Perhaps the root cause can be found in America’s glorification of sex. Not sex within marriage, but promiscuity, hook-ups, pornography, and lust. The culture of licentiousness has people convinced that sex is all about pleasure and should be “consequence-free”. Society is forgetting about the selfless love of spouses. Instead, lust leads to the objectification of one’s sexual “partner”.

Once the door has opened to allow the objectification of human persons and stripping of their dignity, why stop there?

Contraception is the first domino in the chain of moral desensitization. In Humanae Vitae, 17, Pope Paul VI warned that birth control would lead to the degradation and objectification of a woman to a “mere instrument of selfish enjoyment” rather than the “respected and beloved companion” of a man. But of course, the secular world ignored his prophecy, which has since proved to be true.

Sin only breeds more sin

Margaret Sanger founded the first Planned Parenthood in 1916 as a birth control clinic. Never mind that she was a eugenicist, her agenda was never questioned, but quickly adopted.

Procreation is no longer considered the natural consequence of sex. When birth control fails, the resulting pregnancy is seen as a mistake. But wait – sex was supposed to be consequence-free! With this logic, of course abortion makes sense to fix this problem.

Too few care to counter this culture of lust, yet many promote it. Our government, particularly this current administration, is pushing the contraceptive agenda. The infamous Alfred Kinsey has influenced academia since his studies were published in the 1940’s and 50’s. His Kinsey Reports served to normalize deviant sexual behavior, and Kinsey is considered a precursor to the sexual revolution. Not surprisingly, Kinsey was bisexual, and both he and his wife were polyamorous.

Lust has killed virtue. Human persons who should be in relationships of love are objectified and discarded. Children, not only in Gosnell’s “house of horrors”, but in every abortion clinic in America, are stripped of their dignity as they are killed and discarded. The gradual progression of lust to murder is tragic but not entirely shocking.

A few hours later, Media Matters’ Simon Malloy published a hit piece attempting to discredit the video, to which Live action’s Calvin Freiburger gave a right and proper smackdown.

Then Live Action doubled down by releasing a second video:

Jill Stanek noted:

Santengelo demonstrated both the need and disregard for the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which provides legal and medical protection to all babies no matter what gestational age, wanted or not.

Note also Santangelo’s late-term abortion method of choice: cutting the umbilical cord to kill the baby inside so s/he either bleeds to death from the gaping umbilical cord or suffocates from oxygen deprivation. This is just a variation of Gosnell’s “snipping” procedure.

Without a doubt, Live Action’s newest videos are a huge addition to the growing body of evidence that Kermit Gosnell is anything but an “extreme outlier.”

This means that 16 year old girls (and boys) can now get the morning-after pill without a prescription.

So can 15 year olds, and 14 year olds, and 13 year olds, and 12 year olds, etc., despite the fact that the age of consent in every state is between 16 and 18.

To understand how outrageous Judge Korman’s decision is, consider that in December 2011, strongly “pro-choice” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius actually overruled a recommendation from the FDA to make the morning-after pill available OTC with no restrictions.

This decision was truly extraordinary, as it was the first time ever that an HHS secretary had publicly overruled an FDA recommendation.

It would be an understatement to say that we’re no fans of Kathleen Sebelius. She’s usually wrong, but this time, she actually got it right, and my boss, Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler, said as much.

Pro-aborts were livid.

But even their favorite president wasn’t with them. Even Barack Obama—the most outspokenly “pro-choice” president in American history—supported Sebelius’ decision to prevent OTC sales of EC to kids.

“As the father of two daughters,” Obama said at the time that Sebelius’ decision was one of “common sense”:

The reason Kathleen made this decision was she could not be confident that a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old going into a drugstore, should be able — alongside bubble gum or batteries — to buy a medication that potentially, if not used properly, could end up having an adverse effect. And I think most parents would probably feel the same way.

What Obama and Sebelius refused to do, a federal judge has now done.

No Good Will Come from This Decision

As for long-term effects of EC on women’s and girls’ bodies, we have precious little evidence. But we do know that the EC is significantly stronger than the regular birth control pill, which carries a whole host of negative side effects.

We also know that despite the fact that there has been a huge increase in the number of women who have used EC over the last decade, even the Guttmacher Institute admits that “there’s no evidence” that EC has lowered the national rate of unintended pregnancy.

In moments of honesty, even the biggest cheerleaders for EC will admit that the best that can be said of it is that it’s “better than nothing.”

It would be dangerously naïve to believe that making EC available to all teens and pre-teens will have any positive impact at all.

On the other hand, it will now be even easier for young girls—and the older men who so often prey on them—to engage in risky sexual behavior. A wedge will be driven yet further between parents and children, and will cut doctors out of the loop as well.

All this is to say nothing of the abortion-causing potential of EC, which can kill an unborn child in the earliest days of life by preventing implantation in the mother’s uterus. Many women and girls would not choose to use EC if they knew it can cause an early abortion—but they’re far more likely to remain in the dark when they don’t even need a prescription to get it.

Nothing good—absolutely nothing good—will come out of Judge Korman’s decision.

One thing I find amazing about this Gospel passage is that it almost didn’t make it into the Bible. In fact, before the Bible was assembled the way it is today, some versions of John’s Gospel didn’t include this story.

St. Augustine tells us that many early Christians were afraid of keeping this story in John’s Gospel since it showed Jesus as being so merciful that they thought it might lead people to think that the reality of sin wasn’t as big of a deal as the Church made it out to be.

Apparently, the Holy Spirit wasn’t concerned about this, since He made sure the story was kept in there.

The story of the woman caught in adultery was the inspiration behind a post-abortion healing brochure [PDF] the Pro-Life Action League designed a few years ago. On the front is an image of Jesus and the woman, and the words “Neither do I condemn you.” On the back is information on where to find help dealing with post-abortion aftermath, and the message, “Please give this card to someone who needs it.”

We encourage sidewalk counselors to give these cards to women as they leave the abortion clinic, and we also pass them out during our Face the Truth demonstrations. They’ve become so popular that we now get orders for them (both the English and Spanish versions) from sidewalk counselors, pro-life groups, and post-abortion ministries all across the country.

It’s no coincidence that as more and more women continue to receive post-abortion healing and speak out publicly about their experiences, there is less and less support for abortion among the general population.

The more we learn about the horrible pain and suffering experienced by women following an abortion (as well as men who are involved with abortion), and the relief they feel after receiving God’s mercy and forgiveness, the greater the need for us to offer them a helping hand.

The best predictor of someone’s attitude toward abortion is his or her opinion on the morality of premarital sex. People who think that premarital sex is morally acceptable are very likely to be pro-choice. Conversely, individuals who think premarital sex is wrong are likely to be pro-life.

He then went on to say:

…I always remind pro-lifers that a promiscuous society will never support significant restrictions on abortion. While pro-lifers are good at talking about fetal development and personal responsibility, we are less comfortable with subjects such as sexual activity and contraception. Indeed, it is doubtless more difficult to advocate for sexual restraint than for the unborn. However, this is a battle in which pro-lifers must continue to engage if we are to succeed in our goal of providing legal protection to all unborn children.

In other words, the “Culture of Life” that we envision is unthinkable without chastity. This is not a startlingly new revelation, but we can always use a reminder.

The Message of Chastity Is Essential to the Pro-Life Movement

As the director of Generations for Life, giving chastity talks to junior high and high school students is one of my favorite parts of my job, in large part because convincing people — especially teens — to embrace the message of chastity is so absolutely essential to the pro-life movement.

We’ve all seen public opinion polls that indicate that young people are the most pro-life segment of the population.

But we also know that many young people don’t remain pro-life. Why is this?

I would say that the primary reason we as a pro-life movement are “losing” so many young pro-lifers is that in the majority of cases, their change to self-identifying as “pro-choice” has been preceded by a change of belief that premarital sex is morally acceptable. It shouldn’t take much to figure out the connection between the two.

When our parent organization, the Pro-Life Action League, hosted its groundbreaking Contraception Is Not the Answer conference in 2006, our executive director, Eric Scheidler, mentioned in his opening remarks that in today’s world, telling people they shouldn’t use contraception is like telling them they shouldn’t use soap.

The same could be said of encouraging people (not only young people, but those of any age) to embrace the virtue and lifestyle of chastity generally — in which marriage is the only context in which sex makes any sense at all.

It’s no secret how unabashedly the nation’s leading abortion chain, Planned Parenthood, and their host of “pro-choice” allies promote the belief that there is absolutely nothing wrong with non-marital sex.

If you’ve never noticed how Planned Parenthood so often tries to downplay its abortion numbers and, instead, play up its role as a “America’s leading sexual and reproductive health care advocate,” you haven’t been watching closely enough.

Our opposition has no problem with being upfront in their views about sexual morality. If we shy away from being upfront about our own, we cede this ground — and we’re doomed.

“Amazing!” “Really inspiring!” “I loved it!”

These are just some of the comments that sum up the reaction of the more than 150 teens and adults who attended TeenSpeak 2013 on February 2 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois—the largest crowd we’ve ever had at a TeenSpeak conference!

The day began with an engaging and enthusiastic presentation titled “Designed to Create,” by Ryan Bomberger of The Radiance Foundation. Drawing from his experience as an Emmy-Award winning creative professional, Ryan explained that in communicating the pro-life message through visual media, certain principles of design must be followed, or else the message will not reach its intended audience.

As examples, Ryan showed several engaging and impactful videos throughout his presentation, including  “We’ve Been Guttmachered,” “Hell Breaks Loose,” “Meet Jonny Moses,” and, last but not least, “Unwanted,” which highlights Ryan’s personal story of having been conceived in rape and placed for adoption in a large, multi-racial family.

The audience thoroughly enjoyed Ryan’s presentation. High school student Therese Starasinich commented, “His talk got me more excited to take on action spreading the truth.” Patrick Lechner noted that Ryan’s talk “makes me want to use my job in the future for the pro-life movement.”

Up next was J.T. Eschbach, an associate of the Pro-Life Action League, who gave an abbreviated training seminar titled, “You Can Save Lives: Getting Started with Sidewalk Counseling.”

After J.T. shared his expertise as a veteran sidewalk counselor, three students from Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, Illinois — Julia K., Hannah M., and Megan S. — spoke about some of their own experiences sidewalk counseling, which each of them have been doing regularly for more than a year, both at the Family Planning Associates abortion clinic in downtown Chicago, and at Planned Parenthood in Aurora.

High school student Sara Groppe said that this session “gave a lot of useful pointers and helped me realize that sidewalk counseling isn’t so scary.” Monica Tragasz added, “As someone who has been shadowing a sidewalk counselor, I found this information very helpful.”

Cristina McCormack, a freshman at Naperville Central High School, commented, “I really liked listening to the teens from Christian Liberty Academy because they made me feel like [sidewalk counseling] was something I could do to be involved.” Other students also expressed a desire to try sidewalk counseling as well.

Following the session on sidewalk counseling, Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler spoke about one of the key elements to dialoguing with people who call themselves “pro-choice” — namely, listening.

Eric pointed out that we can’t hope to change someone’s mind about abortion if we don’t fully understand why the person supports abortion, and to do that, we need to actively listen to the other person. Eric noted that this and several pointers are explained in more detail in the League’s Sharing the Pro-Life Message handbook — which all attendees received — and he encouraged everyone to keep their copy with them at all times.

Following lunch, my co-worker Matt Yonke revisited the Design theme that Ryan Bomberger had discussed earlier in the day with a short PowerPoint tutorial on “how to design web graphics that persuade and delight.” Matt’s talk served as a great jumping-off point for TeenSpeak’s Pro-Life Graphic Design Workshop. We’ve conducted similar workshops at the last four TeenSpeak conferences, and they’ve received great feedback over the years. This year’s Graphic Design Workshop was no exception.

Attendees were divided into 20 groups, and each group was given two design templates, a pencil, a set of markers, and 40 minutes to create their own graphic. To ramp up the competition factor, the teams were told that the winning design would be made into an actual web graphic and shared to potentially tens of thousands of Facebook users.

Ryan Bomberger graciously agreed to judge the entries that the 20 groups produced, and two groups that came up with strikingly similar designs shared First Place honors. (Watch this space: they will be posted here soon.)

High school student Angela DeJesus summed up the reaction of many others when she said that TeenSpeak “made me think about choosing to be pro-life and that you have to do something, not just talk and listen about it.”

We were thrilled that so many teens have given us thoroughly positive feedback on the conference and have said they’re really looking forward to next year.

So am I!

Additional Resources

At the conclusion of Ryan Bomberger’s “Designed to Create” presentation, he recommended several websites for those interested in becoming more skilled at visual design:

• Creattica
• Kyle Steed
• MyFonts
• 1001 Free Fonts
• Kuler
• Ryan’s Professional Portfolio

During his sidewalk counseling training seminar, J.T. Eschbach recommended his website, SidewalkCounselor.com, which contains numerous sidewalk counseling resources.

At the end of Matt Yonke’s presentation, he recommended The Non-Designer’s Design Guide [PDF] and three other photo editing programs:

• GIMP
• Pixlr
• Pixia

Will you be at the March for Life in Washington, DC on Friday, January 25? Join us!

The staff of Generations for Life will be marching with our parent organization, the Pro-Life Action League, beneath a huge “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” banner.

We’ll meet up at the southeast corner of Madison Drive NW and 7th Street NW [map].

We’ll also be at the March for Life Youth Rally on the Thursday, January 24 from 2:00 to 5:00pm at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill [map]. My co-worker Eric Scheidler will be the M.C. for the rally.

Hope to see you there!

TeenSpeak 2013 will feature The Radiance Foundation’s Ryan Bomberger, who is one of the fastest rising stars in the pro-life movement.

His own personal story gives Ryan a very unique perspective on abortion. He was conceived in rape, but his biological mother courageously chose to place him for adoption with a large, multi-racial family:

Today, Ryan is himself an adoptive father of four children and an Emmy Award winning creative professional who specializes in training pro-lifers to communicate their message through visual media in the most impactful way possible. You won’t want to miss the chance to meet him!

Plus, you will learn how you can save babies’ lives through sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics, and you’ll hear other teens talk about their own experiences doing this crucial pro-life work.

TeenSpeak 2013 will be held at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, and is open to high school and college-age teens, and adults who work with them — teachers, youth ministers, pro-life club moderators, parents, etc.

The TeenSpeak Facebook page is here.

Online registration is available here.

The students at St. John’s Catholic High School in Beloit, Kansas have done just that — and not just once, but numerous times, most recently last month.

I spoke yesterday with Andrew Niewald, a theology teacher at the school, who is eager to share the story of his students’ courageous pro-life witness in the hope that other Catholic schools will be willing to provide similar opportunities for their students to put their pro-life beliefs into action out in the world.

The students at St. John’s have been the subject of several feature articles recently, including one at LifeSite by Rita Diller of STOPP.

In it, Andrew is quoted as saying:

We tried all sorts of things, including watching The Silent Scream and other abortion videos, but that did not have the impact we needed. Once the students were out there, three or four feet from the girls coming in to have abortions, begging them not to go in, it made it so much more real. …

We could take the students to the World War II museum, let them see the memorabilia behind glass doors, but that does not have the same impact as taking them to the front lines. We take them, instead, to the battle lines, and the conviction they walk away with is tremendous.

The importance of Andrew’s observations here cannot be overstated.

Teachers — and priests, youth ministers, et al. — can and obviously must talk about abortion with their students. But actually bringing your students to an abortion clinic gives them an experience that simply can’t be replicated in a classroom.

There is nothing quite like the somber experience of going where the killing actually happens.

There is nothing quite like the jarring experience of seeing expressions of sadness, sorrow, and despair on the faces of women (and girls) going in.

There is nothing quite like the trying experience of praying the Rosary and holding a pro-life sign and hearing someone yell “F*** you!” at you — and, instead of responding in kind, learning to turn the other cheek and bear wrongs patiently.

When you go to an abortion clinic for the first time, you realize that abortion is no longer a theoretical issue to be merely talked about. You realize that you can’t just talk about abortion, you have to actually do something about it.

That’s what is so encouraging about what’s going on at St. John’s High School in Beloit, Kansas. Andrew Niewald and the other teachers there are setting the bar high for their students–clearly, expecting students to spend six hours on a bus so they can pray for 90 minutes outside the nearest abortion clinic is asking a lot.

But with solid formation and instruction, the students at St. John’s are living up to the high expectations that have been set for them.

It was a privilege for me to talk with Andrew, and he was happy to accept our offer to send him a complimentary copy of the Generations for Life Pro-Life Curriculum.

Please keep his students in your prayers that they will continue to grow in their love for unborn children and their willingness to reach out to pregnant mothers in need.

Every year around this time, we receive numerous messages from high school and college students across the country who are seeking information on abortion for research papers they’re working on.

We expect this number to continue to grow over the next few weeks—a peak time for term papers.

When we receive messages like these, we first recommend that students check out our Q & A section.

We also offer to mail a complimentary student packet, consisting of a wide variety of pro-life literature.

If you would like one of these free student packets for yourself or for someone else, fill out our contact form, and we’ll be happy to send you one.

The conference was hosted by Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust and Priests for Life and co-sponsored by several other including the Pro-Life Action League League, which provided copies of our Sharing the Pro-Life Message handbook to all attendees.

On the first day of the conference, Eric Scheidler delivered a new PowerPoint presentation provocatively titled “First Convince Them You’re Wrong”.

Eric explained that when we talk about abortion with those who are firmly committed to the “pro-choice” ideology, they very often think that the pro-life position doesn’t deserve a hearing, and that we pro-lifers are completely crazy.

Our first step, then, has to be convince our “pro-choice” audience that they need to give the pro-life position a second look. In all likelihood, we’re not going to change the mind of a hard-core abortion supporter on the spot, but if, by being diplomatic in our presentation of the pro-life message, we can convince them that we are merely wrong—and not crazy—we will plant the seeds for an eventual change of heart.

Eric conveyed ten main points in his presentation, each of which is listed in the opening section of Sharing the Pro-Life Message.

They include: “Listen, and pay attention,” Take time to think—and pray,” “Always be respectful,” “Make it personal,” “Pick your battles and keep it simple,” and “Always leave the door open.”

We Can’t Wait for “Someone Else” to Fight the Battle against Abortion

Not only was IPYC a great opportunity to reunite with several longtime friends in the pro-life movement, but it also allowed both Eric and me to meet several high school and college students who are interested in stepping up their commitment to fight abortion. And I was especially pleased that the two students who won the two Pro-Life Curriculums we raffled off are both intent on starting pro-life clubs in their public high schools!

In light of last week’s election results, conference speakers repeatedly made the point that we simply cannot wait for someone else—politicians, or whomever—to fight the battle against abortion. Make no mistake, this message was heard loud and clear, as there was no hint of defeatism or despair on the part of the many students Eric and I had the privilege of meeting.

The conference concluded Monday, as conference attendees caravanned to L.A. to crash the premiere of Breaking Dawn – Part 2 by setting up a pro-life display and handing out hundreds of first-rate publications from Human Life Alliance.

All in all, the IPYC was a tremendous experience, and it was an honor for Eric and me to be a part of it.

1. The exploding pro-life youth movement
2. The expanding ties among pro-lifers internationally

These two dynamic forces are coming together next week at the second annual International Pro-Life Youth Conference, November 9-11 in Los Angeles.

The conference is being hosted by Survivors and Priests for Life, with the sponsorship of Ireland’s Youth Defence, Students for Life of America, such cutting-edge pro-life groups as Stand True Ministries, the Radiance Foundation—and Generations for Life’s parent organization, the Pro-Life Action League.

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
• Dr. Eoghan De Faoite of Ireland’s Youth Defence
• Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life
• Bryan Kemper of Stand True
• Troy Newman of Operation Rescue
• Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life
• . . . and more!

Student registration is a mere $35 for the whole weekend. 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!

Students were inspired by Melissa Ohden, a saline abortion survivor who has dedicated her life to showing the trauma of abortion on families. Marko Culjak, a freshman in the UIUC business school, says, “If you’re on the fence about abortion, you would be inspired by Melissa Ohden’s talk.” Ohden and the other speakers brought a powerful personal note to the emotionally charged conference as we were compelled to seriously examine why we are pro-life, and how to spread the message across our campuses.

Students also gained an understanding of the people they are defending: the entire family of abortion victims, not just the mother or the child. Robby Regalbuto, a UIUC junior in electrical engineering, summarizes, “An interesting thing I took from this conference is that just as the birth of a child has a powerful loving effect on one’s extended family, so does abortion have a traumatic ripple effect across all generations of the family.”

This conference helped unite the pro-life movement among Midwestern college students, as everyone went home with new friends and renewed pro-life beliefs. Students represented SLU, Northwestern, UChicago, ISU, Bradley, UIUC, and many other Midwest schools. Loyola students kindly hosted many long-distance guests (including myself and 8 other students from UIUC’s pro-life club) and the activities in the conference created bonds that will make our pro-life generation a force to be reckoned with.

More than 125,000 people attended the March 23 and June 8 Rallies, and the number of cities on board for October 20 indicates that the Stand Up for Religious Freedom campaign shows no signs of weakening.

On the contrary, opposition among the American people to the HHS Mandate’s assault on religious freedom is intense—and getting stronger!

From Miami, Florida to Seattle, Washington and all the way out to Honolulu, Hawaii the American people of all ages are sending a message that we will not stand idly by while the federal government forces all employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of any moral or religious objections.

Check out the Locations Page to see all the cities taking part and find a Rally near you.

Now before you freak out at ‘subsidy…sudsy …what was that?’, remember that the word is no more impressive or confusing than good old terms like ‘excommunication’ or ‘hierarchy’ that every good Catholic loves to use.

In layman’s terms, solidarity recognized that all people are interdependent and united in a brotherhood of common growth and fulfillment, and that economic life be shaped by moral principles.

Subsidiarity teaches that the decision-making in society be done at the lowest possible level (i.e., the level closest to those affected by the decision.) We are to first look to private-sector solutions before we look to the state or the federal government.

The short and witty video explains the concepts much better than I could, so spend five minutes. Educate yourself.

For one day, people all over the world will give up their voices in solidarity with babies who have had their voices silenced by abortion.

It’s just under two weeks away, and already, students from over 800 schools — along with over 80 homeschools, more than 120 businesses & ministries, and over 400 individuals/non-students — in 33 countries have registered to participate!

Are you willing to give up your voice for a day for those who will never have a voice?

For more information and to register, go here.

From September 26th through November 4th, 40 Days for Life prayer vigils will be held outside abortion clinics in 316 locations in the U.S., Canada, Australia, England, Spain, and Uganda.

This will be the eleventh 40 Days for Life campaign, and the results of the first ten have been amazing:

• MORE THAN 525,000 PEOPLE of all ages have joined together to
  pray and fast for an end to abortion
• At least 5,928 BABIES HAVE BEEN SAVED from abortion—and those
  are just the ones we know about
• 69 abortion workers have QUIT THEIR JOBS and walked away from
  the abortion industry
• 24 abortion facilities COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN following local 40
  Days for Life vigils

And this fall’s 40 Days will be the biggest one yet — more babies will be saved, more parents will be spared a lifetime of regrets, and more abortion workers will have their hearts touched and leave their jobs.

I hope you won’t want to miss the chance to take part in this historic pro-life prayer campaign. You can find the 40 Days site nearest you here.

On Thursday, September 6, Rock for Life and Students for Life of America are inviting pro-life students everywhere to take part in this very simple, yet very impactful event.

The idea is simple:

1. Pick up some sidewalk chalk
2. Find an area that has a lot of foot traffic
3. Use your chalk to write pro-life messages

If you chalk pro-life messages all around your school campus — or anywhere else — you’re sure to get a lot of discussions started about abortion!

You can find suggested chalkable pro-life messages and other tips on the National Pro-Life Chalk Day website.

So if someone showed you this graphic:

…what would you say?

Live Action has an excellent response here.