Pro-Life . . . here to stay !
The struggle continues
After several disappointing losses, by narrow margins, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, the battle to save human lives, and to save a nation's soul, shifts once again to the ballot box. Federal Legislative Update
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
As reported in the September Erie Echo, the U.S. Senate failed to override Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act by only three votes. Expressing hope for the future, Sen. Rick Santorum, the bill's primary sponsor commented, "I think the future for this issue lies with the American public and what they do in the next election," adding, "The American public has a powerful ability to effect change." Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott promised, "This is not the end of the battle."Child Custody Protection Act
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Child Custody Protection Act by a lopsided, 276-150, on July 15. This bill proposed to make it a federal offense for individuals, such as adult boyfriends and parents of boyfriends, to transport underage girls across state lines for abortions in order to avoid fulfilling the parental involvement requirements of the girl's home state.On September 22, the Child Custody Protection Act was effectively killed when the Senate failed to muster the 60 vote supermajority needed to surmount roadblocks erected by the Senate Democratic leadership. A simple majority of 54 senators did vote to advance the bill. Clinton had threatened to veto the measure.
Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act on September 24 by a vote of 11-6. This bill would prohibit the use of federally controlled substances for euthanasia and assisted-suicide. The House version of the bill had received approval from the House Judiciary Committee on August 6. However, because of time constraints, the legislation was not brought up for a floor vote in either the House or the Senate.'Campaign Reform' approved by House - stopped in Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 4 approved the Shays-Meehan "campaign reform" bill by a vote of 237-186. The bill, if implemented, would severely diminish the rights of citizen issue advocacy groups to criticize, or praise, the positions and records of elected officials and candidates for elected office.Fortunately, the Senate's version of the bill never came to a vote. Known as McCain-Feingold, the measure was most recently offered by its sponsors as an amendment to an unrelated appropriations bill. The measure was blocked primarily through the efforts of pro-life Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). An attempt to force action on the bill fell eight votes short of the 60 that were needed. With this failure to "invoke cloture," campaign finance reform was effectively killed for this year, and pro-life free speech rights remain intact.
How they voted
Sen. Rick Santorum voted FOR the Child Custody Protection Act; he was one of its original sponsors. He voted FOR the override of Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Santorum was the primary sponsor of that legislation.
On the matter of assisted-suicide, Santorum cosponsored the Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act. The Senator had earlier written to Attorney General Janet Reno from page 1 urging her to uphold the position of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) which held that neither the distribution, the prescription, nor the application of federally controlled substances for the purpose of ending human lives is permissible under the Controlled Substances Act. Reno subsequently rejected the DEA's position.
Santorum also took the pro-life position in voting AGAINST the McCain Feingold "campaign reform" / speech rationing proposal.
Earlier this year, Santorum voted AGAINST a proposal to allow abortion on demand at U.S. military medical facilities. He voted FOR prohibiting federal funding of groups that work to weaken pro-life laws in other nations.
Sen. Arlen Specter cast a rare pro-life vote FOR the override of Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Ban Act. However, the Senator voted AGAINST the Child Custody Protection Act, even though Pennsylvania is one of 23 states with the kinds of parental involvement laws that this legislation was designed to uphold. Specter was one of only three Republican Senators who voted against the Child Custody Protection Act. Similarly, Specter was one of only seven Republicans who voted FOR the McCain-Feingold speech rationing plan.
In other key votes: Sen. Specter AGAINST denying federal funds to groups that work to weaken pro-life laws in other nations.
Congressman Phil English voted FOR the override of Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He voted FOR the Child Custody Protection Act. English took the pro-life position in voting AGAINST the Shays-Meehan "campaign reform" proposal. For his vote against the suppression of political free speech and for the right of citizens to criticize their elected representatives, English was roundly denounced, even ridiculed, in an August 8 "open letter" style editorial by Editor Bill McKinney of the Times Publishing Company.
Also in this session of Congress: English voted FOR a measure prohibiting the federal government from spending money to develop chemicals for drug induced abortions.
Campaign '98: General Election Tuesday, November 3, 1998
On November 3, Pennsylvania voters will choose a governor and lieutenant governor, one U.S. senator, an entire U.S. House congressional delegation, all the members of the state House of Representatives, and half the members of the state Senate.In northwestern Pennsylvania, pro-life candidates are visible in nearly every race. In fact, according to the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation (PPLF), both major party candidates in two of the area state House contests are pro-life: Anthony Scarpelli (R) and incumbent Italo Cappabianca (D) in District 2, and Mike Leyda (R) and incumbent Tom Scrimenti (D) in District 4. In three other races, candidates described as pro-life by the PPLF are running unopposed: Karl Boyes (R) in District 3, Teresa (Brown) Forcier (R) in District 6 and Rod Wilt (R) in District 17.
Only in District 5 is a candidate described as pro-abortion by the PPLF, Tracy Seyfert (D), running unopposed.
In District 1, a candidate the PPLF describes as pro-life, Christopher Beyer (R), is opposing a candidate labeled as pro-abortion, Linda Bebko-Jones (D).
In the one area race for the state Senate, the incumbent, Bob Robbins (R), identified as pro-life, is being challenged by Mary Ann McDaniels-Kulesa (D), described by the PPLF as pro-abortion. This assessment is confirmed by Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood which has awarded her its "pro-choice" rating.
In the gubernatorial contest, incumbent Tom Ridge is the big kid on the block, having garnered something over $15 mil lion in campaign contributions in comparison to Peg Luksik's $440,000 and Ivan Itkan's $420,000. Ridge (R) and Itkan (D) are described as pro-abortion by the PPLF. Luksik (Constitutional Party) is described as pro-life. Likewise, in the U.S. Senatorial contest, pro-abortion Arlen Specter (R) is the man to beat. He is being challenged by Bill Lloyd, a veteran legislator from Somerset County, described as pro-life by the PPLF.
Vying for the office of Lieutenant Governor are incumbent Mark Schweiker (R), Jim Clymer (Constitutional Party), and Marjorie Mezvinsky (D). Two of the three candidates, Schweiker and Clymer are identified as pro-life by the PPLF, Mezvinsky, pro-abortion. Mezvinsky recently expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate against pro-life Sen. Rick Santorum in 2000. She has been especially critical of Santorum's respect for the sanctity of life.
In the 21st Congressional District, pro-life, incumbent Phil English (R) defends against Larry Klemens (D), described as pro-abortion.
News Sampler
Deny, deny, deny... On June 26, 1984, Al Gore voted in favor of a one-sentence amendment to the federal Civil Rights Act known as the "Siljander Amendment." This amendment specified that "the term 'person' shall include unborn children from the moment of conception." As a presidential hopeful in 1988, Gore attempted to define himself as a solidly pro-abortion candidate. Asked about the Siljander Amendment on Meet the Press, Gore flatly denied having voted for it! A misstatement? A memory lapse? No, Gore's response seems to have been a deliberate lie. A Gore campaign advisor later told U.S. News and World Report, "Since there's a record of that vote, we have only one choice. In effect, what we have to do is deny, deny, deny." (Based on a recently published report by NRL News.)
Distant Thunder Battle over the legalized killing of the frail and the elderly is drawing closer to home -- within earshot. Radio spots for and against "Proposal B" are being aired on stations across the State of Michigan. Many of those ads can be picked up on radios here in northwestern Pennsylvania. Proposal B, if approved by the voters on November 3, would make Michigan the second state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Catholic Cardinal Adam Maida, the Bishop of Detroit and an attorney, is vigorously opposing Proposal B. Imam Abdullah Ben El-Amin of the Muslim Center of Detroit says that practically all Muslims in the Detroit area oppose the proposal "because [of] the sanctity of life." "You didn't give the life," the Imam recently explained. "Therefore, you have no right to take it away."
Campaign Financing In late September, third party candidate Peg Luksik reported her campaign had raised about $440,000. The Democratic candidate, Ivan Itkan, reported taking in only $420,000. Tom Ridge had raised $14 million.
Boycott List Life Decisions International (LDI) is a pro-life organization which specializes in identifying corporate sponsors of Planned Parenthood, the nation's biggest abortion provider. When LDI identifies a sponsor, it tries to persuade the company that Planned Parenthood is a bad investment. In a recent partial listing of LDI's "boycott list" the following financial institutions were included: American Express, Banc One, Bankers Trust, Chase, Fannie Mae, Huntington Bancshares (Ohio), J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Northern Trust, PNC Bank, and Rochester Community Savings Bank (New York). For a complete list of corporate sponsors of Planned Parenthood, including products, names of CEOs, addresses, and phone numbers, send $5.00 and a self-addressed business size (#10) envelope with 55¢ postage affixed to: Life Decisions International, P.O. Box 907, Washington, DC 20044-0907
Beating the rap In nearby Cleveland, Ohio on October 6, Common Pleas Judge Patricia A. Cleary sentenced a twenty-one year old college student, Yuriko Kawaguchi, to six months in jail on a forgery charge connected with her involvement in an extensive credit card fraud operation. Kawaguchi, about 20 weeks pregnant, petitioned the judge to grant her probation because she wanted to get an abortion. The judge refused. Judge Cleary also refused to release Kawaguchi on bond pending an appeal. Although Judge Cleary insisted that her decision to put Kawaguchi in prison was warranted by the seriousness of the crime committed, she made no secret of her personal opinion about abortion, saying at one point: "I'm not going to be a hypocrite. I think it worked out swell if that was her desire to abort her child that late." The ACLU quickly arrived on the scene to help Kawaguchi plead her case to the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals. By October 12, Kawaguchi was released from jail so nothing would interfere with her getting an abortion. She was required to post a mere $1500. Kawaguchi soon announced, however, that she would not be having an abortion, saying, "I will do what I can to give [the child] a loving and caring home"! She said that she had inquired about getting an abortion, but several abortion clinics told her that her pregnancy was too far advanced. Remarkably, the Nando Times elaborated, "Kawaguchi is in her second trimester and nearing the date when an abortion could be harmful to her health." The Akron Beacon Journal reported on October 16 that pro-life Judge Patricia Cleary is now to be the target of a lawsuit in federal court for having "violated Kawaguchi's right to have an abortion." To express solidarity with a judge who would not bend the law simply to facilitate the killing of a child in the mid to late second trimester, write: Judge Patricia Cleary, 1200 Ontario St., Cleveland, OH 44113.
Human Guinea Pigs Professor French Anderson of the University of Southern California at Los Angeles has hopes of someday curing babies of genetic defects before they are born. In the meantime, he wants to practice on babies that are to be aborted because of a genetic disorder, and he has petitioned the National Institutes of Health Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee for permission to proceed.
Did you know? During the four years of the Bush-Quayle administration, Pres. George Bush used his veto power 10 times to protect pro-life legislation or to block pro-abortion legislation.
For the Record . . .
Election Day Strategy "To waste a pro-life vote on a candidate who has no reasonable chance to win in preference over an electable pro-life candidate is morally indefensible -- especially if the practical effect is the election of a pro-abortionist.... Go to the polls, vote for the pro-life candidates who can win, and ensure the defeat of the pro-abortionists." [emphasis added] NRLC PRESIDENT WANDA FRANZ, PH.D.
Common Ground at Last "If advocacy groups are silenced during this crucial phase of our election cycle, the only people who will be allowed to speak about the record of politicians will be politicians and the press. That result would be unhealthy for democracy and unconstitutional as well." -- STEVEN R. SHAPIRO, National Legal Director for the pro-abortion American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Christianizing Euthanasia "The whole Christian tradition encourages us to honor and cherish life but not cling to it foolishly. To fight our mortality, to run from it, to deny it -- that in itself seems sinful. -- Opined by the Rev. Tom Eggebeen of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Livonia, Michigan in support of Michigan's proposal to legalize assisted suicide. (The Detroit News) Please note carefully: This man is not merely saying that one should gracefully accept the inevitable, nor is he merely advocating "freedom of choice." Look closely at his words: To "cling foolishly" to life [to refuse euthanasia?] "seems sinful." People for Life has the original article for anyone who would like to get a better sense of the context in which this man's remarks were made.
Hopeful Time - Honorable Man "The Pro-Life Movement is the humanitarian movement of our time!" DAN QUAYLE, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, addressing the Rally for Life, April 28, 1990
What Lies Ahead "Having secured the right of a woman to rid herself of her pregnancy, the battlefield is now set to give women the right to choose whether they are satisfied with what they've delivered. Characteristic of the new freedom, rights activists want to up the ante again.... If we don't like what we have wrought, we don't have to keep him or her. Infanticide is rights without responsibilities taken to its ultimate end." -- WILLIAM A. DONOHUE, The New Freedom: Individualism and Collectivism in the Social Lives of Americans
March for Life Fallout "Once a year the anti-abortion people come to Washington.... [T]hey are the one group that comes to see me that doesn't want anything other than to discuss a moral issue it's concerned with. I might meet three or four other people a year like that, but not many. They're the only working people I ever see. They come down by bus. They don't go out to lunch at the mall. They just want to say they have a view on something." Pro-abortion U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (National Review, Sept. 28, 1998) We'll take this as a compliment, but we would assure the Senator that we DO want more than heartfelt conversation!
Never Forget "The road to tyranny, we must never forget, is the destruction of truth." -- President "Bill" Clinton, speech at the University of Connecticut, October 15, 1995
The fire of your faith "When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith." -- ABRAHAM KUYPER, Free University of Amsterdam
A way with words "[The New York Times] where a five-day wait for a handgun is a 'regulation' but a one-day wait for an abortion is a 'restriction,' one of the 'barriers' and 'obstacles' that 'whittle' away at the edges of Roe v. Wade." -- JOHN LEO, contributing editor to U.S. News and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist
Life is more than a nice "option"! "[W]e should never forget that the reason why many women suffer from abortion is because abortion is a serious moral wrong, the killing of an innocent human person. Abortion is not a serious moral wrong because the woman suffers.... Sometimes suffering [also] accompanies that which is morally obligatory.... When in the name of helping women, we downplay the serious moral wrong of abortion we patronize the same women we are trying to help, treating them as less than moral agents." -- FRANCIS J. BECKWITH, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Culture, and Law; Trinity International University
Cruelty to animals... and the blood of human victims "We have heard much of late in relation to cruelty to inferior animals, and in many of the States of this Union societies are formed whose sole object is to watch over and to bring to justice those who violate this very humane law. We would ask these philanthropists, while engaged in so laudable an undertaking, if it has ever occurred to them that in their midst it is of daily occurrence that men--aye, and women too--are presenting their poisoned cups and using their stilettos to spill the blood of human victims, to take the lives of innocent, of unborn, infants. -- AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION 1871
ACLU "Under California law there is only one way to dispose of this material... that would be by incineration." -- The ACLU referring to the bodies of 54 babies killed by abortion.
Food for Thought ??? "'To think, we must eat.' But what a variety of thoughts we get out of one slice of bread!" -- Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man
Call it Partial-Birth 'Murder': O'Conner
By RAY KERRISON
JOHN CARDINAL O'CONNOR looked out to hundreds of people stuffed into the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria and cried: That's murder!HOME | Back to IndexIn case they didn't hear him, or perhaps failed to get the message, he hit it again. It's murder, he said.
The famous old ballroom, usually a showcase for glitter and glamour, had never heard anything like it. And certainly, it had never seen the archbishop of New York so incensed.
He was at the Waldorf Tuesday to receive the Cardinal Cooke Right to Life Award on behalf of the priests in the archdiocese. The luncheon, chaired by best-selling mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark and her husband, John Conheeney, was the perfect platform for the cardinal to get some things off his chest.
I suspect that if Cardinal Cooke were on earth today, he would be virtually shattered by what has been happening in the Congress of the United States by way of presidential vetoes and, therefore, what has been happening to our land, said the cardinal.
Everyone knew what he was talking about. Four days earlier, the U.S. Senate, for the second time, failed by three votes to override President Clinton's veto of legislation to ban partial birth abortions.
These abortions are barbaric. They are performed on babies just seconds away from birth by piercing their skulls and suctioning out their brains.
They have been condemned by the American Medical Association; majorities in the House and Senate have voted to outlaw them; and Americans, in polls, have overwhelmingly rejected them.
All that stands in the way of ridding the country of this scourge is President Clinton's veto - or three votes in the Senate.
This is the only country that has legitimized infanticide, O'Connor said.
When we were children, the sisters would tell us in school how those allegedly heartless Chinese, those pagan Chinese, would purportedly leave their babies by the river bank to die, exposed and malnourished.
We don't wait for babies to die by the bank of the river. As soon as we see them emerging from their mother's wombs, we have the doctor plunge the scissors into their heads, to murder them.
That's murder.
The chandeliers, I swear, dimmed and blushed at the shame of it all. We can't be euphemistic about this, the cardinal went on. That's murder. That's infanticide. How big and courageous we are in this mighty country of ours. How powerful. We are spoken of as the most powerful country in the world - and we murder little infants.
The cardinal said he had called Sen. Rick Santorum, the Pennsylvania Republican who led the fight in the Senate to try to overturn Clinton's veto, and urged him to keep fighting.
I told him not to be discouraged, the cardinal said. There are too many believers, too many prayers, too many sacrifices in the world. This will come up again in April, and if we don't win the lives of infants in April, then we'll try again and again and again and again.
The 700 people in the ballroom jumped to their feet and gave the cardinal a prolonged ovation.
Partial-birth abortions were not the only issue contributing to O'Connor's rare public display of feistiness. He was clearly ticked off by repeated complaints that priests in his archdiocese were not as engaged in the pro-life fight as they should be.
I hear, time after time, I've seen studies on it, I've been berated about it, I've sat and listened to constant criticisms that the entire pro-life effort is paralyzed because of the indifference of our priests to the sacredness of life, he said.
Criticisms that priests are unwilling to preach about the sacredness of human life because they're afraid they will offend, that they're not courageous.
He angrily dismissed such criticism as a canard. I ask the critics to go to any pro-life Sunday in any of our parishes and see the dynamic, vibrant, vital commitment in this archdiocese to the cause of human life, he said.
Of course, it wouldn't be an O'Connor luncheon without a self-deprecating gag. He told how he had recently received a letter from an admirer. It was as beautiful and glowing a letter of praise as I have ever received, he said. It spoke of my eloquence, my homilies and all the wonderful things that I do. It was a great boost on what was a bad day.
As he folded the letter back in the envelope, the cardinal glanced at the address. He said, It read, "His Eminence, Cardinal Spellman."
Reprinted with permission from the New York Post © 1998, N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of the New York Post is prohibited. CANDIDATE SURVEY -- 1998 General Election -- Conducted by the PRO-LIFE PRO-FAMILY AD HOC COMMITTEE 1. INFORMED CONSENT Do you support the provision in the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act which requires that a woman seeking an abortion be provided with certain information, including information about the medical risks of abortion, alternatives to abortion, the probable gestational age of the unborn child, the availability of more detailed information about fetal development, and the possibility of medical assistance benefits if the woman decides to continue her pregnancy?2. WAITING PERIOD Do you support the provision in the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act which requires that certain information be provided to a woman seeking abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure is carried out?
3. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT Do you support the provision in the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act which requires, if a woman seeking abortion is less than 18 years old, the informed consent of one parent or, if such consent is withheld, an authorization from a court of common pleas?
4. ABORTION CONTROL ACT Do you support the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act in its entirety?
5. PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION In the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997 (H.R. 1122), the Congress of the United States defined partial-birth abortion as "an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery." Do you support a ban on partial-birth abortion which would allow an exception only if the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother?
6. LEGAL PROTECTION FOR THE UNBORN CHILD If Roe v. Wade is overturned, will you support a state law prohibiting abortion except to prevent the death of the mother?
7. RAPE / INCEST EXCEPTIONS If Roe v. Wade is overturned, will you support a state law prohibiting abortion except in cases of rape or incest, or to prevent the death of the mother?
8. HUMAN LIFE AMENDMENT Do you favor amending the U.S. Constitution to formally recognize the personhood of each human being at all stages of life from conception to natural death?
9. LATE TERM ABORTIONS Would you support a ban on third trimester (post viability) abortions?
10. GOVERNMENT FUNDING Do you oppose the use of public funds for abortion?
11. ASSISTED SUICIDE Would you support legislation to prohibit physician assisted suicide?
Footnotes:
Question # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 State Senate -- District 50 Robert D. Robbins (R) YES YES YES YES1 YES YES n/r YES YES YES YES Mary Ann McDaniels-Kulesa (D) n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r State House -- District 1 Christopher W. Beyer (R) YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES Linda Bebko-Jones (D) n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r State House -- District 2 Anthony Scarpelli (D) n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r Italo Cappabianca (D) YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES State House -- District 3 Karl Boyes (R) n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r State House -- District 4 Michael Leyda (R) YES YES YES YES YES YES YES2 YES YES YES YES Tom Scrimenti (D) YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES State House -- District 5 Tracy Seyfert (R) n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r State House -- District 6 Teresa (Brown) Forcier (R) YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES State House -- District 17 Rod Wilt (R) YES YES YES YES YES YES YES NO3 YES YES YES
1) "I voted for this Act."
2) "I am 100% pro-life and make no exceptions for abortion other than to prevent death of mother."
3) Does not favor making further amendments of any kind to the U.S. Constitution.The candidates were originally contacted prior to the spring primary. Those who failed to respond were sent a second questionnaire in September. Still, five candidates failed to reply by October 16, as requested. Two of them, Bebko-Jones and McDaniels-Kulesa, are described as "PRO-CHOICE" by Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania PAC. Seyfert is described as "PRO-ABORTION" by the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation.
To each of the candidates who did spend the time and effort to share their positions with the northwest Pennsylvania pro-life community: Thank you very much!
Local Notes
Make plans NOW to travel Washington, DC with People for Life for the 26th March for Life, January 22, 1999. Please contact People for Life for more information. Official March for Life promotional materials will soon be available. Many photos from the 1998 March can be seen on the Internet at: www.peopleforlife.org/jan_98.html
Partial-birth abortion petitions PFL Informational Exhibit Nearly 1000 petitions to stop partial-birth abortion were submitted by citizens visiting People for Life's annual exhibits at We Love Erie Days and three area fairs. The message was simple. "WE URGE ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS TO OPPOSE PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS." A majority of the petitions were gathered in time to be forwarded directly to Senators Santorum and Specter before the Senate's attempt to override Clinton's latest veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The vote occurred on Friday, September 18, near the end of the Albion Fair. Many people who signed expressed real outrage at the continued inability of our government to react decisively to our nation's wholesale devaluation of human life, which has reached a new stage of depravity in such heinous practices as partial-birth abortion. Also, the vast majority of the signers indicated that they were registered to vote.
Activist hosts coffee Erie area pro-life activist and PFL member Fran Birchard opened her home on October 6 for coffee with friends and neighbors interested in Peg Luksik's campaign for governor. Campaign official Bev Heberlein was on hand to answer questions and share Luksik's vision for Pennsylvania.
Web Site Results Interest in PFL's web site continues to improve. The best day so far was Tuesday, October 6, when 103 unique visitors accessed the front page of the web site. (Visitors who access other pages on the site without downloading the front page are not counted.) The hundreds of Life Chains, held the previous Sunday might have had something to do with the increase in traffic on the site. The number of visitors for the entire week of October 4 was 559. Interaction with the northwestern Pennsylvania pro-life community still needs improvement, however. A considerable portion of our visitors appear to be from other states and nations. Please help spread the work about our web site here at home! U.S.
Senate briefing Suzy Soroka, who is on the staff of U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, was a guest speaker at the September meeting of People for Life. Soroka is stationed in Sen. Santorum's Erie office at 1705 West 26th Street. Her presentation included an update on pro-life legislative activity at the federal level and background on the Senator's involvement in several pro-life initiatives including the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the Child Custody Protection Act, and the Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act. The importance of expressing our concerns to our elected officials was emphasized, and various ways of doing so effectively were discussed.
VIP from Harrisburg Bill Leavens, the newly appointed executive director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, recently met with PFL board members while visiting Erie. Bill Leavens, you may recall, was the Democratic candidate in the 21st District Congressional contest that concluded with the election of pro-life Republican Phil English to the seat vacated by pro-abortion Tom Ridge.
Pro-Life Handbooks Pro-Life Reference Manuals published by the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation are available free of charge at the PFL Pro-Life Resource Center. The handbooks contain a county by county listing of pregnancy help centers within the state, addresses and phone numbers of state and federal government officials, information about fetal development, facts about Planned Parenthood's major role in the abortion-killings of thousands of Pennsylvania's sons and daughters annually, state abortion statistics, and very much more. And don't forget to check out People for Life's ad on page A-36! The reference manuals are ideal reading material for the lobbies and waiting rooms of pro-life professionals. If you know of any good locations for placing the manuals, People for Life will be happy to supply extra copies at no cost. Students, teachers and the clergy will find the manuals very useful, too.
Poinsettia Sale The Pregnancy Center of Meadville is taking orders for beautiful Christmas poinsettias. The plants are available in four colors and a range of prices, from $5.00 to $22.00. For more information or to place an order, call the Pregnancy Center at 814-333-6567. Start a new Christmas tradition with pro-life poinsettias from Meadville!
Mall Gift Wrapping The Women's Care Center gift wrapping station will open for the Christmas Season at the Millcreek Mall on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. Look for the wrapping station near J.C. Penny. Volunteers for this project are still needed. If you would like to help, please call the Women's Care Center at 814-459-4050. The Women's Care Center serves the Erie area with five locations: the Main Office at 2312 W. 15th Street in Erie; the Downtown Office at 209 E. 9th Street; the Erie branch office at 4402 Peach Street; the Edinboro Office at 108 High Street in Edinboro, and the Girard Office at 259 East Main Street in Girard. Pregnancy and post-abortion help is available 24 hours at day by calling 814-459-4050 PFL Nov.
Meeting Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse Suzanne Scheuer-Leone will be the special guest speaker at the November meeting of People for Life. She will talk about her experiences working with "preemies" and how her work has influenced her pro-life convictions. A question and answer period will follow Suzanne's presentation. The meeting will be held at the PFL Resource Center, 1625 W. 26th St., Erie, on Monday, Nov. 16, 1998. The public is always welcome, and PFL members are encouraged to bring their friends.
Christmas Party St. Stan's Social Hall, 520 East 13th St. in Erie, will once again be the location for PFL's Christmas Party. The annual get-together will take place on Sunday, December 13, 1998 between 1:00 and 4:00 PM. Everyone is welcome. Guests are asked to bring an item of children's clothing (ages newborn through 12 years) to be donated to the Multicultural Health Education Delivery Service (MHEDS) of Erie.
Essay Contest December 12 is the last day to submit entries for the PA Pro-Life Federation's student essay contest. Students compete on two levels, junior high (grades 7-9) and senior high (grades 10-12). Essays can focus on any aspect of abortion, infanticide, or euthanasia. For more information, including the complete contest rules, please call People for Life, 814-459-1333, or the PA Pro-Life Federation, 717-541-0034. People for Life will be pleased to assist essay writers with research materials including books, articles, and audio-visual presentations. To all the Erie Echo volunteers, a special Thank You!
This Erie Echo newsletter is made possible in large part by a team of dedicated volunteers who manually collate, fold, seal, and label thousands of copies of every issue. Their hard work saves many hundreds of dollars each year. If you would like to be included on our roster of Erie Echo volunteers, please call People for Life at 814-459-1333. The regular crew would surely appreciate the extra help. Volunteers are welcome to contribute whatever amount of time they have available.
Watch the PFL web site for the latest information about this January's Pro-Life Prayer Breakfast, Greater Erie March & Motorcade for Life and Washington, DC - March for Life Bus Trip! Abortion coming to Lancaster, PA
courtesy of Planned Parenthood
and its supportersPlanned Parenthood of Pennsylvania, flush with an infusion of $9 MILLION taxpayer dollars, is opening an abortion mill in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The killing is to begin in 1999, perhaps as early as January. The abortion facility will be Planned Parenthood's fifth in the state.
Organizations which engage in abortion began receiving Pennsylvania funds, for the first time in history, during the Ridge administration. Ridge promptly initiated the funding early in his administration.
Lancaster citizens will try to convince area hospitals to rescind all prior transfer agreements with Planned Parenthood in order to make it more difficult for the abortion mill to receive approval from the PA Department of Health. The strategy was publicly proposed by local attorney and Constitutional Party candidate for lieutenant governor, James Clymer. It is, however, of questionable value.
Planned Parenthood has transfer agreements with Lancaster General, St. Joseph Hospital, Ephrata Community Hospital and Community Hospital of Lancaster.
A transfer agreement with an abortion mill signifies that a hospital is willing to cooperate with the facility and to maintain a readiness to receive and treat victims of botched abortions. Under such an agreement, a hospital could find itself compelled to complete abortions gone awry. More than an accessory, then, the hospital would become a coperpetrator in the deaths of unborn children.
Prior to the Ridge administration, it was understood that before an abortion mill could begin killing, it had to have a formal transfer agreement with a nearby hospital, as stipulated in the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act. However, the abortion mill in State College failed to secure such an agreement and nevertheless opened for business in September of 1997 with the approval of the Tom Ridge's PA Department of Health.
On a related note, the Boston Globe reports, "[P]olitical arms of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said yesterday they planned to spend more than $1 million on voter education and campaign contributions to congressional candidates who favor abortion rights and family planning."
Did you know?
In 1997, Planned Parenthood did 4973 abortions in Pennsylvania and helped arrange an additional 4970.
Clinton: no compromises on funding
for international abortionIn the final hours of this year's federal budget negotiations, Bill Clinton jealously guarded his hard earned and most well deserved title: Abortion President! It was another remarkable display of maniacal determination to allow nothing to interfere with the cultivation of abortion -- internationally, as well as domestically.
Congress proposed to release $475 million to begin paying off outstanding dues to the United Nations. The release of the funds was contingent, however, on Clinton's acceptance of one very slight restriction on international abortion / "family planning" agencies which accept funds from the U.S. government. These agencies would be required, simply, to refrain from engaging in political activity aimed at the repeal of pro-life laws in foreign countries. Nothing would prevent them from counseling for abortion and even conducting abortions, as long these activities would not be paid for directly out of accounts filled with U.S. government funds.
The Clinton-Gore administration, however, would have no part of it. The White House had, for some time, been warning that Clinton would veto any appropriations bill that included abortion restrictions. The House Republican leadership called a meeting to discuss the problem with key White House officials. That meeting took place on October continued on page It "ended in acrimonious failure," in the words of Helen Dewar of the Washington Post.
Anxious to avoid another government shutdown, congressional budget negotiators modified the foreign operations appropriations bill, withdrawing the funds that were earmarked for the United Nations. The abortion restrictions themselves, contained in a companion bill,. were also placed on hold. House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced that the money Clinton wants for the United Nations would be offered once again in a subsequent piece of legislation, the State Department authorization bill. The offer will, however, remain contingent on Clinton's agreeing to restrictions on the political activities of international abortion agencies, and Clinton is expected to use his veto. What else would anyone expect from the Abortion President?
Last minute note: Please listen to WCTL Radio on Tuesday morning, December 1. PFL Education Director Ann Wingerter and daughter Susan will on the air at 7:30 and 8:30 to discuss PFL's pro-life classroom presentations.
PEOPLE FOR LIFE, INC. 814.459.1333 People for Life, Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-profit, citizen's organization committed to the intrinsic value of human life. People for Life is dedicated to advancing true justice by working for the protection of all innocent human life, whatever the age, race, sex, physical condition, economic status, or place of residence (including the womb). People for Life encourages local involvement through education, political awareness, and the promotion of loving alternatives to the primitive and violent "solutions" of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. Together, we can create a society in which all human lives are held sacred. The Erie Echo is published bimonthly in Erie by People for Life, Inc.
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1998 Pro-Life Calendar 1999 Nov. 3 ELECTION DAY -- fall general elections Please vote pro-life. Nov. 16 PFL Meeting, 7:30 PM -- PFL Office & Pro-Life Resource Center Nov. 23 Shield of Roses, 7:30 PM -- Holy Cross Church, Fairview Nov. 26 Thanksgiving Day Nov. 27 Opening Day, Women's Care Center Gift Wrap Station -- Mlcrk. Mall Dec. 13 Annual PFL Christmas Party, 1:00 - 4:00 PM -- St. Stan's Social Hall Dec. 25 Merry Christmas !! Dec. 28 Shield of Roses, 7:00 PM -- Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church Jan. 16 21st Pro-Life Prayer Breakfast / March & Motorcade for Life (tentative date) Jan. 21 PFL Bus trip to Washington, DC for the 26th March for Life Jan. 22 March for Life (Friday) -- Washington, DC Feb. 15 PFL Meeting, 7:30 PM -- PFL Office & Pro-Life Resource Center Please tell us about YOUR pro-life events!! "The right to life is the core fabric of any 'seamless garment' of social justice -- not a hem or a sleeve or a decoration. Without the right to life, the seamless garment of social justice is in shreds. …on a fundamental issue, like the right to life, it is morally justified and required to be a single-issue pro-life voter."
Wanda Franz, Ph.DPresident, National Right to Life Committee