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In
this issue:
Planned Parenthood pushing another major bill
What is the Prevention First Act?
What is the status of the Prevention First Act?
What does Planned Parenthood say about the Prevention First Act?
Planned Parenthood also pushing PFA in states
What can you do?
Planned Parenthood pushing another major bill
We
continue our analysis of Planned Parenthood’s plans following the election
of Barack Obama. Last week, we told you about the Freedom of Choice Act. This
week, we will give you a quick look at another major piece of legislation
being championed by PP and supported by Obama: the Prevention First Act.
What is the Prevention First Act?
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.
What is the status of the Prevention First Act?
It
is important to note that the election ushers in a new Congress in January.
The current Congress, the 110th Congress, will cease to exist at the end of
this year. In January, the 111th Congress will begin, and all of the newly
elected members of the House and Senate will be part of the 111th Congress.
All existing bills must be re-introduced in the new Congress and assigned new
numbers, and the legislative process for each of them will start "from
scratch." The current House bill (H.R.819) was originally introduced on
February 5, 2007, was immediately referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce (in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and
Labor), and no further action was taken. It has 164 co-sponsors. The current
Senate bill (S.21) was originally introduced on January 4, 2007 and referred
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where it still
sits. It has 34 co-sponsors, including Barack Obama.
Again,
these current bills will disappear with the start of the new Congress, and the
bills will have to be introduced once more. Under normal circumstances, it
would take months for them to be voted on, but they could be fast-tracked.
What does Planned Parenthood say about the Prevention First
Act?
Here
is the statement by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, on
February 5, 2007, when the Prevention First Act was introduced in the House:
Today's
introduction of the Prevention First Act signals a real step forward for
health care in America. Currently, more than 17 million women in the U.S. need
publicly funded family planning services, and there is not enough funding to
meet the need. Nearly 750,000 teenagers in the U.S. will become pregnant this
year. Prevention is the key to building strong, healthy families, and the
Prevention First Act will help women and couples plan their families, plan
their futures, and plan parenthood by expanding access to critically needed
family planning education and reproductive health care services.
On
February 13, Planned Parenthood Federation of America affiliates and their
supporters will hold a nationwide Day of Action, calling on elected officials
in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to pass the Prevention First Act
and state legislation that are key to preventing unintended pregnancy and
reducing the need for abortion by expanding access to birth control and real
sex education.
Planned Parenthood also pushing PFA in states
In the statement above, Planned Parenthood mentions its intent to push PFA not
only at the federal level, but also at the state level. A typical state bill
is one that is currently being considered in Ohio. It is known as House
Bill 251 and also Senate Bill 179. Among other things, these bills seek to
do the following:
•
Force insurance companies to cover birth control if they cover other
prescriptions;
• Mandate that every hospital in the state provide emergency contraception
to rape victims and tell the victims that emergency contraception does not
cause an abortion;
• Replace abstinence-only sex ed with programs that gives equal time to the
use of birth control and don’t tell children to save sex for marriage;
• Put taxpayer money into “teen pregnancy prevention” programs;
• Do away with the right of pharmacies and/or pharmacists to refuse to sell
products that conflict with their religious beliefs;
• Rewrite the Ohio health funding bill to ensure that PP is directly
eligible for taxpayer money for family planning services.
What can you do?
Despite
the fact that Obama is actively supporting this horrible bill and the
Democratic Party is firmly in control of the both chambers of the United
States Congress, passage of this bill is not inevitable. We have spoken with a
number of pro-life members of Congress and their staffs, and they believe that
the Prevention First Act can be stopped.
But,
in order to do so, it will take an active campaign of pro-lifers across the
country. Here is what you can do:
1.
Contact your members of Congress and let them know how you feel about the
Prevention First Act.
2. Watch for updates in future Wednesday STOPP Reports. We will let you know
as soon as the bills are introduced in the next Congress and give you the
correct bill numbers.
3. Monitor the activity in your state and take action to prevent a state PFA
from passing.
On The Wire... And so it continues. The very
fabric of our society is being torn apart at the seams by the sick, vile and
pernicious factions that would seek to destroy America as we know it. -- Pablo
Mormons, Knights of Columbus
Face Chilling Threats and More Vandalism for Prop. 8 Support
By Kathleen Gilbert
OLYMPIA, Washington, November
17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com)
- Homosexuals are continuing to vent their rage against Mormons for supporting
true marriage in California, and are issuing increasingly hostile threats to
accompany a steady stream of vandalism.
"The Mormon church (just
like most churches) is a cesspool of filth," writes the anarchist
homosexual group Bash Back!, in a statement flaunting the vandalism of an
Olympia Mormon stake center over the weekend. "It is a breeding
ground for oppression of all sorts and needs to be confronted, attacked,
subverted and destroyed."
The group fumed over the Mormon
Church's "disgusting commercials" and "their despicable
sermons," saying, "The Church has to pay.”
"The Mormon church teaches
us to hate our bodies, not to trust ourselves or our desires," the
statement continued. "This ends up deforming us as healthy sexual
and communal beings. This is unacceptable.
"Let this be a warning to
the Mormon church, dissolve completely or be destroyed. The choice is
yours."
According to the police report,
vandals spray painted phrases such as "pro-gay" and "feel no
shame in your love" as well as anarchy symbols on the doorposts and back
wall of the building.
The Bash Back! statement
acknowledged that the group committed the vandalism "because we are angry
at the amount of money and propaganda that the Mormon church pumped into the
homophobic Proposition 8 campaign." Proposition 8 is the California
amendment, passed by popular vote on Nov. 4, which defines marriage
as between a man and a woman. Mormons were among many religious groups
supporting the true marriage ballot measure, joining Catholics, Muslims,
orthodox Jews, and evangelical Christians.
At least eight Mormon buildings
in Salt Lake City, the religion's headquarters, have also been vandalized with
spray-painted epithets criticizing the church's support of Proposition 8.
Envelopes containing white
powder were sent to Mormon temples in both Los Angeles and Salt Lake City on
Thursday, forcing the buildings to be evacuated before an FBI hazardous
material crew determined that the powder was innocuous.
Anthrax mailed as white powder
to lawmakers and media outlets killed five people in 2001 following the World
Trade Center attacks, and since then there have been occasional reports of
harmless lookalike powders mailed as a hoax.
A similar envelope, sent from
California, arrived on the same day at a mailroom and printing plant at the
Knights of Columbus headquarters in New Haven. Results on the powder's
identity have not been confirmed. The Knights of Columbus have also been
targeted for supporting Proposition 8, having raised slightly over 1 million
dollars for the "Yes on 8" campaign.
Homosexualist protesters are
also boycotting and picketing business owners who supported the proposition,
assisted by AntiGayBlacklist.com, where the names of individuals who
contributed to Yes on 8 are publicized and subjected to boycotting and other
pressures.
The LA Times reports that one
restaurant, El Coyote, came under siege by hundreds of protesters because the
owner's daughter, Marjorie Christoffersen, had privately contributed $100 to
Yes on 8. The rioting became so out of control at one point that the LA
Police Department was forced to quell the disturbance in riot gear.
Christoffersen met with
protesters and even broke down in tears, but the picketers were not satisfied,
and continued their protest both in front of the store and online, where they
deluged the restaurant with bad reviews.
"She had a chance to make
nice and blew it. I was almost feeling a tiny bit of sympathy for her. Not no
more!!" was one blogger's response.
"No matter your opinion of
Proposition 8, we should all agree that it is wrong to intimidate and harass
churches, businesses and individuals for participating in the democratic
process," Ron Prentice, of ProtectMarriage.com, said in a statement.
"Amidst all this
lawlessness, harassment, trampling of civil rights and now domestic terrorism,
one thing stands out: the deafening silence of our elected officials,” said
campaign co-manager Frank Schubert.
"Not a single elected
leader has spoken out against what is happening. Where is Governor Arnold
Schwarzenengger while churches are being attacked? And where is Senator Dianne
Feinstein while people are losing their jobs and grandmothers are being
bullied by an angry mob?"
On The Wire... Happy black Obama supporters
blind to the more than 13,000,000, (THIRTEEN MILLION), and counting black
babies murdered by
abortion. Blind to the truth in light of the celebration of the first black man in the
white house. --Pablo
Rev. Peterson: Black Preachers
are Worshiping the Wrong Messiah
...There shall be
false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies…2
Peter 2:1
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13 /Christian
Newswire/ -- With the November 4 election of Barack Obama, black
preachers have been celebrating across the country. Rev. Jesse Lee
Peterson, Founder and President of BOND Action, Inc. is rebuking these
black preachers for their part in electing the most left-wing presidential
candidate in American history:
"Ninety-six percent of
black voters supported Barack Obama and the majority of these voters were
influenced by black preachers to put race ahead of their country and their
faith," said Rev. Peterson. "How can ministers who are supposed
to lead their flock to Jesus Christ instead lead them to a socialist like
Obama? The truth is that most black ministers don't have a real
relationship with God and they are leading their congregations to hell.
These blind leaders helped elect their black 'Messiah'. This 'Messiah'
happens to be the most left-wing member of the U.S. Senate," said
Rev. Peterson.
Here's where
president-elect Obama stands on key issues:
Believes in abortion on
demand (virtually under any circumstance), and has told Planned
Parenthood that sex-ed for kindergartners is 'the right thing to do'
(as long as it's 'age appropriate');
Has promised to repeal
the federal Defense of Marriage Act and would allow homosexual
'marriages' to be made legal in all 50 states;
Would appoint far left
activist judges who'd pervert and misinterpret the U.S. Constitution;
Has pledged to
dismantle 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in the military. Supports open
homosexuality, bisexuality, and transexuality in all military
branches, barracks and shower facilities.
This is what influential
black ministers said after the Obama election victory:
Bishop T.D. Jakes of
The Potter's House church said that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign
"encouraged, validated and gave inspiration to not only the
people of the United States of America, but to the people of our
world."
At Harlem's Abyssinian
Baptist Church, Rev. Calvin Butts invited his congregation to stand up
"and give God praise for the election." Several hundred
churchgoers rose as one and cheered, "Yes we can! Yes we
can!"
Grammy-winning gospel
singer, Rev. Shirley Caesar-Williams said, "Too long we've been
at the bottom of the totem pole, but he [Obama] has vindicated us,
hallelujah."
Rev. John L. Lambert,
Bethel AME Church in Indianapolis, "If ever there was an answer
to 'who cometh to our help?' that was the answer...Look at what God
has done."
At Trinity United
Church of Christ in Chicago, Rev. Otis Moss, III, said history would
note that Trinity was the holy place where "God stirred a young
man's soul and put him on the path to the presidency."
Rev. Peterson added:
"For the past eighteen years I've said that most black preachers are
not called by God, but instead are called by their mammas. If there was
ever a time that this was the case, that time is now. In order for black
Americans to turn around, they must drop their anger, and find the truth
within themselves, not from corrupt, racist preachers or from a false
black Messiah."
BOND Action, Inc., is a
nonprofit, pending 501 (c) (4) new cultural action organization, which
exists to educate, motivate and rally Americans to greater involvement in
the moral, cultural and political issues that threaten our great country.
Contributions to BOND Action, Inc. are not tax-deductible. For more
information call (877) WE-ACT-77, visit www.bondaction.org
or write to us at BOND Action Inc., PO Box 35586, Los Angeles, CA
90035-0586
From
My Mail Box... What to do, what to do? an open letter to my sister, Eve
Sanchez-Silver. --Pablo
Doc,
All
I have been and keep hearing is what barack ohbummer, (I refuse to call him
the president. The thought of doing so stirs the bile in my stomach), is
going to do, I.E.: force tax payers to pay for abortion programs here and
abroad; un-sign legislation removing protections from late-term abortions;
sign the Freedom of Choice Act; on and on… ad infinitum.
The
question is what are we going to do while this loose cannon fulfills the
promises he made to his supporters? There is no question as to how he won:
by promising change, throwing huge amounts of dollars at his campaign, and
spinning the truth. Just what will change remains to be seen. He
promoted his agenda of death to the people who could best make it happen.
Organizations like The International Planned Parenthood Federation, NARAL, and poor
misguided citizens desperate for a change from the Bush-ranch-cow-patty way
of doing things that has been bringing this country to it's knees… simple
people who did not understand, or were ignorant as to the complex
ramifications of ohbummer's agenda. For instance, he won the black vote
because most black Americans were unaware of the over 13 million black
babies murdered in and out of the womb since Roe v Wade. And lest we forget,
he sweetened the pot for money-hungry politicians so full of self-interest,
special interest, and personal ladder-climbing agendas.
I
am ashamed to be an American.
So
what can we do to stop this megalomaniac, Doc? The stress is overwhelming
me.
Urbrother
who loves his country
On My Mind…
The pangs of a dying nation. -- Pablo
The Electoral College Rules
What
is happening to our country? Can anybody say “Electoral College”? Does anybody
understand what that means? What it boils down to is this: in a presidential
race we the people may overwhelmingly vote for candidate “A”, but
we may lose the election to candidate “B”, because the Electoral College
can go against the will of the people and select a candidate from their own
agenda.
Just
what is the Electoral College?
The
Electoral College consists of the popularly elected representatives who
formally select the President and Vice President of the United States. Since
1964 the Electoral College has had 538 electors. The Electoral College
is an example of an indirect
election. (1)
Rather than directly voting
for the President and Vice President, United States citizens cast votes for
electors. Electors are technically free to vote for anyone eligible to be
President, but in practice pledge to vote for specific candidates [2]
and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vice presidential
candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors.(3)
Most states allow voters to
choose between statewide slates of electors pledged to vote for the
presidential and vice presidential tickets of various parties; the ticket that
receives the most votes statewide 'wins' all of the votes cast by electors
from that state. U.S. presidential campaigns concentrate on winning the
popular vote in a combination of states that choose a majority of the
electors, rather than campaigning to win the most votes nationally.
What this boils down to is
that we, the people, can vote for candidate “A”, but the Electoral College
can select candidate “B”.
This is no longer a country
by the people, for the people. Not when weelect an Electoral College that can vote its own special interest, lobbyist,
or personal agendas. The Electoral College can be bought.
I do not know how it can be
done, but I believe it is time for a change. The current administration
(elect) will exercise it’s own agenda, unless we the people step up
and "fight" for change that will better reflect the will of the
people.
(Wikipedia cited):
The
number of electors is equal to the total membership of the United States
Congress (composed of 435 Representatives and 100 Senators) plus three
electors from the District of Columbia.
Electors
are not required by federal law to honor a pledge, however in the
overwhelming majority of cases they do vote for the candidate to whom they
are pledged. Additionally many states have laws designed to ensure that
electors vote for pledged candidates.
This
process has been normalized to the point that the names of the electors
appear on the ballot only in a handful of states.
Can
you hear the woeful pangs of our nation? If you stop and listen you can
hear the sounds carried by an ill-wind. Do you hear it? I can.
(all
italics mine -- Pablo)
On My Mind... It is
over. Now what remains is to rally and design a plan of action. --Pablo
This is a
sad state of affairs, citizens. We have become a divided country, no longer
indivisible, with freedom and justice for all, a country where our voices
go unheard. Now that John McCain chose to concede, the battle lines will be drawn. How long this new travesty of a government
will last is anybody's guess. We must make our great nation a model of
By
The People, For The People! We must return the government of this
great nation of ours to its citizens. Do not give up the good fight!
Americans have
made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency. Yet America
herself remains great and is not a mistake, which is why so many of
her citizens will continue, with even greater energy and determination, to
defend her founding principles.
The man elected to
the Presidency said during the campaign that he does not know when a human
being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point
of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it
successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin.
The President-elect has already
failed that test miserably.
The American
people do not share Barack Obama’s extreme and offensive views on abortion.
They never have and they never will. The coming four years will see a widening
gap between the people and their President on this fundamental issue. As
Americans come to know how extreme his position is, the intensity of the
struggle to protect these children will only increase.
The pro-life
movement has made significant gains in the courts and in the law in these last
eight years. For the next four, the movement will work to prevent the erosion
of that progress. t would
be a serious mistake for people to think that this election means the pro-life
movement has no political power. All politics is local. Political power is
about people. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was once told that given the
political realities, civil rights legislation would be impossible to pass.
“We’ll just have to see about that,” he replied. And the civil rights
movement was born, stirring the hearts of the people to lead the nation to the
victory of justice.
So it is with our
movement. The vast majority of Americans are pro-life. They will fight
abortion on the local level, opening pregnancy centers and closing abortion
mills, activating their Churches and educating their children, proclaiming the
message in the media and demonstrating in the streets. The pro-life movement
is winning this battle in the hearts and minds of the American people, as
opinion polls show and as the shrinking number of abortion mills and abortion
providers prove.
Political races
are always a swinging of the pendulum. As soon as you win, you begin to lose,
and as soon as you lose, you begin the ascent again to winning. In the next
two election cycles (2010 and 2012) the pro-life movement will make up for
political ground lost in this one.
It is all right to
be disappointed at the end of an election season, but one must never walk
away. Amidst disappointment is abiding hope in America, where everything
remains possible, and where a new chapter of the pro-life movement has just
begun. The efforts that were made, and the sacrifices endured in this election
season made a difference, and we will build on that difference to see another
day when the work and the ballots of pro-life people will dismantle the
Culture of Death. We will keep marching toward that pro-life America we seek,
and won’t stop until we get there.
In The Mail Box... update
for day 39 of 40 Days For Life from our friend, David Bereit. I hope you were
inspired by the care and concern from David and many others. -- Pablo
Dear
Pablo,
Today is
Day 39, and we’re in the home stretch of this fall’s 40 Days for Life
effort.
Amazing
things are still unfolding all across North America and many people are
looking to keep the momentum building beyond the end of this campaign (See
the press release we sent out yesterday at: http://snipurl.com/4w8j5
)
I had a
daily e-mail message planned for you today until something happened a few
hours ago that changed all of that... ...I
watched in shock as a 16-year-old boy was hit by a car just a few yards in
front of me.
Here’s
what happened...
All day,
our family had been visiting 40 Days for Life locations along Florida’s
Atlantic coast. In the evening we finally rolled into West Palm Beach to
spend the night before heading out to visit
more vigil sites in the morning. A sweet
local family had invited us to their house. While driving over to meet them,
we stopped at a red light at a busy intersection.
As we sat
there in the dark, a boy shot past us on his bicycle and rolled right out into
the traffic in the middle of the busy street. Before
I knew what was happening, an SUV going 40 miles an hour plowed into the young
man, sending him and his bike flying through the air before they crashed to
the pavement.
The driver
slammed on his brakes and narrowly missed running over the boy. I
jumped out of our rental car (as Margaret, Claire, and Patrick began to pray)
and was the first one to the boy’s side. Within 30 seconds, nearly a dozen
other people had stopped to help. The
boy was injured, but thankfully not in a life-threatening way. He had cuts and
scrapes all over, and his leg was in severe pain – probably broken. He told
me that his bike’s brakes had failed.
The police
and paramedics arrived quickly and were able to rush him to a nearby hospital
to begin treatment and healing. Having
seen the accident from about ten yards away, I can tell you it is a miracle he
is alive. While driving away from the accident scene, Margaret and I were
reflecting on what we had just witnessed, and came to two realizations...
I was
impressed by how many people stopped to assist, and by the response of thepolice and paramedics.
Nobody was
worried about being late to where they were going. Nobody was thinking about
how their stock portfolio was doing. Nobody was concerned about what church
anyone else attended. Nobody was worried about each other’s political
affiliations. When another person was at
risk, people set aside everything else to help save a life.
In what
seemed like a millisecond, this boy went from happily riding down the road to
lying bleeding and in pain on the pavement next to the twisted remains of his
bicycle in the middle of a busy intersection. He
certainly didn’t expect that to happen to him. In
the same way, none of us knows exactly how much time we have left on this
earth and, as a result, we need to make the most of every single moment.
These two
realizations made us immediately think of YOU, Pablo, and the tens of
thousands of other faithful believers participating in 40 Days for Life all
across North America.
When
the lives of innocent, pre-born children have been at risk of death, and women
have been at risk of devastation from abortion, you
stopped to help by participating in 40 Days for
Life. And your heroic efforts to
“speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves”
demonstrate that you ARE making the most of every moment
and showing the world how precious and sacred every
human life really is.
Let’s
pray for the swift healing of the young boy who was hit by a car, and let’s
press forward together in our efforts to protect every
human life.
Here’s
today’s devotional from Carmen Pate, Co-host of the “Point of View” radio
talk show...
DAY
39 INTENTION
Pray that God will continue to
bless the efforts thathave gone into the 40 Days for Life campaign, as wetrust Him for the results.
SCRIPTURE
Now these are Your servants and
Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong
hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your
servant, and to the prayer of
Your servants who desire to fear Your name.
·Nehemiah 1:10-11
REFLECTION by Carmen Pate
Nehemiah
provides an awesome blueprint for volunteersin God’s service, particularly those responding tothe devastation abortion has caused our nation.Nehemiah grieved for God’s reputation as he witnessed
the condition of the city walls of Jerusalem. The walls were broken down which
was seen by neighboring people as a sign of weakness on the part of
Jerusalem’s God. No wall meant no security for the city and its people.
We learn from
his story that he covered every detail in prayer; inspired others to join the
cause; organized others to help do the work; confronted opposition directly
and turned to God when discouraged; and finally celebrated what was
accomplished and gave God all the glory!
Like
Nehemiah, we must acknowledge God’s sovereigntyas we serve Him before a mocking world. We too needto be reminded that we are “fighting” for ourfamilies. We too must have an attitude of confessionand repentance before a Holy God. We must pray forstrength, refute slander, and not be diverted fromour work.
Like
Nehemiah, we will draw attention from the enemy when we are seeking to protect
the well-being of God’s people. We too must stand firm and seek God’s help
to persevere until the task is done. We too will be victorious.
PRAYER
Yours, O
Lord, is the greatness, and the power, andthe glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for allthat is in heaven and in the earth is Yours. We
pray for your continued guidance and protection throughout the remainder of this
40 day campaign. May we be steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in Your work, knowing that our labor
will not be in vain. We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Yours for
Life,
David
Bereit
National
Campaign Director,
40
Days for Life
In The Mail Box... Making the wrong
choice election day can cause a break-down in our American society. Vote
pro-life November 4th. --Pablo
Global Radicals Will Have Free Rein to do Whatever They Wish Under Obama
Presidency
It is likely a whole slew of
left-leaning treaties will be ratified and global governance movement will
advance
October 28, 2008 (thecatholicthing.org) – The international
social radicals do their best work away from the public gaze. These are the
ones who want a global right to abortion, global same-sex marriage, and who
generally want to give increasing power to international bureaucrats at the
United Nations and the European Union. These people prefer it when attention
is focused elsewhere.
With the global economic crisis and with war and the continuing threat of war,
few are focused on their agenda. All they need to make great advances is a
great leader. Enter Barack Obama. If he is the next president of the United
States, the international social radicals will have free rein to do whatever
they wish. And here is what they wish.
First, they need the United States to sign a bunch of treaties. It embarrasses
the left that we – almost alone in the world – have not ratified the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the UN Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and
the International Criminal Court (ICC) There are other treaties they want the
US to ratify, like the Land Mines Treaty, but here let’s concern ourselves
only deal with social policy.
These are among the most widely ratified treaties in the world. The Convention
on the Rights of the Child, for instance, has been ratified by every country
in the world except the United States and Somalia. Talk about embarrassing, to
the left anyway.
Each of these treaties has been signed by an American president: Carter signed
CEDAW and ICESCR; Clinton signed CRC; Bush signed and then
"unsigned" the ICC. But none has been ratified by the Senate whether
under Republican or Democratic control.
Here is a snapshot of the problems with each treaty. CEDAW is used to promote
abortion. CRC undercuts the rights of parents. ICESCR introduces things like a
right to health and certain economic rights that Americans have found
off-putting and that come with hefty price tags.
Lack of merits aside, the United States views its treaty obligations
seriously. Many other countries ratify these things simply to get the United
Nations off their backs. Those governments sign these treaties and promptly
ignore them. We incorporate treaty obligations into our domestic laws, which
can then be litigated in the federal courts. So we are cautious, but our
resolve to resist may be growing weaker.
There is growing pressure both internationally and domestically for the United
States to get with the new international program. The charge that America is
isolationist rests largely on our refusal to ratify these treaties. Ignoring
them is now seen as a remnant of the widely discredited Bush days.
Obama has endorsed CEDAW as has his vice presidential running mate Joe Biden.
Both are in favor of the ICC, too. It is likely that, with a larger and more
left-leaning Senate, a whole slew of left-leaning treaties will be ratified.
Besides existing treaties there is also the threat that an Obama
administration will rejuvenate what has been a fairly sleepy United Nations.
In the Clinton years, there were repeated global conferences on social policy.
That died out in the Bush years. There is a lot of pent-up energy that will
explode if Obama takes the oath of office.
But there are even larger issues than these particular treaties or new UN
conferences. There is larger mischief afoot. It is called global governance.
The traditional understanding of international relations and international law
is that they regulate behavior among and between sovereign states. By
contrast, global governance holds that international relations and
international law should have more to do with regulating the behavior of
individual citizens within each state and that these decisions should not be
left to sovereign states, but to international bodies like the United Nations
and its various commissions and committees.
Harold Koh, a high-ranking State Department employee under President Clinton
and currently the dean of the Yale Law School, writes that national
sovereignty as we used to know it no longer exists. It has been replaced with
a notion of sovereignty that says nations hold it as long as they are actors
in good standing in the new international order. The only way to do this is to
accept all of these new treaties and cede your sovereignty to international
bodies. Koh will likely be high on the list for the Supreme Court under Barack
Obama.
Whether Koh is elevated to the Supreme Court is not as important as whether
Obama himself holds these views. Given his support of these treaties, and
given the legal and ideological milieu in which Obama travels, one suspects
that Barack Obama has no problem with any of this.
Austin Ruse is president of the New York and Washington DC-based Catholic
Family and Human Rights Institute
(C-FAM). (c) 2008
On The Wire... An open letter to Mr. Bill
O'Reilly, Fox News. --Pablo
Mr. O'Reilly.
Mainstream
media cannot continue to ignore the proven facts behind the abortion-breast
cancer link. Eight words can change the climate of death
in America: Abortion markedly increases the risk for breast cancer.
Period. Many studies have been conducted here and abroad over a
period of years that support this statement.
Susan G
Komen continues to fund Planned Parenthood, the nations largest
provider of abortions. SGK supporting PPFA is likened to a BB gun
factory funding research for a glass replacement company. One hand washes
the other, but it just doesn't make any sense. There is an obvious
conflict of interest that cannot be ignored.
The media is
quick to follow the money, but is not quick to report the facts
behind this horrible association. Our tax dollars are being used to
help SGK with its research, but money is moveable. A general fund is
just that.
Speak out
about the truth, Mr. O'Reilly. I have always admired the fact that
Fox News is out there reporting the truth from the gut. Help save lives
with this truth and history will prove you right.
Pablo Sanchez
Director, ProLifeJoes
From The
Archives...
a Conversation With a Pastor.
I
see a reflection of the weakness from the pulpit across America on the subject of
abortion and the battle for life. I believe it is time that all clergy
step up and shout it out loud: Abortion is a
Horrific Form of Killing,and It
Must Be Stopped! --Pablo
The Silence of The Shepard
“Personally,
I am ProLife. Politically, I ampro-choice”. —Pontius Pilot
(paraphrased)
Pastor: "Hey
Pablo, I just took a quick look at your
website.I appreciate your
passion and commitment to the pro-life stance on abortion.You are right that the PC (USA), (Presbyterian
Churches USA, the Pastors denomination. --P), does not come out with a
firm position on it.My personal
opinion on it is one of pro-life and on the occasions when I have counseled
persons, I have preached it, successfully, to my knowledge."
Pablo: "I am
thankful that you express a pro-life attitude. I though am concerned with PC
USA’s vague position, I also understand and can see that we are in a time of
change as regarding consensus opinion on abortion. I believe the pro-life
movement, while grass-rooted and under-funded, (we
do not get government grants or funding, and generally don't get paid for our
efforts, as abortion-for-profit providers do. Note: our tax dollars at
work!), more accurately reflects the pulse of Americans."
"I have
not gotten involved politically with the issue nor preached it directly from
the pulpit, nor do I intend to. The same goes with other life and death issues
- border crossers, capital punishment, the war in Iraq, etc."
"I can't
agree there. Abortion is far more than simply a political issue. Consider: if
there can be a message from the pulpit in the aftermath of a tragedy, such as
Columbine's 15 dead; the 2,752 9/11 victims; or the murder of
Terri Schiavo, why not a message on the murder of over 46,000,000 (and
counting: at the rate of approximately one every twenty seconds, or around 3,000
nationwide per day!), human beings since Roe vs. Wade? Abortion is in reality
a matter of public policy, which the pulpit and the Church's lay-ministries
have every right, more a mandate, to influence."
"I
preach to equip the people with the Word of God and honor their faith and
their responsibility for their own lives, as stewards, of the gifts God has
given."
"As well
you should, for that is your gift, and your passion."
"I
believe the appropriate forum for addressing those issues is in a dialogue
setting, such as a class or conversation, where there can be a give and take,
rather than in the one sided communication that takes place in the
pulpit."
"Get
this: according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 73% of women getting
abortions profess some affinity to Christianity, while one in six claims to be
a "born again" or evangelical Christian. This means that there is a
lack of knowledge from the pews. most women are not fully aware of how
horrific abortion is, how performed, or how seriously abortion can
psychologically affect both parents, or the future health of the mother due to
abortion-related breast cancer."
"There
has to be an appreciation and honoring of each person, born and unborn.
"For
certain, but the bible taught me of the sanctity of life from the moment of
God's working of the miracle of life. God alone has the right to give, and to
take life."
"And I
am much less a knowledgeable authority on these issues; when I preach, I've
got to know what I am talking about is the truth."
"Then
you should know that 28 out of 37 worldwide studies have independently linked
induced abortion with breast cancer.Thirteen
out of fifteen studies conducted on American women report increased risk.Seventeen studies are statistically significant, sixteen of which found
increased risk.Abortion
supporters have conducted most of the studies. While we wait, humans are being
slaughtered and women's futures are placed at certain risk. In the twenty
minutes that it took us to read, consider, and respond, sixty more babies were
condemned to death by abortionists."
"Our
conversation on this subject begins.I'm
off on vacation for a couple weeks starting Monday; so I may not have a chance
to reflect on your replies till after I get back."
-------------
(The topic never arose again)
On My Mind…
I have been asked more than once: "what exactly is a ProLife Joe"? I rather like
nutshells. --Joe
Ordinary
Joes make up the world, combined with a far too minimal smattering of extraordinary
people. And, too, sadly for us, maladjusted self-seeking Joes and Janes are in
the mix as well. They are legion, and they are many.
The
Definition of a ProLife Joe, (or Jane), is not complicated, but expansive.
Following are a few key bullet points:
ProLife
spiritual Joes do not covet the personal freedom to extinguish life on
demand-- from the womb, to partial birth and beyond.
ProLife
Joes are not selfishly interested in their wants and needs: they well know
how to sacrifice and give of themselves, and do so willingly.
ProLife
Joes are for the greater good, not the greater gain.
ProLife
Joes take responsibility for their procreative and proactive actions or
inactions.
ProLife
Joes are willing to speak out against issues involving the taking of a
life. Death is death, whether from abortion, assisted suicide, or any and all other
nefarious means we humans have devised in an effort to accomplish the
inhuman task of
infanticide, patricide, and genocide.
In
summary, ProLife Joes are ordinary men who are willing to stand up, speak out,
and are willing to lead, to help bring about an end to the climate of death that has
evolved in our society, and the world at large.