— Posted by Elizabeth (January 26, 2012 at 3:17 pm)
It’s 5:50am on a cold and damp Monday morning. Monday, January 23rd to be precise. Seven busloads of students from Franciscan University of Steubenville, along with throngs of high schoolers and young adults, are waiting outside the Verizon Center in D.C. for the Catholic Youth rally before the March for Life.
The doors don’t open until 7, but even though I’m huddled in a group trying to stay warm and asking myself how much, if any, sleep I got on the six-hour bus ride from Steubenville, the general atmosphere on this wet morning is one of enthusiasm and energy. Teens shout out Pro-Life chants and cheers, and a yellow balloon imprinted with ‘LIFE’ is bounced back and forth like a beach ball. [Continue reading this entry »]
I’ve attended the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. for the past 8 years, but this year’s was by far the most upbeat, energetic and encouraging march I’ve been to, and Generations for Life was thrilled to be a part of it.
The crowd was enormous and excited about the coming year, as well they should be. 2011 was an amazing year for the pro-life movement, and the momentum only keeps going our way.
As the march wound through the streets of the nation’s capital, you could see groups from all religious traditions, all ages and races, school groups, church groups, colleges with huge banners—it was quite a show.
Crusaders for Life Steal the Show
But there was one thing that I don’t think anyone missed—the Crusaders for Life pro-life youth group from my parish, St. John Cantius in Chicago. The giant group came equipped with chants, huge yellow “LIFE” balloons, and portable platforms where they could carry some of their cohorts above the crowd to lead chants. [Continue reading this entry »]
Do we pro-lifers believe a woman should have a choice of where she wants to go to college?
Or which doctor to go to?
Or what kind of car to drive?
Or what foods to eat?
Or…well, you get the idea.
Quite obviously, we believe women should have the right to choose any number of things (just as we believe men should have the right to choose any number of things).
And yet, those in favor of keeping abortion legal frequently refer to us not as pro-life, but rather, “anti-choice” — as if we were somehow opposed to women choosing anything. [Continue reading this entry »]
Two basic tenets of the pro-life position are: (1) abortion destroys the life of a genetically distinct, whole human being; and (2) abortion is psychologically harmful to women.
On the other hand, two basic tenets of the “pro-choice” position are: (1) abortion does not destroy the life of a genetically distinct, whole human being; and (2) abortion is not psychologically harmful to women.
With this in mind, I was interested to read this recent post by Jill Filipovic at the “pro-choice” blog Feministe, in which she starts off referring to some “fun facts” from Jena Pincott’s book Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?, as highlighted in the popular mom blog Mommyish:
Well here are some fun facts: Pregnant women’s bodies are basically swimming with the cells of their fetuses. And even when they give birth, some cells remain. By the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, cells from the fetus account for one in every 50,000 cells in the woman’s body. Further along in the pregnancy, it increases to one in 1,000. Six percent of the DNA in her blood plasma also comes from the fetus. Which is interesting given some standard pro-life arguments like this:
Based in Cleveland, they’ve recently placed ads on the city’s buses as part of their effort to start the “long process of de-stigmatizing abortion in our society.”
Campaigns like this that set out to normalize abortion are doomed to fail.
Why? Because they’ve always failed. And there’s no reason to believe things won’t be different this time.
“I Had an Abortion” T-Shirts: An Idea That Never Caught On
If you don’t, you’re not alone. Even after a big publicity splash when they were introduced, they were — to the surprise of exactly no one — never very popular. (And, what’s more, the online store that once sold them is no longer accessible.)
— Posted by Elizabeth (December 8, 2011 at 2:14 pm)
In one short week, I will be flying back home after spending a semester in Gaming, Austria. The semester has been so amazing and blessed, but at the same time, I am excited to go back home and share my stories and memories with my friends and with my family.
Besides questions of, “Did you see the Pope?”, and “Did you meet any European men?” (both of which I have already been asked… yes, I saw Benedict XVI, and no, I have a boyfriend, thank you very much), I know I will be asked what I took away from my semester in Europe. [Continue reading this entry »]
A postcard (shown at right) that appeared this weekend on the popular website PostSecret served as yet another reminder that far from being a means of women’s liberation, abortion is actually a means of women’s oppression.
The text reads:
I told my work that I will be attending an out-of-state funeral for a few days next week.
Im actually (quietly) having an abortion that only my boyfriend knows about it.
I’ve never felt so alone.
Reading this, I was reminded of these words spoken recently by Linda Couri, a former Planned Parenthood counselor who spoke at our TeenSpeak conference earlier this year. Linda herself had an abortion, but is now pro-life: “There is nothing joyful about abortion. Some women are complacent, but most just bare-knuckle their way through it.” [Continue reading this entry »]
Caitlin McInnis, a high school student in Michigan, recently let us know about a new pro-life video she created. It’s definitely one of the best amateur-produced pro-life videos I’ve seen in a while:
This was our second time going to an NCYC, and we’re so glad we came! We had a booth in Victory Park, and we were thrilled at the response we got from everyone who stopped by.
We also gave out hundreds of pro-life stickers provided by Stand True, and pieces of pro-life literature provided by Human Life Alliance. We also had some great conversations with several teens who are interested in starting their own pro-life clubs.
We’re already looking forward to being at the next NCYC in 2013. And next time, we’ll know to bring a lot more buttons and stickers!
This has got to be about the most creative—and inspiring—pro-life fundraiser I’ve ever seen. Last week, the four Carney brothers—Jack (9), Joey (7), Michael (5) and Christopher (3)—decided to pool their Halloween candy and see if they could raise some money to help the Pro-Life Action League (GFL’s parent organization) save babies and their mothers from abortion.
To set their creative plan in motion, the two oldest, Jack and Joey, went with their Dad, Chris, to his office in downtown Chicago. They gave away their candy to people at the train station and at the office, accepting donations for the League. In all, they raised $368.98!
What’s especially touching about the boys’ contribution to the League’s effort is that they’re all experienced pro-life activists. They’ve joined the League’s Face the Truth Tours in the past, along with their parents and sisters—a great pro-life family!
The Carney Brothers hope other pro-life kids will take up their idea next year. I hope so, too—because that’s what the Pro-Life Action League is all about: finding dynamic ways to fight abortion, and then empowering others to join the effort.
Chris and his wife Millie must be very proud of their sons. So am I!
Josh Brahm blogged recently at Live Action about a new video produced by the Human Development Resource Council (HDRC) about RU-486 — also known simply as “the abortion pill” — that’s definitely a cut above the average YouTube video:
It shows a scene of an abortionist in a counseling session with a young woman who wants RU-486. But this counseling session is very unlike the dishonest marketing and misinformation that was shown during Live Action’s Rosa Acuna sting. This is what would happen if an honest abortionist told a woman the truth about her embryo and what RU-486 would do to both her and her child. I’m sure pro-choice people will cry “propaganda” when they see this video, but there’s a documented medical citation for every single sentence the abortionist utters!
Here it is:
Make This Video Go Viral
Josh has a great idea: Whenever someone does a YouTube search for “abortion pill,” what if this was the first video that showed up? [Continue reading this entry »]
I’m proud to be one of the speakers at the IPLY Conference, along with such pro-life “rock stars” as:
Lila Rose of Live Action
Bernie Smyth of Ireland’s Precious Life
Jill Stanek, the Queen of pro-Life bloggers
Bryan Kemper of Stand True
Troy Newman of Operation Rescue
. . . and more!
Student registration is a mere $35 for the whole weekend, but registration closes November 9th—so act now if you want to attend. You can get more information here or go straight to the registration page here.
This historic conference will motivate, educate and equip pro-life youth to end abortion in their lifetimes. It is not to be missed!
Were you ever a fetus? How about an embryo? Or a zygote?
The answer to these questions are yes, yes, and yes. Now, one more question:
Were you ever a “fertilized egg”?
The answer to this question is no.
It’s no more accurate to say you were once an egg than to say you were once a sperm. Once an egg is fertilized — that is, once fertilization (also called conception) occurs — it’s no longer an egg.
At that point, a genetically distinct human being is created, and this new life is properly called a zygote — a fact that, for what it’s worth, even Wikipedia recognizes:
During the Pro-Life Action League’s “Face the Truth Tour” a few weeks ago in Cincinnati, one of the local pro-life activists who came out to join us for the day reminded me of something that can’t be repeated often enough.
He and I were talking about various ways to fight abortion, and he remarked that one of the most important things any of us can do — no matter how old we are — is to strive for personal holiness in our everyday lives. I couldn’t agree with him more.
My co-worker Eric Scheidler has talked in two recent posts on the Pro-Life Action League’s blog about the need for pro-lifers to be diplomats for our cause, and to always keep in mind when we’re talking with people who are pro-choice that our purpose isn’t to “score points” but rather to persuade them to agree with us about the value of life in the womb.
Occasionally, a single conversation with someone who is pro-choice may result in an on-the-spot conversion to pro-life. But I would guess that instances like these are more the exception than the rule. [Continue reading this entry »]
I’ve attended the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. for the past 8 years, but this year’s was by far the most upbeat, energetic and encouraging march I’ve been to, and Generations for Life was thrilled to be a part of it.
Do we pro-lifers believe a woman should have a choice of where she wants to go to college?
Two basic tenets of the pro-life position are: (1) abortion destroys the life of a genetically distinct, whole human being; and (2) abortion is psychologically harmful to women.
We found out recently about a new campaign called 
Remember the 
In one short week, I will be flying back home after spending a semester in Gaming, Austria. The semester has been so amazing and blessed, but at the same time, I am excited to go back home and share my stories and memories with my friends and with my family. 
A postcard (shown at right) that appeared this weekend on the popular website PostSecret served as yet another reminder that far from being a means of women’s liberation, abortion is actually a means of women’s oppression.
The 
Were you ever a fetus? How about an embryo? Or a zygote?
