Life on the Road

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I think this is a really amazing campaign, and we will definately be participating!

(These are snippets from various sources, so please excuse any overlap or jumping around).

Visit the website for more info:  http://www.RedEnvelopeDay.com

When:  March 31st, 2009

What:  Get a red envelope.

You can buy them at Kinkos, office supply stores, or party supply stores.  You can even make your own – there are some easy-to-follow tutorials at Instructables (very easy!) and Expert Village (oragami!).

On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington , D.C. 20500

NOTE: Make sure you include a return address, or it will be sent to the Dead Letter Office!

On the back, write the following message:

This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world.

Responsibility begins with conception.

Please tell every one of your friends who you think would send one, too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died [in the U.S.] before having a chance to live.

Barack Obama spoke at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event, uttering the now infamous line, “Well, the first thing I’d do as president is, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. [Applause.] That’s the first thing that I’d do.”

An empty red envelope will send a message to President Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue [The Freedom of Choice Act, which will essentially "undo" every law currently in place to limit abortion in the U.S. (i.e., parental consent laws, parental notification, waiting periods, prohibition of transporting a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion, etc.)]. It will be quiet, but clear.

You can read more about The Freedom of Choice Act here:

http://www.lifenews.com/nat4359.html
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/22/obama_statement_on_35th_annive.php
http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2008/07/one_year_annive.html

There is also an option on the Red Envelope Day website to purchase pre-printed envelopes online, to be mailed directly to the White House on the 31st.  It doesn’t get any easier than that!

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How sad.

Women all over the world continue to have the choice to kill their unborn children – but I no longer have the choice not to support it.

They say they are “Pro Choice,” but of course that doesn’t include mine (not that I’m surprised by the hypocrisy any more).

I haven’t been keeping up on the details, but here’s today’s email from the American Family Association:

President Obama has lifted a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions, reversing a policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

Obama’s actions mean that hundreds of millions of your tax dollars will go to help groups like Planned Parenthood perform abortions around the world.

His actions came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.

Please take the action suggested below. It will not cause Obama to reverse his decision, but it will send a notice to him that unborn babies are human and deserve the same rights as the born.

• Send an e-mail to Obama asking him to stop funding the killing of unborn children.
• After you send the e-mail, please make a phone call (202-456-1414) and leave a message that you strongly disagree with Obama’s using tax dollars to fund abortion.
• Watch this one minute video: 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CaBR3z85c[/youtube]

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As summarized by the folks over at AUL, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would basically reverse every gain that has been made in the right to life for unborn babies for the past 35 years - such as, for example, a pregnant teenage girl having to tell her parents before getting an abortion, and preventing partial-birth abortions.

But FOCA would do much more than that: it would allow the use of our tax money for doing abortions!

Essentially, it would codify and enshrine a so-called ‘right’ to kill the unborn, even for no reason at all, and to use our tax money to do it.
 
FOCA is about to be passed by Congress, and the President-elect has already promised to sign it into law. In fact, he’s said it’s the first thing that he would do as president (video of the speech on the Fight FOCA site, links above and below).
 
In this link you will find a petition to try to stop FOCA from becoming law. I urge you to sign it and to pass it on to as many people as possible: 

http://www.fightfoca.com/

Beyond that, please write to your Congressperson urging him or her to oppose FOCA. You can let them know that you do not want to be coerced into paying for abortions by using your hard-earned tax money.

If private individuals want abortions, let that be on their conscience, but let not the Congress or the President coerce us into participating in what is already the largest genocide of all human history: 50 million abortions, in the U.S. alone.
 
Also, here is a suggested prayer that really resonates with me:

“May our President-elect come to realize that the life of the unborn is worth as much as his own life, we pray to the Lord.”

I like this Open Letter to Senator Obama that they put together, too. 

Here’s some more reading on FOCA, from the Catholic viewpoint:

U.S. Bishops’ Post Election Statement

Freedom of Choice Act
would coerce Americans to subsidize abortions with tax dollars,
counteract efforts to reduce abortions in our country

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued the following November 12 statement at the end of the U.S. bishops’ annual fall assembly
 
“If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil.” (Psalm 127, vs. 1)

The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historic transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all. Because of the Church’s history and the scope of her ministries in this country, we want to continue our work for economic justice and opportunity for all; our efforts to reform laws around immigration and the situation of the undocumented; our provision of better education and adequate health care for all, especially for women and children; our desire to safeguard religious freedom and foster peace at home and abroad. The Church is intent on doing good and will continue to cooperate gladly with the government and all others working for these goods.

The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.

In the last Congress, a Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) was introduced that would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any “interference” in providing abortion at will. It would deprive the American people in all fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. It would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce the number of abortions in our country.

Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed, as would be laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions would be abrogated. FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human life.

FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil.

On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have listened to women whose lives have been diminished because they believed they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted.

The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.

This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops, who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Those in public life do so, sometimes, at the cost of great sacrifice to themselves and their families; and we are grateful. We express again our great desire to work with all those who cherish the common good of our nation. The common good is not the sum total of individual desires and interests; it is achieved in the working out of a common life based upon good reason and good will for all.

Our prayers accompany President-elect Obama and his family and those who are cooperating with him to assure a smooth transition in government. Many issues demand immediate attention on the part of our elected “watchman.” (Psalm 127) May God bless him and our country.

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After my last post, one “voice of reason” liberal email pal tried to “remind” me that the Right to Life was just one issue of many vital ones we need to consider in this election.

I firmly disagree! 

Who cares if the economy gets better, or I get a tax break, or health care is “reformed,” or ANYTHING else…  if we as a nation are morally going to Hell in a handbasket?? 

(Rest assured that is not a casual profanity, but a very literal description!)

Aside from the candidates personal agenda, there will likely be two Supreme Court vacancies to fill during this term.  Who do you want to appoint those Justices, who will shape the nation for the next 30 years or so?

We MUST get the vote out on Tuesday.  Make sure your Brothers and Sisters realize that as a Christian (or other person of conscience), their vote for a candidate who will make righteous choices, even if they have qualms with other points he’s made, will make a huge impact on our nation where it counts.

As Rush Limbaugh said this week:

Focus, you people. Step #1: Drag McCain over the finish line. Step #2: Rebuild the conservative movement. If you have to, tell yourself you’re voting for Sarah Palin.

And a final reminder not to be fooled by the spin in the news, and the so-often-proven-wrong polls: Don’t Let the Polls Affect Your Vote from Karl Rove (credentials included in a sidebar).

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CAUTION:  There is some graphic discussion of unpleasant subjects in this post, and in the links provided.  Please use your discretion about reading it yourself, and especially on behalf of your children.

 A source I deem credible told me that Barack Obama supports Partial-Birth Abortion.  I was horrified.

First, a definition, so we’re all on the same page:

The partial-birth abortion procedure — used from the fifth month on — involves pulling a living baby feet-first out of the womb, except for the head, puncturing the skull and suctioning out the brain. The great majority of partial-birth abortions are performed on healthy babies of healthy mothers.  (From the National Right to Life Committee website)

Eeeew!  People DO that?!  Oh, yes!

So, I asked the question on a discussion group I belong to, composed primarily of “crunchy” mamas – split between liberal Obama supporters and conservative Christians (an interesting sociological phenomenon which I shall explore at a later date).  I told them what I had heard, and asked if anyone had any actual, factual information about that.

I received a host of fascinating facts and links.

Here’s a highlight of the voting record:

• Obama voted against a ban on partial birth abortion (SB 230 in 1997) while serving in the Illinois senate.
• He also supports and co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act (Bill Number: S.1173) in the U.S. Congress which removes all restrictions (including parental notification in the case of minors) on abortions.
• As an Illinois senator, he shut down a bill that would have provided protection for infants born alive after a botched abortion (instead of being able to leave them to die.)

Someone posted a quote from the good Senator as saying:

On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I’ve said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn’t have that.

This, to me, sounds like nothing more than a political spin. 

It’s really easy for him to say whatever he wants to, knowing that his position alienates a whole big segment of the population…  But actions speak louder than words, don’t you think?  Simply look at the voting record, above. 

Here’s a video of Mr. Obama with a telling quote:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNzmly28Bmg[/youtube] 

A BABY is…  a PUNISHMENT?

I hugged my kids tight and cried hearing him say that – and all the more so thinking that people are trying to elect such a person to lead our country. 

What happened to MORAL leadership?  A president we can look up to?  (I guess that all ended with Clinton?)

The Bible, of couse, says that children are a blessing from the Lord.  But even without that guidepost, can you jiggle your baby on your knee, and look at their drooly little smile, and …  I simply cannot fathom that as a serious position…

An intersting “scientific” tidbit was presented in the group discussion:

Of all methods of second-trimester abortion, the safest procedure (using mortality surveillance data) is dilation and extraction. – Source: http://www.emedicine.com/med/TOPIC3311.HTM

Erm…  SAFE?  Does the BABY think so?  As far as my understanding of the procedure, the mortality rate is 100%!  (Okay, or 50%, I suppose, if you count the mothers).  Talk about missing the point…

Here’s a powerful – GRAPHIC CONTENT – video on the horrors being perpetrated on over 3,000 American babies EVERY DAY, and about Barack Obama’s position with regard to them:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm1WIPGbGMY[/youtube]

And just to leave you with a smile, let me suggest that perhaps the reason the good Senator doesn’t “get it” is because he’s an alien.   ;>

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vws9fTtQgz4[/youtube]