Pennsylvania TownHall -- Where the Voice of Pennsylvania is Heard!

PA Pro-Life Federation

PA Pro-Life OnLine News

by Newsletter

Pennsylvania Pro-Life Online News from the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation

September 15, 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:
Join Our Celebration!
Register to Vote by Oct. 6!
Deadline for Absentee Ballots Approaches
40 Days for Life Kicks Off Next Week
The Pro-Life Woman We've Been Waiting For
Mom for VP
Post-Abortive Pain May Be Driving Criticism of Palin
McCain Discusses Roe on "The View"
Growing Up With Roe
Hello & Farewell
Interfaith Pro-Life Prayer Breakfast in Greensburg
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.

Join Our Celebration!

Today is the perfect day to register for the 2008 Celebrate Life Banquet October 16th in Harrisburg. You won't want to miss this fantastic pro-life event! In addition to the chance to meet people from around the region who share your pro-life commitment, you'll have the opportunity to hear a phenomenal presentation by photographer Michael Clancy. Clancy took the incredible picture of an unborn child, Baby Samuel, reaching out of his mother's womb. That picture changed Clancy's life forever--and is saving lives around the world. To register, or to have your church, chapter, or business sponsor a table, visit www.paprolife.org and follow the prompts under Michael Clancy's picture. See you on October 16th!

Register to Vote by Oct. 6!
The voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania is fast approaching. If you're not already registered to vote, you have until October 6th to do so. For details, go to http://www.votespa.com/RegistertoVote/tabid/68/language/en-US/Default.aspx. Be sure that your pro-life friends and relatives are registered to vote, too!

Deadline for Absentee Ballots Approaches
By Charlene Bashore, Esq., Legislative/PAC Director
(bashore@paprolife.org)

The deadline for submitting an application for an absentee ballot is Tuesday, October 28. The absentee ballots themselves must be received by the county election board by Friday, Oct. 31. The deadlines are identical for alternative ballots, which are available if a polling place is not accessible to a voter. Applications are available through www.votespa.com or at each county election board.

40 Days for Life Kicks Off Next Week
The national campaign known as 40 days for Life kicks off September 24th in communities around the U.S. A number of Pennsylvania cities are taking part in the event, which features 40 days of prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigils outside abortion centers. Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Executive Director Michael Ciccocioppo will be among those speaking at a kick-off event at the Capitol in Harrisburg on the 24th. To find out more about the campaign, visit www.40daysforlife.com.

The Pro-Life Woman We've Been Waiting For
By Maria Vitale, Education Director
(vitale@paprolife.org)
Editor's Note: This is an updated version of a column that originally appeared on LifeNews.com.

Back in 1984, I was a college student excited about casting my first vote in a Presidential election. I was doing an internship in the Governor's Mansion in Ohio, which allowed me the opportunity to attend an event featuring then Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro.
Someone I knew from the Governor's office ushered my Dad and me up to the front of a receiving line, and I had the chance to shake hands with candidate Ferraro. As soon as it happened, I turned around and hugged my Dad.
I was excited because this was the first woman to be on a major party Presidential ticket. I felt as if a new world were opening up for women.
But there was a problem. Even though Geraldine was Catholic like me and Italian like me, she was also pro-abortion.
At the time, I really didn't understand what impact a Vice-President or President could have on abortion. I was very naïve, and thought that the key to resolving the abortion issue was nowhere to be found in politics. I ended up having a heated debate with my aunt over the issue of Ferraro's support of abortion, which caused my aunt to run crying from the room.
It wasn't until much later, after I had joined the pro-life movement, that I saw the folly of supporting a pro-abortion Presidential ticket. I purposely refused to join a group which promoted women for public office when I found out that the group only supported pro-abortion candidates.
In the years since, because of my pro-life convictions, I have been faithfully voting for the pro-life candidate for President. But I think that, deep in my heart, I had given up on the dream that a woman who shared my pro-life views would one day occupy a place in the Oval Office.
With John McCain's choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for Vice-President, I feel a new sense of optimism. I now believe that anything is possible—including a pro-life Madame President.
For me, hope has once more re-emerged in politics, not from the author of the Audacity of Hope, but from a man old enough to be my father. John McCain has shown great wisdom and courage in placing a pro-life mother of five on his ticket.
I think Sarah Palin is the woman I've been waiting for. For women of my generation, I think she represents a political dream come true—evidence that good things still do happen in the political world.
When Sarah appeared in Lancaster, PA, recently, I got a chance to shake her hand and thank her for being pro-life. I felt as if a torch had been passed to a new generation of women--women who've seen abortion for the lie that it is and are determined to carve out a better path for themselves and for other women.
Sarah is not only shattering a glass ceiling—she may also be the one that really makes Roe crumble. And that's real change we need.

Mom for VP
In "Mom for VP," writer Danielle Bean offers an interesting take on the prospect of a mother running for Vice-President of the United States. You'll find her intriguing column at http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4421&Itemid=48.

Post-Abortive Pain May Be Driving Criticism of Palin
One of the founders of a ministry for post-abortion healing says the pain of abortion may be driving some of the criticism of Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Palin chose to give life to her unborn son, who had been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. According to Rachel's Vineyard co-founder Kevin Burke, some 90 percent of pregnant women whose children receive that diagnosis choose to abort. You can read more of his analysis at http://www.lifenews.com/nat4280.html .

McCain Discusses Roe on "The View"
Republican Presidential candidate John McCain recently appeared on the ABC program "The View," where he discussed his opposition to Roe v. Wade. You can view a clip from the show at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQ_G6eMJAQ .

Growing Up With Roe
LifeLines, the quarterly newspaper of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, plans a fall feature profiling the thoughts of pro-lifers under the age of 35. If you'd like to be part of the article, e-mail your thoughts on what it's been like to grow up with Roe v. Wade to lifelines@paprolife.org. If possible, please send a picture of yourself to include with the article. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello & Farewell
We want to take this opportunity to welcome our new Southeast Regional coordinator, Heather Wilson. Heather recently attended the National Right to Life Academy and helped found our Montgomery County chapter. Heather succeeds Gail Kilby, who will now work full-time for the HOPE Center, a new pregnancy resource center in Philadelphia. We thank Gail for all her hard work in helping to renew a culture of life in Pennsylvania's abortion capital, and we welcome Heather in her new position with the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation.

Interfaith Pro-Life Prayer Breakfast in Greensburg
The Greensburg Diocesan Council of the National Council of Catholic Women is announcing the 14th Annual Interfaith Pro-Life Prayer Breakfast Saturday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. at the Four Points Hotel, Greensburg. Keynote speaker is David Bereit, national campaign director for 40 Days for Life. Reservation deadline is Sept. 27. For more information, contact Betty Nemchik at 724-668-7436.

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--Stem Cell Research
Bradford County Pennsylvanians for Human Life invite you to attend a special presentation, "Straight Talk on Stem Cell Research." This educational event will be held on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at the American Legion on South Main Street in Towanda at 7 p.m. Michael Ciccocioppo, executive director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, will be the featured speaker. For more information, contact chapter president, Mike Kilmer, at mkilmer@kilmerinsurance.com.

Live in Southeast PA? Contact SE Regional Coordinator Heather Wilson to find out more about joining a chapter in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, or Philadelphia County. You can reach Heather by e-mail at montcolife@gmail.com or you can call her at 610-489-9594.
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.