Those who have read parts #1 and #2 and clicked on the links will understand why I have had to devote a full day to catching up and why I broke it into multiple parts.

Now for Melissa Ohden and the Abortion Survivors Network. https://abortionsurvivors.org/ I just finished reading her book “You Carried Me” and it opened my eyes to an experience that is challenging to comprehend, so I do not claim that anyone can do more that be awed. But, I do now understand the depth of the confused and painful emotions of rejection, shame, and worthlessness experienced by those who survived an attempt by their mothers to end their life in the womb.

However, in lieu of being able to comprehend such emotions, one can easily realize that every unborn child, from the tiniest beginnings, is a real person, a unique individual, like no other who has ever lived. Or, as Melissa testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to the (pro-abortion) Women’s Health Protection Act, “You are just as much ‘you’ today as you were when you were developing in the womb.” She also challenged legislators to explain to her how she could have the right to an abortion while simultaneously she was denied the right to live.

Read her book in order to discover how she went from a 30-week old aborted fetus that was discarded into medical waste to overcome the horror of that knowledge and find love and forgiveness, then become a political activist and founder of Abortion Survivors Network.

Before she left for the March for Life in Washington, D.C., on January 21, she told me she was also attending the Students for Life Summit, meeting with Anglicans for Life, and having media events including interviews with EWTN and Dr. James Dodson, founder of Focus on the Family.

That was after ASN came off a weekend in which abortion survivor Michelle (in her first outing as a new speaker) presented herself at Front Range Alliance Church in Colorado Springs where she was welcomed with great interest in her experiences. Many people had questions, and others came up to talk with her afterward. She also reported emotionally impactful bonding experiences.

At another church she received a standing ovation after telling her story. She was also sponsored by Pikes Peak Citizens for life to speak at the Rocky Mountain March for Life rally where she gave what is described as a “fiery” speech. This event was attended by Congressman Doug Lamborn who is a strong pro-life supporter. See his picture with Michelle and people holding signs declaring that “Civil Rights Begin in the Womb.” https://lamborn.house.gov/media/press-releases/marching-life He took contact information in order to stay in touch with ASN.

For those who did not click the link above (yet), please note that there is much pro-life support in Congress, but it needs reinforcement in a time of such vitriolic attacks and hateful rhetoric aimed at pro-life activists and the Christian church, especially Catholics who have led the way in demanding respect for life and promoting an abhorrence for abortion.

Congressman Lamborn (with others) has introduced the Second Chance at Life Act, the Recognizing the Unborn Act, and the Child Tax Credit for Pregnant Moms Act. These “steps in the right direction” are, of course, vigorously opposed by the well-funded pro-abortion factions both in and out of Congress. There is no chance for legislative progress until Congress and the Presidency are on the same page. And, this must reflect the will of the people. That is why every pro-life event is important, and every individual attending is crucial to returning respect for life and individual dignity to the mainstream of society.

There is no greater statement to be made for the cause of protecting life in the womb than the testimony of abortion survivors. It is, indeed, hard for us to imagine the tiny life growing in the womb as an accomplished adult. But, those who have stepped into the light of day to declare that their lives matter are having an increasingly significant impact. The pro-abortion people are trying to ignore them, but more and more people are forced to envision the tiniest pieces of bloody tissue as the remains of a baby, a human person, and not just a piece of amorphous tissue, and “More than a Choice” (as ABN says in their logo).

One of the most important activities of ABN has been the outreach to abortion survivors, to provide support and healing. This is a process, not an event. It is very difficult for many people who have lived secretly with shame and horrifying knowledge, wondering why their mothers considered them so worthless as to be killed before they had a chance to live. The thought is so terrible that I even have difficulty writing the words. However, those who have been through the healing process with the support of those who came before them, the only persons who can understand, have experienced a new sense of being loved and accepted. Many of those have wished to speak out and have been trained to do so. One is Michelle who recently made her outing in Colorado Springs, another is Claire who spoke at the recent Texas Rally for Life, and yet another is Carrie who will kick off a 40 Days for Life campaign with LifeFirst.

Melissa also shared with me the ABN 2021-2022 Policy Impact statement, noting that “abortion survivors have never had a seat at the table when discussing the policies and laws that directly impact them…until now!” In the publication are pictures of Melissa and others with such notables as President Trump in the Oval Office, Congressman Steve Scalise, Senator Ted Cruz, Mike Pompeo, and a number of Congressmen and Congresswomen. The pro-life gala of 2021in Washington, D.C., is remembered, and an astonishing list of media interviews, quotes, comments, and appearances, as well as a stunning list of planned events for 2022 are annotated. To emphasize their political activism, there is a list of legislation supported and opposed, some of the latter being attempts to codify unregulated abortion in various ways.

In a few months, Melissa’s second book will be available: “More than a Choice: Abortion Survivors Break Their Silence.” September 28, 2022, will be the inaugural “Day of Remembrance for Abortion Survivors,” and a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at the new Memorial for Abortion Survivors (which will be near the Supreme Court). The year 2022 will also premier a new professionally developed documentary on abortion survivors.

I found Abortion Survivors Network while doing research for my book shortly after Melissa founded ABN. Now, in such a short period of time, the awareness of abortion survivors is making news on so many fronts that people are wanting to know more. Melissa and her team are devoted to making that easier and easier. More and more abortion survivors have made themselves known and have requested help with healing, no longer feeling alone in their terrible experiences, often graduating to become speakers, who are much in demand.

All of this requires financial resources, while opposition forces pour hundreds of millions of dollars into promoting denigration of human life and individual dignity. Let us step up to be counted and provide whatever financial help we can to support ABN. Public support for them, and the impact they are having on public attitude, are the most feared things the pro-abortion people face. Let us give them even more to worry about.

In this part of my updates, I will focus on things closer to home (that is, in the greater Houston area).

First, continuing the theme of activism, Teresa Strack, executive director of LifeFirst https://lifefirst.org , informs me that LifeFirst participated in the national March for Life and the Texas Rally for Life, and they also sponsored a booth at the Austin Pro-Life Expo with about 60 other pro-life organizations.

LifeFirst has monthly meetings, the last Thursday PM of each month (except November and December) with inspirational and informative speakers. The next meeting is actually tonight January 27 (sorry for the late notice…I guess it would be tactless to make excuses). Please see the link https://lifefirst.org/2021/12/pro-life-sanctuary-citiessaving-lives-shaping-law/ . Note that the speaker is Mark Lee Dickson, director of Right to Life East Texas and founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn initiative. He will speak on “Pro-Life Sanctuary Cities: Saving Lives, Shaping Laws.” If you cannot attend, you owe it to yourself to read the page on the link.

The next meeting is February 24, and also deserves your attention. The speaker will be Julie Posey, whose story is as astonishing as any that you will ever hear, and the topic of “How Legal Abortion Serves Sexual Predators” is not to be missed. https://lifefirst.org/2022/01/how-legal-abortion-serves-sexual-predators/ You may have heard some of the stories that emerged from her experiences. I first became aware of her when researching for my book “Building a Culture of Life” (still in final stages of publishing) and I included her story as part of the scurrilous activities in which Planned Parenthood engages. I am now planning a follow-on book on the history of human trafficking and especially human sex trafficking to separate fact from much of the fiction promulgated in modern culture.

In addition to participating in pro-life events and rallies and scheduling such informative personalities, Teresa has been at the helm as LifeFirst sponsors student contests such as: Poster Art with a theme that “Every Human Life is Beautiful;” an Essay Contest on “Why Are You Pro-Life;” a Fine Art Contest on “When Does Human Life Begin;” a Video Contest with the goal to affirm the value of life in a creative way; and the (dreaded) Oratory Contest in which high school students can compete on such topics as abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, and human embryonic stem cell research. https://lifefirst.org/student-contests/ LifeFirst also offers scholarships at Lone Star College to students who start or maintain a pro-life club on campus.

Is that enough? But wait, there’s more. LifeFirst is also involved with 40 Days for Life and is sponsoring a campaign vigil at an abortion clinic (details to follow). The speaker for the kick-off event will be Carrie Fischer with Abortion Survivor’s Network (yeah, they are everywhere also!). You must watch this video: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=carrie+fisher+abortion+survivor&docid=608048025056061772&mid=227F3970A78BC01D71B3227F3970A78BC01D71B3&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

Now, ask yourself… does every human life have value…does every life matter? Or, should some lives be aborted…should some be allowed to die after birth….should some be euthanized? If you do not know the answer, if you do not care enough to be motivated to activism, then someone else will make the decision for you…when you are deemed to be of no further value to society.

By the way, it takes your donations to carry out these activities.

Stay tuned for Part #3

In preparing this update, the first since December 28, I was a bit overwhelmed by the vast amount of new material that I hope may be of interest to subscribers. So, I am reminded of the proposition of how to eat an elephant…one bite at a time. In order not to overwhelm the reader, I have broken my report into numbered updates with targeted topics, of which this is the first.

The most obvious topic is the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 21, which had the theme that “Equity begins in the womb.” Whereas it is not feasible to even scratch the surface in commenting on all of the peripheral activities associated with this event. I will note a few things.

First of all, be encouraged by the momentum of the pro-life movement. More people than ever before now realize that a developing baby is a person, and they are concerned that this life must be protected and that pregnant women must receive every kind of support so that abortion is not a reflex choice. Organizers for the event obtained a permit based on 50,000 people attending. The weather was harsh and concerns for COVID-19 have restricted many people from travel. However, a very determined 150,000 people came to have their voices heard.

Nevertheless, there remains bitter opposition to those efforts to protect life, educate women, and offer support and alternatives.

On January 22, President Joe Biden pledged to defend the “fundamental right” to unrestricted abortion and reaffirmed his commitment to spreading widely unrestricted and unregulated abortion. Despite not being something new in our time, it is still unsettling to see a national leader denigrate life and promote the death of the most innocent and vulnerable. It is equally perplexing to see a leader of his stature embrace the violence perpetrated on women by abortion and promote restrictions on education of women and any support mechanisms that would allow her to choose life for her baby. One might think that responsible persons would find abortion a most regrettable option and encourage every alternative. One could still support the choice of abortion while finding it the least desirable outcome in a pregnancy. What is he (and others like him) thinking!?

Vice President Harris also spoke in support of expanded access to abortion, equating it to a civil right and health care for women. She (and most democrat leaders, with the support of most lay democrats) are promoting a bill in Congress to make unrestricted and unregulated access to abortion on the demand of the mother a statutory right under national law as a way to circumvent any decision by the Supreme Court which might return the right to regulate abortion to the individual states.

The Women’s Health Protection Act (if it becomes law) will accomplish that and explicitly eliminate waiting periods, ultrasounds, requirements for education, and any discussion of alternatives and community resources, such as is currently required by laws in various states. Again, the lust to destroy incipient life and prevent a woman’s access to support so she can have a healthy baby is hard to comprehend. It is equally difficult to understand why all women do not clearly see such efforts as depriving women of access to every kind of support so that she has a choice and does not feel hopeless and abandoned with no viable option. Pro-life is the real pro-choice.

Concurrently, thousands of people from across the state attended the Texas Rally for Life in Austin on January 22. Political leaders and representatives from pro-life organizations addressed the crowds. About 60 pro-life organizations also provided booths at the Pro-Life Expo. There was a great amount of enthusiasm and hope for an end to the wanton taking of life that is advocated by pro-abortion groups.

Among those speaking was Claire Culwell, a survivor of an attempted abortion. Nothing speaks more loudly to the issue of the unborn being real people than a person whose life was not ended by abortion, a person who can assert that they had a right to be born and that their life matters.

As more and more pro-life groups become better organized and cooperate together, the assertion that all life has value will be progressively harder to refute with any credibility. Those who promote abortion as a right and the most desirable solution to an unplanned pregnancy under difficult circumstances will be discredited, finding themselves on the wrong side of the evolving values of society.

As 2021 draws to a close, we have much to reflect on. I will not add to the lengthy list of events we lament in this post, but rather I report an uplifting message in the struggle to protect life and individual dignity.

At the close of church services recently, a priest remarked about the conspicuous dignity of the unborn child. The use of the word conspicuous in that context grabbed my ear. More and more people in societies around the world do see the unborn child as a person entitled to life and having the right to be treated with dignity. Those rights are becoming conspicuous, standing out so as to be clearly visible to more and more people.

One of the most important demonstrations to support that fact are those who have survived attempted abortion. Many of their stories are found on the website of the Abortion Survivors Network https://abortionsurvivors.org/ Those helpless unborn individuals survived an attempt to end their lives in the womb. As adults they inform us that they were real people even when in the womb, that they wanted to live, and that their lives matter.

Shawn Carney has made an end of year report on the 2021 worldwide 40 Days for Life campaign which further inspires us. “More people prayed, fasted, and stood in peaceful vigil in 2021 than any previous year,” he reports. He further reports that 2,260 women (that they have confirmed) chose life for their baby as a result of these prayer vigils at abortion clinics, more than twice as many as in 2020 (which was influenced heavily in all respects by the pandemic).

In addition, 18 more abortion workers converted to the pro-life movement and 7 more abortion facilities closed in 2021. From its inception, 20,368 mothers have chosen not to have an abortion, 229 abortion workers have converted, and 114 abortion facilities have closed.

In the United States, education of the public and efforts to provide for every need of the expectant mother is reaching deeper into communities where at-risk women live. However, there is also a powerful pro-abortion faction in the US with aggressive support from the highest officials in the current federal government. Those people have promised to make more federal tax money available to pay for abortion on demand for any reason. And, they propose to make it a violation of federal law for any entity (essentially religious organizations) to refuse to prescribe contraception or provide abortion as part of health insurance benefits. In an equally troubling move, they promise to criminalize refusal by a health care worker to perform an abortion, or assist in performing an abortion based, on religious beliefs.

On a worldwide scale, the current administration has acted to reverse former US policy and has released huge amounts of money to foreign entities to encourage and support abortion. Impoverished and poorly educated women in countries with few resources are easy victims of a system designed to generate profit in US dollars for the abortionists, who are eager to get a piece of the pie.

Planned Parenthood has long been the most visible head of the abortion industry, performing 40% of abortions in the US. They have much support from prominent people and powerful politicians. They publicly proclaim their political position and donate tens of millions of dollars to elect people to public office who with reinforce their profit stream from doing abortions. They have earned special attention, but there are the other 60% that we must not forget about.

I did promise to be uplifting in this post, but we needed first to understand that our success against the evil which is represented by wanton abortion of unborn people is not without fierce and well-funded opposition. Leaders in the highest offices in the land take money from the abortion industry and have promised to criminalize opposition to abortion.

Just like “freedom is not free,” the right to life comes with a price tag. It is not guaranteed to persist, even for us, much less with the opportunity to extend that right to the unborn, unless we take action to make it so.

We are winning the battle, for now, but victory is not assured, and will not be achieved until we have changed the hearts and minds of the people. To this end, I have encouraged you in prior posts concerning current events which are being carried out by people like you and me, people deeply concerned, who have stepped up to take action and be counted.

I now ask you to join with them and with me. Let us stand to be counted; let us volunteer to help when we can; let us donate financially to organizations in our communities and also to those who are active on a national level.

The future belongs not only to us, but to our children. This frightful attack on life, dignity, and individual freedoms must be strongly opposed, and every single person is important to preservation of these basic human values. Let 2022 be the year !

I am breaking with my usual theme for this Special Christmas Edition from the Building a Culture of Life web site. Typically, I am reporting on current events in the cause of respect for life and individual dignity, especially for protection of the unborn, thus reporting on the struggle over unrestricted abortion, as well as commenting on the things we can do to provide everything a woman needs to have a healthy baby.

Before going on, however, I urge you to support a couple of my favorite activists as we close out the year with much competition for your resources. Please visit https://abortionsurvivors.org and become acquainted with their activities. Watch the video at https://www.webcastsuccess.com/survivors-event and your life will be changed. There is nothing more powerful that the attestation by an abortion survivor asserting “Look at me! Before I was born, I was a real person! My life matters!” Also visit https://lifefirst.org , see all that they do, and be amazed. It takes money to do all of these things, so please make a donation. No matter how insignificant it seems to you, it will be highly valued, blessed by God, and used well to change lives.

Now, on to the news. I am drawing on the National Catholic Register Dec 19–Jan 1 for this communication. If you do not yet subscribe, I do recommend that you do so NCR@sfsdayton.com .

Everyone must know by now that the Supreme Court has completed hearing arguments in the Dobbs case. If you have not read it yet, I refer you to my post dated Dec 5 which will appear below this one on the Current Events page. NCR has an article “Experts Say Roe’s Days Are Numbered.” They report that both pro-life and pro-abortion advocates believe that “the days of adhering to the framework laid out in 1973 Roe v Wade …are likely at an end.” I have commented on this previously and will only summarize a few facts below.

The Roe decision has baffled legal scholars for 50 years. The court (described as “liberal activists” by many) decided that sentence fragments in various constitutional amendments implied that a woman had a right to “privacy” and thus (with a giant leap in “logic”) she had a “right” to an abortion. They then set about to decide what a trimester system for pregnancy meant for development of a growing baby (that they denigrated to a lesser entity), and when fetal “viability” outside the womb occurred.

They even declared, in contradiction to what was accepted by doctors and taught in medical books around the world…that the life of a new person begins at the moment of conception, saying there was no such agreement, and that the court would not make such a decision for the purpose of deciding when a woman has a right to an abortion. They had to say that. Otherwise they would be deciding that abortion is murder. They also had to declare that an unborn baby is not a “person” under the constitution and thus not entitled to life.

It may well be that the constitution says nothing about when a growing baby becomes a person. In fact, the constitution says absolutely nothing about a developing baby or abortion. What the constitution does say, absolutely and irrefutably, in the simplest of terms, is that any matter not explicitly delegated to the United States by the constitution or forbidden to it in the constitution is delegated to the individual states. Period. SCOTUS totally ignored this 10th amendment in the Roe decision, making no comment on why this amendment should not be applied to the case.

Many legal scholars have said from the beginning that the court should never have heard the Roe case in the first place because the constitution de facto states clearly that the individual states have the right to make laws regulating abortion. The majority justices were clearly influenced to make the decision to expand abortion in the manner written, not because of the constitution, but because of their personal values and ideology while under extreme political pressure from like-minded political activists.

I have written a great deal more in my book Building a Culture of Life about the political climate that was developing over the previous 100 years, as well as what ensured over nearly 50 years after the Roe decision. Now, people are much better informed and communicate rapidly. The attitude toward abortion has shifted significantly as people have learned that a new life of a very real person begins at conception. They have also seen on ultrasound the images of babies, and they have then seen them being killed. Science has also solidly debunked the writings in the Roe decision.

In the current court, 4 justices (as required) voted to hear the Dobbs case, and 5 justices voted not to interfere with the right of Texas to enact the “fetal heartbeat law.” Pro-abortion activists heavily lobbied to keep the court from taking the Dobbs case, knowing how weak is the argument in support of Roe. Experts in law, based upon what we know about the sitting justices, believe that the court will completely revise Roe (essentially overturning it and Doe and Casey), bringing the science up to date, and returning the right to regulate abortion to the states, by a 5-4 or even a 6-3 decision.

It is expected that, while returning regulation of abortion to the individual states, that some reinforcement of the rights of women will also be forthcoming. The state has an interest in the rights and health of both the unborn child and the pregnant woman. It will be very interesting to read how the court threads that needle.

Moving on to other news (before the reader falls asleep trying to keep all this complexity in the head), the NCR also reminds us to keep Christ in Christmas, and declares “O Come Let Us Adore Him” while extolling the magnificent nativity exhibitions by the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Conn. We are also reminded that, after nearly 8 years of restoration of the ancient stone Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the task is nearly complete.

And, the “Church Awaits Canonization of India’s First Lay Martyr Saint.” Devasahayam was martyred in 1752 during Hindu persecution of Christians. He will be canonized May 15, 2022.

Sadly, not all news is positive. Catholic school officials are objecting to Biden’s proposed “Build Back Better” bill, saying that its provisions will force Catholic schools to pull out of preschool and child care. This is associated with an article titled “As Culture Continues to Unravel, Religious Freedom Becomes More Vital.” Mary Rice Hasson, head of the Catholic Women’s Forum at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington has co-authored (with her sister Theresa Fornan) a book entitled Get Out Now: Why You Should Pull Your Child From Public School Before It Is Too Late. They describe the “morally, intellectually and politically toxic environment found in many of our schools.”

The Supreme Court also heard arguments on December 8 in the case of Carson v Makin. A school-choice tuition assisted program in Maine discriminates against Catholic and other Christian parents. “Progressive” lobbyists heavily lobbied against the court hearing this case as well. “According to the Supreme Court, the First Amendment guards against excessive government entanglement with religion,” the NCR reports. The Maine law is so blatantly unconstitutional that the court is fully expected to end that practice.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis has called for greater unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. In Athens, he addressed His Beatitude Ieronymos II, archbishop of Athens and All Greece, apologizing in most contrite terms “for the ways Catholics have contributed to division with Orthodox Christians.” When the Pope first arrived, an Orthodox cleric shouted at him, “Pope you are a heretic.” I have written extensively on this schism in my book “A Timeline Of the Journey of Humankind.” It is a frustrating story of things that did not have to be that way, and there is quite enough blame over hundreds of years to spread around to many involved individuals and factions.

Back to more hopeful news, there are a couple of long articles in NCR on the problem of unsafe water in Kenya. “Families struggling to survive” are turning to Catholic missions and donations from the US for help. Cross Catholic Outreach was founded nearly 20 years ago just for this purpose, to work with Catholic priests and religious sisters in such missions to help the poor.

And finally, how could it be Christmas without viewing the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie was directed by Frank Capra, a Catholic who reached maturity saying, “My films must let every man, woman, and child know that God loves them, and that peace and salvation will become a reality only when they all learn to love each other.”

That just about says it all. Merry Christmas !!

Dobbs… the MIssissippi abortion law that is now before the Supreme Court. The Court has completed hearing arguments in the case and is likely to rule on the case in June 2022. At issue is whether the state of Mississippi has the right to prohibit abortion after 15 weeks gestation. However, there are much broader issues at stake, and I elaborate on some of those below.

The Supreme Court ruling in Roe v Wade in 1973 (and in the concurrent ruling in Doe) found that a woman has a “right of privacy” arising from the 14th amendment “concept of personal liberty” and that the 9th amendment’s “reservation of rights to the people” combine to “encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” However, that right was not absolute, and the Court went on to discuss the interest of the state in the welfare of both mother and child, the trimester system, and fetal viability. The Court also ruled that there was no agreement on when life began and that the constitution did not recognize the unborn child as a “person” having the right to life.

Furthermore (in Doe), the Court ruled that a woman could get an abortion at any stage of pregnancy for a number of reasons, especially in matters threatening her health, and that being nervous and anxious over the pregnancy could seriously affect a woman’s health. Whereas fetal viability was a threshold in Roe, the ruling in Doe opened the door for abortion up to the moment of going into labor for virtually any reason at all.

Those decisions, as we all know, immediately led to controversy in many areas of the ruling, and it has had broad and long-lasting ramifications. Legal scholars were perplexed at the time and have written much about the new “rights” of women found in the constitution. Those who wrote the amendments and advocated for them in writing and spoke aloud in favor of them never found any such implications in those amendments. The Court, it is said, simply fabricated the new “right” to abortion and then set about to justify it,

Furthermore, the 10th amendment to the constitution says (in its simplicity) that decisions on any matter not explicitly given to the United States (eg, the elected officials in congress) by the constitution are relegated to the individual states (eg the elected officials in those states). Therefore, scholars assert that the Court should never have taken the Roe and Doe cases in the first place. The Court, when ruling in Roe and Doe, said nothing about the 10th amendment, making no attempt to explain why the 10th amendment was not valid in those cases.

There are several other things that were controversial then and which have become even more so since 1973. Well before 1973, it was uniformly accepted by biologists and medical doctors, and it was written in books all over the world, that human life begins at the moment of conception. The fertilized egg contains at that moment all of the DNA it will ever have to develop into a baby, a child, and an adult, and that DNA is unique and distinct from the mother and father. Yet, the Court ruled otherwise. The issue of the new life being a “person,” and thus having the right to life under the constitution, is asserted on the basis of established science, but it was ignored by the Court.

The Court also linked the trimester system to fetal viability (ability to live outside the womb) and the interests of the states in the welfare of the mother and the unborn child. But, the time of viability is a bit different in any pregnancy (which is nominally 40 weeks duration). Advances in medical science have now given a 24 week old baby a 50% chance of surviving. However, babies born earlier have survived against all odds.

And, abortion survivors (see my earlier posts referring to the Abortion Survivors Network…now with over 350 members) strongly assert that they are not a piece of tissue to be discarded as trash. They tell us that they are people and that their lives matter. It has become increasingly hard for the Court to ignore the fact that an abortion is the taking of a human life, causing the death of a human person.

I will not discuss the details of the1992 Court ruling in Casey in this setting. However, it was in that case that the Court acknowledged the (limited) right of the states to further regulate abortion. That led to hundreds of new laws in various states (many of which are under injunction pending the outcome of the Court ruling in Dobbs). But, without Casey, the MIssissippi legislation regulating abortion would never have become law.

For the above reasons, it is hoped by Pro-Life advocates that the Court will rule that the basis for the ruling in Roe was flawed and that references to the beginning of human life and the issue of when the growing fetus becomes a person and achieves viability outside the womb are antiquated and were wrongly stated even in 1973.

The Court required at least 4 of the 9 Justices to approve taking up the Dobbs case. There was a lot of external pressure on the Court by special interest groups not to even think about the case. All of the above problems with the old rulings are well known to Pro-Abortion advocates. They fear that the Court will overturn Roe in its entirety, and that regulation of abortion will be returned to the states, according to the 10th amendment.

The National Catholic Register (Vol 97, No. 26), points out that the permissiveness of US abortion laws is among the most extreme in the world. Of 198 countries, only 59 countries permit elective abortions. Forty-five of the 59 countries limit elective abortions up to 12 weeks. Six countries limit elective abortions between 12 and 20 weeks. And, only 7 countries permit elective abortions after 20 weeks: China, Vietnam, North Korea, Singapore, Netherlands, Canada…and the United States. It is argued that the Mississippi ban on abortion after 15 weeks is not extreme, but rather it is the permitting of elective abortions after 12 weeks which is extreme.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 not to block the Texas Fetal Heartbeat law from taking effect. In a twist that confounds attempts to sue the State of Texas and thus prevent the state from enforcing the law, the state is prevented from enforcing the law by the wording of the law itself. The law permits private citizens to sue those who perform abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected on ultrasound. An ultrasound is required before an abortion is legal in Texas. The Court ruled that nobody had been harmed by the law, and those bringing the case before the Court made no claim that anyone was in imminent danger of being harmed. Yet, 3 Justices who are described as “liberal” voted to keep Texas from enforcing the law…whereas the law itself prevents Texas from enforcing the law.

This has given Pro-Life advocates reason to believe that 5-6 Justices will vote to overturn Roe and return the right to regulate abortion to the states, according to the values of the voters in those states. In Casey, the Court did bring up the issue of not placing an “undue burden” on women seeking an abortion under the rulings in Roe and Doe. The Court will have to address that issue as well. However, the issues in Casey were a consequence of Roe, and so should fall with Roe, if regulation of abortion is returned to the states. Abortion, of course, is not mentioned anywhere in the constitution, and thus its regulation is relegated to the states by the 10th amendment. However, with all of these conflicting interests, it is by no means certain how the Court will rule in Dobbs.

….other than Happy Thanksgiving ! And, there is much to be thankful for !

Shawn Carney, founder of 40 Days for Life, is reporting that 850 babies were saved during the most recent campaign. Data is still coming in, but the count since the movement started is now over 20,000 babies saved when mothers listened to sidewalk counselors and decided life for their child. And, another abortion worker has quit and converted to the pro-life position that every pregnant woman deserves a real choice…not just an abortion.

LifeFirst is taking a break from meetings in November and December, but Teresa Stark has exciting plans which will resume in January. In the meantime, the associated pregnancy resource centers are busily providing all the help needed by pregnant women in distress so they can have a healthy baby.

There is also exciting news out of the Abortion Survivors Network. An ad will appear on Fox News next week which is designed to draw attention to abortion survivors and force listeners to realize that the unborn are real people.

In the ad Amy Miles says, “As somebody who survived an abortion, I want to tell the Supreme Court that my life mattered.” The Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in the Mississippi case referred to as Dobbs (see previous posts). The Court will also hear the case concerning the Texas fetal heartbeat law. The Abortion Survivors Network has filed an amicus brief in the Dobbs case.

Melissa Ohden provided a statement to Fox News in which she said, “Isn’t something wrong in our society when Amy, myself and other abortion survivors are only alive today because an abortion failed to take our lives, and our government failed to protect us?”

Ohden has also said that abortion supporters “fail to convince me how I have a right to an abortion but I was denied the basic right to live when I was aborted and accidentally born alive. I am more than a choice.” Read the story:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abortion-survivor-ad-dobbs

Melissa Ohden is a very busy lady, indeed ! She will be with other pro-life leaders in Washington on December 1 for a rally before the Supreme Court building. She is writing a book on abortion survivors to be published in 2022, and she leaves us with a teaser about a “ground-breaking event about abortion survivors coming in early December.” https://abortionsurvivors.org/

National Review (November 22, 2021) published an article titled “Science Has Strengthened the Pro-Life Case.” The author, Tara Sander Lee (PhD), writes that, “Fifty years ago science had firmly established the dynamics of developing human life in the womb,” and that “science already knew about the humanity of the unborn child.” She goes on to explain that even 50 years ago it had been demonstrated that a new life began at conception, that the fertilized egg had all the DNA it would ever have to develop into a baby and then an adult.

She further explains that, in 1973, when Roe v Wade was decided, biologists had already accepted a standard (the Carnegie Stages) for development through the first 8 weeks of human life. Stage 1a marks the beginning of human life with the first stage of fertilization. Stage 23 concludes in the 8th week when the child has developed 90% of his or her bodily structures. Beyond that time, further development is very rapid.

She goes on to discuss the fascinating progress made with ultrasound diagnosis of condition in the developing child, use of anesthesia on the patient, and surgeries in the womb. She notes how her students’ eyes glazed over during such discussions until the moment when she showed them a modern ultrasound image of the face of a child in the womb. To read the article and see such an ultrasound image:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/11/science-has-strengthened-the-pro-life-case/

In other news, it is being reported that the annual rate of abortions in the US has risen about 1-2% yearly since a low point in 2017, and that 18% of all pregnancies in the US end in abortion.

Pro-Life advocates of every demographic, Catholics and Protestants, Blacks, and Whites, Democrats and Republicans, will gather in a few days at a church in Mississippi to pray that the Supreme Court will respect the sanctity of human life. A representative of the Abortion Survivors Network will attend to assert that he survived an abortion, he deserved to live, and that his life matters.

One hundred lawmakers in Congress are introducing a bill to protect the rights of conscience of healthcare providers who do not want to participate in abortions. The HHS under the Biden administration has been acting to remove protection from prosecution of healthcare providers who object to participating in abortions as a matter of conscience.

Biden’s policies have attempted to reverse every aspect of protections implemented under the Trump administration, both Domestically and internationally. It has also become a matter of great concern that Biden’s current budget proposal does not contain the Hyde Amendment which, since 1976, has prevented the use of taxpayer money to be used to provide abortions on request. If the budget becomes law without the Hyde Amendment, every woman in Medicaid and other government health care plans would have access to abortions paid for by the US Treasury.

A new study released by the Charlotte Lozier Institute reveals that chemical abortions (eg the use of abortion pills) is causing an alarming increase in the rate of emergency room visits after taking the pills. The technique has become increasingly popular in recent years and is a favorite of Planned Parenthood. In 2020, the abortion pills were used in 50% of US abortions.

The authors report that ER visits after taking the pills rose by 507% between 2002 and 2015. At the same time, the rate of ER visits following surgical abortions rose 315%. Planned Parenthood maintains a hotline so that women can call in for a prescription and have the pills delivered the next day. Texas and Louisiana passed state laws requiring abortion providers to have hospital privileges due to the frequency of such complications, but federal courts have prevented the laws from taking place. The FDA is considering a rule requiring prescription for the abortion pills to be in person. It is not clear that such a rule would prevent complications, or that doctors will be held accountable by licensing agencies for the morbidity and mortality suffered by their patients.

In a few other blurbs (with apologies for not providing details): “Human Rights Begin in the Womb”; Pro-Abortion advocates vandalize a memorial to aborted babies and yell obscenities at the pro-life people who made it; the constitution dictates that regulation of abortion should be left to the states; abortion advocates will not answer when asked if abortion takes a human life; Oklahoma Supreme Court blocks 3 anti-abortion laws [Courts throughout the country have been holding back such laws due to prior SCOTUS decisions on the subject..like Roe and Casey and the 10th amendment argument that the states have all rights not explicitly given to Congress in the constitution. That is why the Dobbs case is so important.]; DC police officers were told they must have an abortion to keep their jobs;

And, finally: Billie Eilish held a concert in Texas recently and used the stage to demonstrate her character and limited vocabulary, possibly breaking the record for most use of the “f-word” in a public venue, while denouncing the new Texas fetal heartbeat law…and concluding with “my body, my f-ing choice !” To which Abby Johnson replied (on Instagram), “if it has a separate heartbeat and DNA from you, it’s NOT.YOUR.BODY !” Gotta love Abby.

So many “whistles” have been “blown” to call attention to the illegal activities and unconscionable business practices of Planned Parenthood, that it is increasingly becoming a virtual full orchestra!

The latest woman to describe her experiences at PP appears in an article by the Catholic News Agency and printed in the National Catholic Register. Mayra Rodriguez worked for PP for 17 years and managed 3 facilities during her career.

Rodriguez is a Mexican national and was in the US on a tourist visa when she was hired anyway by PP to work at a clinic where no abortions were performed. She was later sent to an abortion clinic and was told that she would lose her job if she did not go to work there.

Rodriguez put her talents to work and rose rapidly in the organization. She was so good at her job that she received much recognition and become the Employee of the Year in 2016. However, working conditions changed and she began to feel the pressure to actively sell abortion to increase profits. Women were told that the procedure is “easy,” she says, and that it is the best solution to an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy in the circumstances of their lives. However, she noticed that when women were given a true option, they very often chose not to have an abortion.

She began to be troubled by that, but her observations then turned to the discovery that doctors were falsifying medical records to conceal adverse incidents and complications of abortions. She noted that complications occurred much more often than were reported. Many were reported incorrectly, or not at all.

In one case, she noted that a doctor botched an abortion and then falsified the report. In another case, the doctor left the head of a14 week old fetus inside the mother and placed an IUD inside her before he realized the mistake. She was shocked when the doctor referred to the head of a child he had just killed as if it were a piece of garbage to be discarded.

She reported the incident to her supervisor, saying “I am not going to do this anymore,” and stated that she was going to report the incident and the falsification of medical records. In response, PP accused Rodriguez of concealing narcotics in her office and reported that she was working illegally, demanding that she be deported. She was then fired.

However, Rodriguez was incensed at the injustice and fought a prolonged legal battle for wrongful termination, which she won in 2019, with a punishing award of $3 million imposed on PP.

Rodriguez became enlightened about all of the issues surrounding abortion during this time and coordinated that education with her own experiences to become a strong pro-life advocate in the Hispanic community , reminding one of the journey of Abby Johnson to a similar conclusion.

Rodriguez now warns women that abortion leaves women “undone,” without peace, and saddled with emotional and mental health issues. She urges them to choose life for their babies.

Please read earlier posts on this matter if you have not done so. This will be a brief overview and update.

The Texas Fetal Heartbeat Law took effect on September 1, 2021. Abortion providers had a lawsuit prepared to go before the US Supreme Court, and the Court was ready to issue an opinion. On September 2, 2021, the Court refused to block the law from taking effect by a 5-4 vote . However, the Court also said that “we do not purport to resolve [the matter] definitively” and that they do not make “any conclusion about the constitutionality” of the law.

President Biden condemned the ruling and vowed to use the resources of the White House to protect unrestricted abortion in Texas, and he ordered the Justice Department to explore all options to challenge the Texas Law. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to take up legislation to codify access to abortion so that the states could not regulate or place any limits on the procedure. This would surely be met with confrontation based on the 10th Amendment which reserves rights to the states unless expressly given to Congress by the constitution.

Pro-abortion factions brought another lawsuit to try to prevent Texas from awarding damages to successful lawsuits brought under the terms of the law. On October 6, a lower court did rule to block the law, but on October 8, an Appeals Court reversed that ruling.

The Supreme Court (Justice Alito) granted a petition by the Justice Department to hear their case in opposition to the Texas Law. At issue is whether the federal government has the power to stop state officials or private citizens from acting according to the Texas Law.

Justice Alito also scheduled arguments to begin November 1 in the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson concerning the Texas Fetal Heartbeat Law.

In the meantime, the Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case. Readers will remember that this concerns the Mississippi law which restricts abortion.

Pro-abortion factions are anxious about the outcome of these cases. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruling in Casey allowed the individual states to enact laws (within limits) that restricted abortion. That led to hundreds of laws being proposed, and many were signed into law in their respective states. Some of them have temporary injunctions at the present time. Abortion advocates fear that a decision in Dobbs that affirms the right of states under the 10th Amendment to enact regulations in matters not expressly designated to Congress by the constitution would essentially overturn the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973.

Whereas pro-abortion factions want to cling to Roe, the ruling has always been highly controversial. It relied on interpretations of various Amendments to find a “right” to an abortion which was unknown to those framing those amendments. Pro-abortion people saw what they wanted to see, but legal scholars have been baffled.

Experts say that the reason the Court took the Dobbs case over objections by abortionists is because many aspects of the rulings in Roe are very outdated. For example, science has now confirmed that new life starts at conception, and advances in health care now makes the fetal viability issue in Roe invalid. And, a core issue is whether the people in the individual states have the right to make decisions regulating abortion in their states, as the 10th Amendment seems to guarantee.

Two days ago US President Joe Biden had an unusually long 75 min meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican during Biden’s visit to Rome. Biden has said that the pope told him he is a good Catholic and should continue to take Communion.

This deepens a divide between the pope and pro-life US Catholic Bishops. In June, the majority of US Catholic Bishops, voted to issue a statement clarifying the position of the Catholic Church on matters concerning the taking of Communion. The Church has been rifted by a lack of consistent messages on the point. Laymen are complaining that Church policies are inconsistent and confusing with notable public exceptions to Church teachings. It appears to many that anyone who is not in a state of grace may still take Communion, that people in power are exempt from moral teachings.

The Catholic Church has stood strongly against abortion, and Pope Francis even said in September that “abortion is murder.” Persons who are willfully sinful without remorse are not supposed to receive Communion. However, the pope has also said that “Communion is not a prize for the perfect, but a gift…” This contradicts longstanding teachings of the Church, and therefore provides a way for the most recalcitrant sinner who is guilty of the most heinous crimes without remorse and with the intent to continue to repeat those acts to be labeled a “good Catholic who should continue to take Communion.”

One can understand how these events have not only confused many lay Catholics, but there were a significant (minority) number of US Catholic Bishops who voted not to clarify Church teachings that persons in a state of sinfulness should be remorseful, should seek absolution, and should prayerfully seek Divine help to remain free of that lapse (even without mentioning the issue of abortion or any person or political office). Is it any wonder that many lay Catholics are confused, and for that matter, that they no longer trust Church leadership?

The matter is only made worse by Biden’s actions to facilitate abortion, both internationally and at home, by overturning pro-life actions taken by President Trump. More recently he has pushed for an expansion of abortion in the US by eliminating the Hyde Amendment from the proposed federal budget. The Hyde Amendment has previously forbidden the use of US taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion. And, Biden has pledged the “whole of [federal] government” to maintain unrestricted access to abortion in Texas. The Texas Fetal Heartbeat Law is discussed in previous posts.

In the meantime, on October 7, the US Catholic Bishops’ pro-life chairman expressed “disappointment” in Biden for reversing the “Protect Life Rule” imposed by the Trump administration. He added that the Biden administration is “in the control of abortion extremists,” and then challenged Biden, who calls himself a devout Catholic, to “act like a devout Catholic” and “defend and cherish human life.”

I can add little to the passionate plea of survivors of abortion procedures: they did not want to be killed in the womb; they wanted to be born; they want to live.

Accordingly, they spread the word that they are real people, they are not a “choice,” not a piece of tissue to be discarded in the trash.

The latest effort of the Abortion Survivors Network is to file a “friend of the court” briefing with the Supreme Court in the case of the Texas Fetal Heartbeat Law. Please read this message I received on the situation. And, visit their web site for inspiring stories and more information. https://abortionsurvivors.org/

Ground-breaking news! Abortion survivors file brief with SCOTUS

For the first time in nearly 49 years of legalized abortion, abortion
survivors have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court with the help of the Justice Foundation, as they prepare to take up the Texas Heartbeat Bill on November 1st.

This amicus brief with Created Equal and the Justice Foundation
humanizes and highlights the importance of the Texas Heartbeat bill
as evidenced through our experiences of surviving abortion procedures
and through the long-term physical, emotional, and mental impact these
abortion attempts have on us.

Look for media coverage to break today about this historic amicus brief
You’ll be hearing more in the weeks ahead about groundbreaking
projects abortion survivors in our Network who have found healing,
been empowered with relationships and equipped with education and skill
development are involved in surrounding the Dobbs case that the Court
will hear opening arguments on December 1st.

The Abortion Survivors Network-we’re here in this
moment of time to be a part of long overdue justice and change in
the U.S. with the Supreme Court taking up these cases. We know that
eyes around the world are on our nation, and as we look with hope on
pre-born children’s humanity being acknowledged and protected, other
countries will follow suit.

As we close up a very busy Respect Life month for so many of our
organizations, sidewalk advocacy and prayer, we know that our work
must continue on. And here at The Abortion Survivors Network, our
work is at an fever pitch.

The more we speak out with our stories, the more we are in the
media, the more we submit testimonies on legislation and submit
briefs like this, the more survivors and families discover they aren’t
alone in experiencing a failed abortion and there is hope, help,
community, and a platform their voices can be heard from.
There has never been a more important time for all of us to
humanize the pre-born and abortion survivors, whose constitutional
rights to LIFE were initially denied when they were subjected to
abortion attempts.

Now is not a time to be complacent and wait for the Court’s decision.

We need to double down in our efforts to save and transform lives
everyday and serve those who have been hurt by abortion. Abortion survivors and families who have experienced failed abortions have been long under-served, and we’re grateful to have been called to fill this gap in the pro-life movement. It is our honor to serve alongside you. Thank you for all you’ve done to help us reach 403 abortion
survivors from 18 different countries.

As we celebrate connecting with this milestone number, we also
know we have much more to do. We have tens of thousands more to
reach and serve. And as as we reach and serve them, we change our
culture and make abortion unthinkable.

Please pray for the abortion survivors who recently joined our fall healing
and speakers training groups.

Pray, too, that the national education campaigns we’ve been involved
with, which you’ll be seeing soon, are effective in humanizing the unborn
Pray for the Supreme Court to be impacted by this historic amicus
brief and for them to see that abortion survivors deserved to be protected
by the law and therefore, all pre-born children should be.

Thank you for your generosity over the past year. Truth be told, we need your support now more than ever.Taking on the abortion industry and lobby, the very entities responsible for trying to end our lives, is an important but formidable cause.
We know you give sacrificially to so many, but if you feel called and able
to support these groundbreaking programs and impacts, we would be
deeply honored and grateful for your support.

Please know your gift of financial support, prayers, sharing our attached
amicus brief with others, are all appreciated.
Together for life,

Melissa and the team at The Abortion Survivors Network

I was asked to write the below for the benefit of volunteers at the Birthright-Humble location. Questions were raised at a meeting in which confusion reigned in the context of all the acrimony and hate-mongering rhetoric they are hearing. Birthright volunteers provide help to women in need of resources in order to have a healthy baby. They do not provide opinions on abortion, legislation, laws, political views, etc. But, they want to understand what women are experiencing and be better prepared to help.

                                   The Texas “Fetal Heartbeat” Law

     Before we can discuss the implications of this law, which took effect on September 1, 2021, we must spend a little time reviewing the law and current events.  I will be relatively brief, as I presume the reader has a basic familiarity with the circumstances.

     Basically, the law states that it is unlawful to perform an abortion (take the life of a developing baby) if the fetal heartbeat is detected while performing an ultrasound prior to the abortion, a procedure which is required by Texas state law.  A fetal heartbeat is detected about 6 weeks (from the first day of the mother’s last menstrual cycle) by transvaginal ultrasound and at about 8 weeks by trans-abdominal ultrasound. Women have an abdominal ultrasound to satisfy the law before having an abortion.

      So, if the heartbeat is heard at 8 weeks, that means that the fetal heart has been beating for 2 weeks already.  At 6 weeks, astonishingly, the developing baby is only the size of a lentil seed, no bigger than 1/4” in size.  But, this is very much a live human being, very small, still in development to be sure, but a baby nonetheless, and we all started this way.

     The penalty is specified by law and extends to the physician, anyone helping the physician, and anyone aiding and abetting the abortion, such as by encouraging the abortion or by paying for it.  Enforcement of the law is by lawsuit brought by private citizens against the accused.  The State of Texas is specifically forbidden by the law from enforcing the law.  Now, that does sound strange.  However, those framing the law looked at situations in which laws in other states were attacked by pro-abortion groups who sued to have courts order those states not to enforce that law. 

      Many such laws are under injunction by federal district courts that are confused by precedent cases in the Supreme Court and the issue that the 10^th Amendment to the US Constitution says that the individual states can pass laws concerning anything not specifically reserved by the constitution to the authority of the US Congress.  The subject of abortion is, of course, not mentioned in the constitution.  That subject leads into much discussion about the Roe v. Wade decision by the majority of the Supreme Court in 1973.  But, I will leave that, for now, to the comments made by the dissenting justices in that case.

      Returning to the subject at hand, Texas lawmakers designed the law so that a court could not restrain the state from enforcing the law, because the state is forbidden by the law itself from enforcing the law.

      Pro-abortion factions immediately sued the State of Texas anyway (along with an individual who, it was claimed, would seek out doctors to sue in order to enforce the law).  The matter immediately reached the Supreme Court where a ruling 5 to 4 dismissed the case on the basis that there was no evidence that those bringing the lawsuit had been harmed by the law or that the private individual named had sued under the law or intended to sue anyone under the law.

      Furthermore, the majority of the Court said that it could not order the State of Texas to refrain from enforcing the law, because the law itself already forbids the State of Texas from enforcing the law.  The pro-abortion factions anticipated that the lawsuit would go nowhere, but they had to file the lawsuit in order to uphold appearances for the sake of their political supporters.  In that manner, they could blame the Supreme Court Justices and not the changing attitude of the people toward unregulated abortion and the wanton taking of human life (as represented by so many laws passed in various states). 

     However, given the logical findings of the majority of justices, it is disturbing that 4 justices wanted to find some way to keep the law from being implemented by preventing private citizens from filing civil lawsuits.  Such a ruling would seem to violate several amendments to the US Constitution.  If they had prevailed, what would protect the rights of the people from the Supreme Court itself?

     (Those people reading the posts on my web site in recent weeks know all of this.)

https://buildingacultureoflife.org   Visit the site and subscribe in order to get updates.

      The anger, hatred, threats, and acrimony started before the Texas law was even passed.  One may find it difficult to understand such harsh rhetoric.  Why is there such a lust for abortion?  Well, there is a long history here, so I refer you to my book “Building a Culture of Life” (soon to be published).  The bottom line is that it is all about money, power, and control.  The female leadership in the pro-abortion factions (and the thousands of affluent women seen in demonstrations) have no interest at all in having an abortion.  But, it is a big business with a lot of money involved, and there is a lot of political power at stake. 

      Money has power.  Planned Parenthood donates tens of millions of dollars annually to elect politicians who will protect their business.  The politicians do so in order to continue to get the money to secure their power base.  Any threat to “abortion on demand” is a threat to the financial position of the abortion industry and the political power supported by it.

      Part of the strategy of the pro-abortion faction has been the rhetoric that pro-life people disregard “the right of women to chose” to have an abortion.  From there it gets uglier and uglier, with statements such as “pro-life people hate women and want them to die”….and fear mongering about “back alley” abortions…etc. 

      All of this is in order to demonize and portray political entities that oppose abortion as a first choice, and oppose the use of taxpayer money to encourage and support abortion, as horrible people who hate women.  Therefore, they say, such pro-life people must be voted out of office.  At the same time, they would not lift a finger to help a pregnant woman, distressed and hopeless, to obtain the resources she needs (and wants) in order to have a healthy baby.

      We all saw the way President Trump’s nominees to the Supreme Court were demonized and harassed during confirmation hearings.  This was largely because of their reputations as judges who supported respect for life and individual dignity.  Bret Kavanaugh wrote the decision of the Court in the lawsuit against Texas.  Subsequently, vicious things have been said about him, although he was only one of the five justices voting for the defendant (Texas).  He has been personally threatened, and a demonstration was organized outside his home.  News sources have commented that this appears to be an effort to intimidate him, and the Supreme Court in general, in order to get more favorable rulings on future cases.  Likewise, there have been vicious verbal attacks on those high in the government of Texas, and that has also been extended to prominent leadership in Texas pro-life movements. 

      The issue is that surgical abortions have been declining since 1980, and there are now 3 pregnancy resource centers for every 1 abortion clinic.  More pro-life organizations are active than ever before.  More men and women than ever before are advocating restrictions on abortion.  Science has revealed that life begins at conception.  The tiny life will grow to be a baby, a child, and an adult.  Pictures of these tiny human beings in the womb have moved many hearts away from the wanton taking of life.    More female pro-life politicians were elected to Congress this last election cycle than ever before.

      One observes that any threat to control of money and the associated power over others will not be relinquished without a fight, and we have already seen much of the fear and anger associated with this fight expressed with such hostility, acrimony, and bitterness, that it is at times shocking.  However, we can also be encouraged by such outrageous and nonsensical uttering of mindless rhetoric.  If pro-abortion factions were secure in their position, the pro-life movement would be dismissed as irrelevant.  However, voters in the United States are increasingly pro-life and uncomfortable with the concept of unrestricted and unregulated abortion.

      Therefore, the message to pro-life advocates is…stay the course.  Those who work with pregnant women in distress from all kinds of messy life situations, often without any support from the father or from family, or even under pressure to have an abortion, need reassurance, real material options, emotional support, and prayer.

      Those not directly involved with helping such women are often the men who stand behind the women who do.  Others are men and women working in groups organized in many ways to provide support for those providing direct care and resources to help pregnant women and to follow through with help caring for their babies.

      All of these pro-life people have one thing in common:  they believe that every life should be respected in all of its stages and conditions from conception until natural death, and that every individual should be treated with dignity and respect.  That includes the unborn, the most vulnerable, the tiniest and weakest, those who cannot help themselves.

      So, when those who advocate for abortion rant and rave and spout their hate and fear mongering and threaten those who respect life, we who protect life and dignity should stand tall, and be proud.  They are upset because we are doing the right thing, out of love.

Pro-life advocates are gaining more and more popular support around the world. In the United States, following the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court in 1973, a backlash by pro-life advocates slowly took hold. Since about 1980, the pro-life movement has been gaining momentum. This appears to be largely because of advances in science and a clear demonstration that life begins at the moment of conception. Other advances have allowed the developing baby to live outside the womb earlier than ever before. Women and men have both been forced to confront the issue that the life growing within the mother is a baby and not a piece of amorphous tissue, and that there must be an alternative to killing it.

Now, pregnancy resource centers offering help and alternatives to abortion outnumber abortion clinics 3 to 1. However, clinics doing surgical abortions are in decline while the use of the morning after pill and the abortion pills are on the rise. So, the battlefield is shifting to the greater struggle for the hearts and minds of women in untenable situations who see abortion as their only option.

At the same time, the pro-life movement in the United States is confronted with pro-abortion politicians in power who want to have federal tax money pay for abortion in women with government health care plans. Oddly, many such persons currently holding political power call themselves devout Catholics, a position which has brought them into direct conflict with the Catholic Church teaching on the sanctity of life and the dignity of every person.

The pro-life group Susan B. Antony has undertaken a nation-wide publicity campaign designed to unseat members of Congress who support taxpayer funded abortion. Recently news media have discussed “the president’s attack on the Catholic church” as more bishops speak out against the policies of the current administration.

While abortion is a central issue, because the unborn are the most defenseless, the Catholic News Agency is reporting that pro-life advocates in Queensland, Australia will hold a March for Life on September 11 to protest a proposed law which would allow assisted suicide. The reader is referred to the page on this subject which is on this web site for background information. Most people contemplating suicide are tragically depressed and untreated.

A story out of St. Petersburg, Russia, notes that there are at least 500,000 chemical abortions in Russia annually. However, thousands of women take the abortion pills impulsively and regret the action. This has led to an expansion of services to reverse the effects of the pills, and the movement has spread worldwide.

On September 1, the Texas “heartbeat law” took effect. I have reported on that in previous posts. As expected, the law is being attacked, even by the president himself. A lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to prevent the Texas law from taking effect was dismissed: the State of Texas cannot enforce the law, so the Court could not order Texas not to enforce the law. Justice Kavanaugh wrote the decision of the 5 justices so ruling. A pro-abortion group called ShutdownDC is planning a protest outside Kavanaugh’s home next week. This is seen by some as an attempt to intimidate the Supreme Court into making more liberal rulings.

In other news, a pro-abortion group on TikTok has conspired to crash the Texas web site for reporting illegal abortions by using a bot to fill out hundreds of false reports. The website will, of course, be fixed to prevent this, but it further demonstrates the anger harbored by so many people…people who would send a woman to have an abortion but not lift a finger to help her in her desperate situation. It boggles the mind, but it is about to get even uglier.

The National Catholic Register carries a story “Dobb’s Legal Briefs Challenge the Roe Narrative.” Pro-life advocates have filed more than 75 “friend of the court” briefs. Some of these make a historical case for a fetus to be seen as a person with rights (especially the right to life). Others point out the harmful consequences of abortion, both for the mother and for society.

Among the fascinating legalisms (to some, at least) is the proposition that the 14th amendment should be interpreted as protecting the unborn, who have a right to life.

In previous posts I offered more information on this topic. Interestingly, Ireland had a constitutional amendment passed in 1983 which protected the life of the unborn. However, the amendment was repealed by voters in 2018. The issue is not settled, however, as the pro-life movement in Ireland is very strong and is working to change the opinion of voters on the issue.

In other news, on July 29 the House passed a budget which does not contain the Hyde Amendment for the first time since 1976. Removal of the amendment (see previous posts) would allow the federal government to fund abortions. The budget now goes to the Senate where a lively debate is assured. Pro-life advocates believe there are enough Democrats who oppose taxpayer funding of abortion that the Hyde amendment will be restored. Then the bill would go back to the House. This may get ugly.

Subscribers will receive updates as these important issue grind through the political process and the courts. At the same time, the pro-life faction is working diligently to provide resources to women so they have support and choices and have a viable option to have a healthy baby, even if they must give it for adoption.

Pregnancy resource centers outnumber abortion clinics 3 to 1. If it were not for huge amounts of political money being poured into Planned Parenthood, many of their clinics would have to close. However, there remains a hugely influential lobby for the election of people who support abortion, and Planned Parenthood is crucial to the retention of political power and the wealth that goes with it. It will be an ugly struggle.

The NRLC concluded a 2 day conference with dozens of workshops focusing on abortion-related legislation and litigation, euthanasia, preservation of the lives of babies with Down syndrome, and many other pro-life subjects.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas remarked that pro-choice (that is, pro-abortion) advocates “have been emboldened by the most pro-abortion White House in American history.” However, he also said the the pro-life movement has made great strides in recent years, passing laws in many states to shield the unborn from the worst abuses of the abortion industry.

He referred to the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court in 1973 as a moral and constitutional travesty. In previous posts I have provided information on the case involving the Mississippi law which is now before the Supreme Court. Pro-life factions hope the Court will substantially deal with issues in the context of 2021 values and modern science concerning the beginning of life, fetal viability, and the concept that a fetus is a person with a right to life. Pro-abortion factions are threatened with a limitation to their profits and are fighting viciously to keep abortion a first choice for women in distress with an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy.

The National Catholic Register of August 15, 2021 (a publication of EWTN), carries a story about the Texas Fetal Heartbeat Act signed by Gov. Abbott in May. I have previously posted information about this new law, and the reader might like to refer to that for background.

The law will go into effect September 1 and states that a doctor “may not knowingly perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman if the physician detected a fetal heartbeat for the unborn child.” (Except to save the life of the mother) This covers both abortion pills taken at home and surgical abortions in a clinic. Violators of the law would face stiff monetary penalties for each count of violation.

The reader may know that Texas enacted a law in 2011 requiring a woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound within 24 hours of the procedure (including the taking of the abortion pills). The law requires the physician to display the ultrasound and make the fetal heartbeat (if present) audible to the mother. The new law prohibits the abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. A fetal heartbeat may be detected as early as 6 weeks by vaginal ultrasound (which would not be done for this purpose) and maybe not until 8 weeks by abdominal ultrasound.

Planned Parenthood has a history of challenging state laws which restrict abortion in any manner, suing the state and often having the law placed on “temporary” hold by a US district judge. However, the Texas law provides that private citizens can bring a legal action against anyone violating the law, and that the State of Texas may not enforce the law. The intent is that the Texas cannot be (successfully) sued for infringement on a “constitutional right” to an abortion (and thus that implementation of the law cannot be restricted by the court) because the State does not in any way enforce any law restricting abortion.

However, Planned Parenthood, along with other abortion providers, (predictably) filed a lawsuit against Texas last week, naming not only government officials, but also some private individuals who they have identified “who are likely the people who would come forward to enforce the law.”

Mike Lee Dickson with Right to Life of East Texas is among those named as defendants. He began a movement for “sanctuary cities of the unborn” in 2019. He has helped municipalities to pass ordinances banning abortion within the city limits. Such an ordinance went into effect in the city of Lubbock in June 2021. That ordinance is enforced by lawsuits brought by private citizens in the same manner as the new Texas heartbeat law.

Planned Parenthood (predictably) sued the city. US District Judge James Hendrix dismissed the case, writing that “the plaintiffs fail to show that any relief provided by this court is likely to redress the injury at issue–citizen suits brought in state court–the court lacks jurisdiction.”

He also cited the 2001 case of Okpalobi v. Foster in which the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Louisiana law that permits women to sue their abortion providers for 10 years after the procedure. A significant percentage of women have regrets, suffer from depression, drink alcohol to excess, use illegal drugs, and endure other sequelae after abortion. (This is denied by abortion providers, but I document the decisive studies in my book.)

One can see that abortion providers are in a quandary and have to try to bring a lawsuit to prevent implementation of the new Texas Law. However, the nature of the law and the established precedents in federal court make it seem unlikely that such lawsuits will be able to proceed. Planned Parenthood will undoubtedly hope to appeal to the US Supreme Court in (what can be called by any standards) desperation.

However, before that could happen, the Court will rule (probably in June 2022) in the case of the Mississippi law restricting abortion after 15 weeks gestation. At issue is the 10th Amendment to the Constitution which states that the individual states may make laws regarding issues which are not specifically delegated to the United States (eg Congress) by the constitution. Mississippi asserts the right to regulate abortion according to the values of the people in the state. Depending on how the Court rules, the numerous laws “temporarily” on hold by US District Courts throughout the US will be permitted to become law or will be vacated. This is the most important case of its kind in 50 years. (Please see my earlier posts on this case.)

Supporting the new Texas law are Students for Life, both men and women who are seen in a picture accompanying the article. They hold signs reading “I am the Pro-life Generation” and “The Future is Anti-Abortion.” Their web site is: https://studentsforlife.org/ One has to be impressed by such a well-organized group of young adults who are solidly dedicated to respect for life.

At the same time as individual municipalities and states are increasingly pro-life, let us remember that the real battle is for the hearts and minds of the women with an unwanted pregnancy who finds herself in a desperate and untenable situation. The Pro-Abortion group sees abortion as the only option that they want women to know about. The Pro-Life faction wants every woman to know what resources are available to remedy the worst situation and help her have a healthy baby, even if she must give it up for adoption.

Surgical abortion is on the way out (one way or another), but use of abortion by pills is increasing. Please read this column for updates.

More Pro-Life women than ever before were elected to the House, while at the same time, voters elected the most pro-abortion administration in history. https://www.sba-list.org/pro-life-women-in-the-house

EWTN airs Pro-LIfe Weekly every Sunday at 9:30 AM and it repeats every Thursday at 9:00 PM. Check your TV provider for the channel (on Direct TV/ATT it is #370). You can also subscribe to the update by requesting it: https://www.ewtn.com/tv/shows/ewtn-pro-life-weekly

The Supreme Court is scheduled to begin to hear arguments in the Mississippi abortion law case in October. Mississippi claims that the 10th Amendment to the constitution provides that the states have constitutional power to make laws in matters not specifically delegated to the US Congress by the constitution. Of course, it has been argued for decades that the Court, in Roe v. Wade, was mistaken to ignore the 10th Amendment when ruling that a woman has a right to an abortion as a matter of “privacy” in which they cited other Amendments. In Casey the Court backed away from the decision in Roe v Wade to rule that the states did have limited rights to regulate abortion.

Pro-life advocates hope the Court will rule in favor of the 10th Amendment. Pro-Abortion advocates are very concerned that any ruling which expands the rights of the states to regulate abortion will prevent women from getting an abortion (saying that it would be bad if women did not get an abortion). It is hard to make an argument that it is morally wrong or “bad” not to have an abortion, however, any ruling that resulted in more women not getting an abortion would affect the financial health of the abortion industry. The abortion industry lobbies hard and makes huge financial contributions to lawmakers who protect their bottom line. Pro-Life advocates do not have those financial resources, but they do have a lot of public support.

The pro-life voting population has been increasing in the last two decades, and now has unprecedented strength. Now, there are hugely more pregnancy help centers in the country than there are abortion clinics. These resources are preparing to serve an increased number of women, providing every need so that a woman can choose life for the baby, even if she must give it for adoption.

A matter of consternation with pro-life people is that pro-abortion people will not support any programs and resources to help women in distress due to an unwanted pregnancy; their only recommendation to such a woman is abortion, only abortion…no other options…and afterwards, no help to deal with the emotional impact (which has been linked in many women to depression and drug abuse, etc).

Pro-Life people openly report that they feel puzzled and confused . One might think that, if a person supported abortion as a choice, that they would be quite willing to support alternatives and every kind of support for a woman who chose to have her baby, and even more so to those who had an abortion. But, that is not the case.

So, it has lead to accusations that pro-abortion people are more interested in reducing populations of poor Black and Hispanic babies for the financial benefit, and that is why Planned Parenthood (which does 40% of abortions) places 86% of their clinics in such neighborhoods.

Considering all of these issues, it is not surprising that vitriolic language is ramping up in the pro-abortion camp. The author finds this unnecessary and reprehensible. What happened to honest and open debate? What happened to putting the welfare of women first while preserving not only free choice, but providing every alternative and every resource and every form of material and emotional help.

In my book I speak at length on the circumstances and pressures women face with an unwanted pregnancy, thus why they consider an abortion. In the final chapter I describe the vast resources that are available to women who request them. These facts are well known to all parties, but it is only the pro-life faction which attempts to mitigate those circumstances and prevent the choice of abortion by helping the woman to obtain everything she needs.

As this case before the Supreme Court unfolds, take note of which faction is blasting the Court, denigrating pro-life people, and using words which need to be “bleeped.” You are likely to see pro-life factions demonstrating in a more restrained manner, praying, and not using vulgarity. The case is made that loving life, loving women in their anxiety and distress with an unwanted pregnancy, and striving to be there to help is a better path. The last two decades of making this case have influenced many people to believe that.

Abortion Survivors celebrate the fact that they are alive and were not killed in the womb. They assert that they are real people and more than a “choice.” https://connect.xfinity.com/appsuite/#!!&app=io.ox/mail&folder=default0/INBOX

The 40 Days for Life campaign begins world wide in September. A Planned Parenthood manager said, “It seems kind of silly.” An ACLU spokesperson said it is “the greatest threat to choice because it is so highly organized and effective.” https://connect.xfinity.com/appsuite/#!!&app=io.ox/mail&folder=default0/INBOX

These links connect to my email in box and will be left up for only one week.

The House has passed President Biden’s budget proposal (along party lines) without the Hyde Amendment attached, as he pledged to do when running for office. (Scroll down to view previous posts on this story). If passed by the Senate, federal funds will be used to pay for abortions on women receiving Medicaid for the first time since the budget amendment was introduced in 1976. Henry Hyde was a Catholic and supported respect for life and was a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s organization which is devoted to respect for life and the dignity of the individual.

Public opinion on the issue shows that voters are strongly against use of tax money to pay for abortions. Nevertheless, many states (along partisan lines) require the state portion of Medicaid to pay for abortions. Without the Hyde Amendment to the budget, the federal part of Medicaid funds will be used to pay for such abortions.

This is a continuation of the current administration plan to expand abortion as much as possible nationally and internationally. The first action by Biden toward this goal was to rescind the Mexico City Policy, freeing up US tax dollars to fund abortion internationally.

Planned Parenthood has made donations in the many tens of millions of dollars to politicians supporting the expansion of abortion at any gestational age, for any reason, on demand. They proudly declare this fact publicly, and are required by law to disclose the information in any case.

However, some people are saying that the budget will not pass the Senate without the Hyde Amendment. Among organizations applying political pressure to senators are the Knights of Columbus and the US Catholic Bishops. They are joined by many pro-life organizations, including churches. As noted above, the notion of taxpayer funded abortion is not popular, and democrats are properly concerned that passing a budget without the Hyde Amendment may receive a strong negative reaction at the mid-term election in 2022.

A “friend of the court” petition has been filed in to this case concerning the constitutionality of the Mississippi law restricting abortion after 15 weeks gestation.

The petitioners cite reasons why the Court should make certain findings. A huge issue is whether the 10th Amendment allows the individual states to pass laws concerning issues which are not explicitly relegated to the United States (eg, the US Congress).

If you do not have sufficient experience reading such documents, let me assure you that you do not need to be a lawyer and understand every word or phrase to get something significant out of glancing through the petition.

https://www.hawley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2021-07/2021-07-26%20Hawley%20Amicus%20Brief%20FINAL%20-%20PDFA.pdf

Unfortunately, although I deal with the background to the cited Roe and Casey findings by the Supreme Court in my book (not yet in publication), there is not room to provide such information under a tab on this web site. Nevertheless, this petition is a good read for those who wonder how the Court may rule, and why. (Hint: it is likely to be a cluster of findings; the power of the states to regulate abortion is likely to be expanded; the issue of fetal viability is likely to be revised; guidance will be given to lower courts who have placed temporary injunctions of state laws attempting to regulate abortion according to the will of the people in those states, so that many can be lifted; there likely will be a number of unexpected rulings; and it is likely that pro-life people will not be completely satisfied.

It is absolutely certain that pro-abortion people will explode with hate-mongering…they are already at it just because the Court decided to take the case. However, the findings in Roe and Casey are far out of date (Roe was nearly 50 years ago) and those findings are far out of touch with our modern concept of the beginning of life and the medical facts of fetal viability and when the fetus can feel pain. But, the big issue is the 10th Amendment.

Pro-abortion sentiment has become woven into a hugely profitable abortion industry, and, as might be expected, those making tons of money will do everything possible to protect their income streams. At the same time, political interests have used every false fear-mongering tactic to mobilize women into pro-abortion groups to vote for that political party. They will also do everything possible to keep their power.

However, the pro-life movement has become armed with the truth, sometimes horrified by the truth, and has rapidly been gaining strength over the last two decades. The hate speech and lies that permeate the pro-abortion tactics are born out of fear of loosing money and power and control. And, worse yet, the uninformed who are mislead by this rhetoric, have genuine fears that women will be forced to become baby factories or have “back -alley” abortions, and some believe that pro-life people hate women and want them to suffer, etc.

What is missing from all of this railing against those who respect life and the dignity of the individual, is any discussion of what can be done to help pregnant women who are distressed and in anguish, filled with fear and uncertainty, confused and often alone and without support. The pro-life faction has taken the challenge and opened pregnancy resource centers within reach of women everywhere. Sadly, the pro-abortion people cling to the proposition that these women do not need health care, do not need material support, do not need emotional support….they need to have an abortion, and then to be abandoned back into the hopelessness with which they started.

The Supreme Court has its challenges in trying to find a path which protects mother and unborn child, but which also does not force women into those situations which the fear-mongers falsely warn against. Nobody in pro-life has ever advocated putting women at risk for harm or in any way promoted an assault against their dignity. The precise opposite is true. And, that is why the Pro-life faction must be attacked viciously and constantly. If those women who have been mislead by hate speech into becoming pro-abortion advocates found the truth and changed their beliefs, they likely would change their voting as well.

All of this prevents an honest discussion of how to prevent situations which drive women to abortion out of despair and hopelessness, seeing no other choice. Of course, there is no “one size fits all” typical woman who seeks an abortion; some women relish the idea and it is a simple inconvenience. The pro-life people want to be available to those women who need help and want help. They do not want any woman to feel like she has to get an abortion because nobody will help her and and because nobody cares.

I would love to hear the conversations between the pro-life and pro-abortion justices, and those in between (if there are any). I wonder if they will talk about the social situations in which women find themselves pregnant. I wonder if we will ever see any discussion in the media on these issues. What if they did? What if people began to support help for women? What if communities demanded that their sons become men and a father to their child?