Wednesday, January 21, 2009

One Answer the to Abortion Problem,

Nation's First Government-funded Abortion Alternatives Program Serves Over 150,000 Women Since 1995
By Kevin I. Bagatta on January 21, 2009 9:08 AM | No Comments
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Pennsylvania Program Sets Record - 19,747 women provided pregnancy and parenting support services last year.

Harrisburg, PA - January 14, 2009. Real Alternatives, statewide administrator for the award winning Pennsylvania Alternative to Abortion Services Program, reports that in fiscal year 2007 -2008 a record 19,747 women were provided comprehensive counseling, mentoring, and support throughout their nine (9) months of pregnancy and twelve (12) months after the birth of their baby. In fiscal year 2007-2008 the program received its highest funding of $6.5 million per year by the Commonwealth's Department of Public Welfare. The program's administrative cost ratio is less than 8.5%

"We have seen a steady decrease in annual abortions since the start of the program 13 years ago. To date, the citizens of Pennsylvania have placed $59 million of tax payer funds to provide pregnancy and parenting support services to 150,000 women experiencing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy. We are striving for the day when no woman in the Commonwealth feels that she must have an abortion - that is what the program is about," said Kevin I. Bagatta, Esquire, Real Alternatives President & CEO.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, 118 Real Alternatives-funded pregnancy support centers, Catholic Charities, social service agencies, maternity homes, and adoption agencies throughout the Commonwealth provided services to 19,747 women at 83,263 visits. There is a center within an hour of every woman in Pennsylvania.

Since its inception 13 years ago, the Program [www.RealAlternatives.org/movie] has served over 150,000 women at over 645,329 office visits.

Bagatta continued: "this state-funded support program is the only program in the Commonwealth dedicated to lowering abortions after there is a crisis pregnancy. It continues to work because of the approximately 500 counselors and mentors statewide meeting the needs of women in unplanned and crisis pregnancies. By providing a counselor to be with the woman in need from the moment she finds out she is pregnant to 12 months after the birth of the baby, this program empowers her to overcome her obstacles and crisis. She is not alone. She knows someone is with her to help her. An alternative to abortion is not a pamphlet, it is another person....it is one woman seeing another woman in crisis and loving her and supporting her like she is her own daughter. This program represents the best in America."

View a short film about this successful program visit: www.RealAlternatives.org/movie. For more information, call Kevin I. Bagatta, Esq. at
717-541-1112.

Friday, January 16, 2009

A Letter Written to Barack Obama

January 14, 2009

A Letter Written to Barack Obama

by Father Jim Booth
Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church

The following is a letter that was sent to Barack Obama regarding the
so-called Freedom of Choice Act. I assume that no one in Washington
will bother to read it, so I post it for the consideration of all who
might be interested.

President Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. Obama,

It is my solemn duty as a human being, as a Christian, and as an
American citizen to write to you and urge you not to sign the
so-called Freedom of Choice Act. I firmly believe that this
legislation is utterly and completely immoral, un-American,
unconstitutional, and entirely inhuman. It is my understanding that
you intend to sign this bill into law if passed by Congress. This
saddens me greatly and I firmly believe that this bill, if passed,
will plunge our great nation further and further into the darkness of
evil and injustice. If a child in the womb is not safe, then who is?
If a human baby possesses no legal rights and protections, then who
does?

I understand that you once said that the point at which human life
begins is above your pay-grade. From this I am led to believe one of
three things: 1) you deliberately said this to avoid controversy but
you do not really believe it, 2) you said this without thinking, 3) or
you actually believe that the point at which human life begins is
uncertain and above your pay-grade. Charity demands that I assume
that your statement in this regard is an honest albeit unfortunate
expression of your belief. The other alternatives reflect
characteristics that I hope a sitting president would not possess,
those being a calculating disingenuousness and a propensity to act and
speak without thinking.

If you truly believe that the point where human life begins is above
your pay-grade, then what are the logical ramifications of this
belief? Well, if you really believe that an unborn child may or may
not be a human being, is it not logical, prudent, and necessary to
presume that the unborn child is indeed a human being? One would hope
that a human baby deserves such a presumption. After all, why do we
insist that our soldiers be morally certain that they are shooting at
enemy combatants and not at innocent civilians? Why do we insist that
our police officers refrain from shooting at a violent criminal if
there is a possibility of hitting an innocent bystander? Without a
doubt, when we have soldiers or policemen who do not use deadly force
prudently, we usually remove them from duty and even bring them to
justice if the circumstances warrant.

But the Freedom of Choice Act removes all restraints on terminating
the lives of babies who you think, if you are being honest, may or may
not be human beings. Are you willing to let our law enforcement
officers and soldiers use deadly force indiscriminately with no
restraints or ramifications for their actions? One hopes not, but if
you actually believe that the status of an unborn child is really
uncertain, then the Freedom of Choice Act is morally indistinguishable
from removing any and all restrictions on the use of deadly force in
our military and law enforcement agencies.

But we are not really talking about mere indiscriminate use of deadly
force, but the unjust and immoral use of deadly force. We would not
accept a soldier deliberately shooting at someone on the presumption
that he might be an enemy soldier. We would not tolerate a police
officer who deliberately shoots someone on the presumption that he
might be a dangerous felon. How is this different than tearing the
body of a baby limb-from-limb on the presumption that she might not be
a human being? So, Mr. Obama, if you are truly uncertain as to when
human life begins, it seems pretty apparent that you must choose to
protect the baby that you think might be human instead of killing her
on the mere presumption that she may not yet be human.

Also, please consider that our legal system presumes innocence and
tolerates the possibility of letting the guilty go unpunished in lieu
of the possibility of punishing the innocent. Can we not afford the
same presumption of human life for the unborn lest we tolerate the
murder of innocent human beings? Do we deliberately send anyone to
jail unless there is no shadow of doubt regarding their guilt? Are we
not more careful when exercising the grave responsibility of capital
punishment, allowing appeal after appeal to preclude the execution of
someone who might be innocent? It seems that abortion is nothing
other than the summary execution of a baby whose only 'crime' is to be
inconvenient or unplanned. This is nothing less than cruel and
unusual punishment for being in the wrong womb at the wrong time.

Likewise, if we look at our constitutionally guaranteed rights such as
the freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms,
etc. we recognize that these explicitly enumerated rights can be
restricted without denying the basic constitutional right itself. If
the Brady Law can insist on a background check and a waiting period to
purchase a firearm, how can we accept these restrictions upon a
constitutionally guaranteed right but the FOCA would overturn all laws
stipulating parental consent for an abortion involving a minor or a
waiting period for abortion especially since abortion is not an
enumerated right in our Constitution? If we accept that limits can
legally be placed on free speech, what is the justification for
denying any limits placed on abortion, which again is nowhere to be
found as an enumerated right in our Constitution? If we can accept
that conducting a peaceful public demonstration can require a permit,
a reasonable and legal limitation on the exercise of both the rights
of free assembly and of free speech, in what way does abortion deserve
unfettered exercise above and beyond our actual constitutional rights?
Mr. Obama, it is absolutely absurd, disproportionate, and
unacceptable that the FOCA would elevate abortion above and beyond
every enumerated constitutional right.

But as a priest, as a shepherd of souls, I must also insist that you
consider the moral aspects of abortion in general and of the FOCA in
particular. Indeed, you will be judged on your actions personally and
with respect to how you have used the power and authority of your
office. You have been entrusted with a sacred duty and you will have
to answer for how you have exercised that power and authority.
Indeed, Jesus insists that "from everyone who has been given much,
much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with
much, much more will be asked" Lk 12:48. Is there a secular office
higher than the one you have assumed? You have been given not just
much, but the most. Is the FOCA the "much more [that] will be asked"
of your administration, or is God perhaps asking you for something
else? What would Jesus expect of you, the same Jesus Who said "Let
the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the
Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these" Mt 19:14. Does the FOCA,
which removes anything that hinders abortion, allow for little babies
to come to Jesus unhindered? Yes, the 'kingdom' of the United States
has been entrusted to your care, but please remember that the little
babies are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And I must direct your attention to Matthew 25:31-46. Here Jesus
insists that "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these
least brothers of mine, you did for Me" Mt 25:40. How do you think
Jesus will respond to someone who pulls Him apart limb-from-limb?
Please remember that Jesus Himself was once an embryo, once a
blastocyst, once a fetus, or whatever dehumanizing term you wish to
choose for an unborn baby. Having been an unborn baby, is it
conceivable that Jesus would not particularly identify Himself with
these least of His brothers and sisters?

Finally, I ask you to consider whose interests are served by the FOCA?
Is it Jesus' interests, or someone else's? Perhaps a passage from
Jeremiah will help clarify this for you: "They built high places to
Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, and immolated their sons and
daughters to Molech, bringing sin upon Judah; this I never commanded
them, nor did it even enter my mind that they should practice such
abominations" Jer 32:35. I can hardly see that the interests of this
country, the interests of women, the interests of children, and most
importantly, the interests of Jesus are served by the FOCA. But if
you sign the FOCA into law, it would seem that you are serving Molech
and bringing more sin upon this nation. With all due respect, please
do not sign this abomination into law, if not for the sake of the
salvation of your own soul, for the lives of the little children who
will be unjustly sacrificed on the altar of false freedom.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Mobilize women who regret their abortions

January 12, 2009


Ten days to go, and we will again mobilize women who regret their abortions and men who facilitated abortions. They will stand in front of the vast crowd in Washington DC gathered for the March for Life. They will stand publicly, holding signs saying “I Regret My Abortion” and “I Regret Lost Fatherhood.”

They will be the voice that greets the new Presidential Administration and the new Congress!

Would you please help us get as many such people together as possible? There are two ways you can do that.

1. Invite anyone you know who has lost a child to abortion to join the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. This does not mean they have to “go public.” It simply means that they let themselves be counted as someone who regrets the so-called “choice” of abortion.
The place to go is www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org


2. Join in a teleseminar tomorrow night, Tuesday January 13, from 9 to 10pm Eastern Time, to hear from the co-founders of this campaign, which is the largest mobilization of post-abortion men and women in history. Janet Morana and Georgette Forney will guide and inspire us regarding how to grow this campaign even more. Go to www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org/conferencecall/index.aspx to sign up.

On other matters, please note:


* Our Novena in Reparation for Roe vs. Wade begins this Wednesday, January 14. Pray in spiritual preparation for January 22. See http://www.prayercampaign.org to download the prayer and sign up!

* Any parish that is willing to distribute in their parish bulletins our insert “You Can Save Someone’s Life Today” can receive from us as many as they need free of charge! See the bulletin, and how to request it, at http://www.priestsforlife.org/bulletin

* Are you organizing a bus to Washington DC for the March for Life or to San Francisco for the Walk for Life? If so, then as we have done in the past, we are offering videos that can be shown on the bus and prayer cards that can be given to each traveler. Contact Liz at our Resource Department for more details ( mailto:orders@priestsforlife.org ). Please let Liz know the video format you need (VHS or DVD), and how many different videos you may want. As for the prayer cards, let her know the quantity.

Let me also provide you with the upcoming schedules for our own TV shows and Radio programming:

Fr. Frank will host the “Pro-Life Open Forum” on Friday, January 16th at 7pm (Eastern) on Catholic Answers Live. Call in with your questions at 1-888-318-7884. Go to http://www.catholic.com for station information and to listen live on the internet.

Listen as Fr. Denis Wilde, OSA debates Kutztown University professor and pro-choice advocate Dr. Deb Sieger on Wednesday, Jan 21 at 2PM EST on KY Radio-88.3FM/1670AM - The Radio voice of Kutztown University, KUR. You can also listen on line at www.kutztown.edu.

James Pinto, Jr., MEV, National Coordinator of the Lay Missionaries of the Gospel of Life and his wife Joy Pinto, MEV will appear on Life on the Rock with hosts Father Mark Mary and Doug Barry on EWTN, Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 8pm ET. Be part of the live show by calling 1-800-221-9460 or email mailto:rock@ewtn.com . Show repeats on Friday, January 23 at 1am and 1pm and Sunday, January 25 at 11pm. For more information or to watch online see http://www.ewtn.com .

Hear us on EWTN radio on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo. Fr. Frank Pavone is her guest every Wednesday at 9:30am ET and Janet Morana is her guest every Friday at 9:10am ET. For radio station information and to listen to the live show on the internet, go to http://www.avemariaradio.net .

Defending Life: Watch on EWTN every Friday at 10pm ET and Saturday at 2:30am ET. Listen on EWTN radio every Friday at 1am ET, Saturday at 6:30pm ET and Sunday at 5am ET. For more information or to listen online go to www.ewtn.com .

January 16-18: Facing Hard Truths. How brutally honest should we be with each other about difficult topics like abortion, especially when trying to help those who have had one?

January 23-25: Abortion Isn’t Medicine. Guilt is one of our most common emotions. Its relationship to abortion, across cultural and religious lines, is the topic of this discussion.

Gospel of Life: Airs on "Angel One" Channel 101 on Sky Angel IPTV and channel 262 on Dish Network every Wednesday at 11:30pm ET. It also airs on Catholic Familyland (www.familyland.tv) - Sunday at 1am, Monday at 9am, Wednesday at 3:30am and Thursday at 11:30 pm. (All Times Eastern). Listen to Gospel of Life episodes online at www.gospeloflife.com.

Week of January 11: Clergy Confront Congress

Week of January 18: King, Roe and Unity

Please tune in and spread the word! In fact, you can help us – and your whole parish -- by asking your pastor to place in the parish bulletin an announcement about our TV shows. Thanks in advance!

Blessings and prayers,
Fr. Frank Pavone

Silent No More

Fr. Frank Pavone

Priests for Life

Abuse victims often use the phrase "Silent No More" to indicate their response to being victimized. It may be surprising to some in our society that as our nation reaches another anniversary of the abortion decisions Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton, that women from coast to coast are uniting under the banner of "Silent No More" because they have had abortions.

Not illegal "back alley" abortions, but abortions in legal “clinics.”

These women do not consider themselves freed, empowered, or ennobled because of their abortion. Rather, they testify that they were enslaved, weakened, and wounded. They were, in short, given a false promise, which is the essence of all temptation. They were told that this "procedure" would solve their problems. Instead, it brought more problems than they care to think about, namely, the whole range of physical and psychological wounds often described by the term "post-abortion syndrome."

What are these women doing to express their message? In Washington and in cities across the country, they will gather publicly at rallies and prayer events and hold signs that say, "I Regret My Abortion." The Washington gathering will, in fact, be at the steps of the Supreme Court, on the very date, January 22, that abortion was legalized.

This campaign is organized worldwide by Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life, and is the largest mobilization ever of women and men who have lost children to abortion. Along with public gatherings, they speak in legislative assemblies, in the media, and in Churches.

But why do this? If abortion is so painful, some will ask, why make a public display out of one's experience?

The answer is understood only if one knows how shameful and painful the silence of abortion is. The grief that follows abortion is, in the words of Dr. Theresa Burke, a "forbidden grief." The grief is not acknowledged; it is not validated. People don't send sympathy cards or talk about it openly. In fact, those who grieve their child killed by abortion are often made to feel silly for feeling sad. After all, they are told by society that they exercised a choice that solved a problem. Why grieve over that?

Such questions, of course, reveal a complete blindness to the fact that killing one's child hurts, and leaves a wound that Mom or Dad does not ever forget.

These men and women are tired of having pro-choice advocates pretend to speak for them. They want to tell the world, in their own words, that what is too easily celebrated as a "choice" and a "right" is in fact a painful burden.

Not every post-abortive person has found enough healing to be able to participate in these public rallies or hold these signs. But the participants in the Silent No More Awareness Campaign pray that their presence will assist their sisters on the road to healing, and give them some measure of comfort to know that their grief is no longer forbidden.

This Column can be found online at http://www.priestsforlife.org


Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life

Monday, January 12, 2009

Traveling Billboard

January 22ndAnniversary of Roe vs. Wade 36 years of legalized abortion forall nine months of a pregnancyand for any reason. 50 million babies have been aborted surgicallyand many more chemically!

Pray to end it! Judy Climer, President
Flint Right to Life &
Black Americans for Life
G-4482 N. Genesee Rd.
Flint, MI 48506
Phone: (810) 250-0218
Email: FlintRTL@gaither.com
Web site: www.FlintRTL.com

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Face of Jesus seen in baby scan

Face of Jesus seen in baby scanBy PAUL SIMS


The Turners' spiritual scan shows the face of Jesus hovering above their baby in the womb.
After seven months of a difficult pregnancy, Laura Turner looked anxiously at the latest ultrasound picture of her unborn son.

She was reassured to see not just the baby sucking his thumb - but what she believes is an image of Jesus watching over him.
The 20-year-old nursery nurse was so amazed that she decided to give her son the Biblical name Joshua.
'I just couldn't believe my eyes,' she said at her home in Studley, Warwickshire. 'My partner and I had already been for four or five scans because my baby has a cleft lip, and it was another routine
check-up to make sure that everything was okay.
'We had already found out that we were expecting a boy at an earlier scan so when we went to the hospital we weren't anticipating any more surprises. How wrong we were.
'It wasn't until we got home and a friend pointed out that it looked like there was someone else in the picture with our baby that we realised.
'I nearly fainted. We were just happy that we had managed to get a picture of Joshua sucking his thumb.
'To see what looks like Jesus in a shroud was unbelievable. It still
hasn't sunk in. It's kind of spooky but also beautiful and we will always treasure it.'
Miss Turner said she and her partner David Meikle, a 31-year-old removals man, had endured weeks of uncertainty after doctors told them that the baby, their first, might be born with Down's syndrome.
'The pregnancy has been fairly difficult so to see a likeness of Jesus in the picture gives me a lot of comfort.
'It's as if someone is watching over Joshua. It's helped make us feel more at ease and although I'm not very religious, seeing the picture does reassure me that things are going to turn out okay and that Joshua will be our little miracle.'





Face of Jesus seen in baby scan
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
When mum-to-be Laurna Turner went to hospital for an ultrasound of her unborn son, the scan delivered a startling view – the face of Jesus hovering above her baby


it does say, he is there, where we are formed in our Mother's Womb. Psalm 139, Jer 1:5, Is 49

http://Jer1Pro-life.blogspot.com