Abortion Abhortion

"It's a Wonderful Life,"

2009-12-25T12:38:00.003-05:00

Like anyone else at Christmas time, after Christmas Eve dinner my family sits down to watch George Bailey try and lasso the moon, Clarence earn his wings, and Mary Hatch put together the perfect honeymoon.

But, I often wonder. There was such a difference in the world when George Bailey wasn't born. Mary grew to be an old maid. Henry drowned at 9, falling through the ice. The druggist, Mr. Gower, was arrested for poisening some little kid. The town was a moonopoly owned by old man Potter- nothing but shacks, bars and houses of ill-repute.

Such a big gap because of one person... and we're missing one-third of this generation. I'm not entirely sure how to explain how overwhelming that idea is.
Food for thought, mostly.

It just amazes me that we'll never be the world we should, because 48 million people have been aborted. As Clarence said, "Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, let's also celebrate the gift of life we've been given. And let's use that advantage to defend the right of others to live. It truly is a wonderful life.

May God bless you all this Christmas season.

Copenhagen and a can of worms.

2009-12-14T11:25:00.002-05:00

Global warming. Whether or not you believe it's caused by man, or that it even exists, is up to you.

However, leaders seem to agree that the core of the issue is population growth. Our carbon footprints are causing the glaciers to melt, you know. China will probably be the first to bring up the topic, since they seem to have no qualms about the amorality of population control.

"The Chinese newspaper China Daily quotes Zhao saying that China's population program has made a great historic contribution to the well-being of society. China has reduced the number of births by 400 million since instituting its one-child "family planning" policies, and this has resulted in 18 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions per year, Zhao continued." [lifesitenews]

China seems to think it's a "blind spot" which leaders don't like to discuss, but that "population and climate change are intertwined," and so it is a necessary discussion at this conference.

How will other world leaders react? Some may shy away from it. Most likely what will happen is increased spending for "family planning" andn pushing contraceptives.

My suggestion to the world? If you don't want people baby-making, stop selling sex like 25-cent suckers. If we didn't live in such a sex-driven world, a population boom wouldn't be occuring.

Think about it. 54.8% of children born to women between 20-24 are out of wedlock. [child trends databank]
Teenage birth rates are higher than ever.
Remove the scorn from bearing illegitimate children, and guess what? People are going to have babies.
Tell people if they take a magic pill, they won't get pregnant. Show sex on TV and put it in music and advertisements and everywhere. People are going to start copulating like crazy. Sex is first and foremost for pro-creation, and some people find that out the hard way.

If people waited until they got married to reproduce, the birth rate would surely be affected. Maybe we should stress chastity and the idea that having sex leads to children. Maybe we shouldn't stuff sex in people's faces and inject it into society. If sex is portrayed as good and having children is bad, there's something seriously wrong with the world we're living in.

But I digress.
Living in America I should have no reason to fear a one-child, one-family rule ever coming about. But it's not just about America. The freedom of women to reproduce all over the world may be affected because human life is just too costly for the environment.

I'm confused though. If we want to keep the environment protected for the future generation, shouldn't there be a generation to inherit it?

Serious hypocrisy.

2009-10-16T12:13:00.002-04:00

"The last patient I saw one day was 23 weeks pregnant. I performed an uncomplicated D&E procedure. Dutifully, I went through the task of reassembling the fetal parts in the metal tray. It is an odd ritual that abortion providers perform - required as a clinical safety measure to ensure that nothing is left behind in the uterus to cause a complication - but it also permits us in an odd way to pay respect to the fetus (feelings of awe are not uncommon when looking at miniature fingers and fingernails, heart, intestines, kidneys, adrenal glands), even as we simultaneously have complete disregard for it. Then I rushed upstairs to take overnight call on labour and delivery. The first patient that came in was prematurely delivering at 23-24 weeks. As her exact gestational age was in question, the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team resuscitated the premature newborn and brought it to the NICU. Later, along with the distraught parents, I watched the neonate on the ventilator. I thought to myself how bizarre it was that I could have legally dismembered this fetus-now-newborn if it were inside its mother's uterus - but that the same kind of violence against it now would be illegal, and unspeakable." Lisa Harris, abortionist

I was reading an article on a pregnant abortionist. She specializes, I think, in second-trimester abortions. She spoke of how, while preforming an abortion on a women just as far along as she is, the child inside of her started kicking for the first time. "Instantly, tears were streaming from my eyes - without me - meaning my conscious brain - even being aware of what was going on. I felt as if my response had come entirely from my body, bypassing my usual cognitive processing completely. A message seemed to travel from my hand and my uterus to my tear ducts. It was an overwhelming feeling - a brutally visceral response - heartfelt and unmediated by my training or my feminist pro-choice politics."

She stated that she, and most abortionists, agree with pro-lifers- that abortion is violent, gruesome, and murder. She said the pro-choice arguements made "don't accurately reflect the full extent of our experience of abortion and in fact contradicts an enormous part of it." She says, "anti-abortion discourse and imagery that may actually be more closely aligned to our experience but is based in values we do not share."

Translation? "We know it's a baby, we know it's a violent death; we just don't care."

She believes if the pro-abort front can accept that yes, it is a baby and it is violent, the movement will gain more stability. The child has no legal rights and thus the mother comes first. If they can accept this, then she believes they can regain much lost stability.

Maybe she's right. However, I believe an essay like this can help our cause. No one who truly knows that the fetus is a baby can rationalize abortion in a moral sense. For Lisa Harris, abortions have gotten harder to preform. "Doing second trimester abortions did not get easier after my pregnancy; in fact, dealing with little infant parts of my born baby only made dealing with dismembered fetal parts sadder."

We need to remember to pray for the conversion of abortionists and abortion clinic workers. This woman is truly confuse, and I'm sure others are as well.

Fact: Even Pro-choicers don't always support "choice."

2009-10-14T12:41:00.002-04:00

Irene Vilar has written a memoir about her 15 abortions, and how she was an "addict," because it was her way to rebel against her husband. She would deliberately get pregnant just to abort, because her husband, 34 years her senior, didn't want children. [I still don't understand that logic.]

I honestly find it hard to believe she had 15 abortions and still gave birth to two healthy children. I think she might just be lying.

Even so, the pro-choicers are up in arms. Reading some of the comments on the article on her book, you can see that they hate a woman like this coming forward and telling such a tale with a smile on her face.

Looking at some of the comments, from "pro-choicers" I have to wonder.

15 abortions...I agree with the right to choose, but this is insane. I agree with Moggie Mumm, that it is all about money. DON'T LET HER MAKE A PROFIT OFF THIS, DON'T BUY THE BOOK!!!!!! WE REALLY DON'T NEED HER MEMOIR ON MOTHERHOOD!!!!!!
- runaboutmare, Columbus, OH USA, 14/10/2009 8:20

"Total disgust with this story. I believe in a womans right to choose but 15 times is apalling when there are women out there that cannot get pregnant that could take the eventual children from those pregnancies and give them a wonderful life. She had a choice to take birth contol pills and not get pregnant we are lucky in the western world to have those choices and not be persecuted for them. Women the world over are dying for that right and she abuses it! There is no justification for 15 terminations what so ever You should not take abortion lightly and for it to be used as a form of birth control is apalling.

- Mrs Lilley, Manchester, 14/10/2009 7:13"

I am and always have been pro-choice but this woman has abused an option for women that so many fought long and hard for. It is not and was never intended to be a form of contraception.

I am appalled that the medial profession allowed her to have so many abortions. Weren't they alarmed that she was having way too many and that maybe she needed some psychological help?

And I do not see the point in her publicising her story as it isn't something to be proud of. Quite the opposite.
- cymraeges, ozzieland, 13/10/2009 22:11

I wonder why one abortion is okay, why three abortions are okay, why five abortions are okay, but 15 is considered ridiculous and repulsive. Don't get me wrong, it is repulsive. But why must it be an outrageous number before someone draws a line? If it is just a blob of tissue, if it is not a life in the eyes of the pro-choicers, why should it matter how many times a piece of skin gets removed?

I think what really gets the pro-abortion movement in trouble with this woman's testimony is a lot of abortion rights supporters are asking, "If she couldn't be accountable, why wouldn't the abortion clinics be? Surely they'd have her medical history, and surely they would refuse to preform such a procedure after so many had been done. Surely there must be a limit."
What? Surprised that abortionists don't have morals? Perhaps they are in it for the money, and not to help women?
What a thought.
No wonder pro-choicers are up in arms.

In memory of "The Sign Guy," Jim Pouillon.

2009-09-12T13:53:00.002-04:00

Jim Pouillon, with his walker and oxygen tank, constantly reminded townspeople of the gruesome truth that is abortion. He wasn't violent. He had been spit on. Doused in urine. Pelted with condoms.
He didn't retaliate. He didn't fight back. He just stood with his signs, day after day, proclaiming the truth and witnessing to life.

Do I agree with using graphic pictures? Not necessarily.
Though after being at the mill today, it brought a whole reality to what was happening. I looked at the grotesquely torn head of a beautiful baby on that sign, and it reminded me that I wasn't there for myself. Those women being escorted in were about to allow that same heinous thing happen to their child. I started to cry, honestly. I keep my eyes down and closed for longer than a standard blink, in an attempt to keep calm and stay focused on prayer.

Jim is an inspiration. Honestly, as much as I would like to claim I'd die for the pro-life cause, I'm not entirely sure if I would. I've never had a bad experience while pro-lifing. I really hope I have the strength that it wouldn't deter me from future endeavors. But I would not find a spot, every day, to stand and hold signs all day. I don't have that kind of dedication.
Jim Pouillon did. Even with his emphysema and leg braces, he made the effort to get out and raise awareness in the community.

Drake, the gunman, did in fact murder him for this reason.

It's interesting to see the comments on newspaper's websites. I remember when Tiller was killed, even pro-lifers sent the message, "This is wrong. He's in our prayers." Pro-choicers, however, collectively said of Pouillon, "What do you think will happen when you provoke people all the time? He got what he was asking for."

Honestly, though, we need to stop pinning each other as malicious, mean-spirited, and cruel. Depending on which news source you referred to, Pouillon could sound like a total creep maniac, or he could be painted as a martyr and a saint.

The fact of the matter is there will always be crazies on both sides who will incite violence. Now, to be truly pro-life, you should also be pro-peace. Keeps you from hypocrisy.

At any rate, let's keep Jim in our prayers, as well as his gunman. Everyone needs prayers, not just the righteous. Pray for his gunman's repentance, all. Everyone needs salvation.

Especially those babies.

Praying in Pittsburgh.

2009-09-12T13:25:00.003-04:00

I went with Students for Life this morning to the mills in Pittsburgh. There was a good sixty of us, with maybe eight counsellors. We got a special blessing at Mass and were on our way. I broke my record of most consecutive prayers said, ever. I don't think I've ever spent four hours straight in prayer.

Anyways, I think they must be used to our presence there. No one really asked any questions, or made crass remarks. The Deathscorts didn't even bother us. Granted, I don't know how much they got in the way of the counsellors, but they didn't interrupt our praying or hymns.

I want to know what kind of people look at a mill, though, and think "This is a safe place." The two mills our groups were praying outside of today were very disconcerting. Peeling paint, scratched-up windows, cracking sidewalks. Located next to an empty storefront and a tobacco gallery. Most of the "pro-choice escorts," as the neon yellow t-shirts read, were male.

The clinic didn't seem very busy. At the Planned Parenthood in Metropolitan DC, there were women coming in every few minutes. During the course of the three hours I was at Allegheny Reproductive Health Center, I only saw four or five girls go inside.
I'm hoping that, by the time I'm a senior here, one of the two clinics will shut down.

Please keep Jim Pouillon in your prayers, all.

Catholic Vote Ads

2009-08-02T15:20:00.002-04:00

Perhaps I'm behind, but Catholic Vote released two more Imagine the potential Ads.

I love them so much, I really do.

And one for the Moon Landing Anniversary...

These ads honestly just make me smile.
It's hard to ignore the plain, simple truths in them. You can't call it slanted. They just present facts in a thought-provoking and hopeful way.

They don't say, "I'm right and you're wrong."
They say, "Let me show you the truth. Think about it."

And that's what we have to do as pro-lifers. As soon as our argument shows frustration or a sense of superiority over the other side, they shut down and resent us. They won't listen.

That's why these commercials are so great.

They're just very calm and thoughtful and they open dialogue.

Dialogue is where it's at, guys. It's not an argument, it's not angry or aggressive, and it can't turn into a battle of the self-righteous.

Dialogue respects the dignity of the individual you are conversing with, and this is the key. You needn't respect their ideas, but you must respect them as a person, or you'll get nowhere. If you don't see the individual you are speaking to as an intellectual person searching for truth, you will come off as demeaning. A lot of people, especially with the topic of abortion, get hot-headed and passionate and they forget who they're speaking with and just start prattling off every pro-life statement or fact they can think of.

I've been there too. That's not dialogue. That's me angrily yelling my opinion at someone I've pre-judged as uneducated because they don't agree. [After all, would a person truly educated on this matter be pro-abortion?]

They either wind up walking away or yelling back and making assumptions about you. You did, after all, give them leave to do so, as you have judged them as well.

Dialogue. Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.

You may not get very far very quickly, but that's the thing - it's baby steps.

I like to think everyone is on a personal journey for truth. Maybe they're on the wrong path, but try to walk with them and convince them to join you on the right one.

If you yell from your spot and they yell from theirs, there is no walking going on.
Respect them enough to listen, really truly listen, and respond, don't react.

And these videos?
Send them along. Maybe to a fan of Run DMC, or to someone who reads Tolkien all the time. I bet they didn't know those people were adopted. And the segue into adoption in general, as an option for women in crisis pregnancies. Jack Nicholson was a rape baby, after all.

Dialogue. It's the only way you'll get somewhere with pro-choicers. You may not fully convert them, but perhaps they'll be open to social spending for CPCs or they'll be against tax-funding for abortion mills or maybe they'll believe abortion should at least have more restrictions. Every time they reconsider, we get closer to winning. It narrows their path and our arguement.

Stay calm, don't judge, pick your battles, and you may just claim some converts.

And please, send these videos on to someone who you think might consider them. You never know what will happen♥

Abortion and the media

2009-07-21T12:19:00.004-04:00

I remember when I first heard the song "Brick" by Ben Folds. I listened to it three times straight before I understood it was about abortion. Then my heart broke, and I started crying.

Ben Folds said of the song, "People ask me what this song's about... I was asked about it a lot, and I didn't really wanna make a big hairy deal out of it, because I just wanted the song to speak for itself. But the song is about when I was in high school, me and my girlfriend had to get an abortion, and it was a very sad thing. And, I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like. So, anyone who's gone through that before, then you'll know what the song's about."

This song is a terribly strong testament to Post-Abortive Stress Syndrome. Or at least, that's how I interpret it. In the song, Ben acknowledges the humanity of the child, "Can't you see / It's not me you're dying for" and he feels "numb" to the whole thing. Trying to be a good boyfriend, he sells his Christmas presents to pay for the procedure and buy her flowers- but he already feels doom in terms of the relationship. "Now that I have found someone / I'm feeling more alone / Than I ever have before / She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly / Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere"

The song goes on to say that his girlfriend suffered afterwards-
"As weeks went by / It showed that she was not fine / They told me, "son, it's time to tell the truth" / She broke down, and I broke down"

And ultimately, the abortion is what ruined the relationship- "Driving back to her apartment / For the moment we're alone / And she's alone / And I'm alone / And now I know it"

This song is in and of itself a heartbreak. From the women and men who have spoken through Project Rachel and Silent No More, we know that abortion burns a hole through you and wears you out emotionally. And we are finding out more and more about men who regret their partner's abortions. Oftentimes they think they're being a good boyfriend by paying for it, or by driving her there.

In addition to "Brick," by Ben Folds, we have songs like "Abortion" by Kid Rock, in which a post-abortive father conemplates suicide, and "Red Ragtop," by Tim McGraw, expressing the pain and regret that a man goes through after abortion. "Happy Birthday," by rapper Flipsyde is an apology to his unborn child. In the popular song, "The Freshmen," a girl kills herself post-abortion because of the regret. Bif Naked's song "Chotee" is a song in which the singer apologizes to her unborn child, expressing sincere regret.

In the popular [and fairly counter-cultural] book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower,"
Charlie goes with his sister to a clinic so she can abort the child that her abusive boyfriend fathered. Despite knowing this, Charlie thought about the time his sister explained where babies come from and - keeping his promise to only cry for something important- breaks down for the sake of the child.

Then you have movies like "Knocked Up," "Juno," and "Waitress," films dealing with unexpected pregnancies and the choice to let live prevails. Juno's clinic scene is quite possible one of the best pro-life statements filmmaking has ever seen, even though it was unintentional and both actress Ellen Page and screenwriter Diablo Cody are staunchly pro-choice.

The movie "Bella" also deals with abortion, but speaks to something I learned while at a sidewalk counseling seminar. Post-abortive Missy Smith, one of the speakers and founder of WAKE UP [ Women Against Killing and Exploitation of Unprotected Persons ] said that much like suicidal people, abortion-minded women are just waiting for someone to reach out to them and tell them no. They say someone who wants to take their life sends off signals, because they want someone to stop them. In the same way, 80% of women wouldn't have had their abortion if they had a friend to offer them support, offer an alternative. She said, "There is money and organizations [to assist in crisis pregnancies,] but what they really need is a friend."

As left-leaning as we'd like to call the media, there are popular movies and songs and books that speak to the pain of abortion and/or the humanity of the pro-born child. They are opportunities to open dialogue with other people about the issue. And that can turn into something wonderful.

Partial-Birth Aboriton- An Affair to Remember?

2009-07-17T12:37:00.006-04:00

New studies show babies in utero as early as 30 weeks, and possibly earlier, have short term memory.

Memory probably begins during the prenatal period, but little is known about the exact timing or for how long memory lasts. Now in a new study from the Netherlands, scientists have found fetal short-term memory in fetuses at 30 weeks.

The study provides insights into fetal development and may help address and prevent abnormalities. Published in the July/August 2009 issue of the journal Child Development, it was conducted by researchers at Maastricht University Medical Centre and the University Medical Centre St. Radboud. [Science Daily Press Release, June 15th, 2009]

That child will be FULLY aware of the fact that it is dying. One of the child's first memories will be the belief it is being delivered. And while it makes its way through the birth canal, it gets painfully and heniously exterminated.

So a full-term abortion is murder because you are taking the life of a cognitive human being. You can't argue that.

For whatever reason, Mrs. Obama believes abortion should be legal all nine months. Maybe someone should fill her in- she's very intelligent. Just wrong.

Brain waves are recorded as early as 40 days after conception.

Brain function, as measured on the Electroencephalogram, "appears to be reliably present in the fetus at about eight weeks gestation," or six weeks after conception.
J. Goldenring, "Development of the Fetal Brain," New England Jour. of Med., Aug. 26, 1982, p. 564

Science keeps findig out more and more about embryology and fetal developement. The pre-born are a mystery in terms of scientific knowledge. When we do find new information, however, it always speaks to the personhood of the child in utero.

That is a baby. A human baby. Not a hippopotamus or a cluster of cells.
That is a BABY at 20 weeks. When abortion is still LEGAL. Let's fight this.

On clinic violence.

2009-06-01T18:30:00.005-04:00

IT IS BAD!

Why do some people take the liberty to be "God's Warriors" in order to kill an abotionist? It isn't right. They have just as much the right to live as the pre-born babies they kill everyday.

This is where the Dept. of Homeland Security gets it's leverage to call us pro-lifers "extremists" and "possible terrorists." This is what makes us look like hypocrites. This is what makes the pro-life cause look like a joke. This is what is going to take away our right to peaceably assemble and speak out- because as a group we could be dangerous.

Killed! An abortionist, murdered during a church service! I'll admit, Tiller - an infamous late-term aborter- had horrible blood on his hands from the children he killed. That does not, however, mean one can take matters into their own hands.

Clinic violence is the worst thing that can happen to the pro-life cause.

I was, just the other day, watching "Karol: A Man who became Pope." This is about Pope JP2's life before becoming our Holy Father.

Do you know what he said during World War 2?

"We will win with love, not with guns. The Nazis will go away, because evil will devour itself, but if love does not win out, the evil will come back in another form."

He said this despite his friends dying, resisting, being arrested and sent to concentration camps.

This applies to the pro-life cause too. As many believe the act to be intrinsically evil, that is, the taking of a life of the innocent pre-born, it is a truth that is will devour itself. And that is happening, isn't it?

Less people are becoming abortionists.
Clinics have been closing.
Women harmed emotionally and physically are speaking out.
And WE are now the majority.

But we can't let this be on account of violence.

We must win them over with love. Love is the point of the movement! Love of the child, and love of the mother both. Without love, our movement it pointless.

And you know what Christ said, right?
"Love your enemies."

That means praying for them. Not shooting them. And anyone who condones such a thing needs to dissociate with Pro-lifers as soon as possible. Because murder is in no way pro-life.

The Abortion-Eugenics Connection

2009-05-28T17:24:00.006-04:00

Considering Stalin and Hitler were the first two leaders to decriminalize abortion, I have always wondered why women rally under the banner of “choice.” The atrocities of mandatory abortions and forced sterilizations in the Third Reich and the USSR have always given me pause to thank God that America wasn’t like that. Then I did some research.
The Cold War was a time for America to prove just how different from Russia it really was, but very few people know of America’s dirty little secret. Until legalizing abortion in 1973, America preformed forced sterilizations as part of a eugenics movement. By taking away the “choice” of other women to reproduce, the pro-abortion agenda was able to flourish.
In 1927 Virginia, a seventeen-year-old girl was told she needed to be sterilized. Institutionalized for being “feeble-minded,” they planned to make a model of her by enforcing the new state law requiring forced sterilization. Refusing to submit to the procedure, the case made its way to the Supreme Court, which denounced her right to reproduce. Stated Justice Holmes, "It is better for all the world, i f instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind.”
Justice Holmes, who had never met Ms. Carrie Buck, was not aware that she was not mentally retarded but in fact had no formal education. She had been raped and abused by members of her foster-family, who, at the risk of their crimes being discovered, institutionalized her. Deemed a member of "shiftless, ignorant and worthless class of anti-social whites of the South," the sterilization was preformed on the poor young lady.
With the eugenic movement gaining much-needed ground, forced sterilizations began in other states as well. In both North and South Carolina, sterilizations were forced on mainly poor or black women, claiming these women would bear “unfit” children. In California, over 19,000 women were robbed of the right to bear children legally. The State was able to determine who was good enough to reproduce and who was not.
Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood and perhaps one of the most notable eugenicists in t he anti-child movement- and I call it that because it is, in fact, anti-child- indeed disseminated the idea of making humankind into a “race of thoroughbreds,” as was the slogan of the magazine she ran and edited. She also believed non-Aryan people were a “biological menace.”
While she claimed to wish to help the poor women of America, she considered welfare programs to be obstacles to “weeding out the unfit.” She stated, "Funds that should be used to raise the standard of our civilization are diverted to the maintenance of those who should never have been born." Those who fall into that category are women such as Ms. Buck, those considered, "the least intelligent and degenerate classes" who suffered from "insanity, epilepsy, pauperism and mental defect."
One thing that should not be ignored is the fact that the forced sterilizations ended in the late sixties, as the abortion movement began gaining ground. Certainly, this was not meant to be a coincidence, as 80% of Planned Parenthood clinics are located within minority neighborhoods.
America is supposed to welcome people of diverse cultures, and yet legally permitted the “c leansing” of the country of poorly educated, impoverished or minority women who were “undeserving” of the right to bear children. Already the Mexico City Policy has been overturned, giving money to United Nations Population Fund. The UNFPA has been found guilty of funding forced abortions, forced sterilizations on poor or minority women, and providing contraceptives to starving women before giving them the basic necessity of food.
The anti-child agenda began early in the United States, promoting racism and eugenics under the legal guise of “protecting the society.” Who was protected? Certainly not the women who have had these traumatic procedures forced upon them. Where was their choice? When will America return that choice not only to its citizens, but also to the women around the world who are now facing the same threat with our tax dollars? When will America step up and offer real choice- the only choice- the choice of life?

Living in True Alignment

2009-05-25T13:48:00.004-04:00

So, I get tired of hearing "Pro-lifers don't care about the baby after it's born. They are such hypocrites in that manner."

But I never get tired of listing different ways I help those would-be aborted children. This is another way that pro-lifers should get involved. I'm [hopefully] volunteering with St. Vincent DePaul's Day Camp. It's a camp in inner city Baltimore for homeless and impoverished children, providing them a safe and educational place to spend time during the day. I also work at soup kitchens whenever possible.

And that's the thing. You need to accept that, by society's standards, a lot of the homeless and poor in big cities would, and should, be aborted. And then you need to say, "I believe they have the right to life- and I will work to give life to them." Put your money where your mouth is!
If pro-aborts think you're hypocritical, they will never take any of your talking points seriously.
I mean, think about it.
"Even those who will be raised by a single parent in an inner city and little education have the right to be born."
"Why? What do you do for them?"
"Well...uhm...nothing, but..."
"Then they really will struggle every day just to get by."
"Sacrifice and struggle...make you holy?"
"Yeah. Right."

And the truth of the matter is, if we are going to save lives of the often poor and often minority pre-born, we need to do volunteer work to help the poor and minority.

There are many ways to help people and to enhance the pro-life cause. You can do a walk to raise money for Crisis Pregnancy Centers. You can work at a soup kitchen. You can donate or volunteer at a homeless shelter...it doesn't matter. There are so many ways you can help those in need. And charity work ruins the argument of the pro-aborts who think we're just these weird, hypocritical, misogynistic zealots.

Being pro-active is SO important. I cannot stress this enough. I mean, when I hear about an opportunity to help in some way, I try and snatch that chance. I love people. Everyone has the right to live and be loved. Christ calls us to love everyone, but we are called to especially reach out to the poor. It's rewarding, not only spiritually, but you are giving the greatest gift possible to the people you help: You.

What are you waiting for? Get out there and volunteer!

Reeling in the pro-life fringe.

2009-05-25T08:21:00.003-04:00

As I'm sure you are well aware, pro-lifers are the majority at 51% with pro-choicers being the minority at 42%.

But do you know which groups call themselves pro-life?
There are many fringe groups- Pagans for life, "Godless Pro-lifers" [Atheists and Agnostics] Pro-life alliance of Gays and Lesbians [PLAGAL] and many more.
In fact, on the Gallup Poll about 19% of Liberals proclaimed their pro-life ideology. 31% of people fitting in the non-christian category said they were pro-life as well.
That's a fine amount of people that can be brought into our movement. Oftentimes, though, they aren't active- and why?

Probably because the majority of pro-life activists are also very religious. I have an atheist friend who would love to come to the March for Life every year, but is afraid if she goes as a proclaimed atheist she'll receive numerous attempts for people to convert her, because that's been her experience in the past. They need to focus on the issue, she says, instead of my personal convictions in the realm of religion.

You know, she's right. While we all love a good conversion, we are standing up to an evil that, as can be proven because of the existence of these fringe groups, is not merely a religious issue. It's a civil rights issue. We need to tolerate the differences of the fringe pro-life groups so that they won't be afraid to say, "I'm pro-life too."

You'd be surprised at how many people act merely to fit their stereotype. That's what the world expects of them.

And unfortunately for us, the pro-life stereotype is portrayed to be a bunch of self-righteous, gun-clinging, bible thumping Christians with seventeen children. If we can make enough room and have enough tolerance for atheist and scientist and homosexual pro-lifers, we could have enough diversity that will make people say, "Hey. It's not just a bunch of religious crazies. There are people here for reasons aside from 'God said so.'"
And while 'God said so' is a good enough reason for me, I'm afraid that's not exactly the best way to convince others.

If we could put other judgments aside until after we've come together to ensure the personhood of the pre-born, that'd be great. It'll foster respect between our often-marginalized brothers and sisters.

I would like to remind everyone that today is Memorial Day. Take a moment to thank the soldiers who have died to ensure our freedoms. Say a little prayer, perhaps, for those who have passed on. Because of these wonderful men and women who served our country, we have the right to freely speak our dissent and to peaceably assemble in protest. Thank you to all who have served in the Armed Forces . ♥

Do your homework!

2009-05-24T21:27:00.003-04:00

So while I love reading up on ways to argue with pro-aborts, one thing I've noticed is most pro-life handbooks say the same thing.
Consistency is certainly a good thing while arguing. But you know how in geometry class, you had that teacher who only explained how to do proofs one way? When it came time for you to prove why (x-3)8+y=32, you knew what to do, but you were just...stuck. [By the way, I totally made up that problem. I couldn't solve it if I wanted to...]

Well, that's kindof how pro-life arguing was for me for awhile. I mean, the basics were don't call it a fetus because that dehumanizes the child, talk about how you're not "forcing" women to have babies, that is the natural termination of a pregnancy, at 24 days there's a heartbeat, etc...

And when I argued, I wasn't getting anywhere- they'd heard it all before.

Then my sister bought me a book for my birthday called, The Third Time Around: A History of the Pro-Life Movement from the First Century to the Present. It's about how the Christian Church, largely the Catholic Church, has always historically been pro-life. I think I'll send a copy to Nancy Pelosi.
At any rate, the author, George Grant, explains the history of abortion, as well as the pro-life movement that mirrored it.

It has opened up so many new debating points.
For example, I found a reporter named Augustus St. Claire's investigations of the booming underground abortion industry in the early 1900's. During the Victorian Era, when chair's legs were covered for being too suggestive, women sought out abortions- and not in sordid back-alleys- but in lavish, well-furnished penthouses of well known doctors.

I also found out Stalin was the first to legalize abortion in modern Europe. Call me dumb, but I had no idea. That's always a good point, I've found. Knowing Nazis and Communists found life to be a mere commodity, you can tie the disgust of their regard for human life with abortionists. People do think on that for a while, too.

And then the trusty historically pro-life feminists. Pointing out that our sister suffragette's believed that abortion was man's way of objectifying a female [which, it is...] is a stong arguing point as well. Also, pointing out that men headed the "Pro-Choice" movement - Alan Guttmacher, Bernard Nathanson, Larry Lader...even the NOW's VP was male...helps get across the idea that abortion is a way for men to manipulate women.

This book has done so much for me. And it provides the documentation and sources, which is always trusty when in a heated discussion with a pro-choicer.

One more thing I suggest while researching - yes, research this topic if you want to argue sensibly- is bringing up health risks abortion poses to women. By the time I was twelve, I had about twenty-some pages of factual, well-documented and medically credible risks and statistics involving abortion.

Is the main point lost in this? Do using methods other than addressing the child's personhood make the arguement ego-centric and superficial? Maybe. Generally, however, when people accept that they've been lied to in one case, they'll find abortion to be what it truly is: A web of falsehoods. They come to realize that an abortion is never necessary to save the life of the mother- as Alan Guttmacher said in 1967. They come to realize that it is incredibly unhealthy for women- spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally. They then discover the biggest lie of all- that "blob of tissue" is really a human being.

All in all, make sure to do your homework and research different aspects of abortion, so that you will know how to counter any arguement thrown at you. Knowing where our cause has been will help give it direction and meaning- and so I highly recommend knowing the history of the pro-life movement. Read and find out why our movement is on The Third Time Around.

To stress being pro-active

2009-05-23T18:50:00.001-04:00

Oftentimes, I find myself talking to people who are passionately pro-life, but don't do anything to further the cause. I've received various answers, from "I just don't have time," all the way to "Because the pro-lifers that actually protest are crazies!"

A lot of people tend to put activists on the extreme end of their spectrum. I mean, look at PETA. Or anti-war hippies. And then everyone knows the pro-life activists are clinic bombers, right?

Wrong. Most pro-life activists are, in fact, non-violent. Many pro-life groups actually state in their mission statements and on their websites that they are against clinic bombing, because it hinders the dignity of the pro-life cause.
We are, after all, pro-life...we should consider that even the abortionist has the right to life until natural death, and pray for their conversion.

Many people say, "Well, I have a family. I have a job- the people of good will on this earth are focusing on those sorts of things."
I respect that. It's wonderful that you are raising your children properly and earning your living. But do you really not have time? At my church, the Respect Life ministry prays outside the abortion clinic for an hour once a month.

The March for Life is only one day a year, and my whole family calls off work for that one day to go down and walk.

Do you not have time, maybe some minutes here or there, to write to your congress men and women? To write a letter to a pro-life senator thanking them for their work, or to find out about legislation that regards the topic of abortion or stem-cell research? Shoot them an e-mail, even!

Or be a spiritual activist. Maybe spend 15 minutes a day reflecting on the sanctity of life and praying for protection from conception to natural death. Pray for abortionists to convert. Pray for a clinic to close. Pray for a mother to change her mind. Pray for pro-abort politicians to reconsider their stance.

For the first time since Roe v. Wade, pro-lifers are in the majority- by the skin of our teeth. We need to make the most of that potential power. We vote people into power, it is their job to listen to the desires of the people. How will they know, though, if we remain at home and never make a show of solidarity? How can we save the pre-born innocents if we remain just as voiceless as them? It is then a point, that some way, some how, we must fight the on-going slaughter against them.

One day a year at the March for Life.

One hour a month, counseling or praying at a clinic.

A single letter to a Senator or Representative.

15 minutes daily in prayer.

It's really multiple choice, you know. Is it hard to pick at least one of these answers? If you can help in more than one manner, wonderful. Our main goal, however, should be to find some way to help the pro-life cause. You could donate infant clothes or diapers to crisis pregnancy centers. You could put a bumper sticker on your car. You could join the mailing list of a pro-life group to stay updated.

Any level of involvement will help children in the womb, as long as it's not zero.
Excuses shouldn't exist if you are truly devoted to pro-life ideals.