33 Babies die this past wk in Rockford Il, a child's life was saved ; Star of the movie Bella shows how Christ and the pro-life movement changed his life:Video On youtube ; Miracle Baby Saved From Abortion Counsels Outside Kansas Abortion Center ; Catholic Newspaper Says Barack Obama's Pro-Abortion Position Problematic ; Princeton Prof: Fetuses are Like Plants, They Don't "Count Morally In The Way ; On the Pro-Life Victory in Brazil: "I have Never Seen This Happen in the National Congress!"....
On Friday May 16, an estimated 17 babies were aborted in Rockford. But on
this day we experienced the power of prayer in the saving of a child's life.
About 8:20 am a car pulled into the clinic parking
lot with a young woman and man inside. The young woman was visibly upset. A very faithful sidewalk
counselor watched the car pull in and walked down the sidewalk to be as near
to where the car parked as she could get.
While the other pro-lifers maintained a presence at the entrance to the mill,
the sidewalk counselor stayed as near to the car as she could for over a half
hour praying and calling out offers of help and support. Eventually all of
the other pro-lifers realized that a life and death struggle was taking place
in the car and joined in praying with all of their hearts.
Finally, the car engine started, and the young family drove out of the
abortion mill parking lot with huge smiles on mom and dad's faces, baby still
alive and kicking in the womb, and signaling the pro-lifers that everything
was going to be OK.
Spontaneously, the Christians who were present fell to their knees in
thanksgiving and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ for a child's life that was
saved and a family that was spared falling victim to the lies of the culture
of death.
On Tuesday May 20, an estimated 16 children were aborted in Rockford. A poor
elderly man who lives in the neighborhood stopped on his way home from the
grocery store this morning to pray with us. It was very inspiring to see him
lift his arms in prayer and trust to God His Father on behalf of the babies
dying a few feet from where we were standing.
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A dear friend of Rockford Life Report sent us this link to a youtube video
of the star of the movie Bella. It shows how Christ and the pro-life movement changed his life. It is a video you won't soon forget.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSu6XZ45Tw4&feature=related
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Miracle Baby Saved From Abortion Counsels Outside Kansas Abortion Center
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) --
Donna Joy Vance has been called a life spared
to impact a nation. She certainly has done that in her young life, having
appeared at Congressional hearings in support of the national ban on partial-
birth abortions. Yet, Donna Joy was once scheduled for abortion at the late-
term abortion center run by George Tiller in Wichita after having been
prenatally diagnosed with severe fetal anomalies - conditions the doctors
said were "incompatible with life." Thankfully, her mother refused the
abortion. Donna Joy and her mother Lori Vance went to the abortion center on
Thursday to talk to women going there for potential abortions. “Today, Donna
Joy is very much alive and will join her mother, Lori, outside Tiller's abortion clinic where they hope to help other women chose life for their pre-born babies,” the pro-life group Operation Rescue said in a statement. This was the first time Donna Joy has visited Tiller's abortion clinic. She and her mother gave statements to the media concerning her impact on the national abortion debate and her feelings about why they believe it is
so important for her to help other women save their babies, even if there are serious fetal anomalies involved.
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Catholic Newspaper Says Barack Obama's Pro-Abortion Position Problematic
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- One of the top Catholic
publications in the United States carried an editorial in its latest issue saying Barack Obama's
positions in favor of abortion and euthanasia are problematic for Catholic
voters. Obama appears more and more likely to be the Democratic nominee and
his views will cost him Catholic votes. "It’s important for Americans to know
exactly where Barack Obama stands on abortion, because abortion is one of the
fundamental issues Americans should be most concerned about," say the editors
of the National Catholic Register. "For the abortion industry and Obama,
opposing the right to life has meant uncompromising dedication to a counter-
principle," they write. "For Obama, protecting the unstated
principle 'unwanted children do not have the right to life' is the only way
abortion can remain legal." "Obama not only opposes the right to life, his opposition
is his highest priority," they write. Catholic voters can rule out Obama
because "Obama’s votes and official positions deny the right to life to three
categories of human beings: the unborn, the 'accidentally' born and, at least
in one case, the adult 'unfit.'"
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Princeton Prof: Fetuses are Like Plants, They Don't "Count Morally In The Way
That People Do"
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
PRINCETON, May 13, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
"Look, when we think about ending an early human life, this is something that is really bad for the
embryo or early fetus that dies, it's losing out tremendously-I agree with
that as I already said. And then you said that it's one of the things that we
should care about. And, um, I think that I should have said before that I
think it's really dangerous to slide from noticing that something is bad for
something, to thinking that that gives us a moral reason. And just to prove
that that doesn't follow, think about plants. So lots of things are bad for
trees, and plants, and flowers, and often that gives us no reasons
whatsoever, certainly no moral reasons. In my view, fetuses that die before
they're ever conscious really are a lot like plants: They're living things,
but there's nothing about them that would make us think that they count
morally in the way that people do."
So argued Princeton philosophy professor Elizabeth Harman at last week's symposium at Princeton University titled "Is It Wrong to End Early Human Life?" that included well
respected philosophers and bioethicists who represented both sides of the
abortion and embryo- destruction debate.
In an essay about the symposium published in First Things, Ryan T. Anderson
summarized the arguments presented and praised the civility and dignity with
which the participants offered their arguments and rebuttals.
"It has been through exchanges such as this one, for example, that the pro-
life side has refined its argument to the intellectually persuasive position
that it is today. And championing this developed argument has its effects-on
the young, who are consistently polled as being more pro-life than their
parents' generation, and even on older converts, like NARAL cofounder Bernard
Nathanson," Mr. Anderson observed.
The rational high ground was achieved by the pro-life participants, as Mr. Anderson
commented that "... the pro-life argument was every bit as intellectually
sophisticated as the pro-choice alternatives- indeed, from my perspective it
is more coherent and more plausible, since it did not entail bizarre premises
("I was never an embryo" - a postulation presented by Jeff McMahan of Rutgers
who argued that some threshold has to be crossed in human development before
we exist, which drew noticeable (and decidedly skeptical) chuckles from the
audience) or repulsive conclusions (such as the moral legitimacy of
infanticide)."
"None of the panelists announced a change of heart under the pressure of
criticism. Each stuck to his or her guns while probing for weaknesses in the
alternative positions. Still, it must be said that the internal inconsistencies among the various pro-choice views was telling: Whereas the pro-choice panelists all agreed that there was nothing wrong with killing an unborn baby, they couldn't agree on why. And their internal disagreements actually undermined aspects of their competing pro-choice views. Some of the pro-choicers resisted the utilitarianism of Peter Singer, some of them
resisted the dualism of Jeff McMahan, all of them seemed to resist
the "actual future" theory of Elizabeth Harman."
Mr. Anderson commented that the intellectually honest reflection offered at
the discussion was a rare achievement.
"Though ethical disagreement about such important matters as killing human
beings, restricting women's liberty, and forestalling scientific research
often generate more heat than light, one of this panel's many virtues was its
consistent civility. The participants themselves stressed that intelligent
and reflective people of goodwill can and do disagree. Eschewing ad hominem
attacks, they opted to offer arguments and rebuttals, a mutual exchange whose
currency is reason. This brought to mind Fr. John Courtney Murray's famous
remark that "disagreement is a rare achievement, and most of what is
called disagreement is simply confusion." So it is a credit to the panelists
that the discussion was marked by a lack of confusion, albeit much
disagreement."
Ryan T. Anderson's essay "The Rare Achievement of Disagreement" is available
here: http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1065
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Abortionist in Court Over Using 'Stink Bomb' Against Pro-Life Picketers
WICHITA, KS, May 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Representatives of Women's
Health Care Services, the infamous late-term abortion mill owned and operated
by George Tiller, were in small claims court on Tuesday where they are being
sued for using a "stink bomb" to sicken and intimidate sidewalk counselors
outside the clinic's gate.
WHCS administrator Jo An Armentrout appeared on behalf of WHCS and was
accompanied by security guard John Rayburn.
Pro-lifer Mark Gietzen, director of the Kansas Coalition for Life and a
driver of Operation Rescue's Truth Truck, is seeking $4,000 in damages after
an incident last September when Rayburn placed a "stink bomb" on the parking
lot side of a cedar plank fence directly next to where pro-life supporters
usually stand. Gietzen has stated that the "stink bomb" emitted a powerful
stench that sickened him and other volunteers, and was used to drive off the
pro-lifers after sidewalk counselors had dissuaded a woman from following through with an abortion the previous day. Symptoms from the chemical attack included headache and nausea.
At Tuesday's hearing, Armentrout submitted a memorandum to the Court
addressing the "stink bomb" incident and complaining extensively about
Operation Rescue's Truth Truck, which is parked outside Tiller's gate every
hour the abortion mill is open.
Armentrout also argued that WHCS was being improperly sued since Rayburn is
an independent contractor hired to provide security. She told the court that
Rayburn's Diamond Security company was the entity that should be used.
Judge Steven Woodring ordered that Gietzen amend his complaint to include
Diamond Security and continued the small claims trial for a third time to
June 10. Judge Woodring warned Armentrout that a decision in this case would
be issued on June 10 and that he would allow no further delays.
"This was a punitive act by Tiller's clinic that was obviously meant to get
even with sidewalk counselors for saving a baby," said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger. "People were sickened by this chemical attack, which no one at
WHCS is denying took place. There should be some legal repercussions to this
kind of behavior and we pray that Mr. Gietzen prevails in his suit."
Read motion supporting Gietzen's "Stink bomb" suit
http://kcfl.net/kcfl/doc/newsr/stink-bomb.pdf
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On the Pro-Life Victory in Brazil: "I have Never Seen This Happen in the
National Congress!"
Editor's note: The following are Professor Hermes Rodrigues Nery's
observations of a pivotal moment in the international struggle to protect the
right to life. On May 7, an abortion decriminalization bill that had been in
process in the Brazilian National Congress for almost 17 years and was
supported by the socialist regime of Luiz Lula was rejected in committee in a
unanimous vote of 33-0. By Professor Hermes Rodrigues Nery
Translated, Adapted, and Redacted by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
BRAZILIA, May, 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "It was a victory and more. I
have never seen this happen in the National Congress", exclaimed Professor
Humberto Viera, President of the National Pro-Life and Pro-Family
Association, after Deputy Jofran Frejat announced the result of the historic
session of the Social Security and Family Committee of the National Congress,
which brought to a vote Bill 1135/91. This bill, which seeks to decriminalize
abortion in Brazil has been in process for almost 17 years in the Brazilian
congress.
Bill 1135/91 was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the deputies
present in the committee, with the result of 33-0, due to the fact that the
small contingent of abortionists, lead by Deputy Cida Diogo, withdrew ranting
and raving, and shouting insults.
The feminists were yelling at the top of their lungs, "The government is
secular, the government is secular!", to which Deputy Nazareno Fonteles
responded that the government is secular but not atheist, and that the
Brazilian people have a sense of God.
The feminists were driven to hysterics by deputies Henrique Afonso and Luiz
Bassuma, who together with deputies Miguel Martini, Leandro Sampaio, Dr.
Talmir Rodrigues, José Linhares, and João Campos, lead the pro-life
contingent that assembled in the meeting room of the committee, in which the
rest of the deputies were one by one positioning themselves in favor of life.
One José Genoíno, infuriated, sullen, and arrogant, was thundering in his
defense of the feminists, affirming that, "the legislator is not elected for
moral groups, but for liberty and democracy". The abortionist shock troops
did everything to buy time, insisting on the extension of the session, making
use of every protocol to undermine the pro-life deputies. This irritated the
rest of the deputies, some of which were still undecided and who ended up
voting for Deputy Jorge Tadeu Mudallen's report in reaction the excesses of
Cida Diogo.
"This isn't worth it, that woman is going too far, I'm going to vote against
her," bellowed one of them at two o'clock in the afternoon, when the
abortionist deputy decided to pull a, "congratulations to you" for Deputy
Íris de Araújo, whose anniversary was that day.
After the beginning of the session, at 9:30, Jamie Ferreira Lopes
affirmed, "we have 16 votes guaranteed." But little by little, as the
abortionists continued their performances, the undecided deputies were being
convinced to distinguish the wheat from the weeds.
The deputies spoke to one another, exchanged glances, gesticulated, nodded,
and came to an agreement. The 33 votes were consolidated during the long,
seemingly interminable hours.
Cornered, the abortionists portrayed themselves as victims of a coup, and
complained that the pro-life deputies were being tough on them, mainly after
Deputy Rolando Caiado took his turn speaking, and pulverized them
mercilessly.
Cida Diogo was increasingly disturbed, especially with the balanced and firm
way the proceedings were conducted by the committee president, who explained
the rules several times to the recalcitrant deputy, showing that he was well
prepared and in good spirits for a difficult session. The president simply
maintained the rules of the institution, so as not to lose control of the
situation in the midst of the rhetoric of the abortionists, who wanted to
catch him with a slip of protocol with which they could later use to request
that the session be annulled. But Frejat was tireless in affirming, "I have
to follow the rules."
Unable to defeat him, since he had the rules at hand, the abortionist
comandante Cida Diogo began to use demagoguery, saying that the pro-abortion
deputies were being restricted in their freedom of speech, comparing the
situation to Brazil's former dictatorship.
President Jofran Frejat explained to them, with the calmness of someone
telling a story to a child, that he couldn’t go back, having placed an issue
in discussion and before that to a vote, and being approved unanimously by
the committee, since the committee has sovereignty in accordance with the
rules.
Deputy Dr. Rosinha, who had written a long discourse by hand and was unable
to speak because the request for a vote had been approved, began to pout and
pace, while the feminists whispered in his ear. The anger of the abortionists
increased when support among the deputies grew for Mudallen's report, never
leaving their chairs during the entire session, and increased when the
alternates began to arrive, enthusiastic about voting in favor of life.
It was then that Dr. Rosinha, in fit that skirted the edges of decorum,
stated to the President of the Session that he would be leaving because he
was the victim of a strange conspiracy and although he would want to know
exactly what was happening, he would not agree to participate in the voting.
At that point his fellow deputies Darcíso Pierondi -- Dr. Pinotti and Genoíno
had already left -- and Cida Diogo, decided to accompany Dr. Rosinha,
accusing everyone of being "pedophiles and rapists" at which Jorge Tadeu
Mudallen's eyes widened in horror, seeing to what depths of gratuitous
offense they were capable of, rejecting the rules of democracy that they
constantly defended.
When the feminists had left like restless souls, the atmosphere in the room
gradually became calm. . . Finally at 2:13 pm the historic vote began. One by
one they were giving their "yes" to life. All of them, absolutely all of
them, were voting in favor of the approval of the Mudallen Report, until, at
the end, President Jofran Frejat, in a chorus with the rest of the deputies
who were saying "I vote yes for life," gave his vote for life, which, after
so many years, brought an end to Bill 1135/91, archiving it in the Committee.
The session having ended, there were congratulations and tears from many of
the pro-life leaders in a climate of the "embrace of peace", as in the
Eucharistic celebration. Jaime Ferreira Lopes, Coordinator of Brazil Without
Abortion, began to sing, while many began to make calls on their cell phones
to spread the news: "33 - the age of Christ!" I called Bishop Carmo João
Rhoden of the Diocese of Taubaté, who received the news like a present during
this month of festivals for the 100th anniversary of our diocese...It was a
unique moment: 33 to zero, without precedent in history, and which the press
the next day, would simply ignore, registering the fact in footnotes or
remaining entirely silent about the matter...
Professor Hermes Rodrigues Nery is the Coordinator of the Diocesan Commission
in Defense of Life and the Movement for Legislation and Life of the Diocese
of Tabuaté, Brazil.
