The National Abortion Rights Action League has gathered statements or quotes from each declared Presidential candidate on the life issue.  Check out where your favorite stands before he or she becomes the nominee.

In World Net Daily article posted today, Dr. James Dobson announced that, as a private citizen, he will not vote for Rudy Giuliani if he is the Republican nominee for the 2008 election.  

Dobson and Giuliani part ways on several issues held dear to religious conservatives.  Last week Giuliani affirmed his support for abortion on demand, and is opposed to a federal marriage amendment (though he supports traditional marriage).  Dobson also cited Giuliani’s three marriages as a concern.  Quoting Harry S Truman, he asked “How can I trust a man if his wife can’t?”

Read Dobson’s article here.  Do you think this will have an impact on the Giuliani campaign either way?

I, for one, am glad that Giuliani and Dobson have both made their views clear.

Throughout his presidency, George W. has remained staunchly pro-life.  His May 3 letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi lets the Democratically controlled congress know that he will veto any bills that threaten life.
 
I am concerned that his year the Congress may consider legislation that could substantially change Federal policies and laws on abortion, and allow taxpayer dollars to be used for the destruction of human life
 
As you know, current law prohibits Federal funding for abortion, both domestically and internationally, except in cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother is endangered.  Recent legislative practice has ensured that taxpayer funds do not underwrite organizations that perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning.  Current U.S. law protects human embryos.
 
I urge that these and other existing, important protections be respected and continued.  I believe it is the most basic duty of Government to guard the innocent.  With that in mind, I will veto any legislation that weakens current Federal policies and laws on abortion, or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage.
 
These are just a couple of highlights. Read the whole letter here.

In a stunning 5-4 split, the US Supreme Court upheld the Federal ban on partial birth abortions. The bottom line: yesterday the procedure was legal; today, it is illegal. It is a great day for pro-lifers. More on this to come…

Good news from Oregon Right to Life’s Life Lobby Update.

Thanks to your dedication in writing and calling your Senators about SB 776, the attack on Pregnancy Resource Centers, your voice has been effective and the bill is dead.

As unbelievable as it sounds, we have received word from several different sources inside the Capitol including the Senate President’s office that the bill will not be moving forward. This is a great victory!

After hundreds of emails flooded Senate offices, the Pregnancy Resource Centers moved into action and more than 100 staff and volunteers came to the Capitol on Tuesday. What an amazing force! It was an incredible sight to be in a room with so many Godly men and women. The unity was overwhelming and even though it was an incredibly crowded, busy day at the Capitol, the right meetings happened with the right people.

It is cause to be excited and amazed, however we must remain vigilant. The supporters of SB 776 are not known for giving up. This particular bill may be dead in the water, but there are other means by which Planned Parenthood and NARAL can ask their supporters in the Legislature or the Kulongoski administration to attempt to harass pregnancy support ministries.

In his Chuck Colson’s BreakPoint Commentary yesterday he talked about The Jihad Against Pregnancy Care Centers, and charges that resource centers that don’t offer or refer for abortion “aren’t playing fair.”

Are pregnancy care centers playing fair? That depends on where you stand. Clearly, the abortion industry thinks it’s not fair that women are increasingly choosing childbirth over abortion. They think it’s not fair that pregnancy care centers tell women the truth about the physical, emotional, and spiritual after-effects of abortion. They think it’s not fair that pregnancy care centers are equipping themselves with ultrasound machines that allow women to see their tiny, unborn babies in action: a boy sucking his thumb, or a little girl turning somersaults.

America’s abortion rate is at its lowest point since 1993. Clearly, the abortion industry is running scared. Pregnancy care centers—with compassion, mercy, and the truth—are changing the hearts of abortion-minded women.

It looks like Oregon pregnancy care centers will be facing their own battles soon enough. Here’s the opening text of SB 776, introduced at the request of Planned Parenthood:
Whereas ‘alternative-to-abortion organizations,’ also called
‘crisis pregnancy centers,’ misinform and mislead women to deter
or to delay them from having abortions; and
Whereas there are 51 alternative-to-abortion organizations or
crisis pregnancy centers operating in Oregon; and
Whereas some crisis pregnancy centers intentionally choose
their names to mislead women into believing that the centers
offer a wide range of family planning and abortion care when they
do not; and
Whereas in order to confuse their clients and capitalize on
their patients’ confusion, crisis pregnancy centers design their
facilities to look like health care facilities and locate the
facilities near clinics that offer family planning and abortion
care; and
Whereas many crisis pregnancy centers not only mislead women
about abortion care but also will not provide information about birth control…

Oregon Right to Life’s Life Lobby Update is reporting on SB 340, which would ban tanning for teens under 14.  Amendments have been proposed that would expand the ban to those under 18.  Right to Life is pointing out the similarities between this bill, and parental notification before teen abortion.
 
There is already a law that requires parental consent for anyone under the age of 18 to use a tanning bed. The motivation behind the ban is concern for the safety of teens that use tanning beds, because of the health risk of repeated use. What is troubling about this bill is that it is supported by those who strongly opposed Measure 43. Apparently some Senators are concerned about teen health when it comes to tanning but not when it comes to abortion. It seems that their objection to parental notification was purely political and not because of their concern for teen health.

I don’t have a problem with parental consent for tanning, and there are probably good health reasons to ban it for those under 18.  But, aren’t the risks of tanning lower than those of surgery?  Why is abortion the exception?

There’s another birthday worth celebrating this week: Susan B. Anthony was born 187 years ago today.  This stouthearted Quaker not only fought tirelessly for women’s suffrage, but was also supported the unborn.  She published the following statements in her paper, The Revolution:

“Sweeter even than to have had the joy of caring for children of my own has it been to me to help bring about a better state of things for mother’s generally,
so their unborn little ones could not be willed away from them.”
 
“I deplore the horrible crime of child murder…We want prevention, not merely punishment.”

I’ve been amazed to find out more about the pro-life history of American feminism.  Anthony’s co-worker, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a mother of seven, said “When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.” 

Today, Feminists for Life continues the work of pro-life feminists like Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, spreading the message that “women deserve better than abortion.”

It’s Black History Month, a time to honor past achievements, and to look forward to the future. It’s also a time to recognize the injustice the African American community has faced, and is facing today. I want to particularly address a growing inequity in the United States: three times as many black babies are aborted as white babies.

In general, abortion numbers are decreasing. But, African American women are almost four times as likely to have an abortion as white women. 70% of abortion providers are located in minority communities. 15 million African Americans have been aborted since Roe vs. Wade. Today, African Americans are the only minority in the country whose numbers are declining.

It’s no secret that Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, wanted to use abortion to reduce the number of “unfit” in society. In her mind, “unfit” meant poor, mentally ill, or African American.

In 1939 she wrote to a colleague, “The most successful education approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

It seems that Sanger’s Nazi-esque goal is succeeding.

But, African American ministers, whose influence Sanger once used against their own community, are fighting back. Pastor Clenard Childress is a nationally recognized speaker whose website www.blackgenocide.com gives solid facts about abortion and the African American community, and offers resources for churches.

Pastor Childress is working to unite African American pastors and religious leaders to speak out against abortion, saying “If there’s a devouring force that’s decimating my community, as a shepherd, I must respond with the truth. …the devourer is the abortion industry.”

Bishop Daniel Robertson of Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Richmond, VA sponsored the first annual Pastors for Life Conference focused on reaching African American ministers. In an interview, Bishop Robertson said, “There are a lot of pastors, whether they’re Black or White, they’re just comfortable, they don’t want to stir up anything.”

Yet, he continued, “You can’t stay behind the stained glass windows of your sanctuary, you really have to reach out into your community and make a difference.”

These pastors are not afraid to stir things up, or to face the grim statistics on abortion and race. How can we honor these men and respond to their challenge, not only this month, but throughout the year?