Miss Right to Life Pageant July 31, 2010

by Amy Brown, Miss Right to Life Pageant Director

The second annual Miss Right to Life of Georgia pageant will be held at the John S. Burd Center in Gainesville July 31, 2010. Miss Right to Life of Georgia is the very first and only Right to Life benefit pageant in the country!

The pageant is open to young women ages up to 22 years old living in the state of Georgia. These young women not only receive the chance to serve as a reigning queen for a year, but are also encouraged to use their platform to nurture pro life values in girls their age, as well as give back to their community.

Contestants not only compete on stage, but also with a personal interview that gives light to their genuine pro life beliefs. The college aged winner will also receive a $500 college scholarship. As well as raising money for such a worthy cause, last year’s participants volunteered over one hundred hours of community service giving back to the elderly, disabled, and others in need.

It is vital for us all to realize that pro life youth are on the rise! As adults, we are responsible for providing them with opportunites to share their heart with others. These young women will surely flourish if surrounded by a sisterhood that all share one thing…. their belief in the RIGHT TO LIFE!

Registration ends July 14th. For information on registration guidelines or sponsorship opportunites, please visit our website: www.missrighttolife.com
Or contact Pageant Director, Amy Brown: 404 435 5244

Don’t Tell Me Lies!

by Hannah Carter

It seems these days that a lie is told so easily, part of the problem being that we live in a society that doesn’t verify the original sources of information.

America is not a Christian nation! Lie!

America is a Pro-Choice nation, another lie especially since the Gallup polls released last week verify again that the majority of Americans are pro-life! The Gallup poll is calling being pro-life “the new normal.”

We don’t know when life begins, Lie!

Alan Guttmacher former President of Planned Parenthood once stated, “it all seems so simple (when life begins), conception confers life.”

This next week Georgia Right to Life and the Radiance Foundation will be partnering for a second set of billboards to be released to impact Georgia. To give you a taste of what the next campaign is going to be like, we wanted to share this video with you that Ryan Bomgardner of the Radiance Foundation created. The title is “Don’t Tell Me Lies”. Watch this video and tell us what you think.

And the Winner is…2010 I AM a Person Baby Photo Contest Results

 

Georgia Right to Life is proud to announce our 2010 I AM a Person Baby Photo Contest Results. The 2nd place winner is a sweet little girl named Sarah, the 1st place winner is Noah, and the Grandprize winner is a cutie named Hudson. The winners will reicve a $100, $250, and $500 savings bonds towards their college education. They will also recieve a photo shoot with photographer Stephanie Kitchen of By Grace Photography. The photos will be featured in GRTL productions throughout the year.

Georgia Right to Life is truly grateful to everyone who participated. All the money raised from the baby photo contest goes to support the life affirming work of Georgia Right to Life to restore respect and effective legal protection to all persons from the earliest biological beginning until natural death.

For More Information about how you can participate or help with next year’s contest please contact our contest coordinator, Denise Hairston at 770-339-6880.

GRTL State Oratory Contest Winner Heather Benefield Advances to Nationals

Georgia Right to Life is pleased to annouce the results of the 2010 State Oratory Contest which was held on May 1, 2010, Heather Benefield, 1st place representing the Atlanta chapter and Leila Bowman, 2nd place representing the Cherokee County Chapter.

Heather Benefield lives in Senoia, GA with her adoptive parents and four brothers.  She is a homeschooled high school

Pictured Left to Right -Heather Benefield, 1st place winner, Hannah Carter, Director of Education, and Leila Bowman, 2nd Place Winner

 junior and is a member of St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Mableton, GA.  Her speech was in defense of the unborn.  She, her mother and 2 adopted brothers are all survivors of abortion.  Heather will now compete at the NRTL Oratory Contest on June 26th, 2010.

Heather is no beginner in placing in oratory tournaments. She has been a forensics participant in the NCFCA- National Christian Forensic Communications Association- for two years.  In 2009 she advanced to regionals in Team Policy Debate and Persuasive Speaking, placed 4th in the region and advanced to the National competition, held in Greenville, SC at Bob Jones University where she finished 12th in the Nation. Heather has recently returned from Jacksonville, FL where she competed in the NCFCA 2010 Region VIII Invitational tournament where she finished 7th in Original Oratory and qualified to the National tournament to be held in June at Regent University in Virginia Beach,VA. She also participated  in the American Legion 2010 Oratorical Contest where she advanced to the District level and received a scholarship to Girls State 2010  held in June at Georgia Southern University.

Adopted at age 12, Heather spent much of her early years in the foster care system.  She strives to use her gifts and her story to inspire hope in other children waiting for families and spread the message of LIFE in a manner that glorifies God above all else.
Please take a moment and read Heather’s inspiring speech entitled, Taking a Pro-Life Stand (TAPS).

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves”

- Proverbs 31:8 (The Holy Bible)

“Day is done…Gone the sun…”

“….18, 19, 20″

*Every 20 seconds a child dies*(www.prolife.com)

 

“From the lake, from the hill, from the sky…”

 

     Yes every 20 seconds a child dies.  Abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures in the world today, but the average person knows almost nothing of its gruesome reality.  Year after year, it lurks in the shadows, quietly destroying almost 4,000 innocent human beings a day in the U.S. and 130,000 a day worldwide. (www.abortionfacts.com)

 High schools and universities go to great lengths to graphically expose the dangers of drugs, smoking, and drunk driving, but for some reason take a pass when it comes to abortion or even a discussion on the beginning of human life.

 Dr. Watson A. Bowes from the University of Colorado clearly states, “The beginning of a single human life is, from a biological point of view, a simple and straight forward matter… the beginning is CONCEPTION.”  (www.wikipedia.org)  So, why do so many Americans  think it’s in our power to decide when life ends? Well because our government told us so! Roe vs. Wade in 1973 was the most significant case in the history of abortion in America. (www.wikipedia.org) It ruled that abortions were legal if there was a convincing reason as to why a mother should have one.   Individual states may pass laws to safeguard the “health” of the mother. However, the courts define “health” as physical, emotional, and psychological health. Therefore, any reason is valid for an abortion. (www.plannedparenthood.com)      

 Most women who are considering abortion hear the terms  fetus and fetal demise, and truly don’t realize the meaning behind them. These words are used to intentionally disconnect the mother from her baby’s life and the murder that’s about to be committed with her consent.  Someone needs to tell that mother that the word fetus is actually a Latin word that literally translates into “little one.”  (www.wikipedia.org)  Fetal demise.. death… of the little one.”

 A 12-week old unborn baby is only about 2 inches long, yet every organ of its body and every attribute of its human development is already in place.  The arms and legs, the intricately formed nose and ears, tiny finger and toes are clearly visible with today’s ultrasound technology. 

      How can people say that this is not murder? Would it honestly be any different if we used a gun? Don’t you find it ironic that  the most dangerous place to be is inside the womb? Ever wonder what happened to that appendix you had removed or those gallstones from last year? Just what is in those red trash cans that say Bio-Hazard Waste on them when you go to the doctor’s office or the hospital anyway? Most people are unaware that the tumors, cysts, bloody gauge, gloves and rags, are all wrapped in plastic, boxed up and tightly taped shut, where they are shipped to an incinerator… along with countless babies from abortion clinics all across the country.  Boxes of babies are casually thrown off of a truck into a pile to be burned.

 Are aborted babies really bio-hazardous waste? Just tissue? Like a tumor? If human life is equated with tumors and cysts, why do women hide the fact that they have had an abortion or are even considering one? Why do pro-choice people label abortion as the most gut-wrenching, emotional and difficult decision that a woman ever has to make?  Why do they call it a choice? 

 One-third of all human babies are aborted in this nation alone, which is over one million every year.  (www.prolife.com)We’re not talking about a few hundred or even a few thousand.  We’re talking about millions of people that are missing from our world today.  What if one of those missing were the next Mozart or Einstein?  What if one of those missing was the biochemist or researcher destined to discover the cure for Cancer or AIDS?    What if one of those missing was me?   

As a matter of fact,  4 out of 5 members of my immediate family can say that they are abortion survivors.  My two youngest siblings and I, are all adopted. One of my brothers , Dylan. who is now 8, was promised to my parents after his abortion date had already been set. My youngest brother Seth, was taken into foster care at birth.  He survived only because $475.00 to pay for an abortion  is a lot of money to come up with when your birth mother is addicted to drugs. I should know… that’s what I was told by the drug addicted prostitute that I was born to.  She told me repeatedly that I was a mistake and should have been aborted-

 But God had other plans for me, my two little brothers and the woman who adopted me when I was 12 years old.    That woman who I now know as my “real” mom was born in 1968 despite an attempt by her mother to abort illegally.

 Our Lord has a plan for every life. Why would anyone think that its okay to take that incredible gift away? The Bible is replete and precise in it’s teaching.  The  human life – from the beginning to its natural end – is sacred, and only God determines the length of those days.  “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13) (The Holy Bible) That applies equally to the unborn baby as it does to the developing child, the mature adult, and the senior citizen. Genesis 1:26-27 says that “being made in the image of God gives life its sacredness.” (The Holy Bible)

 I know that abortion is a difficult topic to discuss but it’s so very important…much more important than any speech competition.  Forget about the scores and ranking for a moment and really listen.  I am asking you, pleading with you, to decide and know that regardless of the circumstance – even in the case of rape or incest that abortion is murder. It’s wrong, no matter what you say bottom line is that its just wrong. (www.abortiontv.com)  Whether you look at the beginning of human life from a medical stand point or a biblical stand point, its one in the same- the beginning of life is the moment of conception .

It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Agnostic, or Atheist. It doesn’t matter what you believe, who you pray to or even if you pray.   No one can deny the basic human morality, we ALL know right from wrong.

“All is well…safely rest… God is nigh.”

 

Taps

 

Take A  Pro-life Stand

During the time that I have been giving my speech 22 children have been murdered.

Copyright © 2010 Georgia Right to Life & Heather Benefield. All rights reserved.

Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood: Best Friends Forever or Coincidental Business Associates?

 by Hannah Carter, Director of Education

Like many families, my grandmother and great-grandmother both had breast cancer. The issue of wanting to fight what harms your family or friends is noble. So when I tell people that I do not support Susan G. Komen an organization that exists to “fight breast cancer”, I normally get the look of one: why would you abandon your family or two: oh there goes one of those extremist.

However, my reasons are not that extreme, but rather principled. I’m sure many of you reading this article have also been confronted with the issue of if I ‘m pro-life then how can I support an organization that supports the nation’s leading abortion provider. Hopefully, the following principles can shed some light on how to respond sympathetically, yet firm with why you cannot wear pink, or join the race, or all the various ways that Susan G. Komen is supported.

Principle # 1 Don’t give to organizations that promote the shedding of innocent blood.

If this were a list of commandments, we could start with Thou Shall Not Kill. However, Proverbs 6:17 states that one of the seven things God hates are hands that shed innocent blood.

Unfortunately, Susan G. Komen has given over $3 million dollars between 2003 and 2008 to Planned Parenthood which is the nation’s leading abortion provider. While Susan G. Komen makes claims that these grants go for breast exams, once the funds go to Planned Parenthood they are fungible. For example, you can throw two twenty dollar bills into a purse one from a friend and one from your own account, but when you go to pay the light bill you use both.

The same is true with Planned Parenthood’s money it receives from Komen. Whenever someone applies for a grant they can say that while this $5,000 is going to breast cancer research, 20 percent of that money is going to pay for administrative costs like keeping the lights on and paying rent. So in essence, the money that people are raising to fight breast cancer is also going to keep the lights on at Planned Parenthood.

According to the 2008 Annual Report from Planned Parenthood, breast cancer services decreased by 4% and abortion procedures increased by 6%.

 In 2008, Susan G. Komen gave $731,000 to Planned Parenthood.

Principle # 2 Know and Recognize the Risk Factors for the Disease You are Trying to Prevent.

There are certain risks that can increase an individual’s chance of getting breast cancer. While Susan G. Komen says that they believe in knowing your risk factors, they have repeatedly denied the link between breast cancer and one of the greatest avoidable risk factors, abortion.

 According to Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, “29 out of 38 worldwide epidemiological studies show an increased risk of breast cancer of approximately 30% among women who have had an abortion.”

When a woman has an abortion she interrupts the natural process of estrogen production and breast development. When a woman first becomes pregnant her body produces a Type 1 carcinogen, cancer causing agent, estrogen in order to nourish and provide for the baby. If the mother has her child, her body stops producing as much estrogen and her breasts mature. However, if that process is interrupted, the estrogen production continues and her breasts stay in an immature state, making them more susceptible to breast cancer.

Groups like Susan G. Komen acknowledge that the level of exposure to estrogen throughout a woman’s lifetime is one of the greatest predictors for breast cancer. Sadly, they do not acknowledge that the increased exposure to estrogen after an abortion could increase risks of breast cancer as well. For an organization whose primary goal is “to have a world without breast cancer”, you would think they would try to let women know of all the risk factors for breast cancer, especially those that are preventable like abortion.

Recently, in an article by Jill Stanek, pro-life author and blogger, asked a very thought-provoking question, “Is it really “morally permissible” to cause breast cancer in one room if screening for it in the next?”

Stanek also noted in her article that recently that the ties between Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen are running deeper and deeper. See an excerpt below from Stanek’s article:

Three days ago a diligent pro-lifer in Washington state discovered on Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest’s IRS 990 forms that it has held a 12.5 percent share in Metro Centre, a mall in Peoria, Ill., since 2006. PPGNW is Washington’s largest abortion provider. (It is also currently under investigation for Medicaid fraud.) Metro Centre is owned by Eric Brinker. Eric Brinker is the son of Nancy Goodman Brinker, the founder of SGK. Eric also sits on SGK’s board. Eric was a stand-up guy and responded to most of my initial questions. He explained in an e-mail, “This share represents a minority, non-operating interest in the business which they inherited from one of the original shareholders, a resident of Peoria. I, Eric Brinker, have controlling interest in Metro Centre.” But when I pursued follow-up questions, Eric wrote he was no longer available. So there is much still unanswered. Why didn’t PPGNW cash in its inheritance? Why didn’t Eric buy? If the share was willed, it was worth something. The real-estate market was thriving in 2006. It appears both partners are OK with this now four-year-old business partnership.

In essence, Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen’s nephew own a mall together.

The bottom line is that Susan G. Komen is not accomplishing its mission every time it gives to Planned Parenthood.

Every time a woman has an abortion and part of the money to fund that center staying open came from Komen, they are putting women at a greater risk for breast cancer.

Every organization no matter how noble the cause they claim to represent seems to be needs to be held accountable.

The question is will you?

 

To continue your search for the ties between Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood, please visit:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Awards 72 Grants to Planned Parenthood

http://www.bdfund.org/breastcancer.asp

Komen Giving to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Down as Donations Drop

http://lifenews.com/nat6297.html

 Planned Parenthood Deepens Link to Breast Cancer Group

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=134729

 Susan G. Komen’s List of Grants to Planned Parenthood

http://ww5.komen.org/ResearchGrants/CommunitybasedGrants.html

Studies about the Link between Abortion and Breast Cancer

http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/index/

Report: Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood: A Visible Link http://www.lifeissues.org/AbortionBreastcancer/komen/fact_sheet.pdf

COMING TO A BALLOT NEAR YOU: WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?

FOR MORE INFORMATIONContact: Dan Becker danielbecker@grtl.org | (770) 667-3777

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA –  On July 20^th of this year, the voters in over forty-five Georgia counties, representing all thirteen Congressional Districts, will have an opportunity to answer the pressing question of when life begins. Appearing on the July 20^th Primary ballot is the following poll, “Do you support an amendment to the Georgia state constitution so as to provide that the paramount right to life is vested in each human being from the earliest biological beginning until natural death?”

Using a little known election law, Georgia Right to Life (GRTL), asked their local chapters to approach both Democrat and Republican Party County Chairman, with the request that they place a “Party question” on their respective ballots. Forty-five Republican Chairmen and one Democratic Chairman (Butts County) responded by requesting their local Election Board to certify the question for the July Primary.

Legally the outcome of the question bears no weight because it is intended to be a straw poll of local county voters on the issue of when life begins.  Politically, it will serve as a barometer of local sentiment on the sanctity of life. Based upon Georgia House Resolution 5 (HR 5), sponsored last session by Rep. Martin Scott, the question is asked so that the pro-life strength of each county can be assessed, precinct by precinct.

“We have some confusion among some of our elected ‘pro-life’ officials when it comes time to actually fight for — and support — meaningful pro-life legislation in the Georgia House” says Mike Griffin, Legislative Director for GRTL, “this will remove all doubt as to where their ‘moral compass’ should point . . . their own constituents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the greatest human rights issue of our day. This has huge political ramifications.”

“Our polling shows that Georgia is one of the most pro-life states in the nation” says Daniel Becker, President of Georgia Right to Life. A poll from Strategic Vision shows that fifty-seven percent of voters favor the overthrow of Roe vs. Wade. This is roughly 20 points above the next nearest state polled.

“This fact does not seem to be lost on our elected officials, particularly, as they consider running for a statewide office”, says Becker. “During the 2008 Presidential primary, Georgia’s Republican voters selected the most pro-life candidate in the entire field, Gov. Mike Huckabee” said Becker. Huckabee was the only viable candidate that endorsed a Personhood Amendment at the state constitutional level which would define when life begins and when it should be protected by law.

 “As of today, all six of the Republican front-runners for Governor have endorsed a Personhood Amendment to the Georgia Constitution,” said Melanie Crozier, PAC Director for GRTL. “These include Senator Jeff Chapman, Congressman Nathan Deal, Senator Eric Johnson, Mr. Ray McBerry and Commissioner John Oxendine. Former Secretary of State, Karen Handel, while not endorsed by GRTL because of her opposition to pro-life positions, still maintains her support of a Personhood Amendment.” says Crozier.

Opposition to the question has arisen regarding the concern that it would outlaw capital punishment, contraceptives or implementation of advanced directives. HR 5 very specifically addresses these concerns:

H.R. 5

“(c) Nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed to limit the right of the State of Georgia to use capital punishment to enforce the laws of this state.

(d) Nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed to limit the right of the State of Georgia to allow and regulate the use of advance directives or living wills.

(e) Nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed to limit the right of the State of Georgia to allow and regulate the use of contraceptives.”

“We have not ‘cherry-picked’ only the conservative counties for this effort, but have included more liberal metro counties, such as Fulton and DeKalb. In each of these more liberal counties, as individual House districts are polled, the positive results will be useful in convincing the Georgia House members of the need for this important Amendment,” said Crozier, “Even the pro-abortion House members may be surprised to discover the depth of pro-life sentiment in their district.”

Other more conservative Atlanta metro counties who will be voting include: Gwinnett, Cherokee, Fayette, Paulding and Carroll. Other metro counties, elsewhere around the state, include: Muscogee (Columbus), Hall (Gainesville), Chatham (Savannah), Troup (LaGrange), Tift (Tifton), Thomas (Thomasville), Ware (Waycross), Loundes (Valdosta), Colquitt (Moultrie) and Glynn (Brunswick and St. Simons).

The question will also appear on the Fannin County Republican ballot, home district of Speaker David Ralston.

Georgia Right to Life promotes respect and effective legal protection for all human life from its earliest biological beginning through natural death.  GRTL is one of a number of organizations that have adopted Personhood as the most effective pro-life strategy for the 21st century.