Senator Rick Santorum wowed the 600+ guests at the Wisconsin Right to Life Education dinner with a sensational speech last night. I am a hardened veteran of more speeches than I can count over the past 36 years. Santorum’s was the one of the best in memory.
Santorum described his journey from uninvolved U.S. Senator to pro-life leader on the partial-birth abortion ban. His spiritual journey was a significant part of his transformation. Entwined into this experience was the birth of a child who died shortly after birth and another, almost two years old, who has severe disabilities. Many tearful eyes could be seen in the audience as he talked of the pain and struggle.
Santorum related his family’s personal experience with medical professionals who gave up on his little daughter and urged them to do the same. That scenario will be commonplace, said Santorum, if Obamacare remains in place and is expanded. It will not only ration care for older people, but for helpless babies born with disabilities.
Santorum said he speaks all over the country and was blown away by the accomplishments of Wisconsin Right to Life. One of the best in the country if not the best, he says.
A podcast of the Santorum speech will appear soon at the WRTL website. In the meantime, you can read tweets here from last night’s event. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the tweets.
Reminder: Can’t make the April 29 Wisconsin Right to Life Education Fund dinner in Milwaukee featuring Senator Rick Santorum? Not to worry. WRTL will be using Twitter to tweet LIVE at the event. The tweets will contain remarks by Santorum during his presentation and reactions from those who are there.
Those who are interested in following along can log onto their Twitter account, or create a new account, and search #wrtlsantorum, the event’s official hashtag. Include this hashtag in all of your tweets pertaining to the event.
Or, you can go to the Wisconsin Right to Life website and click on the Twitter icon. Scroll down and you will find the tweets being posted from the event right on your web screen.
An LCD screen at the event displaying tweets will allow attendees to learn what you and others are saying about Senator Santorum and the event. We are enthusiastic about providing this opportunity for those who cannot attend to review and tweet on Senator Santorum’s comments as they are happening.
You are invited to follow Wisconsin Right to Life on Twitter and Facebook on an ongoing basis. I will soon announce my own personal Facebook which will complement this blog. Thanks for listening!
National Right to Life announced it is joining its state affiliate, Georgia Right to Life, in supporting legislation that would prevent abortions discriminatorily based on the race or sex of the unborn child. SB 529 passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 10-8 vote and now moves to the Rules Committee.
SB 529 acknowledges the sad fact that abortions performed because the child is not of the preferred sex, once confined to certain parts of Asia, are becoming more common here.
It is deplorable that abortion is the leading cause of death in the African-American community. African-American abortions account for 36% of abortions performed in the United States, a number that is decimating the African-American population. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Georgia is leading the nation in African-American abortions in the 38 states which file reports. African-Americans make up 30% of the Georgia population and account for 59% of abortions there. In 2008 alone, the Georgia Division of Health reported 18,901 African-American abortions.
SB 529 was initially supported by the Georgia NAACP which has now withdrawn its support. According to chapter president, Edward DuBose, as reported by LifeNews.com, “We now understand the intention of this legislation and wish to retract our support for it. Women of color in Georgia need more than divisive messages and deserve better access to health care.” Translation: Planned Parenthood set them straight.
The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) is worried about the pro-life convictions of youth. And NARAL has every reason to be concerned. According to LifeNews.com, NARAL’s own recent survey found that there is an “intensity gap” among pro-life and pro-abortion youth. The pro-life youth are far more passionate about their pro-life convictions than those who hold pro-abortion views.
NARAL released the results of its poll to Newsweek magazine. “Some 51 percent of the under 30 voters who are pro-life call opposing abortion a ‘very important’ voting issue compared with just 26 percent of abortion backers,” reports LifeNews.com about the NARAL poll. NARAL president Nancy Keenan told Newsweek what she observes is that women over 50 are the strongest abortion advocates. Younger people are not filling their ranks in the same way that pro-life youth are involved with the pro-life movement.
Keenan talked about getting off of the train in Washington, DC the weekend of the March for Life and being overwhelmed at how young the marchers were. “I just thought, my gosh, they are so young,” Keenan recalled. “There are so many of them, and they are so young.”
Former NARAL President Kate Michelman told Newsweek, “The technology has clearly helped to define how people think about a fetus as a full, breathing human being. The other side has been able to use the technology to its own end.”
The beauty of ultrasound — the window to the womb — leading the way to convince the public, especially young people, that an unborn child is a living, moving, breathing human being. The unborn now have an unassailable silent voice — ultrasound pictures of themselves.
By a stunning vote of 228-59, the Canadian Parliament imploded legislation to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia yesterday. The legislation would have allowed people from other countries to go to Canada to be killed, making Canada a major suicide tourism destination.
Efforts to defeat the bill were lead by Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Schadenberg was a featured speaker at the Wisconsin Right to Life convention this past weekend.
Schadenberg released a statement thanking those who voted against Bill C-384 and informing that the battle is not over. He cited legitimate concerns that need to be addressed such as improved palliative care, greater care for people with disabilities, the need for a national suicide prevention strategy and promotion of programs that identify and eliminate the scourge of elder abuse.
Congratulations to Schadenberg and his coalition. They have set a chilling precedent for states and countries who are considering legalization of these deadly acts.
Enthusiastic right-to-lifers from around the state attended the 2010 Wisconsin Right to Life convention held in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on April 17.
Congressional candidate Sean Duffy delighted the crowd with his presence. Duffy is attracting nationwide attention as a viable opponent to Rep. David Obey, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s most loyal lieutenants.
Also on hand and participating in a spellbinding forum were Republican gubernatorial candidates Scott Walker and Mark Neumann. They did not disappoint the 300 attendees who listened with rapt attention to comments on their personal lives, why they are running, what they intend to do as Governor, and, most importantly, their longstanding commitment and leadership on right-to-life initiatives in the state and in Congress.
Alex Schadenberg of the Canadian Euthanasia Prevention Coalition described the horrors of euthanasia and assisted suicide which are thriving, especially in Europe. Schadenberg predicted that a bill to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada and allow other people to travel to Canada to be killed would be defeated.
Angela Franks, a professor at St. John’s Seminary in Boston, spoke of the founding of Planned Parenthood (PP) by Margaret Sanger based on her eugenics philosophy. Dr. Franks dissected and exposed Planned Parenthood’s agenda as the nation’s largest abortion provider and PP’s positioning of its offices and abortion clinics in minority communities. Featured was a Live Action video of a Planned Parenthood counselor “selling” an abortion to a young pregnant woman in a Milwaukee Planned Parenthood family planning office.
Karen Cross, National Right to Life Political Director, described the opportunities in 2010 to make significant changes in the makeup of Congress and the need to persevere.
Melissa Ohden gave a moving presentation about her survival from an attempted saline abortion 33 years ago. Ohden refused to die, even though the attempted abortion went on for five days. Believed dead when she was finally delivered, her movements prompted medical personnel to valiantly work to save her young life.
Almost half of the convention attendees were tweens, teens and college students. These young people are an integral part of the work of Wisconsin Right to Life and are growing in number giving great hope for a bright future for right-to-life efforts.
Can’t make the April 29 Wisconsin Right to Life Education Fund dinner in Milwaukee featuring Senator Rick Santorum? Not to worry. WRTL will be using Twitter to tweet LIVE at the event. The tweets will contain remarks by Santorum during his presentation and reactions from those who are there.
Those who are interested in following along can log onto their Twitter account, or create a new account, and search #wrtlsantorum, the event’s official hashtag. Include this hashtag in all of your tweets pertaining to the event.
An LCD screen at the event displaying tweets will allow attendees to learn what you and others are saying about Senator Santorum and the event. We are enthusiastic about providing this opportunity for those who cannot attend to review and tweet on Senator Santorum’s comments as they are happening.
You are invited to follow Wisconsin Right to Life on Twitter and Facebook on an ongoing basis. I will soon announce my own personal Facebook which will complement this blog. Thanks for listening!
On Wednesday, the Canadian Parliament will vote on Bill C-384, legislation that would legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada. The bill does not limit these acts to Canadian citizens. If passed, Canada would become a suicide tourism destination for Americans and others who want to be killed.
Bill C-384 does not limit assisted suicide and euthanasia to the terminally ill and does not define terminal illness. For example, assisted suicide and euthanasia would be available to those who are depressed or have chronic illnesses. It is not clear whether the person assisting or carrying out the death must even be a medical professional.
Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition predicts that the Canadian bill will be defeated. And, that it will be introduced again and again.
It is Planned Parenthood’s dream come true — abortion available not only in the U.S. but across the world. The Obama administration is pursuing the PP dream like an obedient lap dog.
First was the overturn of the Mexico City Policy which prohibited taxpayer dollars to promote and perform abortions overseas. PP must be swooning over the health care reform law which will provide federal funding of abortion and abortion subsidies. Buckets of taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood puts PP over the moon. But, there’s more!
Recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke up prior to a G 8 summit in Canada which will promote maternal mortality. “You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health. And reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion.” The U.S. Ambassador to Kenya is now calling on Kenya’s political leaders to promote passage of a referendum which would essentially legalize abortion due to the “health” exception contained in the proposal.
Pity Planned Parenthood. So many abortion initiatives it can’t keep track of them. The Obama administration is working overtime to keep its favorite group rolling in money and racking up abortions.
Nebraska has passed a new law, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which prohibits abortions after 20 weeks gestation unless the mother’s life is in danger. Substantial medical research exists which documents the existence of pain receptors throughout the body of an unborn child with nerve links to the brain.
“These unborn children recoil from painful stimulation, which also dramatically increases their release of stress hormones. Doctors performing fetal surgery at and after 20 weeks now routinely use fetal anesthesia,” states Mary Spaulding Balch, Director of State Legislation for the National Right to Life Committee.
The bill, the first of its kind in the nation, is certain to spark a legal challenge. It should also hinder the late-term abortion practice of the infamous LeRoy Carhart of Nebraska.
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