In the battle to save the lives of the unborn, the Pro-Life movement made some significant gains last year. I pray that 2012 will be an equally good year. The momentum is on the side of Life.
More and more young people are getting involved in the fight for the unborn. This is a shift from a generation earlier when the average age for women in the Pro-Life movement was around fifty. This is really exciting and I believe it signals the eventual victory over those who are killing children in America.
Consider the story of a brave young woman in Tucson, Arizona.
Renise Rodriguez is a 21-year-old student majoring in religious studies at the University of Arizona. She worked as a Girl Experience Associate for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. She had gone to her office on her off-duty hours to prepare some materials for a meeting. Her supervisor ordered her to turn her T-shirt inside out because it read, “Pray to End Abortion.”
“I started to get emotional because of the way I was treated so I left without preparing for the meeting and told my co-worker that she would have to get the stuff together,” Miss Rodriguez told a reporter in an interview. “As I was driving out, I called a friend crying and told her the story. I was so shocked at the way I was treated. After contemplating it for the rest of that day, I decided to write my letter of resignation.”
This kind of courage and conviction gives me hope that we can win the battle against those who would destroy life. Every single courageous woman who will stand up and say “no” to injustice makes a difference. Renise made a sacrifice to help to end abortion; she is to be admired and emulated.
There is more exciting news on other fronts. In the political arena, many efforts on behalf of the unborn have paid off. Consider the good news from a report put out by the Guttmacher Institute that shows that 83 pro-life laws were passed in 2011, more than twice as many as the previous record set in 2005 of 34. In 2010 there were 23 pro-life laws enacted. Some people attribute this to the gains made by Republicans in Southern and Midwestern states whose legislatures were historically controlled by Democrats.
There were eight states that enacted laws preventing abortion coverage by new insurance
companies that were to take effect because of Obamacare.
The “Live Action Films” video series played a part in nine states that cut funding to Planned Parenthood. Technology developments prompted five states to ban the use of telemedicine for the provision of abortion medication. We can rejoice over these victories.
Here is some other good news from a political organization, Susan B. Anthony List. This group is working hard to defund the abortion giant – Planned Parenthood. (I prefer to call it “Planned Un-parenthood”).
From a letter published by the Director of Policy and Programs, SBA List, Billy Valentine: “In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch went after America’s largest abortion provider, redirecting $120,000 in taxpayer funds away from Planned Parenthood. The funding, as part of Wisconsin’s Well Woman Program, will now go to the Winnebago County Department of Health. In announcing the move, Gov. Walker commented:
“There are many clinics that are not as controversial as Planned Parenthood, and our goal was to make sure low-income women had access to those sorts of screenings from other providers around the state that don’t carry the good counsel homescontroversy you get with Planned Parenthood.”
The SBA List was proud to work with Wisconsin Right to Life this past summer in supporting Governor Walker’s budget, which stripped Planned Parenthood of $1 million, and our activists are flooding the Governor’s inbox with messages of gratitude for his latest efforts. Marjorie also was proud to host Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch on a panel at Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Conference where she talked about the importance of getting taxpayers out of the abortion business.”
State by state, pro-lifers can keep chipping away at the injustice against children.
It is wonderful that there are so many new young people joining the fight. It is great that we have a strong political organization with some clout that can get good legislation passed. We are thankful for all of the Right to Life workers who tirelessly witness to young women on their college campuses. Thank God for the volunteers who stand across the street from the abortion clinics hoping to save even one young woman from making the biggest mistake of her life.
But there is one piece missing in all of this good news. It is one thing to convince a woman that she should spare the life of her child; it is another to actually give her the support she may need to be able to get through this difficult time in her life.
Some young girls find love and support in their families. Others do not. It is all too common for girls to face antagonism or even rejection from their families. For those who know that life comes from God, abortion is NOT a choice. How sad then, when their parents, who should be happy about becoming grandparents, try to give them another choice, “Have an abortion, or get out of the house.”
For those girls who have to go it alone, there are now more places where they can get help. One such place is Good Counsel Homes. The founder, Christopher Bell, wants to enable women to have their babies in an environment of love, support, and community.
“So many women only hear: you have a choice, and that choice is abortion,” said Bell. “The real choice is: do we have enough love – as a community, as a society, as a nation?” The aim of Good Counsel Homes is to help women choose life.
Bell believes that the biggest need for these courageous women in crisis is a family. “What we do at Good Counsel is provide a table, we provide a house, we provide a family for those who don’t have one,” he said.
Good Counsel also operates a 24/7 national hotline to help moms find a place to stay. Several of the homes are in the New York metropolitan area and there are also two in New Jersey. Bell has also helped independent groups open homes that are similar to Good Counsel Homes in eight other states.
Besides the basic care for expectant and new moms, life skills are taught, including nutrition, parenting, computers, finances and job hunting. After a mom leaves the home, Good Counsel stays in contact with her for as long as a year after giving birth.
I praise and thank the Lord for the gains in the last few years for the pro-life movement. I believe that if courageous women will continue to work wherever they can, no matter how small their efforts, we will turn the tide.
May the Lord bless our efforts in 2012!!
Happy New Year, 2012, Part II
More and more young people are getting involved in the fight for the unborn. This is a shift from a generation earlier when the average age for women in the Pro-Life movement was around fifty. This is really exciting and I believe it signals the eventual victory over those who are killing children in America.
Consider the story of a brave young woman in Tucson, Arizona.
Renise Rodriguez is a 21-year-old student majoring in religious studies at the University of Arizona. She worked as a Girl Experience Associate for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. She had gone to her office on her off-duty hours to prepare some materials for a meeting. Her supervisor ordered her to turn her T-shirt inside out because it read, “Pray to End Abortion.”
“I started to get emotional because of the way I was treated so I left without preparing for the meeting and told my co-worker that she would have to get the stuff together,” Miss Rodriguez told a reporter in an interview. “As I was driving out, I called a friend crying and told her the story. I was so shocked at the way I was treated. After contemplating it for the rest of that day, I decided to write my letter of resignation.”
This kind of courage and conviction gives me hope that we can win the battle against those who would destroy life. Every single courageous woman who will stand up and say “no” to injustice makes a difference. Renise made a sacrifice to help to end abortion; she is to be admired and emulated.
There is more exciting news on other fronts. In the political arena, many efforts on behalf of the unborn have paid off. Consider the good news from a report put out by the Guttmacher Institute that shows that 83 pro-life laws were passed in 2011, more than twice as many as the previous record set in 2005 of 34. In 2010 there were 23 pro-life laws enacted. Some people attribute this to the gains made by Republicans in Southern and Midwestern states whose legislatures were historically controlled by Democrats.
There were eight states that enacted laws preventing abortion coverage by new insurance
companies that were to take effect because of Obamacare.
The “Live Action Films” video series played a part in nine states that cut funding to Planned Parenthood. Technology developments prompted five states to ban the use of telemedicine for the provision of abortion medication. We can rejoice over these victories.
Here is some other good news from a political organization, Susan B. Anthony List. This group is working hard to defund the abortion giant – Planned Parenthood. (I prefer to call it “Planned Un-parenthood”).
From a letter published by the Director of Policy and Programs, SBA List, Billy Valentine: “In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch went after America’s largest abortion provider, redirecting $120,000 in taxpayer funds away from Planned Parenthood. The funding, as part of Wisconsin’s Well Woman Program, will now go to the Winnebago County Department of Health. In announcing the move, Gov. Walker commented:
“There are many clinics that are not as controversial as Planned Parenthood, and our goal was to make sure low-income women had access to those sorts of screenings from other providers around the state that don’t carry the good counsel homescontroversy you get with Planned Parenthood.”
The SBA List was proud to work with Wisconsin Right to Life this past summer in supporting Governor Walker’s budget, which stripped Planned Parenthood of $1 million, and our activists are flooding the Governor’s inbox with messages of gratitude for his latest efforts. Marjorie also was proud to host Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch on a panel at Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Conference where she talked about the importance of getting taxpayers out of the abortion business.”
State by state, pro-lifers can keep chipping away at the injustice against children.
It is wonderful that there are so many new young people joining the fight. It is great that we have a strong political organization with some clout that can get good legislation passed. We are thankful for all of the Right to Life workers who tirelessly witness to young women on their college campuses. Thank God for the volunteers who stand across the street from the abortion clinics hoping to save even one young woman from making the biggest mistake of her life.
But there is one piece missing in all of this good news. It is one thing to convince a woman that she should spare the life of her child; it is another to actually give her the support she may need to be able to get through this difficult time in her life.
Some young girls find love and support in their families. Others do not. It is all too common for girls to face antagonism or even rejection from their families. For those who know that life comes from God, abortion is NOT a choice. How sad then, when their parents, who should be happy about becoming grandparents, try to give them another choice, “Have an abortion, or get out of the house.”
“So many women only hear: you have a choice, and that choice is abortion,” said Bell. “The real choice is: do we have enough love – as a community, as a society, as a nation?” The aim of Good Counsel Homes is to help women choose life.
Bell believes that the biggest need for these courageous women in crisis is a family. “What we do at Good Counsel is provide a table, we provide a house, we provide a family for those who don’t have one,” he said.
Good Counsel also operates a 24/7 national hotline to help moms find a place to stay. Several of the homes are in the New York metropolitan area and there are also two in New Jersey. Bell has also helped independent groups open homes that are similar to Good Counsel Homes in eight other states.
Besides the basic care for expectant and new moms, life skills are taught, including nutrition, parenting, computers, finances and job hunting. After a mom leaves the home, Good Counsel stays in contact with her for as long as a year after giving birth.
I praise and thank the Lord for the gains in the last few years for the pro-life movement. I believe that if courageous women will continue to work wherever they can, no matter how small their efforts, we will turn the tide.
May the Lord bless our efforts in 2012!!
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You might say that I was the first and caused others to awaken to the sense of their duty in helping deserving causes for the benefit of the race.
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