Being Handicapped is Not a Crime by Suzanne Ward

Prenatal (before birth) testing today results in the early diagnosis of more and more abnormalities from the extremely simple to the very complex. Sadly, physicians may suggest terminating a pregnancy with only a possible risk of abnormality, probably due to fear of malpractice law suits.

Half of the children targeted for destruction are not even affected by the feared abnormality. More normal children are killed than handicapped children.

As a society, we must remember that a child’s right to life is given by their Creator, not their parents or even the state. Being handicapped is not a capital crime and should never carry a death sentence. In any or all circumstances, we want to protect and support both mother and child.

Studies show that women who choose abortion for genetic reasons have significant grief reactions, a high rate of depression, and flashbacks. Negative reactions are also seen in the siblings even when they had no direct knowledge of the event.

Approximately 20% of U.S. adults have some sort of disability according to the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC. Many, many of these individuals accomplish amazing things in spite of great challenges. Let’s ‘meet’ just a few of them:

Robert Michael Hensel was born in 1969, with a birth defect known as Spina-bifida. His disability would limit him to a wheelchair, but he continues to find ways to positively impact people. Hensel is an award-winning poet and has recently been recognized by the Museum of Disability History in Buffalo, New York.

Hensel is a Guinness World Records holder for the longest non-stop “wheelie” in a wheelchair. His efforts have raised money for wheelchair ramps throughout his hometown of Oswego, New York. Hensel continues to raise awareness of the many talents and accomplishments made by disabled individuals. Says Hensel:

“Know me for my abilities, not my disability.”
“I don’t have dis-ability, I have a different-ability.”
“When everyone else says you can’t, determination says, YES YOU CAN.”
“No disability or dictionary out there is capable of clearly defining who we are as a person. It’s only when we step out of that labeled box, that our abilities begin to be fully recognized, giving us a better definition of who we truly are as individuals.”

Nick Vujicic is the Founder, President and CEO of Life Without Limbs, a non-profit organization whose mission is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ through his own life. Born without arms and legs, Nick has shared his message with over 5 million people in 44 different countries. “Life without limbs, or life without limits?” Nick is known to say.

Nick’s story, outlined in Biography of a Determined Man of Faith, tells of his childhood in Australia, his turning points and his growing passion to share the love and hope of Jesus Christ. Nick says, “God does not make mistakes, but He does miracles. I am one. You are too.”

Here in Georgia, Phillip Richardson is President of the Cherokee County Chapter of Georgia Right to Life. He is also a faithful member of Christ the Redeemer Charismatic Episcopal Church in Canton, Georgia.

Born with Spina-bifida, Phillip would face the additional challenges of poverty, physical abuse and homelessness. “Life is hard,” Phillip says, “but life is worth it.”

Phillip credits his mother with choosing life even under very difficult circumstances. His hardships, he says, “…… have not swayed my resolve to be a proactive, compassionate man that is so thankful to have the life that God has given me. How can we logically deny someone’s existence before they even have a chance to overcome and be the success story that so many of us are in awe of?”

Indeed. We will all face challenging times in our lives. How can we exclude any one group of people – the disabled pre-born – simply because of any presumed problems? Who knows what wonders they might accomplish when given the chance?

by Suzanne L. Ward

Public Relations/Education

suzanneward@grtl.org

Our Tax Dollars at Work!

Time to read the newest version of the GRTL e-newsletter.

http://tinyurl.com/3pkblzs

 

 

Encouraging news on the prolife front…

The New Pro-Life Surge

Political gains by U.S. conservatives unleash waves of
anti-abortion legislation.

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra | posted
6/10/2011 09:24AM

The summer before Katey Tryon’s senior year of high school, she
got pregnant. Recently split from her boyfriend, she was sad and vulnerable when
she hooked up with her older brother’s friend. They had sex once. Six weeks
later, she was tired and her period was late.

“It was terrifying,” Tryon said. “I’m from a small town in Oregon.
My parents are pillars in the community. I was born and raised here, fourth
generation. So my sin was very apparent.” Tryon’s parents, both believers,
rallied around her. Abortion was out of the question. Two days before high
school graduation, Tryon gave birth to a girl and gave her up for adoption.

Tryon enrolled in a Christian college in Portland, determined to
turn her life around, but still felt vulnerable. “I started dating a guy who
embraced me for what I had just gone through, who understood that I didn’t want
to have sex until I got married,” she said.

But they started sleeping together, and one night the condom
didn’t work. Over spring break, at an intercollegiate softball tournament, Tryon
found out she was pregnant again. Her daughter was nine months old. “My world
came crashing down tenfold from the first time,” she said.

Abortion was never a serious option, she said, although “trust me,
it went through my mind. I recognize why other women go there. You want to get
away from your situation. We want to cover up our mistakes and have them all go
away.”

Tryon found support at a local pregnancy center, which sparked in
her a fresh sense of purpose. She gave birth to a boy and gave him up for
adoption. She went back to college, double majoring in social work and
sociology. Eventually she became the development director at Lane Pregnancy
Support Center in Eugene, Oregon.

In April, Tryon testified before the Oregon State Legislature
about how a pregnancy center changed her life for the better. A Senate committee
was considering a bill to force pregnancy centers to publicly post on doors, in
waiting areas, and in brochures that they are not abortion providers. If centers
did not post these notices in five days, they could be fined up to $1,000, up to
$5,000 if not posted in two weeks.

This is one of many new legislative initiatives on abortion, but
the majority of them are working in the other direction.

Flood of LegislationThe Oregon bill is one of 576 measures related to abortion that
have been introduced so far in 2011 in 48 states, according to Elizabeth Nash,
public policy associate for the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute.

Like the Oregon bill, many of them will never pass committee. Yet
by early April, 142 abortion-related provisions had passed at least one chamber
of a state legislature, compared with 67 in 2009. More than half of the 142
bills (57 percent) introduced this year seek to restrict abortion access,
compared with 38 percent in 2010.

About 40 new anti-abortion laws were on the books by mid-April.
They include:

• expanding the waiting period requirement in South Dakota from 24
  hours to 72 hours, and requiring women to visit a crisis pregnancy center in the
  interim.
• requiring a physician who performs an abortion in South Dakota to
  provide counseling on all risk factors related to abortion.
• allowing any hospital employee in Utah to refuse to “participate
  in any way” in an abortion.
• making it a felony in Arizona to perform or provide money for
  abortions sought because of a baby’s race or sex.
• prohibiting insurance plans that participate in the state
  insurance exchange from including abortion coverage in Virginia, Arizona, Idaho,
  Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.
• prohibiting the abortion of a fetus capable of feeling pain in
  Nebraska, Kansas, Idaho, and Oklahoma. The organization National Right to Life
  has drafted a model bill for pro-life lawmakers to use.

Republican victories in the 2010 mid-term elections account for
much of the legislative surge. Republicans won control of the House of
Representatives and made gains in the Senate. But their success at the state
level was more significant. They took 29 governorships and 680 seats in state
legislatures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

It’s the largest gain in modern history. The previous record was
held by Democrats in the post-Watergate 1974 election, in which they picked up
628 seats. Republicans now control the governor’s office and both legislative
chambers of 21 states, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures.

“The November elections brought huge change in the state houses,”
said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life. “But we’ve been
tilling this ground for a while.”

The forward momentum began, Yoest said, when the Supreme Court
upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortion in 2007.

‘My life and the life of my unborn baby were forever
changed the minute I called for help.’—Katey Tyron, a director at Lane Pregnancy
Support Center

“They chipped away at the absolute right to abortion,” Yoest said.
“The Supreme Court said that states do have the right to limit abortion. That
was a seismic shift.” Pro-life advocates began to see how far they could get
with restrictions, such as parental notification and informed consent laws, she
said.

The legislation has been snowballing since the Republican sweep:
“Just in the first three months of this year, we’ve provided testimony on 17
life-related legislative matters,” she said. In previous years, the average
number of testimonies provided was two or three for the entire year.

Public Opinion ChangesRestricting abortion through new state laws seems to be highly
effective in reducing abortion rates.

“We see that the number of abortions has gone down by 22 percent
between 1990 and 2005,” said Michael New, political science professor at the
University of Alabama. “An important reason is the restrictions that more and
more states are passing.”

New examined the effects of three laws on abortion rates. Opting
not to fund abortions through Medicaid was most significant, dropping state
abortion rates by about 9 percent, he said.

“That’s a strong consistent finding,” he said, pointing to a
Guttmacher report that 20 of 24 peer-reviewed studies found that public funding
restrictions reduced the number of abortions. The second is informed-consent
laws, which require abortion providers to inform a woman about the potential
risks to her health, fetal development, and available assistance before an
abortion is performed. Those laws were connected with in-state abortion
reductions of 5 to 7 percent, he said.

New also analyzed parental involvement laws, which require minors
to either tell or get permission from their parents before having an abortion.
While these laws don’t have a large impact on the overall abortion rate, they
correlate with a 15 percent decline in in-state abortions obtained by
minors.

Recent pro-life legislation is changing gears, pushing for laws
that give women the opportunity to view an ultrasound before an abortion or
banning abortion after the fetus can feel pain. Fetal-pain laws have been a big
goal of National Right to Life. Director of state legislation Mary Spaulding
Balch told Christianity Today, “The Pain-Capable
Unborn Child Protection Act very clearly talks about the humanity of the unborn
child.” So far, abortion supporters have not initiated court challenges to the
new fetal-pain laws.

The effect on the abortion rate from pain-related or ultrasound
laws may not be dramatic, New said. Requiring ultrasounds can be tricky because
abortion providers have to self-enforce, and relatively few abortions are
performed after the second trimester, when the fetus begins to feel pain, he
said.

But those laws are still important, New said. “You have to make
progress incrementally. We have made more progress than we think. We’ve
convinced a lot of people that abortion is wrong. Most doctors and hospitals
want nothing to do with it.”

Indeed, public opinion now lines up against abortion for the first
time since Gallup began asking the question in 1995. In 2010, 47 percent of
Americans called themselves pro-life, while 45 percent identified as
pro-choice.

The pro-life advantage held through three surveys, prompting
Gallup to label it a “real change in public opinion,” one that’s showing itself
at the polls.

Last year’s health care debate put abortion back on the national
stage, and President Obama had to issue an executive order strengthening the
limits on abortion to get the health care reform bill passed.

In addition, the House of Representatives passed a bill this
spring that would defund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in
the country. The bill failed in the Senate, but the victory in the House was
historic, Yoest said.

‘We see that the number of abortions has gone down by 22
percent between 1990 and 2005. An important reason is the restrictions more and
more states are passing.’—Michael New, political science professor at the
University of Alabama

“I absolutely think this is a swelling tide, regardless of what
happens in this particular skirmish. There is very much a future in terms of
bringing more and more attention to the massive federal subsidy of the abortion
industry.”

CounteroffensiveAll this leaves the pro-choice movement “definitely defensive,”
said Nash of the Guttmacher Institute. “We need to make the case for why these
services are important.”

The public questioning of Planned Parenthood is “a major shift,”
said Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, a network of more than 1,000
pregnancy centers.

Care Net’s pregnancy centers are among the targets of the
pro-choice counteroffensive. New York City’s new disclosure law is “the most
difficult thing we’re facing,” she said. The law, like the one Tryon testified
against in Oregon, requires all pregnancy centers to post in waiting rooms and
in all literature whether they offer or make referrals for abortions,
contraception, and prenatal care. The American Center for Law and Justice is
challenging the constitutionality of the law in federal court.

In January, a federal judge struck down a similar disclosure law
in Baltimore, calling it an unconstitutional violation of free speech and
“viewpoint-based discrimination.”

“It puts onerous regulations on pregnancy centers,” Delahoyde
said. “It opens centers up to costly lawsuits—a right to action by aggrieved
persons. There are very harsh restrictions put up all over against pregnancy
centers, and we know their goal is to shut us down.”

But most of the bills targeting pregnancy centers fail to pass.
Two bills in Virginia—one that proposed to limit the revenue pregnancy centers
receive from license plates, the other to require disclosure that abortions are
not offered at the centers—were withdrawn in March. A resolution praising the
work of pregnancy centers was passed instead. Another disclosure bill in
Washington made it out of committee but failed in the House of
Representatives.

When pro-choice groups can’t get bills passed at the state level,
they look for local municipalities where they can get propositions passed,
Delahoyde said.

Care Net prepares their centers for the legislation, she said. “We
send our public relations and legal people on the road. We provide a united
front at the state house, and that’s very effective.”

Alliance Defense Fund also provides legal help through hundreds of
attorneys connected to local pregnancy centers, she said.

“We train extensively,” Delahoyde said. “We are pressing forward.
Look, there are so many encouraging signs. The pro-choice brand is
eroding.”

Pendulum SwingsWhen Tryon gave birth to her second baby in December 1992, she was
part of a trend. U.S. teen pregnancy rates had swelled to their all-time
high—almost 12 percent of teenage girls—in 1990, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Abortion rates peaked at the same time, with 1.4 million abortions
performed in 1990, according to the CDC. Public support of abortion was also
high, with 56 percent of Americans labeling themselves pro-choice, according to
Gallup. Just 33 percent self-identified as pro-life.

Some 20 years after Tryon was a pregnant teenager, the pendulum is
swinging the other way. She is now an articulate leader at a pregnancy center,
wife of a worship pastor, and mother of three school-age children.

“As a teenager, finding myself in an unplanned pregnancy was scary
at best. Thankfully, I turned to a pregnancy resource center that provided not
only free and confidential services to me, but treated me in a fair and
professional manner, provided me life-giving options when I needed them most,
and eased my fears,” she testified before an Oregon Senate committee.

“My life and the life of my unborn baby were forever changed the
minute I called on them for help. After being educated about all of my options,
I chose an adoption plan that not only gave my baby a hope and a future, but it
also gave it to me.

“It is devastating to think that the vital services I received so
many years ago could be torn from those that so desperately need them today. I
urge you to vote ‘No’ on this bill.”

That bill in Oregon never came to a vote. But neither did another
bill calling for a ban on abortions after 19 weeks.

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra is a journalist based in the Chicago
area.

Copyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click
for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:Previous coverage related to abortion legislation and life
ethics includes:

State Laws That Lower Abortions | Examining legal measures
enacted to lower abortion rates. (April 4, 2011)

Live Action, Planned Parenthood, and a Year of Change|
Surveying two months of dramatic news on the abortion front in the U.S.
(February 24, 2011)

Abortion Case: Womb vs. Egg | Ethical issues abound in case of
British Columbia couple who wanted surrogate mom to terminate pregnancy after
baby was found to have Down Syndrome. (October 15, 2010)

CT covers more political developments on the politics blog.

Looking in on Chris: How is he doing?

May 8th:  Week 7  Chris’ brain waves can now be detected.  Wonder what Chris is dreaming?  Did you know that over the remaining months, Chris’ brain will develop over 100 billion neurons?  The brain begins to control movement of muscles and organs.  The nose is developing and the eyes darken as pigment is produced.  The mother has probably confirmed that she is pregnant.

May 15th:  Week 8  Chris begins to move.  Chris’ arms are bending and flexing like a child taking a Karate class.  Fingers are developing and will soon become Chris’ first toy.  Chis started swimming and can do a mean backstroke.  Chris is also doing back flips–getting ready for the 2018 Olympics.  The mother may have to buy some Clearasil.

May 22nd: Week 9  Chris is a little under an inch long.  Chris’ name changes from embryo to fetus, which is Latin for “young one.”  Everything is now present that would be found in a fully developed adult.  If Chris would have kept growing all 9 months as fast as this second month, Chris would have been born as big as two overfed elephants.  Whew!  Thankfully, development slows down.

May 29th:  Week 10  Chris’ fingerprints are already evident.  The fingers can curve around an object placed in the palm.  Chris is having a wonderful time wriggling, shifting, dancing and playing with the toys in the womb–other fingers, toes, nose, ears — such fun!  If only we had a window to the womb.  The mother is coping with many changes–nurturing a baby is hard.

“You know me through and through, from having watched my bones take shape when I was being formed in secret. . .”  Ps 139:15

Personhood: A Pragmatic Guide to Prolife Victory in the 21st Century and the Return to First Principles in Politics.

by Daniel C. Becker, President of Georgia Right to Life.

Excerpt from the Preface of the book:

With a heaviness of heart, I answered the next call, “Daniel Becker speaking.”

A calm and measured voice inquired, “You live at 1862 Liberty Grove Rd?”

At last–an emotionally stable and quiet tone of voice bringing with it the hope of a reasoned conversation.

“Yes,” was my muted reply.

He stated his name, going on, “I am a former Navy SEAL.  I have seen a picture of you and your family in the news.  You have three beautiful daughters.  I am coming to rape them and then kill you!. . .@#%$%$. . . because of what you just did to MY family!!”. . .

. . .after an interminable period of horrendous verbal assault, I determined that I could stand to take only one more call.

“Daniel Becker,” I answered, my strained voice no doubt reflecting my horror at the realization of the scope of the consequences I had just unleashed upon my timid wife and five innocent older children.

Without identifying themselves, and with a momentary pause on the other end, a mother’s voice accompanied by her two teenage daughters began singing the first stanza of a familiar childhood hymn:

Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God’s command,
Honor them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel’s band. . .

Through the tears coursing down my cheeks, I thanked this homeschooling family for reminding me I was not alone.  This battle for the “hearts and minds” of Georgia’s citizens was going to be monumental in its intensity–that was to be expected; that Christ Jesus was with me and that ultimately “the battle is the Lord’s”–that was a promise!

What some people are saying about Personhood:

“Dan Becker’s book is a great blend of prudence, pragmatism and principled politics; it is certain to cause us to rethink prolife strategy in the 21st century.”

Dr. Donald Wildmon
Founder and Chairman Emeritus of
American Family Association and American Family Radio

The book can be purchased at Amazon.com here or go to the publisher’s website at www.tkspublications.com

 

Defending Chloe’s Existence.

“I did however say this award was bittersweet, and it is sad to receive an award for defending the very existence of your child and those like her!  Imagine if 90%+ children with brown hair and brown eyes were identified, targeted and eliminated prenatally and you were the proud, loving parent of one of the few survivors. Would you fight to defend your child and let the world know what a gift and Blessing your child is?”

Continue reading Kurt Kondrich’s article here.

What needs eradicating?

by Kurt Kondrich

Kurt Kondrich & his beautiful daughter Chloe

“The only disease that needs to be “eradicated” is the culture of death we live in with its twisted mandates for perfection. If Down syndrome is a disease then the world needs to catch the symptoms and spread them quickly — unconditional love, purity, innocence, honesty, and an incorruptible spirit of Light!”

Read the rest of the story, here.

When can we have THE conversation?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

An Open Letter to African Americans – Can We Have the Conversation? by Catherine Davis

Every day, all across America, more than 1500 black babies die in the abortion chambers that dot urban areas where blacks reside. In state after state, the numbers of abortions performed on black women are 2, 3, 4 sometimes even 6 times the number of blacks in the population in that state. In New York City, and perhaps other states that do not publish abortion data by race (CA, IL and FL for example) more black babies are aborted than are born alive.

Continue Reading here. . .

A message from Kurt Kondrich & his daughter, Chloe

Greetings,

I entered 2 videos into a pro-life video contest, and both are posted (one has the wrong name referenced and they are fixing that).  If you are on FACEBOOK can you vote for the one in the second row on the right (white lettering).  The winner will have the opportunity to get their message out to a National Audience, and I want to wake people up to this Silent Eugenic Movement against children diagnosed with Down syndrome.

THANKS and please pass this on!!

Kurt and Chloe
http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/video-contest.aspx

“Incorruptible — Why the devil uses abortion to eliminate Down syndrome”

By Kurt Kondrich

In the fictional novel “The Clowns of God” by Morris West, Jesus comes back to earth, and some people think it’s Him while some don’t. At one point, Jesus is at a school for children with Down syndrome, and He is holding a little girl. Jesus says:

“I know what you are thinking. You need a sign. What better one could I give but to make this little one whole and new? I could do it, but I will not. I am the Lord and not a conjurer. I gave this mite a gift I denied to all of you — eternal innocence. To you she looks imperfect — but to me she is flawless, like the bud that dies unopened or the fledgling that falls from the nest to be devoured by ants. She will never offend me, as all of you have done. She will never pervert or destroy the work of my Father’s hands. She is necessary to you. She will evoke the kindness that will keep you human. Her infirmity will prompt you to gratitude for your own good fortune… More! She will remind you every day that I am who I am, that my ways are not yours, and that the smallest dust mite whirled in the darkest spaces does not fall out of my hand… I have chosen you. You have not chosen me. This little one is my sign to you. Treasure her!”

To continue reading, click here.