Today We Mourn

Some historical events are seared in our memories. Everyone in my generation knows exactly where they were when they heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated. I also remember where I was when I heard that the Supreme Court had legalized abortion-on-demand. I was bathing our infant son … our first child.

The radio announcer reported the story on that January day as though it was no more consequential than the other news items.

I was stunned. After so recently experiencing a life within me, it was hard to believe that the court could deny protection to that child.

I remember calling the pastor of our church and pleading with him to do something to stop this. He assured me that as soon as people learned what an abortion was, that the public outrage would force the decision to be repealed.

While we know what an abortion is – the poisoning or dismembering of a unique living human being – the resulting public outrage has not been sufficient to bring about that predicted repeal.

Today is the 40th anniversary of that decision. My curly-haired baby boy is now a grown man with children of his own. In Biblical terms, 40 years is a generation, and an entire generation of other baby boys and girls have disappeared – close to 56 million – a number difficult to visualize.

Here’s what 56 million looks like. Here are the “Aborted States of America.” The population of these darkened states is almost equal to the reported abortions since 1973.

Today you and I mourn the loss of curly-haired, blonde baby boys and dimpled-cheeked baby girls, and little ones with sweet smiles, soft red hair, or mahogany skin and warm brown eyes. All fresh from the hand of God. We mourn all of these children whose lives were somehow not worthy of protection by the laws of our country.

We re-commit ourselves to never being silent, never being passive, to be active in the pro-life movement, to never stop defending life until all of these children are protected.

And you and I wait for the outrage.

Blessings,

Pam Fichter

President, Missouri Right to Life

Responding to Roe: We Will Not Rest!

Thirty-nine years ago the U. S. Supreme Court wiped from the books of all fifty states every law protecting the unborn child. In what Justice Byron White called an act of raw judicial power, seven of nine justices imposed on our land the perverse doctrine that a woman’s dignity depends upon her right to destroy her child. In concurrent decisions, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the Supreme Court created a constitutional right to abortion on demand and initiated a reign of terror against unborn children that has resulted in the deaths of close to 55 million babies.

Those outraged by this attack on the most innocent of all life have over these last thirty-nine years relentlessly sought to restore the promise of our founding fathers of an “inalienable right to life.” We have been at this a long time, passing our hope and our commitment to new generations. Nowhere is this more clear than in the gathering of hundreds of thousands of pro-life citizens of all ages and religions from across the country in the annual March for Life in Washington DC every January – the largest, most continuous, peaceful protest in our country’s history.

But this sad anniversary also brings with it cause for great hope because we are winning this battle. More than 60% of Americans in a recent Gallup poll believe abortion should be illegal in most circumstances, a six-year high. Additionally, 51% of U.S. adults say abortion is morally wrong.

In Missouri as well, there’s cause for hope. The number of abortion clinics in Missouri has gone from a high of at least six to just one facility currently performing surgical abortions, the Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis. Another cause for hope is that the 9,796 abortions performed on Missouri women in 2010, the latest numbers available, represents a 9.4% reduction from the previous year – greater than the decrease in the five previous years combined and less than half of the all-time high of 21,671 in 1980.

The legislative response to legalized abortion has played a critical role in reducing the number of abortions. Legislation supporting alternatives to abortion, increasing clinic regulations and requiring that women receive more information about the life of their unborn child and the dangers of abortion have saved thousands of lives. Good pro-life legislation protects every unborn child and every expectant mother. Missouri Right to Life will continue working to save lives through the legislative process.

Efforts of those who offer alternatives to abortion, those who pray and counsel women at abortion mills, those who speak out on the pain of their abortion, and pro-life voters who vote in favor of pro-life candidates by a two-to-one margin have all made a difference. The evil inner workings of abortion are being exposed for all to see with the revelations of criminality and gross malpractice in abortion mills across the country.

The battle between the culture of life and the culture of death was imposed on this nation by the lethal logic that we are not required to respect the lives of human beings if they are too small, too weak, too dependent, or too inconvenient. While we pro-lifers know that we are winning, we also know that there are miles and miles to go. We will continue to work for protective legislation for innocent human life. We will continue to witness in prayer, provide alternatives, and speak out against the injustice of abortion. In the greatest human rights struggle of our time – if not all times – we will not rest.

Pam Fichter
President
Missouri Right to Life

Missouri Plans for Roe Anniversary

Pro-life citizens from around the state are planning activities to commemorate the sad anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Thousands of Missourians will be boarding buses to head to Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life. Several Missouri Right to Life chapters will also have events in their communities.

If you are unable to travel to Washington, please attend a local event to acknowledge the lives lost due to Roe v Wade decision.

March for Life Bus Trips

January 23-25 St. Louis metro area: Travel to Washington, D.C. on one of our Missouri Life Caravan buses leaving from throughout the St. Louis metro area. These buses still have room. Click here for more information.

To send off the Caravan, there will be a rally on Saturday, January 22 at the foot of the Arch at 9:00 am. We will have speakers from Silent No More, as well as Missouri Right to Life and clergy.

January 22-25 Sedalia: 2011 Right to Life Trip to Washington D.C. arranged by the Sedalia Chapter of Missouri Right to Life. Charter bus will leave from Concordia at 6 a.m. and pick up passengers in Sedalia and Kingdom City on the way to D.C. For more information email dfall@gogremlins.com or call 660-221-6138

January 21-25 Washington, MO: The bus from the East Central Chapter MRL Chapter in Washington, MO will leave Friday, Jan. 21 at 11:30 a.m. from Borgia High School and return at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Seats are still available, please email bill.gegg@att.net for more information.

January 24 Washington, DC: While in D.C. everyone is welcome to attend a legislative meeting on the morning of the 24th with Sen. Roy Blunt, Congressman Todd Akin (2nd District); Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (4th District) and Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (9th District). Schedule for the meeting will be posted on the Missouri Right to Life website within the next week.

Community Events

Saturday, January 15, Troy, MO: Lincoln County will be having the annual Pro-Life Vigil Saturday January 15, 2011. It will be at St Stephens Methodist Church beginning at 7:00pm. St Stephens is in Troy on Hwy 47 near Walmart.

Sunday, January 23, Monroe City: We are having a candlelight prayer service and march on Jan. 23rd. It will be in the K of C hall in Monroe City and begin with an interdenominational prayer service at 5:00 pm. We will then march carrying candles and crosses to the railroad tracks and back to the hall. Then we will have refreshments.

Monday, January 24, Washington and Union: There will be a Sidewalk Candlelight Vigil beginning at 5 pm at the corner of Jefferson and 4th Sts in Washington and also in Union at the town square.

Monday, January 24, Kansas City: from 12:00-1:00 p.m. Missouri Right to Life has organized the Annual Kansas City Prayer Vigil for Life at the Federal Court House, Ilus Davis Plaza, 400 9th St., Kansas City, MO. Join fellow pro-lifers to show your support for life and to pray for the success and safe travel of the March for Life pilgrims!

Monday, January 24, Warrensburg: Candlelight Children’s Memorial Service on Monday, January 24, 2011, which will be held at Sacred Heart Church, 300 South Ridgeview Drive in Warrensburg. The service will begin at 7 pm. Chaplain (Lt. Colonel) William A. Bartoul is scheduled to be the keynote speaker.

Monday, January 24, Sedalia: There will be a rally at 12:00 noon at the Pettis County Courthouse. Former Representative and pro-life activist Therese Sander will be the speaker.

SMILE! Your Mom Chose Life!

Pro-Life Observations on the 37th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade

These thoughts are meant to help people avoid the physical, emotional and spiritual pain associated with abortion. They are not meant to judge anyone who has ever been involved in an abortion. These thoughts might also explain why hundreds of St. Louisans are willing to spend the better part of three days on cramped busses bound for Washington D.C.. They’ll join hundreds of thousands of Pro-Life Americans at the annual March for Life commemorating this sad anniversary.

In 1972 America was told that if abortion became legal, it would be rare. Since Roe vs. Wade on January 22, 1973, America has seen nearly 50,000,000 abortions. That’s almost one sixth of our entire population. That’s anything but rare.

Many Americans think that abortion is only legal in the first trimester. That’s wrong. Also on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Doe vs. Bolton, that abortion was legal for all 9 months of pregnancy. Here is where 37 years of that thinking has brought us: This past December 11th, a woman in Campbell County Virginia purposefully suffocated her healthy, full-term, newborn child. She was not charged with a crime because the umbilical cord was still attached at the time of the suffocation. By law, it was just another abortion. Abraham Lincoln said, “The law cannot give mankind the right to do what is morally wrong.”

A few years ago, the Post-Dispatch ran an article on the pros and cons of abortion. On the pro-abortion side, a woman said that she chose abortion over adoption because she couldn’t stand the thought of someone else raising her child. And that is considered a good example of why we need abortion? How tragically misguided.

Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, called certain immigrants, blacks and people with disabilities, “a dead weight of human waste.” Sanger’s vision was an America with fewer, immigrants, blacks and people with disabilities Blacks account for 13% of America’s population and 38% of America’s abortions. Most abortion clinics are in black neighborhoods. Coincidence?

I just taught a class of teenagers about what actually happens in six different types of abortions. In one of those, a saline abortion, they take the amniotic fluid out of the womb and replace it with a strong salt solution. The baby then breathes in this solution, burning her lungs with each breath until, hours later, she goes into violent convulsions and dies. The mother then delivers a dead baby. A Room Mother came up to me afterwards and said, “When I came in here this morning, I considered myself pro-choice. I’m 45 years old and when I heard what happens in an abortion, I was shocked. I’m not okay with that. I now consider myself pro-life.”

Last November Abby Johnson, the Director of the Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas went in to watch a suction abortion. She had never actually seen an abortion performed. While watching the ultrasound of the tube going into the womb, Abby said, “I could see the baby…trying to get away from the probe.” They turned the vacuum on and she said, “I saw the baby crumple during the procedure. When I saw that, that was really when my heart was changed.” She quit and walked across the street to join a Pro-Life group praying for those inside Planned Parenthood.

Partial-birth abortion was banned in the United States because it is barbaric to put a scissors in the base of a live, partially delivered baby’s neck to create a hole for a tube that sucks out the child’s brains. But, is forcing a child to swallow salt water in a saline abortion any less barbaric?

I was describing a ghastly procedure called a D&E abortion, to a big city newspaper editor who yelled, “Stop! I don’t want to hear this!” And that’s the problem. America doesn’t want to hear what happens in an abortion. If they did hear, they would probably be like the Planned Parenthood Director or the Room Mother and say, “I’m not okay with that.”

In advertising videos, The Northland Family Planning Centers of Michigan say, “Abortion is sacred work.” According to Webster’s Dictionary, sacred means: worship of a deity…relating to a religion.

After 37 years of abortion on demand, many have come to regard abortion as a religion. And even a god. It is neither. There is one constant after 37 years: Abortion is still the violent taking of an innocent human life. Some things never change,,,,,,Or will they?

Steve Rupp
Vice-President
Missouri Right to Life