PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Newsletter
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Online News from the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
August 1, 2008
A publication of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
4800 Jonestown Rd., Suite 102
Harrisburg, PA 17109
717-541-0034
If you have trouble accessing any of these stories, you can find them on our website at http://www.paprolife.org/resources/e_news.html.
For Breaking News updates daily, visit our website at www.paprolife.org.
Pregnant? Need Help? Go to www.realalternatives.org.
Had an Abortion? Need Healing? Visit www.rachelsvineyard.org.
In this issue:
Please Donate Today--Critical Program Requires Funding!
Obama's Unswerving Support for Abortion
Anniversary of Obama's Speech to Planned Parenthood
Father Says System is Trying to Kill His Disabled Daughter
Abortions Cease in South Dakota
WIC Program Website Linked to Planned Parenthood
40 Days for Life Resumes in September
A Friend is Missing From Facebook
Latino Pro-Life Alert!
Adult Stem Cell Research Aids Girl With Cerebral Palsy
Sign Up Now for a Seat at the Celebrate Life Banquet!
Chapter Information from Around the State!
Help us in our life-saving work! Quick, easy online donation now available. Donate by logging onto http://www.paprolife.org/donate.
Please Donate Today – Critical Program Requires Funding!
By Michael Ciccocioppo, Executive Director
(ciccocioppo@paprolife.org)
There is a serious threat to the right to life looming and we need your financial help now to inform Pennsylvanians of what could lie ahead if we do nothing.
It's called the federal Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). But don't be fooled by that innocent-sounding name. All defenders of life should know more about this bill, what it means, and frankly how many more innocent unborn children will be aborted if it is enacted.
I have to tell you, it catches at my throat to talk about this killing. But if we don't speak out and take action now, who will?
FOCA would tear down ALL restrictions on abortion in Pennsylvania and across the nation. Do you see how urgent this is?
We have created a tri-fold brochure that clearly explains the restrictions that are in place now because of the decades of hard work by pro-lifers everywhere. The brochure then presents a stark world of no restrictions on abortion in a post-FOCA Pennsylvania and America. This is not the chilling future we want for our children and the generations to follow!
You may download the pdf version of this brochure at http://www.paprolife.org/Facts%20About%20FOCA.pdf. This needs to get into the hands of pro-lifers across the state. But to print and distribute this eye-opening brochure is going to cost money—-money we didn't plan for and don't have.
Please help fund this education program by making an emergency on-line secure donation with your credit card now by going to https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=paprolife&id=1 . If you prefer to write a check, print out the form at http://www.paprolife.org/donate/membershipform.html and mail it with your donation to the address on the form.
It's so important that you act now. There are powerful senators behind this bill—-20 senators in all, including Barack Obama of Illinois and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.
In addition, print out the brochure and make some copies. Share them with your pro-life family and friends to help spread the word. Write to our U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Robert Casey, and to your congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives. Let them know that you strongly condemn FOCA. Urge them to oppose it if and when it comes before them. Demand that they vote against it.
Thank you for your financial support and for your help in spreading the word about this flagrant attack on the unborn and their mothers.
Obama's Unswerving Support for Abortion
By Dave Andrusko of National Right to Life, as originally seen in "Today's News and Views"
(daveandrusko@hotmail.com)
It is no secret that pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama is deft at deflecting even the most well-earned criticism. It is also hardly inside information that the major media protects him as if he were their own child.
What is less well known is that even some pro-life people are so captivated by the historic nature of his candidacy--and so taken in by his charismatic smile--that they cannot believe he can possibly be as pro-abortion as we regularly report in this space. He has the greatest advantage a candidate can enjoy. People not only give him the benefit of the doubt, they often also refuse to believe their own eyes and ears. more...
Anniversary of Obama's Speech to Planned Parenthood
It's now been a year since Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama stood before an audience of Planned Parenthood supporters and promised that his first act as President would be to sign the anti-life Freedom of Choice Act. To see video of that disturbing speech, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf0XIRZSTt8 .
Father Says System is Trying to Kill His Disabled Daughter
Randy Richardson told WorldNetDaily he believes the court system is trying to bring about the death of his disabled daughter, Lauren. Lauren is disabled as a result of an apparent drug overdose two years ago. Courts in the state of Delaware are considering whether to declare Lauren as being in a persistent vegetative state, allowing her to be starved and dehydrated. However, her father says that, with treatment, her condition could improve. "If they had treated a dog this way, they would be doing jail time," Richardson told WorldNetDaily. You can see video footage of Lauren at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ZRWn-gE5g . To contact the governor of Delaware, Ruth Ann Minner, to ask that Lauren be saved from death by dehydration, e-mail governor.minner@state.de.us.
Abortions Cease in South Dakota
Abortions stopped in South Dakota last week, after the state's only abortion facility chose to close its doors rather than comply with a new informed consent law. The law requires abortionists to inform their patients of the humanity of their babies and that abortion can affect their mental health. Abortionists who do not comply with the law can be sued. The closing of the Planned Parenthood facility makes South Dakota an abortion-free state for now; however, it's not known whether Planned Parenthood has decided to permanently cease operations there. Published reports say several women who were scheduled for abortions there went to a pro-life center instead and decided to choose life for their babies.
WIC Program Website Linked to Planned Parenthood
The website for the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program bears a link to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion operation. Pro-life blogger Dawn Eden, who discovered the link, says, "That's because a hefty chunk of the $5 billion in taxpayer funds for the program designed to help feed and provide health care for low-income pregnant women, new moms, and young children go to (the abortion business)." For more on this story, see http://www.lifenews.com/nat4075.html .
40 Days for Life Resumes in September
The 40 Days for Life campaign is set to resume September 24th. The 40 days will be marked by prayer, fasting, peaceful vigils outside abortion facilities, and pro-life community education projects. Campaign organizers hope to hold events in the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Erie, State College, and Scranton areas as part of the national effort. To find out more--and to see a video promoting the campaign--go to www.40daysforlife.com.
A Friend is Missing From Facebook
By Maria Vitale, Education Director (vitale@paprolife.org)
One of my favorite times of the day is logging onto Facebook, to see what my friends are up to.
I find some friends have posted photos...others have joined groups such as Supporters of Ronald Reagan...others have become fans of Mother Teresa...and still others are giving status reports on what they did this past weekend.
I love looking at all the different Facebook pictures. One friend has a picture which shows off her artistic talent...another posted a photo which shows off her muscles as a bodybuilder...another posted a profile picture that shows she looks almost just like she did at our high school graduation.
My friends on Facebook are all different ages--some I went to school with, others I know from work. It's amazing to see what they've done with their lives--one channeled her love for entertainment into a career as a talent scout...another tapped into her love for reading to become a reference librarian. I received an e-mail from one Facebook friend who reminded me of how I had cast her as Annie Oakley in a sixth-grade spoof of Hollywood movies.
Just today, though, it occurred to me that a friend is missing on my Facebook page. That's the friend who wasn't allowed to be born because of abortion.
I know it's worse for Generation Y--one-fourth of their generation has been wiped out by abortion. It's more than 36,000 faces in Pennsylvania, 1.2 million faces nationwide each year...50 million in the U.S. since 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided.
The next time you sign onto Facebook, MySpace, or another social networking site, why not say a little prayer for the families of those on the missing list? Their lives did matter, and they should be remembered, if only for those precious seconds when you're typing in your password.
Latino Pro-Life Alert!
If you have a number of Latinos in your church congregation, be sure to give them copies of the Spanish version of National Right to Life's Presidential comparison piece. The piece spells out where John McCain and Barack Obama stand on the issue of abortion. To download the flyer, go to http://www.nrlc.org/Election2008/comparisonHISPANIC.pdf.
Adult Stem Cell Research Aids Girl With Cerebral Palsy
Adult stem cell research is proving to be a godsend for Arizona toddler Chloe Levine. Because of her cerebral palsy, Chloe could not perform tasks such as holding her bottle with her right hand or crawling. Through an experimental procedure, doctors at Duke University used Chloe's own umbilical cord blood cells to repair her damaged brain tissue. The family had banked Chloe's blood for just such an emergency. She has now made a 50 percent recovery. Dr. Manny Alvarez of Fox News responded to Chloe's progress by saying, "It was a miracle." For more on this story, see http://www.lifenews.com/bio2523.html .
Sign Up Now for a Seat at the Celebrate Life Banquet!
Now is the perfect time to register for the 2008 Celebrate Life Banquet October 16th in Harrisburg. You won't want to miss photographer Michael Clancy tell the compelling story of how his picture of an unborn child reaching out from a mother's womb forever changed his life. That photograph of Baby Samuel has been seen around the world and has proven to be a lifesaver. You can register for the banquet conveniently online by going to http://www.paprolife.org/events/state.html. Also, please consider having your chapter, church, business, or other group sponsor a table for this major fundraising event.
Chapter Information from Around the State
Crawford County Pro-Life Banquet
Crawford County Citizens for Life will hold its Second Annual Pro-Life Banquet on Friday, September 19 at Smith's Country Gardens near Meadville. This year's theme will be Standing for Life. Featured speaker will be Bryce McMinn, Southwest Regional Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation . Tickets are $13.00 for adults and $7.00 for children. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. For more information, phone Citizens for Life at 814-724-4490 or e-mail citizens4life@yahoo.com.
Bradford County--Save the Date
Mark your calendars now and plan to attend a special presentation, "Straight Talk on Stem Cell Research." This educational event will be held on Thursday, September 25th, 2008. Michael Ciccocioppo, executive director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, will be the featured speaker. Information on the place, time, and registration process will be announced later.
Wild Things Event a HUGE Success
The North and South Hills chapters of the Allegheny County PHL, as well as the Washington and Greene County PHL chapters, headed to the Washington Wild Things baseball game on Saturday, July 12th. The event was a complete success!
Star center fielder for the Wild Things, Chris Sidick, donated two team-autographed baseball bats, two autographed baseballs, and several autographed baseball cards, which were raffled off at the PHL's tailgate party prior to the game. Special thanks to PHL pal Stephen Cady, who volunteered as the tailgate chef, and to the entire Washington County PHL Board of Directors who donated the food and organized the tailgate party.
Even though the Wild Things lost a 9th inning heartbreaker, which came down to the very last batter, the game was a blast, the weather was terrific, and our new friend, Chris Sidick, went 2 for 4 on the night. THANK YOU to everyone who participated in taking the pro-life message to Consol Energy Park!
Pro-Lifers March for Life in Latrobe 4th of July Parade
The new Westmoreland County Right to Life chapter and more than 30 supporters marched in the City of Latrobe's 4th of July parade.
The parade was the chapter's first public event. A slide show of some amazing photos of the parade can be viewed here: http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/UU4cM2Rc .
As the chapter marched through the streets of Latrobe with a "Westmoreland County Right to Life" banner and wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Changing Hearts & Saving Lives in Westmoreland County," they received constant applause and cheers of support from apparent pro-lifers along the parade route.
Special thanks and appreciation to Father Timothy Kruthaupt of Holy Family Parish in Latrobe, who proudly marched with the chapter and offered prayer following the parade.
Taking the Pro-Life Message to the County Fairs
Here is a listing of upcoming events that our pro-life chapters are attending:
August 3rd - 9th: The Butler County PHL will have a pro-life educational booth at the Butler Farm Show.
August 3rd - 9th: The Greene County PHL will have a pro-life educational booth AND A FOOD BOOTH at the Greene County Fair.
August 9th - 16th: The Washington County PHL will have a pro-life educational booth at the Washington County Fair.
September 20th: The South Hills chapter of the Allegheny County PHL will have a pro-life educational booth at South Park Community Day.
E-mail Bryce McMinn at mcminn@paprolife.org or call him at 724-228-1162 if you're interested in volunteering some time at these events to help staff the educational booths. Volunteers are greatly needed and very much appreciated.
Live in Southeast PA? Contact SE Regional Coordinator Gail Kilby to find out more about joining a chapter in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, or Philadelphia County. You can reach Gail by e-mail at kilby@paprolife.org or you can call her at 215-884-5805.
Live in the Southwest? If you'd like to become involved in a chapter, contact Southwest Regional Coordinator Bryce McMinn, who recently set up a regional office in Washington County. Here's his contact information: Bryce C. McMinn, Southwest Regional Coordinator; Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation; 74 Oak Spring Road, Suite 101; Washington, PA 15301; Work Phone: 724-228-1162; Cell Phone: 412-835-2812; E-Mail: mcminn@paprolife.org.
More Chapter Info:
The PA Pro-Life Online News is a publication of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation; 4800 Jonestown Rd., Suite 102; Harrisburg, PA; 17109. It is never sent unsolicited. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to lifelines@paprolife.org.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Events
Plan now to attend
the 2008 Celebrate Life Banquet!
4800 Jonestown Rd., Suite 102; Harrisburg, PA; 17109| www.paprolife.org | Copyright © 2008 Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
