Monthly Archives: December 2013

Did you know Santa Claus punched someone?

Dear Friend,

Even jolly old Saint Nick punched the heretic Arius in the face, to show the man how wrong he was.  Live Action’s going to give America a similar wake-up call in 2014.

The end of the year is a good time to look back on what we’ve done, and to look forward to what we plan to accomplish.  Live Action made a huge impact this year – and I’m so grateful for the role you’ve played in protecting the dignity of every human being.

We’ve made so much progress, but as long as a single precious child is in danger from Planned Parenthood and its friends, our work is not yet done.  Will you send us $140 today, to help us make an even bigger impact in 2014?  That’s just five dollars a day between now and the end of 2013.

Think about what you helped us accomplish this year.  Our Inhuman campaign blew up the abortion industry’s claim that convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell was an outlier.  We revealed this past summer that leaving born-alive infants to die after failed abortions is not even close to a one-off in America’s late-term abortion industry.

Hard-hitting investigations like our Inhuman campaign keep abortion in the national spotlight – the last thing Big Abortion and its supporters want!  Please click this link TODAY to send us a 100% tax-deductible donation.  You’d be surprised how far $140 can go!

What have we seen in the wake of our shocking Inhuman releases?  The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill banning abortions based on the scientific fact that babies in the womb can feel pain.  And the Senate will be bringing up the legislation for consideration soon.

Then there’s Texas, where the state legislature passed life-saving regulations to protect mothers and babies – and was backed up by the Supreme Court.  We’re seeing a shift in public perception on abortion…even among our Supreme Court justices.

But don’t get me wrong: now is not the time to rest on our laurels.  We’re gearing up for 2014, forgoing our vacation so you don’t have to.  Your $140 donation will be a HUGE help – and since your gift is 100% tax-deductible, it means $140 LESS for the government to use for funding abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

There’s plenty of good for Live Action to look back on, but we also have challenges ahead.  Pro-abortion senators, including Barbara Boxer and Richard Blumenthal, have drafted legislation to invalidate EVERY pro-life state law in America.  The ACLU has sued the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference to force Catholic hospitals to commit abortions.

And looming above all of this is ObamaCare, poised to force Americans to fund the abortion industry…even more than we do already.

We have 28 days left to prepare for these challenges in 2014.  They’re daunting, but I’m not about to flinch.  Will you send Live Action a $140 donation today?  That’s five dollars for each day remaining in 2013…and every dollar is 100% tax-deductible.

I want 2014 to be the year when we say “ENOUGH” to the destruction of our children.  And I will do everything in my power to unite our whole nation in the call to respect the inherent dignity of every human person, born or pre-born.  Are you willing to step up and join us?

Next year’s going to be a big one for the culture of life.  With your help, we can make it groundbreaking.

Yours in the fight for life,

Lila Rose
President
Live Action

Ohio Right to Life Urges Congress to Request Recall of RU-486

Ohio Right to Life Urges Congress to Request Recall of RU-486

COLUMBUS, Ohio– Recently, Ohio Right to Life delivered letters to Ohio’s pro-life U.S. Senator, Rob Portman, and the eleven pro-life Congressional Representatives, urging each of them to request that the Food and Drug Administration recall RU-486. Ohio Right to Life’s request is in response to a Plain Dealer article that highlighted the recall of a weight loss supplement that is thought to be responsible for one death and 22 hospitalizations nationwide.

 

“Alarmingly, the FDA prompts the recall of a drug that has taken the life of one person–but overlooks a chemical abortion drug that has taken the lives of 14 women,” said Mike Gonidakis, President of Ohio Right to Life. “With RU-486, America comes face-to-face with the reality of abortion-on-demand: it is abortion at any cost. This chemical abortion drug gets away with one hundred times the harm that a weight loss supplement does–and frighteningly, many would argue that this is in the name of ‘women’s rights.’ ”

 

According to a FDA report, RU-486 is responsible for the deaths of 14 women and injuries to 2,207 women in the United States. In August of this year, Ohio Right to Life revealed that 42 botched RU-486 abortions have been reported to the State Medical Board of Ohio.

 

“The harms of RU-486 are clear. The FDA itself has reported the facts,” continued Gonidakis. “Ohio Right to Life is eager to work with Ohio’s national pro-life leadership to hold the FDA accountable and demand that RU-486 be recalled.”

 

To read the letter to Ohio’s pro-life Congressional delegation, click here.

The post-abortive are pre-abortive

The post-abortive are pre-abortive

BY STEPHANIE GRAY

  • Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:41 EST

33,000: the number of Canadian women having abortions this year who have previously had an abortion. That’s according to the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Canada: “At least one third of women undergoing induced abortions in Canada have had a prior abortion” (2012; 34(6): 536).

There’s no doubt that people of good will should do soul searching and ask, “Where were we before her first abortion?  Did we try to ‘rescue those who are being taken away to death’ (Proverbs 24:11)?”  But now, added to those questions are these: “Where were we after her abortion?  Did we say anything?”  All too often there’s silence.  Consider the most obvious place where one should expect to hear about abortion—churches—and how infrequently one hears pastors preach about the forbidden “A”-word.  Why is that?

Perhaps some fear an angry backlash from congregants who don’t share God’s view on child sacrifice.  Those clergy could be reminded that that’s not surprising given we were told “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings” (2 Timothy 4:3).  They could be reminded that they, our shepherds, are called nonetheless to “convince, rebuke, and exhort” (2 Timothy 4: 2).

Others would say their reticence is rooted in not wanting to burden the guilt-ridden with judgment: “Women in my church have already had abortions,” a pastor may declare. “My preaching won’t bring their babies back; it will just make the moms feel worse.”

I could point out that a compassionate, Spirit-filled preacher wouldn’t make an unhealed woman feel worse, but rather would give her hope that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).  I could point out that a healed post-abortive woman would listen encouraged, knowing other women could be spared her pain thanks to a preaching they’re hearing that she herself never heard.

But what I’d really like to point out to such a pastor is that the post-abortive in his church are pre-abortive.  They are at great risk of repeating this lethal sin.  And if he fails to “[teach] them to observe all that [Jesus] commanded” (Matthew 28:20), the woman who currently has one abortion to repent of, may soon have two.  If we withhold a truth that will not only set her free of her past, but also prevent her from repeating her mistakes, then that woman’s sin of commission becomes our sin of omission. 

A couple years ago when my colleagues and I were displaying abortion victim photography in Calgary, a woman confided in me that she had had an abortion in Edmonton just a few months prior.  She said through tears, “Nobody told me it looked like that.” 

Read More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/blog/the-post-abortive-are-pre-abortive

Catholic schools to rally outside abortion clinics across the U.S. this Friday

Catholic schools to rally outside abortion clinics across the U.S. this Friday

BY OPERATION RESCUE STAFF

Wichita, KS, Dec. 3, 2013 (OperationRescue) – What started out as the dream of a small Catholic High School class in Beloit, Kansas, has turned into a national pro-life event aimed at activating youth to stand against abortion.

This Friday will mark the first Catholic School for Life Rally. Students from St. John’s Catholic High School in Beliot will travel 2½ hours to Wichita for a rally and prayer outside South Wind Women’s Center, the closest abortion clinic to Beliot as a means of education on the reality of abortion. They will be joined by other Catholic High Schools, including Sacred Heart Catholic School in Salina and Kapaun High School in Wichita.

Even Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp, who is a pro-life champion in Washington, D.C., has confirmed that he will attend the Wichita event and will be speaking at the rally.

But the Catholic School for Life Rallies are not confined to Kansas. St. John’s faculty organizer, Andrew Neiwald, has received confirmations that Catholic high schools in Colorado, Nebraska, and South Carolina, will be participating by rallying at abortion clinics in their communities. Some will include prayer, the reading of Bible verses, and even the singing of Christmas Carols at their local abortion sites.

The event has received blessings from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and Neiwald has been told that prayers are being offered for the event from as far away as Brazil.

The students hope that this event will spread and become a yearly tradition that will also include students from Protestant schools in the future.

Read More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-schools-to-rally-outside-abortion-clinics-across-the-u.s.-this-fri

Why I’ll pay the fine instead of buying ObamaCare

Why I’ll pay the fine instead of buying ObamaCare

“Put your money where your mouth is.” Many people are familiar with that popular phrase. Basically, it’s a challenge to back up your words with actions.

As a writer and a talkative person, I’m full of words – words that embody my beliefs and guide my steps. Although I’m far from perfect, I seek to be an authentic person who lives by the principles I profess.

When it comes to my health care decisions, I vary between sharing my thoughts and holding them back. I’m not afraid to tell the world about LaVanila, the best natural aluminium-free deodorant I’ve ever used. If I like a dentist, I’ll give him or her a shout-out on social media. I’ve even written about my OB/GYN experience and the pressure put on me to take birth control. Yet when it comes to the subject everyone’s talking about, “ObamaCare,” I’ve been uncharacteristically quiet.

I’m one of the uninsured. I’ll admit it’s a struggle. I have two wonderful part-time jobs instead of a full-time, and neither job provides coverage. I could technically buy my own insurance. I’ve searched for plans. The ones I can afford don’t include the things I really need, like dental and vision. I’ve had major dental issues in the last few years to the tune of thousands. When it comes to my sight, I actually had an eye doctor tell me once, “Did you get dropped on the head as a child?” Realistically, I need more from a plan than I can afford to pay for. Some of the plans cost the same amount monthly as my rent.

When I realized that ObamaCare was actually going to pass, I had mixed emotions. I’m pro-life. I believe that the unborn have a right to be protected. I see the dignity of the fetus and value his or her worth as a unique person. Most Americans are familiar with President Obama’s support of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion-provider in our country. I know that ObamaCare makes it easier for women to terminate their children or prevent them from being born through access to contraceptives, birth control, and sterilization. I also know that the Affordable Care Act isn’t just about abortion and birth control. Yet, as a woman who was minutes away from being aborted, I will never overlook that component of it.

Aside from the abortion coverage, the idea of affordable health care is very appealing to me. I have international friends, and I’m amazed at the differences between our nations’ health care. I’d love to have a baby in Sweden – just saying.

But since I have no plans to leave America, I’m grateful for the rights and privileges we do have. When the ObamaCare site went live in my state, I curiously went on and read about the plans. I called and talked to a really nice worker. I researched, prayed, spoke with friends, and wrestled over what to do.

“Would my money really be supporting abortion?” Every pro-life leader I trusted said yes. “Shouldn’t I just abide by the law of the land?” “Does this count as ‘rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s, like Jesus said?” “Could I live with myself if I knew my money was in some way profiting the abortion industry?” “Can I even live without insurance?” “How much was that fine again?” “Doesn’t it increase every year?” “Isn’t this Affordable Act a good thing because it helps the poor?” “What if I get sick?”

The questions swirled inside my head and slowly began forming into solid conclusions. I didn’t have a dream, light from above, or hallelujah chorus. I just recognized I wanted to honor the convictions God developed in my heart. I’m pro-life. I don’t want my taxpayer dollars funding abortions. I don’t support any form of birth control that can even slightly be considered an abortifacient.

Read More: http://liveactionnews.org/why-ill-pay-the-fine-instead-of-buying-obamacare/

Texas attorney general’s office announces grants supporting adoption

Published: December 1, 2013 6:36 am

Texas attorney general’s office announces grants supporting adoption

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Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Texas attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott has put his money where his pro-life mouth is and announced grants to 13 nonprofits in Texas for the purpose of supporting adoption, the result of profits from the state’s relatively new pro-life license plates.

The attorney general’s office says, “More than $46,000 is being distributed in the initial round of grants from funds raised by sales of the Choose Life specialty license plates which were authorized by the Texas Legislature under a 2011 law.”

A supporter of life and adoption, Abbott said:

Every day across Texas, children are adopted into loving families who provide for their needs and raise them to be healthy and happy adults. The Choose Life grants will enable recipient organizations to build on the good work they are already doing and help adoption become a reality for even more children and families in the Lone Star State.

 

The grants, chosen by a seven-member Choose Life advisory board, will benefit several crisis pregnancy centers, as well as adoption agencies in Texas. SB 257, which allowed for the Choose Life plates, has been successful since debuting only two years ago.

Abbott’s office reports:

Of the $30 Texas drivers pay for the plate, $22 is deposited in the Choose Life account; $7.50 is deposited in the State Highway Fund for Department of Motor Vehicles administrative expenses; and $0.50 is retained by the counties. At the end of Fiscal Year 2013, Texas drivers had purchased almost 2,300 Choose Life license plates, and the balance of the Choose Life account was $52,481.61.

Pro-choicers have been vocal about their opposition to choose life license plates, but the fact is that 2,300 Texans made the choice to pay a little more for their plates so they could help women make a choice. That’s true choice. These grants are the result of those plates, and they will allow programs to continue serving women in crisis pregnancies. The grant recipients are actually those who provide choices by showing a woman with an unplanned pregnancy that there is a way besides abortion. That’s choice, and in Texas, it’s been a good one.

Read More: http://liveactionnews.org/texas-attorney-generals-office-announces-grants-supporting-adoption/

If the ear won’t listen, tell it to the eye

If the ear won’t listen, tell it to the eye

BY ROLLEY HAGGARD

  • Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:26 EST

December 2, 2013 (BreakPoint) – Does the name Emmett Till mean anything to you? It should. Photographs of Emmett Till are credited by some with launching the modern-day Civil Rights movement. That’s right, pictures of one young man marked a turning point in racial relations in America.

How? Simple. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, the “thousand words” told by a single picture of Emmett Till were shocking beyond belief. They couldn’t be ignored or dismissed.

You see, Emmett Till was murdered in an exceptionally brutal fashion. His grossly disfigured body spoke volumes about the evil committed against him. Emmett’s mother, against convention, against the urgings of others, chose for Emmett an open-casket funeral. By making people see Emmett, not just hear about him in the obituaries, she galvanized a population against the horrific crime of lynching.

To be sure, people had “heard” things like this before—with their ears. But not with their eyes. They had never seen them. Emmett’s mother made sure the world saw what Emmett had to say—in his death.

You can read Emmett Till’s story here. You can watch a video summary here. And you can see the unedited picture, published by Jet magazine, here. But a word of warning: the open-coffin pictures of Emmett Till are extremely graphic.

As they should be.

Why? Because to understate the enormity of a gruesome crime is to effectively give it sanction. By not showing it just as it is, in all its horror, we make it seem not so evil. The hard truth is that without pictures, with mere words alone, it is easy for the public to remain ignorant and apathetic about even the most monstrous evils.

Such is the weakness of words.

But show us a photograph and we instantly grasp the heinousness of a crime. Show us a picture and we are stirred to appropriate, even sacrificial, even sometimes heroic, action.

Such is the power of pictures.

So if we are going to end the heinous crime of abortion, we need to use pictures as a matter of course. Graphic pictures.

Read More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/if-the-ear-wont-listen-tell-it-to-the-eye

Horror: Violent mob of topless pro-abort feminists attacks praying men defending cathedral

Horror: Violent mob of topless pro-abort feminists attacks praying men defending cathedral (VIDEO) 

BY SOFIA VAZQUEZ-MELLADO

Buenos Aires, December 2nd, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Extremely disturbing video footage from Argentina shows a mob of feminists at a recent protest attacking and sexually molesting a group of Rosary-praying Catholic men who were peacefully protecting the cathedral in the city of San Juan from threats of vandalism. 

The women, many of them topless, spray-painted the men’s crotches and faces and swastikas on their chests and foreheads, using markers to paint their faces with Hitler-like moustaches. They also performed obscene sexual acts in front of them and pushed their breasts onto their faces, all the while shouting “get your rosaries out of our ovaries.” (Note: Some of the most graphic content has been removed from the video. Uncensored footage is available here. Viewer discretion  strongly advised.) 

According to InfoCatolica, some of the women chanted a song, with the lyrics: “To the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, who wants to get between our sheets, we say that we want to be whores, travesties and lesbians. Legal abortion in every hospital.”

During the attack some men were visibly weeping. None of them retaliated against the abuses heaped on them.

View Video and More: View Video and More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/horror-mob-of-topless-pro-abort-feminists-attacks-rosary-praying-men-defend.html

National Night of Prayer for Life

December 2, 2013

Below is my latest column, Our Physical God, but first let me give you some other important updates.

Also, we have an e-book, Christmas for the Unborn.  It will enrich your Advent and Christmas and you will draw strength and courage from it for your work to defend human life. Advent is a perfect time to re-dedicate ourselves to proclaim, celebrate, and serve the Gospel of Life.  Order at PriestsForLife.org/ebooks.

The National Night of Prayer for Life takes place each year from 9 pm Dec. 8th to 1 am Dec. 9th.  This night of prayer unites the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with the Feast of St. Juan Diego.  This pro-life prayer service consists of exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, 20 decades of the Rosary, prayer to St. Michael, and silent prayer and hymns.  Please ask your parish to hold this special pro-life prayer service on this holy occasion. For more information and to get the prayer resources we make available for occasions like this, see Nationalnightofprayer.org.

Join us for our two December prayer campaigns: An Advent Prayer for Life from December 1–December  23 and a Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe from December 4-12.  You can find the text of the prayers at PrayerCampaign.org.

Each month I co-host Life Talk, a show produced by Life Dynamics that gives you the latest in pro-life news .  The December show is now available online at LifeTalkTV.com.

Pro-Life Champions, Spirit Juice Studios and Movie to Movement are honored to announce the world  premiere  of a new powerful pro-life documentary 40 The film which began production at the 2012 March for Life in Washington D.C., presents abortion as the most important human rights issue of our time. Directed by the producer of the award winning film Champions of Faith: Baseball Edition, John E. Morales, and from Executive Producer and Movie to Movement Founder, Jason Jones, 40 will feature inspiring stories and deeply personal interviews with champions of the pro-life movement.  The world premiere will be held in Park Ridge, IL on December 11.  Go to The40film.com for more information.  Members of our Priests for Life pastoral team are featured in the film.

Are you leading a bus/group to Washington DC for the annual March for Life? Or do you know the organizer(s) in your community who are doing so? Please let me know who you are, because I have some special information and offers that can help make your trip even more fruitful.

For one thing, I want to personally invite you to the 20th Annual National Memorial for the Pre-Born and Their Mothers and Fathers taking place on the morning of the March for Life in Washington DC on January 22, from 8:30-10:30am at DAR Constitution Hall.   I will be joined by clergy from across the country and across denominational lines.   There will be a Catholic Mass before the event at 7:30am at the same location.   For more information see NationalPrayerService.com.

If you are a bus captain, please arrange for your entire bus to attend this event and let me know you will do that by emailing christa@nprcouncil.org.

Also, we will once again make special materials available for the people on your bus. Just let me know if you are interested, at orders@priestsforlife.org. (If you are a bus captain yourself, please let me know that, too!)

Blessings,

pavonenew.jpg

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

Praise for our work:   Fr. Frank, last night I saw your [column] and …I felt the spiritual “shock” directly to me in this specific situation with my friend [in a crisis pregnancy]. ..But the message really told me to do more than just pray, and I am thinking and thinking what am I going to do. – C.E.

Our Physical God

By Fr. Frank Pavone

It’s Christmas time again, and the Church focuses on the Incarnation, a word coming from the Latin “in carne,” which means, “in the flesh.” Christmas is God in the flesh: no longer only an eternal Spirit who fills the universe, but our brother, whom we can hear, see, and touch.

One of the reasons he did this was to empower us to love him, and to love our neighbor.

The first Christians learned how to love, because the source of love, the Christ who sacrificed himself, was personally known to them. They saw and touched him.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it…” (1 John:1:1-2).

And when commanded not to speak about Jesus, they replied, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’” (Acts 4:20).

This contact with the humanity of Christ speaks to us of what we are to do now for the unborn. It is the contact with the human reality of their lives, and the human tragedy of their deaths, that is to impel us in our self-sacrificing love for them.

It is not the “nuance” of the super-sophisticated that impels self-sacrificing, life-giving action. It is contact with the humanity we serve. It is facing the injustice that oppresses human lives, and then making a human response to it that springs from the depths of our own humanity, grounded in the God who gave that humanity to us.

That is why we need to look at the pictures of the victims of abortion — Not simply at the pictures of the living baby in the womb, but the pictures of what abortion does to that baby (see both at Unborn.info).

The last thing supporters of abortion want to talk about is abortion. You will not hear them describe the procedure, much less show people what it looks like.

In his homily on July 3, Pope Francis said,

“We find Jesus’ wounds in carrying out works of mercy, giving to our body – the body – the soul too, but – I stress – the body of your wounded brother, because he is hungry, because he is thirsty, because he is naked, because he is humiliated, because he is a slave, because he’s in jail because he is in the hospital…Those are the wounds of Jesus today. …We need to touch the wounds of Jesus, we must caress the wounds of Jesus, we need to bind the wounds of Jesus with tenderness, we have to kiss the wounds of Jesus, and this literally. Just think of what happened to St. Francis, when he embraced the leper? The same thing that happened to Thomas: his life changed. “

Let us touch the sufferings of the baby who is in danger of abortion, and be changed into fearless warriors for them.

Read and listen to this column online at Priestsforlife.org/columns/4824-our-physical-god

Comments on this column? Go to Askfrfrank.com

Fr. Frank’s columns are podcast. See Priestsforlife.org/podcast

Remember to support our work at Priestsforlife.org/donate

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Phone: 888-PFL-3448
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