Archive for the ‘Planned Parenthood’ Category

On a bleak Friday afternoon, our savior Jesus Christ was crucified at Golgotha, "the place of the skull." Today, we have our own Golgotha: the abortion clinic, where two thousand years after the Crucifixion, His image is violently destroyed, again and again, by abortion.

That's why, for the last five years, the Pro-Life Action League has marked Good Friday with a pro-life "Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion" at our local Planned Parenthood.

We've found this activity to be such a blessing, one of our favorite pro-life activities of the year. So this year we're calling on pro-lifers like you nationwide to join us in hosting a "Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion" at your local abortion facility.

And, we're providing you with all the tools you need to make it happen in your area, including an ecumenical prayer service book, templates to promote your event through e-mail and in churches, advice on practical considerations and more!

Though the devotion of the Stations of the Cross has Catholic roots, the service we conduct is completely ecumenical. People of every denomination join us every year and there is no material in the book that would be offensive to non-Catholics to pray. Please feel free to join or host a Way of the Cross no matter what your denomination. [Continue reading . . . »]

On Saturday, February 9, I was pleased to join a group of nearly 70 pro-lifers to kick off the Spring 40 Days for Life campaign in Aurora, Illinois outside the Planned Parenthood mega-center.

I had worked with Karen and Kathleen from Holy Cross parish in Batavia, Illinois as they discerned whether or not taking on the campaign was the right thing for them to do, so it was extra special to be able to address the crowd as the effort kicked off.

Before the Rally even started, God gave an incredible blessing. A couple stopped on their way out of the Planned Parenthood and told our sidewalk counselors that they had decided not to go through with the abortion. Though the 40 Days Campaign hadn't even started yet, God was already doing wondrous things!

Karen and Kathleen opened the Rally and Deacon Jim Newhouse of Ss. Peter and Paul parish in Virgil, Illinois gave an opening prayer. Next came a wonderful pro-life song from Catholic singer-songwriter Karl Miles called "Where are the Warriors?", which you can listen to above. [Continue reading . . . »]

The Pro-Life Action League is proud to announce our 10th annual "Empty Manger" Christmas Caroling day Saturday, December 22.

Each year, the League brings the light of Christmas to the darkness of the abortion facility by singing the songs of Christmas right outside their doors.

Join us this year for two tours, one in Chicago and one in DuPage county to make your Advent a pro-life one. [Continue reading . . . »]

 

The Work of His Hands, Copyright © Gary B Clark

Abortion proponents and their friends in the mainstream media are going ballistic over a comment yesterday by Richard Mourdock, a Republican running for senate in Indiana. In explaining his pro-life position during a candidate's debate, Mourdock said, "Life is a gift from God and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

Immediately after the debate, Mourdock's Democrat opponent, Joe Donnelly, tried to construe Mourdock's remark as some kind of endorsement of rape, as if Mourdock meant that the violent act—rather than the child's life—was intended by God.

That spin—which Mourdock rightly called "sick and twisted"—has been seized upon by Planned Parenthood and the Democratic party to attack Mourdock and, by extension, all pro-life candidates as extremists.

Who are the real extremists?

Far from being labeled an extremist, Mourdock is to be commended for upholding the humanity of children conceived in rape. God's words to the prophet Jeremiah belong to these children, too, as they do to all of us: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." Of course God knows and loves these children, innocently conceived in violence. [Continue reading . . . »]

Fr. Thomas Milota leads pro-lifers in prayer at Planned Parenthood [Photo by Matt Yonke]

As the sun set on Monday, October 1, pro-lifers gathered outside Planned Parenthood in Aurora, Illinois to mark the fifth anniversary of the day the "Abortion Fortress" opened its doors.

Candles were lit and the faithful came together to mourn the babies and mothers hurt by abortion as well as to thank God for his ongoing kindness to the pro-life movement in our struggle against this facility.

Aurora Megacenter Opened Under Cloud of Deception

In 2007, Planned Parenthood brought the facility to Aurora under a cloud of secrecy and outright deceit. They brought in a front company to buy the property and oversee construction and they outright lied to the Aurora City Council saying it would be a general, multi-tenant medical facility and that they didn't know who their tenants would be. [Continue reading . . . »]

Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Washington

A strange story emerges out of Seattle, brought to our attention by Catholic blogger Mark Shea, that finds Planned Parenthood pitted against their longtime allies at the National Organization for Women (NOW) as well as the hospital establishment.

Swedish Health Services, a secular healthcare organization, and Providence Health & Services, a Catholic healthcare organization, have tried over the last decade to find a way to join forces to provide the best possible medical services at Seattle's Swedish Hospital. A detailed account of the situation can be found here.

They're poised to come to a historic agreement that would allow both organizations to do the most good for everyone, but controversy has crept in because, as part of the agreement, Swedish is committing to not perform elective abortions.

NOW is in an uproar that any hospital anywhere would dare to not provide abortions. But Planned Parenthood is actually excited about the move. Why? Why else: money. [Continue reading . . . »]

Eric Scheidler leads pro-lifers in song outside Planned Parenthood in Aurora, IL [Photo by Matt Yonke]

This past Sunday, October 2, marked the 4th anniversary of the dark day that Planned Parenthood opened the doors of their "Abortion Fortress," the first of their mega-centers which are now spreading across the nation.

Though it might seem counter-intuitive, the Pro-Life Action League marked this grim day with a "Do-it Yourself" pro-life concert on the vacant lot across the street from the midwest's largest abortion clinic.

The DIY concert is an idea League Executive Director Eric Scheidler came up with to celebrate the closing of the second 40 Days for Life vigil in 2008 and we've held them several times since. Pro-lifers bring a lawn chair and copies of their favorite hymn or praise song and an instrument if they play one, and we sing praises to God thanking Him for the victories He's granted us as a movement. [Continue reading . . . »]

I was thrilled to receive an e-mail from Waterleaf Women's Center with the story of the first baby saved from abortion after the mother saw her baby on Waterleaf's ultrasound machine!

I'll let Waterleaf tell the story for themselves:

We were thrilled to receive the following text message recently from one of our Waterleaf clients in the hospital delivery room…

"Thank you for helping me not make a quick decision to abort. I can't wait to hold my daughter in my arms."

Though all of our births are special, Baby "Anna" (who weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 9 oz.) was our first baby saved from abortion through the power of ultrasound. Her mother, who was determined to visit Planned Parenthood for an abortion, could not overcome the emotions of seeing her baby girl on Waterleaf's full-size TV monitor.

Since our January medical clinic conversion, dozens of Waterleaf's clients have experienced the powerful impact of ultrasound. Many were unprepared for the fact that their baby was a living, moving, human being with a heartbeat and fingers and toes!

Thanks to your prayers and financial support, we continue to witness the power of ultrasound and God's grace daily. May God bless each of you for sharing in our lifesaving ministry.

In faith,

The Waterleaf team

Such great news! Learn more about Waterleaf and contribute to their work at their website.

 

Picket outside Planned Parenthood in Aurora, IL [Photo by Sam Scheidler]

On Saturday, September 17, over 50 pro-lifers beat the pavement outside the "Abortion Fortress" of Aurora, Illinois just as they have every third Saturday since the facility opened in the fall of 2007.

With signs reading Moms for Life, Dads for Life, Planned Parenthood LIES to You and Planned Parenthood: BAD for Aurora the group witnessed to the community's continuing resistance to the presence of the Midwest's largest abortion mill in their town.

I've been a part of the League's protest efforts at Planned Parenthood Aurora since the very beginning, and it's been a great encouragement to get to know the area's faithful activists. As I handed out signs on Saturday, I saw many of those who have been there since the beginning as well as some new faces. [Continue reading . . . »]

Last week, the Guttmacher Institute announced the publication of an analysis of the rate of unintended pregnancy in the United States from 2001 to 2006. The report unwittingly makes the case for defunding Planned Parenthood.

Guttmacher reports that overall "the unintended pregnancy rate has remained essentially flat" during that period but that it "has increased dramatically among poor women." Their conclusion [PDF]: "The United States did not make progress toward its goal of reducing unintended pregnancy between 2001 and 2006."

The Institute was founded as a division of Planned Parenthood in 1968, and later named in honor of former Planned Parenthood director Alan Guttmacher when it became independent in 1977. However—as the two groups' response to the new report shows—Guttmacher and Planned Parenthood continue to work hand-in-glove.

Predictable Response from Planned Parenthood

"The Guttmacher Institute's new analysis of unintended pregnancy should serve as a national wake-up call," declared Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards—and for once I agree with her. But we're completely at odds as to what the wake-up call is trying to tell us. [Continue reading . . . »]