March for Life

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Religious Freedom and Abortion

It has been rightly said that Obamacare is the largest expansion of abortion in the United States since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. One aspect of that abortion expansion is what is now infamously called the “HHS Mandate,” forcing all companies to carry the full range of FDA-approved contraceptives, including a number of drugs and devices that can destroy life in its early stages.  
 
On Tuesday, March 25, the U.S. Supreme Court heard historic arguments on this unjust mandate forcing business owners to defy their deeply held conscience and religious convictions. Conestoga Wood and Hobby Lobby will fight for the religious and conscience freedoms which until now have always been protected in our country.  
 

These court decisions will be a defining moment in our culture! The March for Life had the opportunity to speak on behalf of pro-life America during a press conference at the Supreme Court. For a recap of the press conference, see below.  For more pictures, visit the March for Life Facebook page.

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The Pro-Life Movement

It’s been 40+ years since the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated all 50 state abortion laws in Roe v. Wade. The pro-life movement has made tremendous strides to educate the American people on the gift of life. Although there is much more to do, there are many reasons that pro-lifers must have hope!

40 bright spots in the pro-life effort

Polling & Data on Abortion

1) According to polls, “pro-life” has been the “new normal” for Americans since 2009. In 2012, 50% of Americans identified as pro-life, while those identifying as “pro-choice” hit a record low of 41%.

2) Young people are increasingly pro-life, which is evident as thousands of youth travel to the March for Life each year. Trends show that support of unlimited access to abortion by young people has dropped 12 percent points since 1990. According to Gallup “support for making abortion broadly illegal [is] growing fastest among young adults.”

3) Admitting that the pro-abortion movement is losing support among young people, pro-abortion NARAL President Nancy Keenan recently submitted her resignation to allow a younger president to conduct youth outreach. Commenting on the March for Life she lamented, “There are so many of them, and they are so young.” 

4) According to a NARAL study, 51% of pro-life voters under 30 consider a candidate’s stance on abortion very important, yet only 26% of pro-abortion voters of the same group  consider a candidate’s stance on abortion to be very important.

5) Most Americans do not agree with United States abortion laws. Abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy, but most believe that abortion should be highly restricted: 79% believe it should be illegal after the first trimester; 87% of Americans believe that abortion should be illegal after 6 months of pregnancy, while only 16% believe it should be legal through all 9 months of pregnancy.

6) The number of abortions in the United States has steadily declined since 1990. Abortion rates dropped 5% in 2009, the last year for which statistics are available.

Pregnancy Resource Centers

7) Throughout the United States, there are more than 2,000 Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRC) that offer help to mothers experiencing unplanned pregnancies. There are 1,793 abortion providers through the country.

8) PRCs report that up to 90% of women contemplating abortion who see the ultrasound, and hear their baby’s heart beat, choose to carry their baby to term.

9) Many PRCs offer ultrasounds free of charge to mothers.

10) There is a movement of mobile PRCs bringing ultrasounds to women. By parking in locations where there may be high numbers of women with unexpected pregnancies, such as malls, college campuses, and abortion clinics, these mobile units reach women who would not have otherwise walked into a PRC.

11) PRCs run largely on the generosity of donors, and volunteers. In 2010, approximately 71,000 volunteers performed an estimated 5,705,000 hours of work.

12) Free services offered by PRCs in 2010 were worth well over an estimated  $100 million.

13) As PRCs advance in medical sophistication, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), has trained many in sonography,  helping  make ultrasounds more widely available to expectant mothers.

Conversions and Outreach Ministries

14) Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist and co-founder of NARAL, had a change of heart in 1980, and became a pro-life advocate until his death in 2011.

15) Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade is now a pro-life advocate.

16) Sandra Cano, the plaintiff of Doe v. Bolton is pro-life, and a popular speaker on pro-life issues.

17) Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood clinic director, left the abortion industry after seeing an abortion on ultrasound. She is pro-life speaker and advocate.

18) Abby Johnson began the ministry “And Then There Were None” to reach out to abortion clinic workers who want to leave the abortion industry. Since the organization’s founding in June 2012, nearly 40 workers have left their places of employment, and through the help of “And Then There Were None” were able to find new jobs.

19) 40 Days for Life is a peaceful prayer campaign where groups dedicate 40 days of prayer and fasting for the protection of life, often in front of abortion clinics. Since beginning in 2007 at least 6,749 lives have been saved, 75 abortion clinic workers have left their jobs.

20) Abortion clinics close at a steady pace; 40 Days for Life reports the closing of at least 25 abortion clinics, including the oldest abortion clinic in New York City.

21) Pro-life campus outreach is flourishing. Students for Life of America reports that in 2011, they had  678 active groups, chapters in 49 states, and  42 trainings on college campuses throughout the year.

22) There are numerous organizations such as Isaiah’s Promise and Be Not Afraid that support expectant parents who receive a poor prenatal diagnosis. These ministries help parents respect the dignity of their babies by carrying them to term regardless of their prognosis.

23) Organizations such as Project Rachel, Lumina, and Silent No More bring post-abortion hope and healing to women and men who have chosen abortion.

Laws – Federal and State

24) In 2003, Congress passed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 5, 2003. The ban outlawed use of the procedure that became known as partial birth abortion, and brought the violent and intensive procedure of abortion into the light for the public to see. It is likely that because of this law, public opinion has moved in the pro-life direction.

25) Congress has enacted the Hyde-Weldon, Church and Coats-Snowe Amendments, which all protect conscience rights.

26) Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has restricted federal funds for abortion.  

27) Between 2010 and 2012 there have been tremendous pro-life advances on the state level. In 2011, a record breaking 92 pro-life laws, and in 2012, 43 state laws were enacted. 

28) In 2011 nine states voted to withhold funding from Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.

29) Thirty-four states require women receive counseling before an abortion, and twenty-six states have a required waiting period between counseling and abortion.

30) Thirty-eight states have parental involvement laws for minors seeking abortion. Studies show that parental involvement decreases the abortion rate significantly.[17]

31) Twelve states have passed ultrasound legislation, giving women the opportunity to view an ultrasound prior to their abortion.

32) At least five states have pro-life laws on fetal pain.

33) Twenty-seven states now offer specialty “Choose Life” license plates. Proceeds from the license plates benefit PRCs or other organizations that provide alternatives to abortion.

34) Twelve states now provide direct f
unding to PRCs.

Cultural/Miscellaneous

35) The “Too Many Aborted” public ad campaign caused national uproar as it called attention to the fact that over 40% of African American babies conceived are aborted.

36) There have been increasingly more movies that highlight the gift of life including Bella, Juno and October Baby.

37) Adoptions have consistently increased since 1995.

38) Advances in technology show that the developing baby is undeniably a human being and many credit this for influencing public opinion in favor of the pro-life position.

39) Advances in prenatal technology offer lifesaving treatment to the baby in utero, captured in images such as the “Hand of Hope” picture of Samuel Armas.

40) The March for Life has grown from its humble beginnings in 1974 to be the largest pro-life event in the world!

 

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Life Principles

Knowing that no sound action can grow out of a vacuum of purpose, MARCH FOR LIFE formulated the Life Principles as a forthright, comprehensive statement of the position motivating the prolife movement. These Life Principles serve as the basis for prolife moral and legal theory by which the American people can overturn Roe v.Wade.

These Life Principles express the ideals motivating prolife Americans and indicate the purpose of the MARCH FOR LIFE:

  • We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all human beings are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which is the right to life, and Therefore
  • The right to life of each human being shall be preserved and protected by every human being in the society and by the society as a whole, and
  • The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected from that human being’s biological beginning when the Father’s sperm fertilizes the Mother’s ovum, and
  • The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected from the biological beginning throughout the natural continuum of that human being’s life by all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts, and
  • The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected at each stage of the life continuum to the same extent as at each and every other stage regardless of state of health or condition of dependency, and
  • The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected to the same extent as the life of each and every other human being regardless of state of health or condition of dependency, and
  • When there is any doubt that there exists a human being’s life to preserve and protect, such doubt shall be resolved In favor of the existence of a human being, and
  • When two or more human beings are in a situation in which their lives are mutually endangered, all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts shall be used to preserve and protect the life of each and every human being so endangered:
  • WHEREFORE, Pursuant To These Principles, we recommend and urge the adoption of a Mandatory HUMAN LIFE AMENDMENT to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Applying the Life Principles

Realizing that no sound action can grow out of a vacuum of purpose, in 1974 the MARCH FOR LIFE formulated and included in its charter of incorporation, the Life Principles, as shown above. Purposefully, the Life Principles are not framed in the negative tone of “thou shalt not,” and are framed in the positive tone of duty and responsibility of each human being and of society. The Life Principles are set in the context of our Declaration of Independence—that the right to life is inalienable and endowed by our Creator. If this basic right is weakened, all other rights are meaningless, as disparagement of the value and dignity of human beings will then permeate our society’s mentality and the Laws of our Land—contrary to our common good.

It is the duty of each individual and of society operating through its laws to provide protection for each member of the society. This follows the basic homicide laws of the common law that society protects a member from assault and death. The protection shall extend from the beginning of each human being’s life – acknowledged to be when the father’s sperm fertilizes the mother’s ovum – and throughout the natural continuum of that human being’s life.

All available ordinary means and reasonable efforts shall be used to preserve and protect human life. This would be determined on a case-by-case basis; it is ordinary in our practice of law to consider the facts of each case.

No value distinction may be made in determining the worth and dignity of any human being. Thus, the life of an individual as a preborn child shall be preserved and protected to the same extent as at any other stage of that individual’s life, whether infant, teenager, or aged.

Similarly, no value distinction shall be made between the value of the life of one individual and of another; the life of a preborn child shall be preserved and protected to the same extent as the life of, e.g., an infant, a young adult or a middle-aged prominent national figure. In summary, each human being’s life shall be preserved and protected, using all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts, without regard to whose life it is “better” to presence and protect. There can be no exceptions.

If there is any doubt whether or not a human being exists, then society and any individual resolves that doubt in favor of action which will preserve and protect a human life. A woman unsure of whether she is pregnant, for instance, would not use an abortifacient, which could kill her preborn child who may be in her womb. This follows the simple practice that one does not shoot a bullet into a blind area which may be occupied by a human being.If the lives of two human beings are mutually endangered, use all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts to preserve and protect the life of each and every human being so endangered. Even with these efforts and means, one human being’s life may be lost, or all may be lost. But, the guiding principles are that no innocent human may be intentionally killed in an effort to save another human, and that it shall not be predetermined by law that one human life may be sacrificed to save the life of another human. Any decision about who may be saved must be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the total circumstances, and trying to save as many humans as possible. With respect to a difficult pregnancy, the principle of “equal care for both the pregnant mother and her preborn child” is well established. Although a pregnant mother and/or her preborn child may die, there is no justification in the law of God or man for the intentional killing of even one innocent born or preborn human in existence at fertilization. NO EXCEPTION! NO COMPROMISE!

With these Life Principles in mind, the MARCH FOR LIFE is the collective effort of grassroots prolife Americans to assure that our state and federal laws shall protect the right to life of each human in existence at fertilization. An important step is adoption of a Mandatory Human Life Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Such an amendment would be simple and require that individuals and society provide protection for the right to life of each human in existence at fertilization. It would require that State laws conform to the Constitution and provide the same protection. Thus, the Life Principles provide guidance and purpose to the grassroots prolife volunteers in our efforts to be effective through our education and action programs.

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Adoption and Pregnancy Resource Centers

 

Care Net supports more than 1100 affiliate pregnancy centers across North America.  Our affiliate pregnancy centers are faith-based organizations with deep roots in their communities.  Each center empowers women and men facing unplanned pregnancies with practical help, emotional support, and information about their pregnancy options.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1RuH2lLl9o

Heartbeat International works to inspire and equip Christian communities worldwide to rescue women and couples from abortion through the development of neighborhood pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and adoption services. These ministries provide life-saving help in a truly life-changing way by assisting women who are at risk for abortion with the life-affirming, practical support they need to choose life, then prepare them to parent or to place for adoption.

Need to locate a pregnancy resource center?  Check out OptionLine to find the nearest center.

 

Human Life Coalition is a compassionate, technology-driven non-profit organization committed to rescuing children and families from abortion.  The core focus of Human Life Coalition is to reach at-risk women and men in their deepest time of need and introduce them to local life-affirming organizations where love and information can be shared in a compassionate, nonjudgmental way.

 

The National Council for Adoption’s iChooseAdoption.org provides resources on adoption and an adoption agency search.  The site also is home to many powerful and personal stories of adoption:

 

Additional Resources:

Adoption Journey

AdoptUSKids

Adopted and Loved

Bethany Christian Resources

Catholic Charities

Covenant Care Adoptions

Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute

Christian Alliance for Orphans

Heart Gallery of America

iCareAboutOrphans.org

National Council for Adoption

Sally’s Lambs

 

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Hill Briefing on Adoption

 

On Tuesday, September 10, along with Representative Steve Stockman (R-TX-36), the Radiance Foundation, the National Council for Adoption and Alliance Defending Freedom,  the March for Life Education and Defense Fund co-hosted a briefing on adoption titled: Promoting the Adoption Option – Myths, Obstacles and Solutions. 

Below is a summary of some of the social media highlights from the briefing, as well as some educational resources on adoption.  Furthermore, the theme for the 2014 March for Life is “Adoption: A Noble Decision.”  Stay tuned for more educational information as well as annoucements on the March for Life rally speakers!