Get Involved in 40 Days for Life!

From Shawn Carney, the national campaign director of 40 Days for Life:

I'm in awe of what has happened just in the first twodays of this 40 Days for Life!Brisbane, Australia is 15 hours ahead of the EastCoast of North America, so it was still Tuesday whenthe other 134 locations began their vigil. Brisbaneleader Brendon reports, "We had about 80 people at ourkickoff event and so far we've got most of our timeslots filled," he said. "I pray the USA and worldwideevent is going well."

Back in the States thing ARE going well...In Worcester, Massachusetts, Bishop Robert McManus ledabout 40 people in prayer. Paul, one of the localcoordinators, said, "It was the most people I've everseen there at one time." Reporters for two newspaperswere there as well. "We are getting so many new peopleinvolved. I think something big is coming!"

Something big is happening indeed. I know that becauseof my visit to Indianapolis for the kickoff eventwhere 50 people processed two miles to PlannedParenthood -- in the snow!See photo at: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=193 Eileen reports, "With hearts on fire, they sang andprayed and promised to return often during the 40 Daysfor Life Indianapolis campaign. Their sacrifice is aninspiration to anyone hesitating because the weatherisn't comfortable."There's something else BIG to report -- the FIRST BABYSAVED from abortion during this brand-new campaign!Two women were praying at a 40 Days for Life vigil inNew Jersey -- for one of them, it was the first timeever. As they were praying, they saw a woman who hadjust come out of the clinic and was standing near thedoor. When the women who were praying asked if shewould take a flyer, she had a simple response: "I didn't do it! I changed my mind."

WOW!Chris in Florida was already apprehensive about thefirst 40 Days for Life campaign in Tallahassee and asshe drove up to the vigil, she saw police cars. "My heart started pounding and I said a quick prayerbefore I got out of my car," she said.

It turned out that a woman had parked in the clinic'slot and went to pay an insurance bill next door. Whenshe came back out, she walked over to the peoplepraying to offer her support. Well, the abortionclinic staff ran out, yelled at the woman for parkingin their lot and called the police."

The police took down information, defused thesituation, and were wrapping up by the time Iarrived," Chris said. "As the officers left, one ofthem said we were doing just fine where we were, buthe had only one problem with us: 'You're only hereduring Lent!' What a great affirmation of our effort!"

It's time to sign up! We are desperate for people to come to the Wilmington 40 Days for life! See what wonderful things can come from it?? Please sign up here today!!

Nanny State Bill

This isn't necessarily pro-life related, but it's definitely family issue-related. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is encouraging the U.S. to participate fully in a bill that would devastatingly undermine parental authority, under the guise of "basic children's rights." Now, call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure children have darn good rights in America. Child labor has been extinct for decades, and schools already attempt to undermine parents at every turn. But this bill would disallow spanking and other discipline, limit the decisions parents are allowed to make regarding their children's safety, even DISALLOW PARENTS TO TEACH THEIR CHILDREN RELIGION!!

How could this ever be enforced without imposing some Orwellian Big Brother-type society (think: cameras in our homes!)? My opinion is, don't count that out. But most likely it would start with neighbor vs. neighbor ratting, and schools encouraging students to tattle on their parents.

This is a scary bill that we need to get vocal about. Spread the word and contact your Congressmen. This cannot pass!! Click here for more information.

The Red Envelope Project

Mail a Red Envelope


As President Obama began his presidency, he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception.

This man and his party lead our country, but they do not represent 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal.

Here is what you can do!

1. Get a red envelope. You can buy them at office supply or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama

The White House1600

Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.

Washington , D.C. 20500

2. On the back, write the following message.

"This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception."

3. Put it in the mail, and send it.

"Red Envelope Effort Takes Off, Letters Opposing Abortion Head to Obama." Read the story, click here.

Post-Abortion Story

Here is a courageous story from a woman who had two abortions. What a compelling testimony!

Post-abortion trauma is a very real syndrome. If you have had an abortion and need healing, there is help.

Rachel's Vineyard offers safe, non-judgemental weekend retreats to help men and women through the grieving process after an abortion.

Silent No More is a campaign to make the public aware of the devastation abortion brings to women, men, and their families. They also offer resources for post-abortion help.

Locally in Delaware, you may contact Catholic Charities at 302-655-9624 or A Door of Hope at 302-998-9000. Please don't hesitate to call.

40 Days for Life help needed

Ok, guys! Time for you to finally say "yes" to that nagging voice in your head telling you to get out there and volunteer! We need a team captain for our Wilmington 40 Days for Life effort. You'll be responsible for helping to manage the sign-up calendar, making phone calls to potential volunteers, and making sure signs and materials get to and from the clinic (which could be as simple as assigning someone on the last shift to drop the signs off to you).

Please send us an email at volunteers@derighttolife.org if this is up your alley! We need YOU!

Dangerous anti-life bill already in committee

The Prevention First Act, which American Life League's Judie Brown has referred to as "FOCA's evil twin," has already reached a congressional committee in the current 111th Congress. PFA (S. 21) is yet another one of Planned Parenthood's "wish list" items for President Obama. It is a gross overreach of power by the pro-aborts to try to put the power of the family into the hands of the government.

According to ALL.org:

The Prevention First Act has several components, all of which would fund programs that are promoted by Planned Parenthood and would put millions more of our tax dollars into PP's coffers.These components include

• Making Title X (family planning) a permanent program and funding it at $700 million or more. Since its inception in 1970, Title X of the Health and Human Services Act has always been a major funding source for PP. However, Title X is not a permanent program and must be reauthorized every year. Title X was funded at $300 million for fiscal year 2008. PP receives about 25 percent of the total or $75 million. Thus, the PFA would more than double the tax dollars given to PP ($175 million) by this one program. It would also make Title X a permanent program.
• Mandating that health insurance programs that cover prescriptions must cover abortifacient contraceptives. There are several reasons why some insurance companies do not include birth control coverage in their policies. Chief among them is that many of their customers belong to religions that are opposed to birth control and do not want to be forced to pay for this coverage. The PFA would take away the ability of consumers and insurance companies to seek the coverage they want and would force every insurance plan that covers prescription drugs to pay for birth control. This is an outrageous intrusion into the religious beliefs of millions of Americans.
• Creating a government program to push abortifacient "emergency contraception." Selling emergency contraception is one of PP's most lucrative activities. PP routinely purchases Plan B for $4.25 a kit and then sells it for $30 a kit, thus making a $25 profit on each one of the 1.5 million it sells each year. But still, PP is not content. The PFA would create a government-funded five-year "educational" program to promote emergency contraception and drive even more Plan B business to PP.
• Taking all federal money away from any hospital that refuses to administer emergency contraception (an abortifacient), to rape victims. Many hospitals, doctors and pharmacists have problems dispensing emergency contraception because of its abortifacient nature. Indeed, in the above-listed educational program, PP wants the government to tell the public that emergency contraception works by "preventing ovulation, fertilization of an egg, or implantation of an egg in a uterus." Yet, this section of the PFA demands that hospitals tell patients that "emergency contraception does not cause an abortion." In addition, it would require that every hospital, even Catholic, Baptist and others opposed to abortion for religious reasons, MUST provide patients with emergency contraception or lose all of their federal funding.
• Creating additional massive government funding for PP-style sex education programs (abstinence-only programs are specifically excluded from funding). Under the subprogram named "At-Risk Communities Teen Pregnancy Prevention Act," the PFA would create a program to conduct research and educational sessions for the purpose of reducing teen pregnancy. All kinds of organizations (e.g. Planned Parenthood) would receive taxpayer funds, and all kinds of theories and ways of preventing teen pregnancy could be researched and taught EXCEPT abstinence-only programs. The PFA specifically stipulates that "funds under this section are not intended for use by abstinence-only education programs. Abstinence-only education programs that receive federal funds through the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, the Administration for Children and Families, the Adolescent Family Life Program, and any other program that uses the definition of 'abstinence education' found in section 510(b) of the Social Security Act are ineligible for funding."
• Permanently including family planning services as part of the Medicaid program. The Medicaid program was never intended to pay for family planning services. Yet, beginning in the 1990s, states started applying for Medicaid waivers to allow them to add family planning for Medicaid-eligible recipients. The federal government has approved these waivers, and their approval must be renewed, on a state-by-state basis, every five years. Because of the waivers, Medicaid is now the largest single program providing taxpayer money for PP. The PFA would do away with the need for waivers and write family planning services permanently into Medicaid, thereby opening the floodgates of taxpayer funding for PP even wider.

Note the egregiously false rhetoric.

First - "implantation of an egg in a uterus" is erroneous. The proper language is "implantation of a human zygote in the wall of the uterus." A human zygote is a human being, and the inability of this person to implant causes his or her death. Therefore an abortion occurs.

Second - suggesting that emergency contraception "does not cause an abortion" is therefore a lie. The morning-after pill can abort a human being, period!

Third - "Teen Pregnancy Prevention" is a misnomer for a program that will inundate young people with false information about the birth control pill, including the availability of abortion, should their birth control of choice fail.

This bill is clearly laden with error and deception in an effort to pass it without much ado. But the effects of this bill would horrifying and just pave the way for FOCA to run through Congress without obstruction.

Again, please be very aware that this piece of legislation is already in committee. Call your representatives and senators TODAY to make sure they vote against this bill!

Don't believe everything you read about FOCA

If you've been paying attention to certain news sources, you may get the impression that the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) will have no impact on Catholic hospitals. This may be true...at the beginning. First of all, the real danger with FOCA is its ambiguity. It is a very short bill that essentially declares abortion a fundamental right, which has never been done before. (Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court decision, just decriminalized abortion - it didn't technically make it legal via legislation.) There aren't many specifics in the text of FOCA besides the fact that no state or local governments have the right to infringe upon this federally-mandated "right" to abortion. This is what is scary. FOCA's sponsors intentionally leave the bill vague because they know that any future challenges to the law will be lost in court.

This brings me to Catholic hospitals. You may have heard that the threat to Catholic hospitals isn't real, or is just a scare tactic. But the truth is, with legislation this undefined, anything is possible...even likely. Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida recently downplayed the threat in a statement through Catholic News Service. "Idle threats about the certain closing of Catholic hospitals if certain things happen are simply that – idle," he said. "Catholic hospitals will not allow abortions to be performed in their facilities," Lynch wrote and they will not comply with forced abortion laws “even if our actions constitute civil disobedience."

This sounds good and would be if it weren't for the fact that if they don't comply under FOCA, they'll eventually be shut down! I would hope that Catholic health care would put up a good fight, but most likely, if this law is passed as-is, it would be a losing battle. And if that happens, we're in serious trouble.

In 2005, 573 Catholic hospitals treated 84.7 million patients. Catholic hospitals treat the majority of poor an uninsured patients. If they were to close, that would leave a huge void in the healthcare system, costs would skyrocket, and secular hospitals would overflow like we've never seen before.

It would be devastating to the U.S. healthcare system for Catholic hospitals to be forced to close their doors. But perhaps Bishop Lynch is right. Perhaps the threat to Catholic hospitals is not as grave as some are making it out to be. Perhaps. But in my opinion, as unspecific as FOCA is, anything is possible. And I know the agenda of those who support FOCA. It seems our best bet is "better safe than sorry" and to urge our congressmen immediately to oppose FOCA...before we even have a chance to find out if Bishop Lynch is right.

Stimulus Bill Threatens Euthanasia

The following is an urgent message from Judie Brown, president of American Life League:

Dear Friends,
We have to act now! Our president and Congress have fed on the fears of a nation gripped by economic panic to legislate state-enforced euthanasia.
As early as tomorrow, the United States Senate and House of Representatives will vote on the Economic Stimulus Bill.
PLEASE act now to let your legislators know this plan threatens the elderly and opens the door for euthanasia and nationalized health care.
The healthcare provisions in the massive Stimulus Bill call for the appointment of a new bureaucracy headed by a National Coordinator of Health Information Technology who will track your medical records, and limit your medical provider to only providing treatments the bureaucracy deems appropriate and 'cost effective.'
The government will now track your every medical move.
Patterned off Sen. Tom Daschle's book "Critical: What We Can Do about the Health Care Crisis," the plan will have the greatest impact on seniors.
Daschle's plan asserts that seniors must forgo certain treatments for cost effectiveness. He praises similar systems in Europe that allow euthanasia and limited access to health care for the elderly.
There will also be a new Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research modeled after a U.K. board that divides the cost of treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. The young will be treated and the elderly are left in the cold.
The provision bears striking resemblance to the infamous Oregon health care system, and will place the country a step closer to a mandated euthanasia of the elderly, infirm and undesirable.
This is a sly and manipulative attempt to attack the worth and human dignity of the elderly and weak. It is a direct attack on human life.

Please call your senators and representatives NOW to urge them to vote NO on this stimulus package!!