News and Information from New Jersey Right to Life

Marie Tasy, Executive Director
New Jersey Right to Life

Upcoming Events

• On Wednesday, June 8, I will be giving a one-hour Legislative Advocacy Workshop sponsored by the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Newark at 7:30 p.m. at the Newark Archdiocesan Center, 171 Clifton Avenue, Newark, NJ 07104. 

• Please plan to attend to learn basic knowledge about the legislative process and acquire effective techniques for communicating with your elected officials about the 20/20 Project and issues of concern to Catholic citizens. Please RSVP by calling 973 493 4350. 

• Please mark your calendars for our next 20/20 Legislative Advocacy Day on Thursday, June 27 at the State House in Trenton. More details will be forthcoming. 

• Please also mark your calendars for the 20/20 Vision Conference, Saturday, October 1, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Evangel Church, 1251 Terrill Road, Scotch Plains, NJ.  (map)  For more information, please use this link.  

Pending Legislation

Take Action to Support A3452/S2606

• The NJ Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. You can send a pre-written email message from the legislation page of our website here 

Take Action to oppose ACR119/SCR78

• A Resolution to Commemorate Women's Access to Reproductive Health and Celebrate the Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision. You can send a pre-written email message from the legislation page of our website here 

The NJ Physician Assisted Suicide bill, A2451

• As reported previously this bill  has been reintroduced in the Assembly and now has 11 sponsors. A Senate bill has yet to be reintroduced. Please contact your legislators and urge them to Vote No on A2451 if it comes up for a vote in the Assembly. You can find your legislators here or here.

Below are a list of Assembly sponsors for A2451 the NJ Physician Assisted Suicide Bill.

• Burzichelli, John J. as Primary Sponsor
• Eustace, Tim as Primary Sponsor
• Danielsen, Joe as Primary Sponsor
• McKeon, John F. as Co-Sponsor
• Mosquera, Gabriela M. as Co-Sponsor
• Spencer, L. Grace as Co-Sponsor
• Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr. as Co-Sponsor
• Jimenez, Angelica M. as Co-Sponsor
• Chaparro, Annette as Co-Sponsor
• Johnson, Gordon M. as Co-Sponsor
• Jasey, Mila M. as Co-Sponsor

Oppose Taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood

• The annual battle over taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood is also in full swing. Please email and call your legislators and tell them to vote no on these two bills. Also call the Governor and thank him for his steadfast commitment in vetoing these bills. Please ask him to continue to veto these bills if they reach his desk. Thank you.

• A3492/S2277, Provides Supplemental appropriaton to DOH for $7,453,000.00 for family planning services.

• A1963/S1017, Provides medicaid coverage for family planning services to individuals with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. 

                                                 

Find your legislator here or here

Governor Christie: 609 292-6000

Email the Governor here

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, use this link.  

Woman Passes Away Who Adopted 58 Children, Mama Irene Was an Inspiration to Many Mothers

Mama Irene Bertoni

By Micaiah Bilger  
Life News

Few have left a legacy as strong as Irene Bertoni who began adopting children in Italy during World War II.

During her lifetime, Bertoni adopted 58 children and inspired dozens of other families to do the same, the Catholic News Agency reports. Bertoni died on May 15, 2016, at age 93.

Known as Mama Irene to many, Bertoni felt called by God to become a mother to adopted children when she was 18 and witnessing the horrors of World War II in Europe, according to the report. She began by adopting two abandoned children, but her outreach quickly grew. In the coming years, she would adopt 56 other children, and also help to set up Nomadelfia, a Catholic community in Italy that takes in abandoned children and provides them with educations, stable homes and families, according to the report.

Elisa Tirabassi, Bertoni’s adopted great-granddaughter, remembered that her kitchen always smelled of warm coffee and had a “relaxed atmosphere where calm reigned and we lived in peace.” She told Avvenire, the Italian bishop conference’s newspaper, that Bertoni sacrificed a lot to make sure they had everything they needed.

“Finally when dinner was served, she sat down in front of me with her wonderful and disarming smile which shown from a face from which seemed to disappear all the signs left by time and her intense life,” she said. “[Her] life mission was always to do what is good.”

Read the rest of Mama Irene's story

Actress Stacey Dash Was on the Table Ready for the Abortion When God Told Her to Get Up

By Micaiah Bilger  
Life News

Stacey Dash is one of the few actresses in Hollywood who is openly pro-life, but there was a time when she did not think that way and almost aborted her son.

Dash is best known for starring in the film “Clueless” and appearing on “CSI”, “Single Ladies” and other TV shows. She also is a Fox News contributor. In a recent interview with People Magazine, Dash revealed how her early life was full of troubles – physical abuse, drugs, suicidal thoughts and more.

“I couldn’t find happiness,” she told the magazine. “It got to a point where I didn’t even want to live anymore. The voice in my head was saying, ‘There’s nothing here for you.’”

Dash said a family acquaintance molested her for the first time when she was just 4 years old. She said she began doing cocaine when she was 16. Then, in her 20s, Dash said she suffered continuous physical abuse from a boyfriend.

Though she eventually escaped the abusive relationship, her feelings of depression and worthlessness followed her. When she became pregnant with her new boyfriend, musician Christopher Williams, Dash said she decided to have an abortion.

“When I got pregnant, I was doing a lot of drugs and I didn’t want to live. I wanted to die. I was going to have an abortion. I was crying and I said to God, ‘Please tell me what to do.’ And God told me, ‘Keep your son.’ I ripped the IV out of my arm and I said, ‘I’m keeping my son.’”

Today, Dash’s son Austin is 25. She said she is honest with her children about the mistakes in her past. “I let them know that I survived,” Dash told People. “I’m not a victim. And there is nothing they can’t overcome.”

Dash said her new book, “There Goes My Social Life”, has more details about her early life and her journey to healing.

The African American actress has been an outspoken advocate for life in the past few years, following in the footsteps of pro-life celebrities like Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer. Last October, Dash came down hard on the abortion giant Planned Parenthood for targeting black women for abortions.

Stacey Dash's story continues here




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

Select Panel to HHS: Planned Parenthood and StemExpress Broke the Law

By Cheryl Sullenger
Operation Rescue

Washington, D.C. — Two letters have been sent to the Department of Health and Human Services by the Select Panel on Infant Lives seeking further investigation and remedies for violations it uncovered in the course of its investigation into Planned Parenthood’s trade in aborted baby remains. The investigation was initiated after the Center for Medical Progress released undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials haggling over the price of aborted baby remains.

Committee Chairman Marsha Blackburn notified HHS officials that it had obtained evidence that for over a five-year period, two Planned Parenthood organizations and a third abortion facility violated HIPAA privacy laws by allowing employees of the organ procurement company StemExpress to access private patient records that clearly identified women by name and birth date.

continue reading at http://www.operationrescue.org

Come to Harrisburg on June 7 - Rally for Life - Spread the Word and Bring a Friend!‏

From Ted Meehan
Pro-Life Union of Delaware County

We have a chance to pass life saving legislation this year. A Ban on Dismemberment Abortions, which also shortens the period for elective abortions from 6 months to 5 months, is ready for a vote.
The bill will receive over 130 votes in the House - passing overwhelmingly. But, it needs to be called up. It has been "on hold" since April 11. And, once the focus becomes the Budget, we may lose the chance to move this bill. It is HB 1948.
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To assist our pro-life allies in the legislature, we are hosting a statewide Rally for Life on the steps of the Rotunda in Harrisburg on June 7, from 11 am until Noon. We have lined up magnificent speakers. Steve Freind will head up a strong list of inspiring pro-life presenters, including Dr. Monique Ruberu, Kurt Kondrich (father of Chloe of "Chloe's Law), Dr. Antone Raymundo, and others. But, our success depends upon YOU. Your presence is a living witness in favor of Life that cannot be ignored by our elected officials. If you care enough to come to our Capitol to ask them to move the bill, they will do it. They are watching to see if you come! Planned Parenthood came in April. That's why the bill was stopped. Now its out turn. And we want that bill to run!

Buses are coming from all over Pennsylvania, and people are also carpooling. Check with your local Pro-Life organization for carpools or buses. 

We have contingents coming from Pittsburgh, Allentown, Philadelphia, and all over Central Pennsylvania. But, we need YOU!

I am asking YOU to accept the challenge of getting at least TWO PEOPLE to Harrisburg. We have a number of churches and local organizations, and if we can average 2 from each one, we will have a resounding success. To me, TWO PEOPLE sounds pretty achievable if you are willing to make the effort. Please make the effort. You can change history.

 I can't emphasize enough how important it is for YOU to be there - and to get one more person to come with you.

God bless each one of you, and may the Lord of Life smile on your efforts and bless them with success!

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Like a Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness

by Birgit Jones
Catholic Stand 

You have probably heard the old philosophical question, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it still make a sound?” Obviously, whether or not anyone saw a tree fall or heard it crash to the ground, a tree, planted in the ground, went from being vertical to being horizontal. It was standing and now it is not, resulting in a dramatic impact on the surrounding environment.

The same reasoning can be applied to abortion. There are no witnesses in the womb to watch what happens to an unborn baby during a brutal dismemberment or chemical attack. The point is not whether or not this act is seen or heard or experienced by society. The issue at hand is that abortion affects society as a whole regardless of their reaction.

Crying Out Against Abortion Is Not Emotional

The real argument isn’t if we are affected by violence within the womb on an emotional level. Regardless of how we shield ourselves from the horror, society is suffering. The world is made a harsher place every time this barbaric behavior is repeated. It may not appear to be so, but it hardens hearts a bit more each and every time it happens. The dignity of women and new life is cheapened.

It is reflexive nature on the part of humans to turn away from the worst aspects of this world. We tend to turn to the lighter side of life. For example, this premise is illustrated by the countless pictures of fluffy kittens and photo-shopped landscapes that persistently stream across our Facebook feed. There’s something comforting about the innocuous.

article conitnues at http://www.catholicstand.com

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

Planned Parenthood Celebration Jolted by Abortion Survivor

Gianna Jessen

by Ted Harvey
Catholic Education Resource Center

She sings the anthem to applause, then her secret is revealed to stunned silence.

I want to share with you an awesome experience I had in the Colorado House of Representatives on May 8. It is a humbling experience to look back and realize that God used me to play a role in His divine orchestration.

I was leaving the House chambers for the weekend when our Democrat speaker of the House announced that the coming Monday would be the final day of this year's General Assembly. He went on to state that there were still numerous resolutions on the calendar which we would need to be addressed prior to the summer adjournment. Interestingly, he specifically mentioned that one of the resolutions we would be hearing was being carried by the House Majority Leader Alice Madden, honoring the 90th anniversary of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.

As a strong pro-life legislator I was disgusted by the idea that we would pass a resolution honoring this 90-year legacy of genocide. I drove home that night wondering what I could say that might pierce the darkness during the debate on this heinous resolution.

On Saturday morning, I took my 8-year-old son up to the mountains to go white-water rafting. The trip lasted all day. As we were driving home, exhausted and hungry, I remembered that I had accepted an invitation to attend a fundraising dinner that night for a local pro-life organization. One of my most respected mentors had personally called me several weeks earlier and asked me to attend, so I knew I'd have to clean up and head over.

article continues at http://www.catholiceducation.org

Ted Harvey is Assistant Minority Leader in the Colorado House of Representatives and is currently running for the State Senate. Visit his web site here. E-mail him here.

Archbishop: Obama Engaging in “Bloodless” Pro-Abortion Persecution of Catholics

By Justin Petrisek
Life News

The Obama administration’s use of the HHS mandate to attack the religious freedom of Catholic educational institutions and other organizations is part of a “bloodless” persecution in the U.S. of those seeking to bring the “healing balm” of truth, love and mercy into our culture, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori recently stated.

“Just because this polite persecution is bloodless, we should not imagine that it is victimless,” Archbishop Lori said at the ceremonial opening of the newly-expanded Divine Mercy University in Arlington, Va., on May 19.

Archbishop Lori noted that what Pope Francis calls “polite persecution” in a free society arose due to the exclusion of faith from public schools, our laws, court decisions and government policies — such as the HHS mandate — that seek to impose limits on religion. The mandate forces employers to provide morally objectionable health insurance that covers contraceptives, abortifacients and sterilization despite their deeply held beliefs.

In his address, titled “Religious Freedom in the Year of Mercy,” Archbishop Lori, who is also the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, spoke on the connections between the Year of Mercy invoked by Pope Francis and the current struggles for religious freedom in the United States. The archbishop warned that the “polite persecution” eroding religious freedom in the U.S. is creating a “merciless society.”

Many were hoping this month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on the HHS mandate would be a victory for religious freedom, but the legal challenges against the Obama administration are set to continue. On May 16, the Court unanimously vacated the appellate court decisions and remanded the cases challenging the mandate back to the lower courts. The case brought by the Little Sisters of the Poor received the most media attention, but a number of Catholic colleges and schools were also plaintiffs in the cases heard before the Supreme Court.

Alongside the family, faithful Catholic schools and universities act as “structures that stand between the power of the state and the individual conscience,” Archbishop Lori continued. 

These structures are vital for human flourishing, yet they are constantly faced with external threats that seek to destroy and marginalize them. These institutions are also the ones experiencing the greatest threats to their religious freedoms, he later said, applauding the efforts of the Little Sisters of the Poor and Catholic educators who have opposed the HHS mandate.

“Let’s be clear what religious freedom means. It does not mean the freedom merely to escape cooperation with evil by the skin of one’s teeth,” Archbishop Lori said. “Rather, it means the space necessary to create in our institutions a true culture of life [and] a culture that respects the teachings of the faith.”

Life News article continues here

Be Part of the Movement! Help Generation Life Spread the Chastity & Pro-Life Message

Drawing June 22, 2016 at Generation Life Banquet 

Grand Prize: $10,000

2nd Prize: $2,500

3rd Prize: $1,000

 Only 1,000 Tickets being sold!

Tickets are $100

The demand for Generation Life's young adult speakers continues to grow and we urgently need your financial support to meet this demand.

The Family Life Educational Foundation funds public and social media campaign that persuade expectant mothers to give birth to their children, as well as  public advertising campaigns with the pro-life and chastity messages. 

For additional information and to purchase tickets, please click on the image below.

       

  

Generation Life is a movement of young people committed to building a Culture of Life by educating our peers on the pro-life and chastity messages and developing new leaders for the pro-life movement. We believe that by spreading the message of chastity, we can end abortion at the root cause.

     

Help Us Safeguard Taxpayer Dollars from Abortion

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation 

A state representative is planning to introduce a bill that would threaten your tax dollars. Representative Steven Santarsiero (D-Bucks County) is circulating a co-sponsorship memo for a bill that would repeal Act 13 of 2013.

If you will recall, Act 13 is the common sense law that ensures that no taxpayer funding of abortion will occur in the health insurance exchange created in Pennsylvania under Obamacare. We must safeguard this important law!

Please call and email your state representative with this urgent message: 

"Please do not co-sponsor Rep. Santarsiero's bill to repeal Act 13 of 2013. I don't want my tax dollars to pay for abortion." (The bill does not have a number yet.)

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

Follow this link to view the co-sponsorship memo for this dangerous bill.

Thank you for making these critical calls and sending these important 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, use this link.  

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