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Life Lines for May 5, 2013
Submitted by Jeanne Strubbe
Life Ministry Coordinator
Article courtesy of LifeNews.com
Fox News will air a one-hour special on abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell and his murder charges Sunday May 5 at 9 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. CT. The cable news channel has now unveiled the name of the program, which will be called “See No Evil – The Kermit Gosnell Murders.” Father Frank Pavone, the director of Priests for Life, encourages pro-life advocates to tune in and to let others know about it.
“Please spread the word starting now,” he said. “Let’s do all we can to spread the word about this so as to get as many people as possible to watch, and to show our friends in the secular media that when this topic is addressed, people tune in Father Pavone says it is up to the pro-life movement to expose Gosnell to the nation, with the mainstream media largely punting coverage of his trial. “Our nation is becoming like Nazi Germany,” he said. “The effort to defend Kermit Gosnell, on trial for murder, is a clear sign of this.
The evidence against “Doctor” Gosnell is clear. Not only did he kill a 41-year-old woman, he brought multiple babies into this world and then callously, maliciously and without remorse took a pair of scissors and mercilessly severed their spines and killed them! Kermit Gosnell’s defense attorney is saying there wasn’t enough evidence that these babies were alive after birth. He got some of the seven charges dropped for the murder of these babies! As if that takes away the horror of what he did,” he said. “There were in fact many more than the seven.
But a court trial proceeds based on the evidence. So now the focus will be on the rest of the babies and the woman who was killed. The defense will do everything possible to acquit Gosnell altogether. The idea that the children murdered by Kermit Gosnell are somehow undeserving of justice is a dire warning,” Pavone added. “It should serve as a wake-up call to all Americans that our nation is sliding into a Nazi-like outlook on life unless we reverse course.” Pavone added that the special is important to make sure all Americans come to know about Gosnell and his House of Horrors. “The Kermit Gosnell abortion trial in Philadelphia is our chance to show our fellow Americans that this Philadelphia “House of Horrors” is typical of every abortion mill in the country and in doing so, rouse them to anger and rally them to rise up and help us end the killing,” and he concludes Gosnell will not testify in his murder trial and his defense attorney decided to not call a single witness on his behalf to defend him from the murder and other charges he faces.
As a result, the Gosnell defense has concluded without the embattled abortion doctor ever taking the stand and with Gosnell attorney Jack McMahon offering very little in his defense.
Galatians 6:7. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
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Life Lines for May 12, 2013
Submitted by Jeanne Strubbe
Life Ministry Coordinator
Article courtesy of LifeNews.com
Students—from sixth grade to college-age—have been facing opposition on campus for sharing their pro-life beliefs. Evidence shows the support of free speech only applies to those who favor abortion. Here are some of the cases.
In March, the student government at Johns Hopkins University denied recognition to the student pro-life group, Voices for Life (VFL). It was denied on the basis that their involvement in sidewalk counseling was deemed “harassment.” Further, a link on the VFL website was considered too graphic because it posts photos of aborted babies. The students of VFL refused to be silenced and appealed the decision. In spite of enduring personal character attacks and discriminatory opposition, the ruling was overturned in April by the Student Government Judiciary. The university administration agreed that the group was in fact protected under freedom of speech.
Another case took place at the State University of New York – Buffalo campus. Students were presenting a pro-life photograph display on campus when they were approached by a pro-abortion professor, Laura Curry. Curry erupted into a profanity-laced tirade calling the images profane. When approached by officers who requested that she refrain from using profanity, she acted out even further yelling, “Where does it say I can’t use the f-word in public?” In a Christian News Network article, it’s reported that she claimed the First Amendment protected her right to yell curse words in front of everyone in the vicinity. It’s ironic she considered her foul speech protected, but the peaceful pro-life display was not. “I can swear in public because [this display] is profane,” she continued, “That image is swearing to me.” As she continued to openly defy campus police, this campus professor was eventually placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct.
Another example is Students for Life, a pro-life group that does the Planned Parenthood Project Tour. It consists of visiting various college campuses with a display of 915 pink crosses, representing the lives extinguished every day by Planned Parenthood. They experienced the most antagonistic opposition at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. First, a box of postcards was stolen. Later pro-abortion advocates coincidentally tweeted about tearing up the group’s materials. A photo of someone making an obscene gesture in front of the display also made the rounds on Twitter. A post on Facebook portrayed the ugly intolerance by stating, “Anyone know if the anti-Planned Parenthood crosses are still on the ground in the quad? Because I’d love to go rip them out right now.” It was disturbing enough as a stand-alone comment, but it generated an alarming 200 “likes.”
Perhaps, at the college level, you anticipate there to be some level of dissenting opinions, even some immature or vile. However, a sixth grade student in Minnesota was recently handing out simple fliers that read, “Save the baby humans. Stop abortion.” She passed them out at lunchtime to friends and classmates interested in the topic. The school considered this political activism and regarded it as offensive. She was banned from passing them out during or after school hours, even if students requested them. The school administration essentially denied this young girl of her constitutionally protected right to free speech. And to make matters worse, they said sixth graders don’t have this right to free speech until they reach high school. Alliance Defending Freedom has since filed a federal lawsuit on the grounds of censorship and “hostility toward religious expression.”
For all ages, the resistance we face from pro-abortion activists is very real. It can be depraved and even threatening. Because pro-abortion activists can’t defend their position, their only response is to attack ours. It’s important that we don’t allow ourselves to be intimidated. We must also remember that there are those currently on the other side who may be open to our message and have a change of heart. Therefore, we must continue to keep calm, rational education at the forefront and not stoop to their level l of baseless attacks.
"The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion … [And] if one is burdened with the blood of another, he will be a fugitive until death; let no one help him" (Proverbs 28:1,17).
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Life Lines for May 19, 2013
Submitted by Jeanne Strubbe
Life Ministry Coordinator
Article courtesy of LifeNews.com
Five Things Everyone Should Know About Planned Parenthood
1. Planned Parenthood does NOT do mammograms.
During the 2012 presidential election, the issue of Planned Parenthood offering mammograms came to a head, and Planned Parenthood turned out to be the lying team once again.
Live Action president Lila Rose summed it up well, saying: “Planned Parenthood is first and foremost an abortion business, but Planned Parenthood and its allies will say almost anything to try and cover up that fact and preserve its taxpayer funding. It’s not surprising that an organization found concealing statutory rape and helping child sex traffickers would misrepresent its own services so brazenly, playing on women’s fears in order to protect their tax dollars.”
2. Planned Parenthood does abortions.
What? You say, Planned Parenthood does abortions? Yes, friends, it’s true. This turns out to be a little-known fact among young people, which is ironic given that Planned Parenthood’s most highly-targeted demographic is the very group of people who don’t know about the abortion biz within Planned Parenthood. Although more than 50% of Planned Parenthood’s abortions are done on teenagers and college-aged women, Students for Life of America reports that at least 60% of college students do not know that Planned Parenthood commits abortions. Students for Life is working hard to change that fact with its Planned Parenthood Project on college campuses across the nation.
3. Planned Parenthood commits 392 abortions for every one adoption referral it makes.
So much for “pro-choice.” Wouldn’t that involve…well…offering choices? Choices are bad for business over at Planned Parenthood, which unlike abortion, doesn’t benefit financially from an adoption referral. And that might explain why the business is so slow to proffer the adoption option. We all know that where there is no blood money, there is usually no Planned Parenthood. Source: Planned Parenthood annual report.
4. Planned Parenthood receives over a million dollars of your money – every. Single. Day.
Did you know that one of the surest ways to close PP’s doors is to extirpate its tax funding? Planned Parenthood is so reliant on government revenue, in fact, that taking it away would cut Planned Parenthood income by almost half. According to STOPP:
Planned Parenthood’s 2010 annual report underscores its growing reliance on government funding. Elimination of that funding will result in the collapse of the abortion giant. Government funding for Planned Parenthood must be attacked on local, state, and federal levels.
5. Planned Parenthood still receives funding from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
It’s no secret that Planned Parenthood likes to bully its way into coffers around the nation, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation was no exception. Buckling under the pressure, Komen reneged on its short-lived decision to bar Planned Parenthood from funding while the organization was under Congressional investigation.
To fully comprehend the scope of this lunacy (that is, of funding Planned Parenthood), consider these two facts: Planned Parenthood does not do mammograms, which help to reduce breast cancer by providing early detection of potential problems, and Planned Parenthood does commit abortions, which increase a woman’s susceptibility to the condition.
Ephesians 5:11. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
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Life Lines for May 26, 2013
Submitted by Jeanne Strubbe
Life Ministry Coordinator
Article courtesy of LifeNews.com
If the Watergate scandal went down as one of the worst in history, the recently revealed series of government abuses nicknamed “IRSGate” is on its way to becoming just as infamous, as details of rampant targeting and harassment of American entities (run, of course, by American citizens), based purely on the organizations’ or citizens’ political views, continues to emerge.
It began when Lois Lerner, Director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations, admitted in a press conference that IRS agents had targeted conservative groups for intensive and inappropriate screening, as well as unmerited delays of their application, and harassment According to documents released by the American Center for Law and Justice, IRS agents went so far as to demand the names of all contributors or volunteers, details about what types of issues candidates would be asked in candidate forums, and disclosure of any personal relationship organization members had with candidates or elected officials.
Then it was disclosed that not only had conservative political action groups been targeted, a prominent evangelical, James Dobson, had initially been denied tax exempt status for a new organization he had incorporated based on the fact that Dobson had personally “criticized” President Obama.
In the growing tidal wave of revealed harassment, it was also discovered that the IRS had not only targeted political action groups, but had also targeted pro-life groups. Cherish Life Ministries, for example, a charitable organization which focuses on serving young mothers, educating the public on life issues, and supporting churches, was denied 501(c)(3) status and told that, in order to qualify, the group must also provide pro-abortion materials equal to their pro-life materials. Laughable at best, given that Planned Parenthood has maintained the exact it tax exempt status being sought by Cherish Life, with zero requirements to promote pro-life materials.
Coalition for Life of Iowa suffered a similar fate, with their application resulting in excessive delays, invasive questioning, and a final letter stating that the application would only be accepted if the group provided the IRS with a letter, signed by the entire board, stating under perjury of law that they will not picket/protest or organize groups to picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood. The group sought legal help from the Thomas Moore Law Center, and has now received their tax-exempt status, though details of their harassment remain chilling.
Perhaps even more disturbing is what happened to the group Christian Voices for Life, who were subjected to unconstitutional questions relating not just to their pro-life views, but their prayer vigils as well, harassing the group not only for pro-life speech, but also for exercising their religion.
Ironically, while admitting that agents targeted groups based on whether there were “[conservative] names in the title” and that the search terms which lead to targeting included phrases such as“ government spending,” “government debt,” “taxes,” and pro-life status, Lerner maintains that the targeted efforts were not politically motivated, though it is also known that no liberal groups received any similar harassment. Currently, Lerner maintains it was the result of a small group of Cincinnati-based agents trying to “centralize” the process.
Valid questions have also been raised regarding the ties between President Obama and Planned Parenthood, and the targeting of pro-life groups who have advocated against the abortion giant, or criticized the pro-abortion President.
The concern deepens at the acknowledgement by leaders that, while President Obama likely did not have personal knowledge of the targeting, it is implausible to argue that senior-level officials were in the dark, particularly as it has now been revealed that the scandal was deliberately buried until well after the presidential elections were held. In fact, it has been revealed that top treasury officials were made aware of an investigation into the alleged abuses nearly a full year ago.
The IRS is now facing a lawsuit over the scandal, with the potential to charge the organization under a multitude of criminal statutes, and that is reassuring. However, given that Obama’s nominee for the Department of Labor is Thomas Perez, a man known for targeting pro-life citizens and groups, and that the IRS agent in formerly in charge of the office which produced these abuses, is now in charge of the IRS office which will oversee Obamacare compliance, pro-lifers should be aware that this type of abuse is far from over.
"I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10
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Life Lines for June 2, 2013
Submitted by Jeanne Strubbe
Life Ministry Coordinator
Article courtesy of LifeNews.com
In a pregnancy that defied the odds, a Phoenix woman gave birth Monday to a baby she had carried just outside her uterus, a feat so rare that doctors couldn't say for sure whether such a birth had ever occurred before.
Azelan Cruz Perfecto began the day in a precarious position, surrounded by a thin wall of membrane and muscle just outside the safety of his mother's womb. Doctors knew they needed to operate to get him out, fearing that if they waited too long, his protective bubble would burst.
His mother, Nicollete Soto, 27, of Phoenix, had been advised by doctors that carrying the baby brought risk to both his life and hers, but she wanted to see the pregnancy through, said her boyfriend, Victor Perfecto.
Azelan Cruz was born around 9:20 a.m. The premature baby, born at 32 weeks, weighed just 2 pounds, 14 ounces, but doctors say he's doing great.
Doctors originally thought that Soto was carrying the baby in her abdomen, completely outside her uterus. But after delivering the baby, doctors found that Soto didn't appear to have an abdominal pregnancy, as they thought. Instead, the embryo had attached itself to the area where the fallopian tube meets the uterus, or what is known as a cornual pregnancy.
"For some reason, hers did not rupture," said Edwards, the director of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Center at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. "It continued to stretch."
"This is just a case that proves, in medicine, nothing happens 'always' or 'never,' " he said.
Doctors said that if Soto's unusual pregnancy had been spotted earlier, they would have advised her to terminate it. The risk of rupture, and possible fatal blood loss, would have been too great, said Dr. William Clewell of the maternal-fetal center.
But with the fetus that far along, doctors knew they were already on dangerous ground.
Soto's father, Benjamin Soto of Tucson, said that even as doctors debated the exact nature and complications of his daughter's pregnancy, she wanted to press forward. "She said, 'No matter what, I'm going to have this baby,' " he recalled.
Her faith wavered a bit on Monday morning, said Maria Garcia, the paternal grandmother. Soto was crying and worried that the surgery would go badly, Garcia said, in Spanish.
"I told her, 'Only God knows if he will live,' " Garcia said. "Have faith."
In the operating room, doctors handled her gingerly. Clewell said he advised one surgeon to not tap the abdominal area too hard.
"If you know you have a ticking bomb," he said, "one thing you don't want to do is play with it."
Perfecto stood by as doctors began the surgery and removed the wiggling, crying, baby boy. Soto was able to see her son for a few minutes, but Perfecto said the anesthetic was starting to kick in.
"She was in another world," he said.
The name Azelan is a variation of Aslan, the name of the Great Lion in the C.S. Lewis book "The Chronicles of Narnia," he said.
The baby is expected to be hospitalized for three to four weeks. Soto is expected to be released in three to four days.
Perfecto said the couple has to hit the stores.
"We haven't shopped for the baby," he said. They waited, he said, because had this day turned out differently, it would have been too painful to return it all.
“Who among us does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:9-10.
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Life Lines for June 9, 2013
Submitted by Jeanne Strubbe
Life Ministry Coordinator
There was no Lifelines for June 9.
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Life Lines for June 16, 2013
Submitted by Jeanne Strubbe
Life Ministry Coordinator
Article courtesy of LifeNews.com
Two former Planned Parenthood nurses testified at the Delaware state legislature today about the horrific conditions they witnessed at abortion clinics in their state. They also went on about how women were pushed into “meat-market style of assembly-line abortions.”
Joyce Vasikonis and Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich told about the unsafe, unsanitary conditions that led them to quit their jobs. Last month, the women told WPVI-TV ABC News of the “meat-market style of assembly-line abortions” occurring inside the clinic.
They say Planned Parenthood is more concerned with profit margins than the health and safety of women.
Both nurses resigned their positions last year, and have urged state officials to address problems they say have been ignored or denied for months.
“It was an absolute nightmare,” said Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich, who resigned after only a few weeks on the job and pushed for state investigations for months.
Mitchell-Werbrich and her former supervisor, Joyce Vaskonis, both told lawmakers they were not opposed to abortion. They were opposed to unsafe medical practices.
The nurses have charged that Planned Parenthood:
· Placed patients in grave danger through poor care, insufficient training
· Assigned medical responsibilities to employees who had insufficient medical training
· Rushed abortion procedures at a speed that made patient safety impossible, and allowed doctors to carry out abortions without properly cleaning and sterilizing procedure rooms
· Failed to report to patients that they had contracted sexually transmitted diseases
· Tolerated sexual harassment of employees
· Attempted to falsify employee records
· Drastically under-reported the number of abortions they performed to the state of Delaware
· Failed to provide standard medical policies and procedures guidelines to medical staff to protect patients
· Failed to comply with state parental notification laws
The head of one pro-life group is happy that Planned Parenthood is getting exposed.
“Planned Parenthood is America’s number one abortion business, which in a single year ended the lives of 333,964 children,” said Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The standard bearer in Big Abortion cannot claim Gosnell’s ‘house of horrors’ was isolated while their own employees expose them for ‘ridiculously unsafe’ conditions.”
“Planned Parenthood needs to close its doors, it needs to be cleaned up, the staff needs to be trained, said Werbrich.” In Delaware, abortion clinics are not subject to routine inspections and Mary Peterson from the Delaware Department of Health and Human Services admitted in the report, “I am not going to lie to you, we don’t have the manpower to do routine inspections.” She claims the state inspected the abortion clinic in October and found no problems.
Ephesians 5:11. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
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