Pro-Life Joes -- The International Men's Pro-Life Advocacy Forum

Open Message for Barack Obama: What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36 (NIV)

In The Air...

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?

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.

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.

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

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

...There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies�2 Peter 2:1

Contact: Ermias Alemayehu, 213-804-1872, info@bondaction.org

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

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.

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 we elect 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.

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.

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

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.

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...

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1.) WHEN ANOTHER PERSON�S LIFE IS AT RISK, HONORABLE PEOPLE STOP EVERYTHING ELSE AND TRY TO HELP.

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I was impressed by how many people stopped to assist, and by the response of the police 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.

2.) WE WERE REMINDED OF JUST HOW FRAGILE � AND PRECIOUS�EVERY HUMAN LIFE IS.

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...

Pray that God will continue to bless the efforts that have gone into the 40 Days for Life campaign, as we trust 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.

REFLECTION by Carmen Pate

Nehemiah provides an awesome blueprint for volunteers in God�s service, particularly those responding to the 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 sovereignty as we serve Him before a mocking world. We too need to be reminded that we are �fighting� for our families. We too must have an attitude of confession and repentance before a Holy God. We must pray for strength, refute slander, and not be diverted from our 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, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that 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.

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

Analysis by Austin Ruse
(Article originally published Oct. 24 on http://www.thecatholicthing.org)

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

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.

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

�Personally, I am ProLife. Politically, I am pro-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."

"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."

"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."

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:

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.