An Actress, a Singer, and a Supermodel Show that True Feminists are Pro-Life

"He told her that she had no right to go against nature. So I have to admit that in a way, I owe my life to that priest." Celine Dion

Celine Dion and her Twin Boys

By Natalie Brumfield
Live Action News

To be a true feminist, you must be pro-life. Real feminism has been around for centuries and has included heroines such as Joan of Arc, Susan B. Anthony, Louisa May Alcott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton — each of them pro-life. Over the years, the image of feminism has changed drastically. 

Today, the ideas of what makes a person a feminist are widely debated. However, there is one issue all true feminists must agree on — that abortion is anti-woman.

Pro-life feminism is the wholeness of the rights of women. It includes the knowledge that baby girls inside the womb are just as important as women outside the womb. True feminists realize that they do not need to “choose” between their life and their child’s life; they have the power to uplift both. 

They know that to be a woman is not to be less than men, but to be beautifully different than men, yet equal. They understand that carrying life does not hold them back at all; in fact, it is the powerful uniqueness that God has given them and it is a precious gift. 

They understand that killing their own preborn children will never be an answer to the challenge of their responsibility. But they see themselves as full and strong to be the inspirers and caretakers of the next generation.

There are many modern faces of pro-life womanhood that you may know quite well. Whether they consider themselves to be classic feminists or modern feminists, or even if they haven’t personally adopted the label, these women all have one thing in common — the understanding that life begins at conception and the knowledge that abortion oppresses women and their children. 

Live Action News continues with stories from pro-life celebrities 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  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.  

Federal Heartbeat Bill Would Ban Abortion Once a Heartbeat is Detected

“The core tenet is this: If a heartbeat can be detected, the baby is protected.” 

By Susan Michele-Hanson
Live Action News

It’s the first time for the United States, and it might allow babies their first breaths. The Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017, known as the “Heartbeat Bill,” (H.R. 490) is the first ever heartbeat bill introduced at the federal level. It’s headed to a hearing next Wednesday, November 1.

The text of the bill is simple, though its implications are profound. H.R. 490 says, in full:

This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for a physician to knowingly perform an abortion: (1) without determining whether the fetus has a detectable heartbeat, (2) without informing the mother of the results, or (3) after determining that a fetus has a detectable heartbeat.

It provides an exception for an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical (but not psychological or emotional) disorder, illness, or condition.

A physician who performs a prohibited abortion is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.

A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.

A baby’s heartbeat is present at 22 days after fertilization (roughly five weeks of pregnancy), and recent scientific studies indicate the heart may begin to beat six days sooner than that, at 16 days. Ultrasounds can detect the heartbeat very shortly after it begins.

Rep. Steve King is not a solo act in this bill, though he is leading the charge. Rep. Trent Franks (AZ) is the original cosponsor and, altogether, there are 169 co-sponsors. While the list predictably holds names of Republicans, the cosponsors so far include one Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson (MN).

Reportedly, other members of Congress, who elected not to co-sponsor the bill, have indicated their support and a likely “yes” vote, should it come to the House floor. This would bring the vote count to 200 currently, but Rep. King expects to gain more supporters as discussion on the bill continues. 218 votes are needed to pass the House.

Should the Heartbeat Bill make it through its current subcommittee, it will be sent to the full Judiciary Committee. If it passes there, the floor vote is expected to take place on January 19, 2018 which is during the week of Roe v. Wade‘s anniversary.

Should the Heartbeat Bill make it through its current subcommittee, it will be sent to the full Judiciary Committee. If it passes there, the floor vote is expected to take place on January 19, 2018 which is during the week of Roe v. Wade‘s anniversary.

When the Heartbeat Bill was launched earlier this year, Rep. King explained that it could not be more scientifically clear when life begins. “The question that has hung before the courts, since 1973 is: ‘When does life begin?’ – we all know when that is,” he said. While science unequivocally states that life begins at fertilization, Rep. King also asserts that anyone should be able to plainly agree and see that there is life when there is a heartbeat.

“The core tenet is this: If a heartbeat can be detected, the baby is protected,” he said.

This bill simply seeks to support what science has shown in the decades since Roe v. Wade was decided, and that is the moment that life begins–with a heartbeat.

ACTIVISM NEEDED: Email and call the two Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee Republicans who are not cosponsors, Karen Handel (GA-6) and Ron DeSantis (FL-6). Ask them to vote the bill out to the full Judiciary Committee next Wednesday. One of them must vote in favor of the Heartbeat Bill in order to outnumber the Democrats on the subcommittee, who reportedly do not support the bill.

Website: Live Action News

Melissa Ohden to be the Keynote Speaker at the Annual Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia on Nov 19th

The Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia has hosted the annual Stand Up For Life Dinner since 1982. This incredible event brings together more than 1,300 people to celebrate the Culture of Life. This event also has a strong youth presence of more than 300 students from area schools. Among our past keynote speakers are recognized politicians, authors, and cultural leaders.

This year, we are excited to have as our speaker Melissa Ohden, abortion survivor. Melissa was fourteen years old when she found out from her adoptive mom that she had literally survived a failed abortion. She will tell us her amazing story and how her life came full circle when she gave birth to her own daughter at the same hospital where her life was almost ended.

The 2017 Award Recipients 

Carly Freeth – John and Harriet Stanton Young Leader Award
Dr. Monique Ruberu – Defender of Life Award
Det. James Wood – Saint John Paul II “Be Not Afraid” Award

Tables and tickets

Individual tickets: $75 

Tables of ten (adults): $700 

Student tickets: $50 

Click here for Sponsorship flyer and information

Paid reservations may be mailed to 88 Pennsylvania Ave., Oreland PA 19075. We look forward to seeing you at the event!  For more information, call 215-885-8150.

   

The Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia affirms the sanctity of life through leadership, service to those making the choice for life, and witness to a culture of love. For more information, please visit their website using this link.

Pennsylvania Action Alert: Please Urge Your Representative to Co-sponsor Down Syndrome Resolution

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

The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation urges you to contact your state representative and urge him or her to co-sponsor State Representative Anita Kulik’s resolution celebrating the lives of people with Down syndrome and condemning the selective abortions of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in utero.

You will find the co-sponsorship memo here:

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

Thank you for all your efforts to protect the most vulnerable among us.

   

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.  

40 Days for Life: Day 30 Saving the Best for Last

By Shawn Carney, President
40 Days for Life

You will hear enthusiastic speakers and reports about what is happening locally and around the world. And sometimes you will actually witness a baby saved from abortion!

That is exactly what happened at the end of a rally that 40 Days for Life board member Tibor Baksy visited in North Carolina. It’s an amazing story!

Fayetteville, North Carolina

A beautiful morning got even better when a couple at the Fayetteville 40 Days for Life rally shared their story of adopting a baby whose mother had once contemplated abortion.

It was truly a love story, made possible by the prayers of volunteers and the grace and mercy of God.

A short time later, “we were at the end of the rally, and our deacon was closing with prayer,” said Karinna, the Fayetteville coordinator. “He finished and asked if we could stay a little longer since a lady was reaching out to a client and she was starting to walk over.”

A young woman with an abortion appointment, who was there with her mother, spoke to the volunteers – who learned that the mother was against the abortion. Still, both women eventually walked into Planned Parenthood.

“I asked a volunteer what happens normally in a situation like this and she told me Planned Parenthood is very persuasive once the mothers go inside,” said Tibor (on the right in the photo above).

Karinna said the deacon, Tibor and a number of others knelt in prayer

“After about 20 minutes, the young woman returned to say she had chosen life for the baby,” Tibor said. “We were elated and emotional. The power of prayer is amazing!”

“It was God’s work. Only He could have reached her heart,” Karinna said. “God deserves all the glory.”

“My drive home took five hours and during that time I said many prayers of thanks, shed some tears and reflected on a beautiful morning where the grace of God was so visibly evident,” said Tibor.

“I am grateful to God for the volunteers, for His calling me to this ministry and for all the gifts He continues to bestow.”

Website:40 Days for 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  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.  

National Pro-Life Conference to be Held in Fayetteville, N.C. Nov 30 - Dec 2nd

from Rev Dr. Clenard H. Childress Jr
L.E.A.R.N Northeast BlackGenocide.org


L.E.A.R.N. Inc., with partnering sponsors, Family Values Resource Institute and Heritage House is hosting a three-day National Pro-Life Conference Event to ignite a nation-wide REVIVAL! It will be held at Rivers of Living Water Church of God located at 1764 Bingham Drive, Fayetteville, N.C. on November 30, December 1 and 2.

We are inviting Christians of all cultures, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, pastors, congregations, youth teams and youth leaders to attend this very informative and IGNITING event. There will be nearly a dozen free workshops to choose from; free gift bags will be filled with materials from all participating Pro-Life vendors at the Saturday Ignited! service.

On Thursday, November 30, at 7:00 PM, we will kick-off the event with Guest Speaker, Elder Dr. Levon Yuille, Pastor of The Bible Church in Ypsilanti, MI, and President of The National Black Pro-Life Congress.

On Friday morning, December 1, from 9:00 AM – 12:00 noon, workshops will be offered specifically for Pastors and Youth Leaders yet open to all. Refreshments will be provided.

On Friday evening, at 7:00 PM, we will host two Revival Services simultaneously:

1. Service in the Main Sanctuary for the general public with Guest Speaker, Evangelist Dr. Carolyn De Jesus, Founder of Post-Abortion Team Ministry, former President of Fayetteville Right to Life, and Ignite Revival for Life Conference Event Coordinator with the theme: "Igniting for Revival."

2. Service in the Student Center for the Youth (12+) with Guest Speaker, Scott Heldreth, Director of Heart for The Next Generation Impact Teams out of Indiana.

On Saturday, December 2, starting at 9:00 AM-12:00 noon- workshops with National Pro-Life Leaders of several organizations such as AFTERMATH, Hope Ministry, Life Education and Resource Network, Inc., Heritage House '76, and more. Ryan Bomberger, Founder and Director of the Radiance Foundation will address the youth.

At 12:10 PM, we will return to the Main Sanctuary for our last revival service led by Key Note Speaker, Dr. Clenard Childress, Jr., Pastor of New Calvary Church in Montclair, NJ, and Founder & Director of LEARN Northeast with the theme: "Ignited!"

Free limited childcare provided for newborn-age 4 during both evening services. No childcare during Friday morning workshops. We are currently making arrangements for childcare on Saturday, but no guarantees yet. There is a limited amount of free exhibit space remaining. All requests for free vendor/exhibit space must be made by November 3.

We hope you will make plans to be with us. For more information, you may call:

(910) 868-5327 - Dr. Johnny M. Hunter, DD or 

(910) 916-0032- Dr. Carolyn De Jesus

This will prove to be an extraordinary event. Start interceding now and by all means attempt to be here with us. America needs the church to live out its ordained purpose now more than ever. The Black Church must admit we have been negligent in our duty to be visible in the public square on the behalf of the last segment of our society that has been denied access to the American Dream, children in the womb. Let's assemble ourselves together for this prolific event.

 

The purpose of this web site is to expose the disproportionate amount of Black babies destroyed by the abortion industry. For every two African American women that get pregnant one will choose to abort. A Black baby is 5 times more likely to be killed in the womb than a White Baby. For more information, please use this link.

High School Backs Down and Allows Students to Form Pro-Life Group After Facing Lawsuit

By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

Pennsylvania students began a pro-life club at Parkland High School this fall after nearly two years of contending with the school district.

Senior Grace Schairer and recent graduate Elizabeth Castro filed a lawsuit against Parkland High School earlier this year, claiming their school administrators violated their free speech rights by refusing to allow them to begin a pro-life club.

The teens said administrators initially denied their application for a pro-life club and later agreed to approve it only if they gave up certain free speech rights.

The Morning Call reports the students and school board recently reached a settlement, and the pro-life club Trojans for Life now is functioning at Parkland High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“The settlement provides that the student club … will be established as a provisional non-curricular-related student club for a period of two years,” the district said in a news release.

“After two years, if the club continues to have active members, holds regular meetings and continues to have a faculty adviser, the club will be afforded full non-provisional club status. The two-year provisional status applies to all newly created non-curricular-related student clubs.

“As with any other student club, the Parkland School District administration’s approval and recognition of the club as a provisional club is not an endorsement or promotion of the club’s mission, goals, objectives or activities.”

Schairer and Castro said they tried to begin the Students for Life club last school year, but their assistant principal told them the club was too “political” and “controversial.”

“We were denied simply because we are pro-life,” Castro said. “As a club, our purpose is to create a life-affirming culture at our school, educate our peers on the issue of life, hold diaper drives to support pregnant and parenting students, and become a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

Here’s more from the report:

The lawsuit, which was filed July 11, claimed that district officials offered to approve the club if Castro and Schairer rewrote their mission statement and agreed to drop plans to hold fundraisers at school for religious groups and a memorial service at a local abortion clinic.

They also wanted the club to restrict communications to its members and accept that certain activities, including volunteering at pregnancy resource centers, be subject to school approval.

Life News report continues

Pro-Abortion Liberals Walk Out After Gov’t Committee Picks Pro-Life Chair

Pro-Life MP Rachael Harder

By Lianne Laurence and Claire Chretien 

Life Site News

Ottowa: Liberal MPs immediately walked out of a House Committee on the Status of Women meeting Tuesday when a pro-life Conservative MP was nominated to chair it.

They opposed Rachael Harder, an MP representing Lethbridge, Alberta, leading the women’s committee because she is against abortion.

The Liberals hold a majority on the committee and could have voted Harder out. Their walkout shut down the meeting and prevented a vote.

They also criticized Conservative leader Andrew Scheer for nominating Harder, according to the Toronto Star. Traditionally, the opposition party gets to pick this committee’s chair.

The New Democratic Party joined the Liberals in the Harder protest. NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson, a committee Vice-Chair, said Harder’s pro-life views would make it “impossible” for her to represent the committee, reported CTV.

“Reproductive choice is at the foundation of women’s equality,” said Malcolmson, and Harder wouldn’t be able “to communicate and articulate our work.”

But Campaign Life Coalition, Canada’s national pro-life lobby group, says the Liberal walkout is evidence of the party’s abortion extremism.

“The Liberals’ problem with Rachel Harder isn’t because she has pro-life leanings; it’s because they are pro-abortion,” Johanne Brownrigg, Ottawa lobbyist for Campaign Life, told LifeSiteNews in an email.

“The NDP and Liberal MPs are not interested in representing women on the Status of Women committee. They are interested in representing abortion on the Status of Women committee,” she said.

Indeed, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference on Tuesday he backed the walkout, reported the Star.

“Quite frankly, one would hope that the committee for the status of women would have a spokesperson who would be able to stand up and unequivocally defend women’s rights,” said Trudeau.

Life Site News article continues

Parents Reject Abortion, Mom Undergoes Experimental Surgery to Treat Her Son Who Suffers From Severe Spina Bifida

By Dave Andrusko
National Right to Life

Denise Grady is a first-rate Health and medicine reporter at The New York Times. I love reading her stories for her ability to break incredibly complicated medical stories down into layman’s language and to inject a dose of her own humanity.

Which brings us to a pair of terrific complementary stories written by Grady that recently ran in the Times. Both were about still experimental surgery performed on Lexi Royer and her unborn son who’d been prenatally diagnosed with a severe form of spina bifida. As Grady explained

Spina bifida occurs early, at three to four weeks of pregnancy, when the tissue forming the spinal column should fold into a tube but does not close properly. There are 1,500 to 2,000 cases a year in the United States.

In the case of Mrs. Royer’s 24-week unborn baby, “The defect was big and severe, and the brain stem was being pulled down into the spinal column.” We’re told that “termination” was offered. Lexi and her husband Joshuwa said no.

The surgery took place in September at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Prenatal surgery for spina bifida, as readers of NRL News Today know, is nothing new.

But it wasn’t until a famous study was published in 2011 that those who wondered if the risk/benefits of prenatal surgery outweighed the risks/benefits of operating after birth learned that prenatal surgery was significantly better. 

“The percentage of children who could walk independently rose to 40 percent from 20 percent,” Grady explained, “and the need for a shunt was cut in half, to 40 percent from 82 percent.”

In Grady’s first, more technical story, “To Mend a Birth Defect, Surgeons Operate on the Patient Within the Patient,” she explains how the new prenatal surgery differs from the old.

During the standard prenatal surgery for spina bifida, surgeons cut open the woman’s abdomen and uterus to reach the fetus. But the newer, experimental approach is different.

Dr. Belfort opened Mrs. Royer’s lower abdomen, but not her uterus. Instead, he eased the uterus out of her body and inserted the fetoscope, and then, through another slit, surgical tools. The doctors drained out the amniotic fluid and pumped in carbon dioxide to keep the uterus expanded, giving them room to work and allowing them to see better and cauterize when needed.

I encourage you to read both stories, but especially the second– “Lights, Camera and, Yes, Music: Reporting From the Operating Room as Doctors Perform Fetal Surgery.”

National Right to Life article continues


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  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.  

In Loving Memory and Tribute to a Pro-Life Pioneer and Defender of Life

"Joe Wall was an amazing man. Intelligent, kind hearted, well read, persevering, brave and most of all a defender of life!" Dr. Monique Ruberu 

Voices for the Unborn pauses to remember a brother in Christ and dear friend who was a tireless defender of children in the womb.

Joe Wall was a pro-life pioneer, prayer warrior, writer and historian. He was employed by the city of Philadelphia in the Comptroller's office until his retirement. Even during his working career, he was a pro-life activist. His Christian witness and prayers saved many unborn lives.

The story is told of Joe kneeling in the cold, wet snow on a blustery winter day. He was a lone prayer warrior that day, as he knelt in front of the NE Women's Center on Roosevelt Boulevard. A woman looked down at him from a third floor window. As she saw Joe kneeling in the snow, she was moved by his sacrifice of love.

The vision never left her. Even though the choice was made to abort her baby that day, Joe learned 12 years later through Jean Neary, a fellow pro-lifer, that his prayers were answered when this woman made the decision to choose life when she became pregnant soon after the abortion.

Joe had a great sense of humor and was Irish from the top of his head to the souls of his feet. He was an inspiration to pro-lifers. All who knew him were blessed and encouraged to continue on to the higher calling in Christ Jesus.

The following is an excerpt from the memorial handout of his funeral Mass:

Early on in life, Joe became an advocate for the dignity of life.  A major concern to Joe was that the unborn needed an advocate and he decided to give his life to this cause.  As an advocate for the unborn, Joe traveled traveled throughout the world, training others to protect and defend the unborn.  

He suffered a great deal and was imprisoned seventeen times in eleven different countries.  One could say he was an expert in local penal systems throughout the world.  He would often quip, "You can judge the kindness of the local people on how they treated prisoners".

If you were fortunate to have walked with Joe, you experienced his intellect, his wit and true faithfulness to his beliefs.  A devout soldier of Christ.

Joe blazed a trail for those who stand for the sanctity of life will continue to follow until all unborn babies are safe from abortion.  Thank you, Joe, for your love for the Lord and your dedication to His call to serve the "least of these".

And the Lord will say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant...enter in the joy of thy Lord".  Matthew 25:21