly to the illegality of what the federal government has been trying to do to CBA members for years.

The court stated that the federal government “violated RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act)” by trying to coerce members into providing CASC services.

“This is the tremendous win,” said Douglas G. Wilson, the CBA’s Chief Executive Officer. “The first freedom in the Bill of Rights is the First Amendment right to freedom of religion. The court has rightly ruled that employers should not be forced to violate their beliefs and cover morally problematic elective and often low-cost choices that individuals may wish to make.”

Russell ruled that his decision is permanent. The court’s injunction binds not only the current administration but future administrations, protecting CBA members from any other regulation in the future that tries to use the “women’s preventive services mandate” to force CBA members to violate their conscience.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue also commented on the pro-life victory.

“Catholic employers who belong to the CBA are now free from attempts by the federal government to coerce them into providing morally offensive healthcare coverage. This is a smashing victory for religious liberty and a stunning defeat for the pro-abortion industry and its allies,” he told, LifeNews.

Life News article continues here 

Hundreds of Thousands March to Protest Legalized Abortion in Argentina

By Lianne Laurence
Life Site News

Hundreds of thousands of Argentinians filled the streets in 200 cities across the predominantly Catholic country on Palm Sunday to march for life and against a bill to legalize abortion now before its national Congress.

While 50,000 marched in the capital Buenos Aires — formerly the diocese of Pope Francis — other cities reported crowds of up to 20,000 participants in the “Great Rally for Life” under the theme “save them both,” according to the Catholic online magazine Crux.

One participant tweeted there were “literally millions throughout the country.”

Gastón Bruno@GastonBruno

MILLONES DE ARGENTINOS NO NOS VAMOS A QUEDAR DE BRAZOS CRUZADOS SIN DEFENDER LA VIDA
Hoy literalmente fuimos millones en todo el país

9:09 PM - Mar 25, 2018

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Although the Catholic Church did not organize the march, more than 70 Catholic bishops took part either in person or on social media.

The Alliance of Evangelical Churches of Argentina also promoted the event, which included offers in some locations of free ultrasounds for pregnant women and collections of donations for charities that help mothers in distress, Crux reported.

For 20 years, Argentina has celebrated the National Day of the Unborn Child on March 25, which is also the Feast of the Annunciation, when Catholics mark the Virgin Mary’s “yes” to becoming the Mother of God and the conception of Jesus Christ in her womb.

This year, however, the march for life took place as Argentina’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, debates a bill to allow abortion on demand in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

The bill will also permit abortion “until the ninth month in three situations,” Crux reported: “When the pregnancy is product of rape (abortion under those circumstances is already legal in Argentina); when the life of the mother is at risk either physically (which is already decriminalized) or psychologically; and in cases of genetic malformation of the child.”

Life Site News continues here

Former Abortionist Details the Profound Moment God Enabled Her to Finally Forgive Herself

"I'm just thankful every day that we have a Savior, that He does forgive us and that He can take what the locust has destroyed and restore it. I'm so thankful that He's using me to save babies now when once I used to kill them." 

By Charlene Aaron
Breaking Christian News

Kathi Aultman wanted to be a doctor so she could help women. After receiving her license, she took a side job at a Florida women's clinic to perform abortions.

In an interview with CBN News, Aultman explained:

"It was no question in my mind that a woman should have the right to choose whether she wanted to be pregnant or not, and that was the most important thing. And I didn't consider the fetus in the equation at all."

She went on to become director of a local Planned Parenthood. She said examining the parts of aborted babies fascinated her.

'My Baby Was Wanted. Their Baby Wasn't'

"I was looking at it completely from a scientific standpoint, totally devoid of any emotion," said Aultman. It was amazing and I used to send it, the different parts, down to pathology and in our pathology rotation we would look at the slides and it fascinated me."

She Even Performed Abortions While Pregnant

"I didn't see any problem with that," she commented. "My baby was wanted. Their baby wasn't. It didn't seem to bother the women I was aborting. I saw no contradiction in that, no problem with it.

Aultman said the only time she had qualms about what she was doing was when she worked in the intensive care unit for newborns.

She then found herself trying to save babies who were the same age as those she killed. But she quickly dismissed those thoughts.

Aultman's Thinking Begins to Change

"If she wanted the baby then I did everything I could to give her a happy healthy baby," she said. If she miscarried I would be distraught with her and upset about losing that baby."

After having her first child, the doctor came face to face with three cases that changed her thinking.

One involved a young girl who had three abortions, all performed by Aultman.

"I went to the clinic manager and I said I don't want to do this," Aultman shared. "She's just using abortion as birth control. And they said I didn't have the right to make that decision, that it wasn't a judgment that I should be making and I needed to do the procedure."

During her interview with CBN News, Aultman carefully explained two other scenarios that made her see things differently.

"The next woman came in with a girlfriend and the girlfriend asked, 'do you want to see the tissue?' and she snapped at her and just said, in a really angry voice, 'I don't want to look at it, I just want to kill it!' And I thought, what has this baby ever done to you?" she said.

Justification for Abortion Unravels

She then told of a third woman who had four children. Her husband wanted her to abort their fifth child.

"Her husband didn't feel they could afford another, and she cried the entire time," commented Aultman. "I think the callousness and hostility of the first two compared to the sorrow and the devastation of the third woman—I think that comparison made me understand that just because the child wasn't wanted, that was no longer justification enough for me to do the procedure."

In 1983, after attending a church service and a private meeting with the pastor, Aultman prayed to become a Born-Again Christian. Even so, Aultman says she was still confused, and didn't fully understand who Jesus was.

Breaking Christian News story continues here

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 Facebook, Google, 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 the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

Woman Arrested While Praying Outside Abortion Clinic Found Not Guilty of Disorderly Conduct

By Tom Ciesielka
Life News

Thomas More Society attorneys have achieved a courtroom victory on behalf of an Alabama pro-life sidewalk counselor. Arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, 66-year-old Alison Harris was declared not guilty after a trial on March 16, 2018.

Harris, a frequent sidewalk counselor at the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives, was arrested on May 26, 2017, on the public walkway in front of the abortion clinic as she prayed and tried to persuade parents to choose life for their preborn children. 

The arresting officer had obtained a warrant at the request of a clinic employee for Harris’ use of a megaphone fourteen days earlier. The megaphone had been repeatedly tested by city police to ensure that it was below the decibel limit allowed by the Huntsville City ordinance.

Megaphones are used by sidewalk counselors at the Huntsville abortion clinic, where, alongside a four-lane highway, abortion escorts use cow bells, car horns and loud-speakers to drown out the pro-life messages.

Thomas More Society Special counsel Sam McLure represented Harris at trial.

“We were preparing for a retrial in a higher court.” explained McLure. “This abortion clinic is well known. Its owner has received ACLU’s highest award for providing abortions. However, we were blessed with a good judge and a courtroom full of praying supporters, and the law was on our side.”

Read the court’s not-guilty verdict document issued by the Municipal Court of Huntsville, Alabama in City of Huntsville v. Alison Harris on March 16, 2018, here.

Website:Life News

Judge Throws Out Lawsuit Against Google, Lets YouTube Censor Pro-Life Videos

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By Steven Ertelt, Micaiah Bilger
Life News

YouTube and its parent company Google have won the first round of a legal battle filed by a conservative talk show host, who sued the video sharing website for censoring his videos about abortion and other topics.

Dennis Prager filed a lawsuit against the internet giant Google in October, claiming it is wrongly censoring conservatives like himself on YouTube, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

His Prager University publishes a YouTube series that discusses political and social issues from a conservative perspective. One of the videos that he alleges YouTube censored was “The Most Important Question About Abortion,” which examines the morality of abortion, including whether an unborn baby should have rights.

Prager asked a judge for a preliminary injunction against YouTube that would lift the restricted status from his videos, according to the report. Instead, the judge threw out his lawsuit: Google has won the dismissal of a lawsuit in California accusing YouTube of censoring conservative content.

In a decision late Monday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said a nonprofit run by conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager failed to show that YouTube infringed its free speech rights by placing age restrictions on its content.

But the judge said Google and YouTube, both units of Mountain View, California-based Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), did not qualify as “state actors” subject to the First Amendment by creating a “public forum” for speech.

“Defendants are private entities who created their own video-sharing social media website and make decisions about whether and how to regulate content that has been uploaded on that website,” Koh wrote. “Plaintiff has not shown that defendants have engaged in one of the very few public functions that were traditionally exclusively reserved to the state,” she added.

Koh gave Prager a chance to amend its lawsuit. Essentially because Google and YouTube are private entities they have the right to censor pro-life videos.

In the legal papers Google filed with the court, it defended the censorship saying that denying access to the pro-life videos supposedly keeps YouTube safe.

In court papers, Google acknowledged that deciding which videos to restrict “may involve difficult, subjective judgment calls.”  But it maintained that it should not be held liable for trying to keep YouTube “safe and enjoyable for all users.”

Website: Life News

Mother’s Confession Inspires Daughter to Reach Women at Abortion Facility

By Christina Marie Bennett
Live Action News

Jessica Hughes, 30, is a paralegal student living outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. She’s the Communications Coordinator for Concerned Women of America, a social media director for her church and a sidewalk counselor through Cities4Life-Charlotte. 

She was raised in a Christian family and was taught that all life is valuable. After her 25th birthday, her mother shocked her by confessing an abortion she had in her teen years. Jessica listened as her mom shared her shame and regret from that decision. 

A few months after opening up about her abortion, Jessica’s mother passed away. Jessica was then moved to action. Her mother’s story has compelled her to reach out to women at the busiest abortion facility in the Southeast since 2012, because when she sees a woman walk towards an abortion facility, she sees her own mother. She told Live Action News:

That’s why I go to the sidewalks. For my sibling. For my mother. For my grandmother who drove her to the clinic. To be a voice for siblings that mourn, and all those affected by abortion that is often the forgotten victim. There was no one there to tell my mom and grandmother about fetal development. There was no one there to tell them about post-abortion regret. No one was there. I see a piece of my mom in every woman that enters the doors of an abortion clinic….

The organization Jessica volunteers with, Cities4Life, works to “transform the culture of death brought about by abortion to a culture of LIFE in our cities as we work to mobilize the Body of Christ to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.” They do this by ministering on the sidewalks of abortion facilities, sharing the Gospel, providing free ultrasounds, and offering tangible resources to abortion-minded women and their families.

Jessica shared some of her experiences on the sidewalk with Live Action News:

While ministering at the abortion clinic, a car pulled in, but didn’t stop to talk to me. After about one or two hours later, she stopped when she was leaving. She told me she couldn’t have an abortion. I asked her if she would park across the street so we could talk more. She got out of her car holding her 3-month-old baby. 

I talked to Linda* about the resources we have and offered a baby shower. She declined all the resources. She said she was there because she had a baby three months ago and was now pregnant again. I prayed with her and she started to cry happy tears. All Linda needed was encouragement and reassurance. We exchanged phone numbers and still keep in touch. Her baby girl is due this March and we have plans to meet up for lunch after things settle down for her.

Live Action News story continues here

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 Facebook, Google, 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 the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

An Engaged Couple Wants Unborn Babies to Live At Home and Abroad

Emily with her fiancée Nathan engaging a college campus (Courtesy of their GoFundMe page)

In 2016, I friended an outstanding and incredible young woman named Emily Faulkner. At the time she was a college student at Colorado State University. Since we connected on Facebook ,we have shared each other pro-life's posts, supported each other in our fight for the unborn, and even met face to face at the SEEK Conference in San Antonio.

Recently, Emily and her fiancée, Nathan founded a non profit with a simple pro life message. Here's my interview:

Who you are? Where do you live? Originally? Parish? What work you do to advance the culture of life?

I was born and raised in Colorado and received my Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Colorado State University in May 2017.  I grew up in Parker, CO going to church at Ave Maria Catholic Parish.  I always knew I was going to be a veterinarian, and my degree and goals through college reflected that (but as I got more and more involved in pro-life work, I realized that God was not calling me to be a veterinarian but to be a pro-life activist).  I began to get involved with the pro-life movement around my second year in college.  Although I had always been pro-life because of my upbringing, I had little to no idea what abortion really was and what it meant to be “pro-life”.  I first got involved with the Students For Life club at my school when I was 19.  The club, however, was only focused on reaching out to those at our campus church who were already pro-life.  I knew we needed to do campus outreach as well.  Eventually everyone from the club graduated or left, so I became the sole member and made myself President and revived the club.  After I did that, I recruited more than 20 people to the group and we were doing pro-life activism regularly on campus.  We brought many pro-life speakers to campus in an attempt to engage the large pro-choice community in dialogue.  One thing I am most known for is suing my University over a pro-life free speech issue.  I wanted to bring a pro-life apologist to speak on campus and was denied funding because they (the board who decides where the funding goes) did not like the topic of abortion and it was too divisive.  I proceeded with a lawsuit and won.

After I graduated, I got a job as a Field Representative with the Leadership Institute and traveled to Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire to do campus activism with pro-life and conservative clubs.

After my 3 month contract was up, I moved to the DC area and began work as a fundraising consultant for conservative campaigns.  It wasn’t long, however, before I really felt God telling me to make a leap of faith and start my own pro-life organization. 

Let Them Live was founded by myself and my fiancé, Nathan Berning, to identify pro-life advocates at the local community level, train them on alternatives to abortion and how to be effective in the movement, and mobilize them to volunteer their time trying to end abortion.  We are currently working on becoming a 501(c)3 non-profit!  In addition, we have already fundraised and donated $2000 to a local DC pregnancy center Maternity home and made a trip to Florida to do activism on college campuses with Created Equal, to show people what abortion actually looks like.  We are currently fundraising for our pro-life trip to Ireland.  Ireland’s 8th Amendment to their constitution recognizes the unborn as human and protects them from abortion and it is in danger of being repealed.  Just like the USA legalized abortion in 1973, Ireland is about to make that same mistake.  Myself and about 10 others will be traveling to Ireland to try and keep that repeal from happening.

As far as where I am living right now, I currently am hopping around all over the country (and world) doing pro-life work.  We have friends and family all over the country that we stay with and we are really blessed.  

Talk about your ministry. What drew you to starting it?

I realized that I could no longer sit idly by while millions of babies die every year because of abortion.  At one point it really hit me that if I don’t do something about this then I would be knowingly standing by while a major injustice happens.  My heart only wants to do pro-life work and there is no separating me from that now!

How has your Catholic faith brought you to where you are now?

I would not be where I am without my faith in God.  This work is hard beyond belief.  Money is always going to be tight and the emotional toll is high but everyday I just remember that Jesus didn’t have an easy or comfortable life either.  In fact, he calls us to just the opposite.  Being uncomfortable is where I find the most growth in my faith.  And God always pulls through.  Somehow when I think I may not be able to afford something or that my work is going to fail, God always helps me out.  I rely fully on my faith to do what I do.  I cannot do this work without God and God needs my hands to do this work, so it is like a partnership!

How many members are in your group? How have you met them?

Right now, just my fiancé and I are the ones running the show.  However, through our Facebook engagement we have been able to reach out to over 2,000 people (and growing).  I have connected with people all over the country who are pro-life.  You could say that I am building an army of pro-life warriors. Several of our close friends who support us so much that I consider a part of the team.  I have met them over the years (and mostly through the Leadership Institute). 

What are some activities you do together?

Even though it is just my fiancé and I right now, we travel all the time.  He has his own start-up businesses in the private sector but he will help me out on social media (and with activism from time to time!)  I want to just use this space too to mention that I could not have done this without Nathan.  He inspired me to follow my pro-life heart, he is my rock and my biggest supporter and God knew what He was doing when he put us together!

What are some of your goals going forward? How can we help you get the word out

Right now I am really trying to raise money for our Ireland trip.  My fiancé and I will be there for a month doing activism and because pro-life work is my full-time job, we cant necessarily afford it.  But this is crucial work.  This is the vote between life and death for hundreds of thousands of lives.  Anyone who reads this who wants to give to our cause would be very welcome to do so on our GoFundMe page (https://www.gofundme.com/send-us-to-ireland-to-savethe8th) and invite your friends to like our Facebook page “Let Them Live”!  And prayers, as always, will always be needed.