The Abortion ‘Pill’: Far From ‘Simple’

The Abortion ‘Pill’: Far From ‘Simple’.

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

Dear Pro-life Friends

St. Paul said it best. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.” Ephesians 6:12

Even though we “wrestled with the principalities,” Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) has had a banner year. We are one of the most respected pro-life organizations in the nation. This is due to three things: the faithfulness of God, the faithfulness of GRTL staff, and the faithfulness of you, our donors.

We like to think that the best is yet to come as we end this year and head into 2013. We are filled with a profound gladness for blessings already received and with profound rejoicing for blessings that will be coming.

Your gifts determined our projects in 2012 and what you give now will help determine our projects going forward into the New Year.

Here is what you have accomplished in 2012:

• We worked toward the passage of a Personhood-compliant Fetal Pain Law. Georgia had the second highest number of late term abortions in the nation; being a destination state for these abortions. As of January 1^st, 2013 this is FINISHED. There will be babies saved because of this law. Praise God!. UPDATE: The ACLU has file an injunction – the law Is in danger of not going into effect on 1/1/13!

• During the primary election, 66% of the Republicans in the State voted for putting a Personhood Amendment in the Constitution. Yes, it was non-binding; however, we sent a message to our legislators that Georgia is pro-life and they should be, too.

• People have joined the movement because of our web presence. A woman in the Panhandle of Florida drove 7 hours to Orlando to become a part of Personhood there. Why? She saw our Memorial Wall, named her aborted child, and was directed to Orlando from our website.

• The states of Alaska and Iowa want to copy our “program” in its entirety. They want the complete package from our by-laws to our Personhood displays and training to our Life and Liberty Tracker.

• We are still reaching at-risk women with our helpline, our billboards, and our Google keyword searches.

• We use email newsletters, social media, and speakers to reach people everywhere with our principled message of the Sanctity of Life and Personhood.

There is so much more. As we come toward the end of an exhausting but most successful year, there is hardly time to appreciate all that has been accomplished because we have so much more to do in 2013.

The ACLU has filed an injunction against the fetal pain bill to keep it from going into effect on January 1, 2013. We will keep you posted on the status of the bill.

We will pause on January 22^nd of 2013, to mourn the 40^th anniversary of Roe v Wade on the Capitol steps. I don’t know why it has taken 40 years to abolish abortion on demand in this country. I hope that we are seeing the Joshua generation step up to end this wandering in the wilderness by the pro-life movement. We, at GRTL, believe that Personhood is the way out of the wilderness and we will continue to lead in that direction if we have the resources.

Please, I urge you to send your most generous sacrificial year-end gift so we can continue to promote Personhood and defend life at all stages. I can’t ask you for more than you can afford, but please send what you can. We need your help to continue our good work, together.

We thank you for your past generosity and your prayers and we thank you in advance for your gift today.

Together for Life,

Daniel C. Becker, President

My birthday is getting closer, mommy!

October 2: week 28

Whoa!  I’ve had trouble with my balance but it is getting better.  I’m going to be in my first Life Chain today.  The cars might not notice me but my mom will.  Not much room to wave in here, but my eyes are opening, so I guess I’ll just practice blinking at everyone.  I weigh about 2 pounds.  Mom’s talking about different names for me.  Hey, mom, how about Chris?

October 9:  week 29

I am about 14 inches tall now and growing really fast.  I try to stretch out and mom can feel me move about.  You could hear my heartbeat if you put your ear on my mommy’s tummy.  If I were born now, I’d have an 85% chance of survival because my lungs have been getting stronger.  Sometimes mom has a craving.  I really like the ice cream; pickles, not so much.

October 16: week 30

I have doubled in size over the last 4 weeks and it is really getting cramped in here.  I don’t have as much room to do my exercises.  My muscle tone is better, though, and my body is filling out with baby fat.  I have nice fine hair growing on my head.  I can recognize my mom’s voice.  I know that she is feeling a lot of aches and pains and discomfort, but she knows that she will be seeing me real soon.

October 23: week 31

I must be getting younger.  The wrinkles that I had everywhere are slowly disappearing.  I used to have a big head, but now that I’m gaining weight, my body is catching up.  I can move my eyes, but it is still pretty dark in here.  I can hear my mom.  I can’t wait to see her.

October 30: week 32

I weigh three pounds now and will gain about a half pound each week until birth.  It’s really cramped now, so I have assumed the “fetal” position.  I can see, but I don’t have 20/20 vision.  In fact, I won’t have 20/20 vision until I’m about 7 years old–hopefully.  Mom is pretty uncomfortable right now.  When she sleeps on her side, I really like snuggling into the mattress.

You Are Invited!

Georgia Right to Life’s

2011 REACH Benefit

Thursday, October 27, 2011, 7-9 pm

(Doors open at 6:30 pm)

Cobb Galleria   2 Galleria Pkway SE   Atlanta, GA  30339

Keynote Speaker:  Jennifer Lahl, President

The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network

Tickets:  $50  Table of 10:  $500

Tickets/Information:  (770) 339-6880

Jennifer Lahl couples her 25 years as a pediatric critical care nurse and hospital administrator with a deep passion to speak for those who are unable to speak for themselves.  A courageous voice, Ms. Lahl has also produces a groundbreaking, award winning documentary on the solicitation of eggs from young women across America, Eggsploitation.  This is, she says, the fertility industry’s ‘dirty little secret’.  Just who is this egg donor?  Is she treated justly?  What are the short and long-term risks to her health?  The answers to these questions will disturb you…

40 Days for Life comes to a neighborhood near you.

You can help save a life.

YOU can help save lives!

This fall, from September 28 – November 6, our community will be one of many cities joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history — the 40 Days for Life campaign.

40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

• 40 days of prayer and fasting
• 40 days of peaceful vigil
• 40 days of community outreach

We are praying that, with God’s help, this groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our city — and throughout America.

Take a stand for life

While all aspects of 40 Days for Life are crucial in our effort to end abortion, the most visible component is the peaceful prayer vigil outside the local abortion (or Planned Parenthood) facility.

Go to 40 Days for Life to read more about previous campaigns and to sign up for a vigil near you.

Chris is “bulking” up!

September 4th:  Week 24

I have fine hair all over my body that is there to protect my skin.  I will lose this before being born.  I’m a little thin at this point but am putting on more baby fat.  My eyes are formed, but my iris has no color.  I think I want brown eyes.  I weigh over a pound and am about a foot long.  If I was born today, I’d have a fighting chance to survive. (about 50%)

September 11:  Week 25

I’m really beginning to bulk up.  I gained 6 ounces this week!  I think most of it was muscle but also some bone mass and some organ development.  My taste buds allow me to distinguish between bitter, sweet and sour.  My lungs have developed so well, I’m now officially considered viable.  I could live outside my mom.  My parents have each contributed 15,000 genes that determined not only what I look like, but how I taste stuff, how athletic I will be, any allergies I might have and so much more.  Ain’t genes great!!  Especially if my dad is an athlete.  Tee-hee-hee.

September 18:  Week 26

Thousands and thousands of brain cells are growing in my head every day.  That’s very cool.  I’ll soon have billions of them.  I can make a fist and grasp things.  My spine is beginning to form to protect my spinal cord.  I’m covered by a white cheesy substance that protects my skin.  But, don’t worry, Mom, it comes off right after birth.  Mom can also tell when I have the hiccups.

September 25:  Week 27

My taste buds continue to form.  I can taste sweet things now.  My mom likes chocolate and so do I!  A bright light can be seen by me through my mommy’s tummy.  I have eyelashes and eyebrows, now.  My fingerprints are fully formed and they are growing.  I might need them clipped when I’m born.  Mom’s womb is about the size of a soccer ball.  Can I call her my “Soccer Mom?”

We need some sowers!

Georgia Right to Life is surprisingly like the farmer in Jesus’ parable.  Like him, we sow seeds of truth—God’s truth about His gift of life.  In our case, it is His truth about the preciousness of physical life, while the parable is about eternal life.

Like the biblical farmer, we sow broadly, and our planting has similar results: Some seeds land on inhospitable ground and fail to grow to maturity.  But other seeds fall on good soil.  They grow well.  They multiply into an abundant harvest.

We at Georgia Right to Life sow the message of the sanctity of life.  We sow it in the fields of public opinion and in the fields of broken lives.  We scatter our seed far and wide and then we cultivate it…and we pray.

In the short-term, we enjoy a bountiful harvest.  A harvest of changed hearts and minds.  A harvest of saved unborn lives, saved one at a time.  A harvest of mothers spared damage and regret.  It is demanding work that must be done day after day, every day.  As we work, we put our trust in the Lord of the harvest.

Imagine holding in your hand, a single stalk of wheat.  In your hand is the fruit of the harvest.

“To be honest, when I found out I was pregnant, I Googled ‘abortion’ and your site popped up.  When I called the help-line, I was encouraged and realized that I was not alone.  This help-line played a big role in me deciding to keep my baby.  Thanks so much!”

Georgia Right to Life keeps planting the truth and cultivating it for the coming harvests.  The ultimate harvest we all want is justice—justice restored to all persons, born and unborn, in our state and in our country.

And you and I can already see many signs of that future harvest sprouting.  You can see more and more states, like Georgia, adopting Personhood as their pro-life message for the 21^st Century.  You can see more and more young people getting involved as pro-life apologists through our Campus Outreach.  We trust you will see more and more abortion clinics closing and Planned Parenthoods going out of business as they lose state and federal tax dollars.  We trust you will see more and more politicians closing the loophole of rape and incest in abortion laws.

For the coming harvests, the seeds of God’s truth are available, but the truth is not enough.  The seeds of truth must be planted broadly, and the workers are few.  We must continue to get the seeds into the needy fields of individual lives and of culture.  So this is where you come in.

We need “seed” money to equip young people to winsomely advocate for Personhood on college campuses all over Georgia through our displays and our training.

We need “seed” money to develop and refine our websites so that we are the premier source of 21^st Century pro-life educational and reference materials in Georgia.

We need “seed” money so that we can buy more billboard space to connect young women in unplanned pregnancies to the help they need.

We need “seed” money so that we will continue to be leaders in the Personhood movement that is starting to sweep the country.

Clearly, some of us are still going through tough times.  But it is precisely at times like these that we need to till and to plant.

I am praying earnestly that this letter will generate much needed seed money.  Can I count on your generous gift?  Can you send a check for $15?  Or, perhaps you could send $25, $50, or even $100.  I’m also praying that some of you may consider a tax-deductible gift of $500 or $1,000.

We are preparing the soil, and we are ready to plant.  Come, sow seeds with us.

Together for Life,

Daniel C. Becker

Please mark October 27th, 2011 on your calendar.  It is our annual REACH dinner at the Cobb Galleria.  Jennifer Lahl will be our speaker.  More information will be available soon.

 Visit our Virtual Holocaust Memorial Wall at www.personhood.net. The Personhood website is filled with valuable information on 21^st Century life issues.

 Also, we have a secure server for your donations at Donations for GRTL. 

 

Remember:  If you would like to receive a tax deduction for your donation, please make your check out to GRTL Educational Trust Fund.

A Crowning Worth Writing About

A crowning worth writing about…
by Ashley Wiktorek on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 11:09pm

To look back two years ago, I could have never imagined that moment when God blessed me and I was crowned Miss Right to Life of Georgia 2010 last July. I have never participated in a pageant before and I never considered myself the stereotypical ‘pageant type’. However, if ever there was a pageant for me to be a part of then Miss Right to Life was exactly the pageant. It is a scholarship and benefit pageant that stands up for its beliefs and we practice what we teach. With all the profits of the pageant going to Georgia Right to Life and the mission statement, “Mentoring and fostering a respect for human life while touching hearts, changing minds, and saving lives.” It is a pageant that was created and established by a small board of young women with the purpose of being proactive and allowing their voices to be heard for the Pro-life community. I wanted to be a part of this purpose. Forget what the media’s stereotype is of pageants. I may walk on a stage with a pretty dress and smile, but as Miss Right to Life of Georgia that is only two minutes of my year reign.

A year of reigning to make others smile through community service from baking cookies and singing to the patients at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home to walking in the together for life march in Atlanta, Ga. To top it all off, the highlight of my year when we signed pictures while dancing with the Olympians of the Cobb County’s special Olympics. No matter where I go, I attempt to always wear my title of Miss Right to Life of Georgia 2010 held high. I brought that title with me to Liberty University where I was able to share about the purpose of our pageant to many on my hall and my professors. I even got to meet Ms. Lila Rose, the president of liveaction.org. Overall this year, I reigned to the best of my ability and I would have not had a year reign without God guiding me every step.

I look back on my year as Miss Right to Life and I see a pageant that is creating young girls to be proud women of God. As I told the judges around this time a year ago…It is not about me having confidence in myself but in my Savior. My goal as Miss Right to Life of Georgia was not to be a role model but to be the best woman of God that I could be. In the process of this transformation, I have noticed that maybe I do want to be a woman a girl can look up too. In society today, the word ‘normal’ for us has become young women assuming something is wrong with them if they do not look like a girl in a magazine to MTV marketing teen moms and making their show one of the most popular among the nation. If you ask a middle school girl in today’s society, she will most likely say the norm is sex and drinking. Well if my beliefs seem to be radical because I refuse to let this be my ‘norm’, then call me radical. Miss Right to life is not about molding girls into something they are not and piling extreme amount of makeup on their faces. Our pageant is about showing the world every individual’s natural God given beauty.

God has transformed me into who I am. Why be what society calls normal when we were created to be set apart from the ‘world’. I am nowhere near perfect, but as it is written in Songs of Solomon, “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you” (4:7). So no matter what anyone thinks about me or the words they try to use to bring me down, I as Miss Right to Life and as Ashley Elizabeth Wiktorek stand strong to my beliefs. With my feet planted firmly, I praise the love God has for me because in the end, the only crowning worth writing about is Him, Jesus Christ.

What’s Chris doing this month?

July 3rd – Week 15

Chris’ taste buds are working!  Chris drinks more amniotic fluid and it tastes sweet.  Chris’ pain sensory system is developing, but who would want to hurt Chris?  Chris may be small, but he is growing fast.  Mother enjoys the fireworks and celebrates the birth of our nation, but Chris doesn’t hear anything yet.

July 10th – Week 16

“Soon I will be able to grasp with my hands.  What will I grasp?  My other hand.  Did you know that I have my own unique fingerprints, now?  My fingernails and toenails are growing.  I also have an adult’s taste buds.  My eyebrows and hair on my head are sprouting.  But it will probably change color and texture after birth.  I’m kicking, twisting, and flailing really hard.  But, mom can’t feel me moving, yet.”

July 17th – Week 17

“I’m getting a little baby fat under my skin.  My heart is pumping as much as 6 gallons a day at a rate about double my mom’s.  I can swim and kick and do somersaults!  I’m the same size as my placenta now.  I’m not a lightweight anymore – I weigh almost six ounces and I am about three inches long.  I will keep growing until I’m 23 years old.  I wonder how big I’m going to be?”

Mom might be able to hear tiny thumps of Chris’ heartbeat with an external monitor now.

July 24th – Week 18

“When I am sleeping, I have REM which means I am dreaming, but I can’t remember my dreams.  My vocal cords have formed but I don’t make a sound–must be because there is no air in here.  Isn’t it amazing that I’m able to breathe ‘underwater,’ inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid?  I’m working on developing great lungs.”

Mother may begin to feel Chris flutter in her lower abdomen.

July 31st – Week 19

Chris can hear his mother’s heartbeat and some other funny noises that she makes.  He is beginning to know her voice.  His umbilical cord is an engineering marvel.  It transports 300 quarts of fluid per day and completes a round trip of fluids every 30 seconds.

“Wow.  I really like sucking my thumb!  I wonder if mom is starting to ‘show’ me now.”