Pro-Life Topics
Thank you for visiting our site. Whether you are forming a
committee, would like to enhance a committee,or would like
to learn how to actively oppose abortion, you have come to
the right place. There is a lot of information and ideas available
for you to use. Please don't be overwhelmed. Read through
the information that is available and decide on 3-5 things
that you would like to start with. It is important to learn
about information, share it with your committe, family, friends
and then with the community. Details on how to Start a Committee
are below.
Abstinence/Chastity
Louisiana
Governor's Program on Abstinence - This
is an incredible program - your state may offer a similar
program.
Statistics & Facts - Learn about
& share your national, state and local abortion statistics
and facts.
Birth Control
Creighton
Method - The CrMS relies upon
the standardized observation and charting of biological
markers that are essential to a woman's health and fertility.
Natural
Family Planning - Safe and natural
way to plan your family.
Breast
Cancer
Linking Abortion to Breast
Cancer
Fertility Issues
Overcoming Infertility without IVF
- NaPro Technology
Unborn/Pregancy
Development of Unborn Baby
Catholic Charities Pro-Life Services - Learn
what type of pro-life services your local Catholic Charities
or churches offer.
Pregnancy Centers - Let your community/parish
know which pregnancy centers are available for unplanned
pregnancies. (Make sure these centers do not offer abortion
as an option or refer individuals to abortion facilities.)
Safe Haven Law - Safe
Haven Law allows you to drop
off your new baby without being charged with abandonment.
Abortion
Facts & Statistics - Human
Life International
Learn about Infanticide
Learn about Court Decisions regarding Abortion - Roe
v Wade, Hodgson v Minnesota
Planned Parenthood is the Largest Abortion Provider in our Country
Abortion Laws - Learn about the laws in
your state - abortions are allowed throughout the entire
pregnancy in the United States!
Abortion Statistics
Types of Abortions
& Complications
What Abortion
Looks Like
Why, When & How Many Abortions
Pro-Life
America
Expose
the Evil by Fr. Frank Pavone
Would you consider ABORTION in the following situations?
Dear
Mommy
Conceived
in Rape
Learn about Rebecca Kissling and other children of
Rape
Post-Abortion
Silent
No More Silent No More Awareness
is a Campaign whereby Christians make the public aware
of the devastation abortion brings to women and men. The
campaign seeks to expose and heal the secrecy and silence
surrounding the emotional and physical pain of abortion.
Project
Rachel
Rachel's
Vineyard
Meeting
Jane Marie
Adoption
Local Adoption Services - Learn
about your local adoption services and inform the communtiy
about them.
Stem Cell/Cloning
Stem Cell Research - Bioethics
Defense Fund
"Die
Anyway" Argument
Euthanasia
Freedom
to Die by Fr. Frank Pavone
Terri
Schindler Schiavo Foundation
Action
- Legal
Issues-
Take in active role in upcoming elections, www.Priestsforlife.org
has great resources for elections. Alert all members of
your parish and school of legal issues and elections. Encourage
them to take in active role in promoting Pro-Life candidates
and issues.
- Fundraisers
- Raise money and/or donate baby items to local pregnancy
centers. Visit/raise money for retirement homes - have your
parish adopt an elderly person.
- Literature
- Have Literature regarding all LIFE issues available in
the back of Church. Heritage House and Victory Won offer
a variety of brochures on all these issues
- Spiritual
Adoption - Many women, who discover they are 6 weeks
pregnant, do not realize that the baby's heart is beating.
The baby can flex his fingers and toes and suck its thumb.
Your prayers can make a difference as to whether this baby
will be born or be aborted. You can save a baby from being
aborted by spiritually adopting an unborn baby who is in
danger of being aborted. You will not know who this baby
may be; however, God knows his identity. You can name the
baby whatever you like. You then commit to pray daily for
this baby for the next 9 months. Your prayers will be heard
and this baby will be carried to term and experience the
fullness of Life! We believe that in heaven, you will meet
the babies whose lives you saved. For more information,
click here.
- Prayers
& Blessings
- Blessing of Mothers on Mother's Day and Fathers on Father's
Day.
- Have
a First Friday Holy Hour or Monthly Pro-Life Rosary
for the Unborn and their Mothers.
- Ask
your pastor to use Pro-Life Prayers of the Faithful
and bulletin inserts.
- Prayer
at Abortion Clinic
- Take time to pray at an abortion clinic. Many abortion
clinics have been closed because of prayer vigils held outside
of them. Try to set at least one day per month that your
committee prays outside of a local abortion clinic.
Monthly Pro-Life Projects
You can change the Months to coordinate with the school
year
January
*Baby Shower to celebrate the babies' lives that
were saved through Spiritual Adoption Program
*Parish Mass on January 22nd - the anniversary of RoevWade
March
*Begin parish-wide Spiritual Adoption Program on a weekend
near the Feast of the Annunciation
May
*Honor mothers at the masses Mother's Day weekend
June
*Honor fathers at the masses Father's Day weekend
October
Respect Life Sunday - first Sunday in October
*Honor Expectant Mothers at one Mass that Sunday
*Begin ACCESS Baby-bottle Celebration Fundraiser that
weekend
You could start a Spiritual Adoption Program this Sunday,
honor Expectant Mothers, etc.
Steps
to take to Start a Respect Life Committee:
- Read
this important
article from Fr. Frank Pavone.
- Email
us at choosethechild@cox.net
and ask for our Pro-Life brochures.
- Read
through this page and be sure to check out our
Pro-Life
Links page for additional important information.
- Decide
what the name of your committee will be.
- Set
the date for your 1st meeting.
- Decide
when the meetings will be held, (ie, the 2nd Tuesday of
the month, etc.)
- Inform
everyone about your new club in the school newsletter, church
bulletin, and the school/church website.
- Make
posters, handout fliers, invite everyone to attend the meeting.
- At
the meeting, be sure to get everyone's email address so
that you can have email contact with them to inform them
of pro-life events and legal issues that need to be voted
on. Although the members of the club may not be the voting
age, they can forward the emails to others who are.
- Goals/Mission
Statement - Establish the goals of your committee and prepare
a mission statement.
- For
more ideas, visit http://www.archdiocese-no.org/respectlife/how_to_get_started2.htm
If Mary was Pro-Choice:
God's Son would not have been born.
There would be NO Christmas.
God's Son, Jesus couldn't have died on the Cross.
Our sins wouldn't be saved!
Think about it, if Mary was pro-choice
we would would not be forgiven for our sins.
Can your teenager remain Abstinent until
Marriage?
In today's world,where sex is dominant, it is hard to believe
that anyone does or can remain abstinent until marriage.
With the media and society accepting that pre-marital sex
is the norm, many of our youth have mixed signals. So many
of the TV shows that our youth are watching promote sexual
activity before marriage, and, very rarely do these shows
inform them of the consequences of pre-marital sexual activity.
Many of oury outh don’t think about the risks associated
with pre-marital sexual activity, such as STDs*, pregnancy,
low self-esteem, guilt, rejection and more.
There are quite a few reasons why teens choose to engage
in sexual activity:
Sexual attraction, Social and Media Pressure, Peer Pressure,
Pressure from Partner, Parental Example of Permissiveness,
Low Self-Esteem, and Mistaken Beliefs. (1) However, the
number one factor that teens cited that influenced their
decisions regarding their sexual behavior is their parents!!(2)
It is important for parents to make their expectations clear
to their child. If we continuously send the message that
we expect them to wait until marriage and talk about it
openly with them, there is a higher percetnatge that your
child will abstain. However, by putting our daughters on
the birth control pill, we are telling them that we expect
them to have sex. What message do you want to give your
child? It is so important for parents to talk to their children
about pre-marital sex and its harmful consequences. Don’t
wait until your child comes to you –talk to them now
before they get their information from someone else. One
of the mistaken beliefs is that “everyone is doing
it”; however, less than 50% of teens are sexually active.
And two-thirds of teens that have had sex wish the yhad
waited. (3) It is also important to stress that any genital
contact is sex. Many teenagers believe that if they avoid
intercourse, but do “other things” that is alright.
In regards to any sexual activity, abstinence is the only
method that guarantees 100% that they won’t get pregnant
or get one of 50-60 of theSTDs* that are so common. Many
critics of abstinence education, believe that we should
also inform our youth of the birth control methods that
are available. However, this is only increasing the mixed
signals that the teens of today are facing. To tell them
“abstain from sex, but if you do it, use a condom”
is like telling a toddler she can’t have a cookie,
but showing her where the cookies are kept. How unfair is
that!
To take abstinence one step further, is to encourage your
teens to practice chastity. By practicing chastity they
are asking God to help them make the right decisions when
dating! Chastity means asking God to guide their thoughts,
their words and their actions on every date they have.(4)
It is so important that we ask God for His help. It is much
harder to be strong and do the right thing on our own. However,
with God, all things are possible. Chastity is a virtue,
which helps our youth realize that sex is not a bad thing,but
a beautiful act when performed in the appropriate time and
place of marriage. It is important to let your teens know
that their body is a gift from God and He wants us to live
a life of purity and respect. If we don’t respect our
own bodies, how can we expect our partner to do so. Respect
is such an important aspect in any relationship. Loss of
respect is the number one reason of divorce in our country.
If a relationship lacks respect it has no solid ground to
build upon.
There is so much information on this topic and so many things
you can tell your child about abstaining from sexual activity.
However,my favorite thing to tell them is “if you are
not sure “how far to go”with your boyfriend/girlfriend,
pretend he/she is your sibling and only kiss them or do
things with them that you would do with your brother or
sister”. This gets them every time.
Great websites on this topic: www.lovematters.com www.rockforlife.org
· www.abstinence.net www.chastitycall.org www.disciplesnow.com · www.christianitytoday.com
Does "the Pill" cause
an abortion?
With the birth of my fourth
child came many comments such as - "Are those all yours?",
"Are you finished yet?", "Don't you know what
causes that?". With only three children these comments
were very rare because our society accepts three children
as the norm. Although, I believe this may be our last child,
I do not know what God has planned for us. As a Catholic,
I have always believed that birth control was wrong because
you are relying on artificial means to prevent a pregnancy.
Only in the last couple of years have I come to know just
how harmful some forms of birth control can be. The method
of birth control I am referring to is commonly known as "the
Pill". Although almost all forms of birth control can
be harmful in some way, the Pill seems to be the most popular
and just as harmful as the IUD and other abortifacient types
of birth control. Though there are several types available
on the market today, they all work to do the same things.
First, they prevent ovulation by suppressing the part of the
brain, which signals for ovulation to begin. Second, they
change the lining in the cervix to make it more difficult
for sperm to pass through and fertilize the egg. They also
cause changes to the movement of the Fallopian Tubes, which
make fertilization more difficult. Finally, the Pill will
prevent implantation of a newly conceived human life on the
lining of the womb should conception take place.(1) This was
extremely shocking to me. When they were developing the Pill,
they realized that the first three mechanisms would allow
too many women to become pregnant. Therefore, they added another
chemical to the pill, which denies the growing baby to continue
to develop properly. The new conceived life will not be able
to implant on the lining of the uterus to continue it's growth.
Instead, it will be expelled from it's mother's body. It is
estimated that the Pill kills children between two and ten
percent of the time.(2) However, if the mother is taking antibiotics
and some other medicines, this will increase the abortion-causing
nature of the Pill.(3) Also, in 1988 the amount of the contraceptive
component of the Pill was lowered. The lower levels of this
component allow the abortion-causing component of the Pill
to come into play more often. It is estimated that today the
Pill causes abortions up to fifty percent of the time!(4)
It is so sad too think that some children's lives are being
destroyed without their mother even knowing they existed.
Please take the time to visit these links, which will answer
any questions you many have regarding this issue.
Pilltruth.com - http://www.pilltruth.com/law.html
http://www.pilltruth.com/company.html
American Life League - http://www.all.org/brthcnt.htm
Pharmacists for Life - http://www.pfli.org/faq_oc.html
Can
my teen get a SexuallyTransmitted Disease?
In todays' world, society makes
sex look like something very casual and common. However, the
television shows and movies don't show the horrible effects
of casual sex. Many teens today think that "having sex"
means having intercourse. While they refrain from intercourse,
they believe it is all right to participate in other sexual
activites and sexual contact. What they don't realize is that
although a girl can't get pregnant from these sexual activities,
both can get one of the very common STDs. Any STD you can
get from vaginal sex, you can get from oral sex too, especially
Syphilis, Gonorrhea & Herpes.
Of course, many teens think
"it will never happen to me." What they don't realize
is that STDs are the most common disease in America next to
the cold & flu!!! In 1970 there were 2 STDs, today there
are 35-50 different kinds of STDs, 25 Major STDS- 20 are rampant
among the young!!
· Do you know 4 friends
who are sexually active? Statistics say that one of them has
an STD and may not even be aware of it yet!
· You are 4 times more
likely to get an STD than get pregnant!· Nearly 15
million new STD cases each year over 3 million teens, 10 million
under the age of 25 become infected. Roughly half of them
are lifetime infections!
· 46% of girls catch
HPV after having sex ONLY ONE TIME!! · In next 24 hr,
41,000 people will contract an STD - 12,000 teens!!
· 65 million Americans
have an incurable STD!
· 41,000 per day new
cases of STDs!
· 3 million new cases
of chlamydia each year!
· 1967, 1 in 32 people
had an STD, now 1 in 5 Americans are presently infected with
an STD, that's over 65 million people!
Here are some FACTS on STDs:
· 80-90% of those infected
do not develop initial symptoms-symptoms may not show for
weeks, months, years - BUT ARE STILL CONTAGIOUS!
-STDS are NOT prevented
with condom use - condoms often fail to prevent pregnancy,
which is only possible a few days a month. STD's are there
24/7!!!
· Condoms at best, reduce
risk of HPV & Gonorrhea in men, but for all other STDs,
there is no evidence that condoms reduce the risk at all!!
(Nat Inst of Health) Condom use has gone from 21%-67% in last
20 years, but STDS have skyrocketed!
· HPV - Human Papillomavirus-
most common STD in USA-condoms can't protect you from this
STD. With this STD, you may have warts. However, the symptoms
may not show up, warts may be on cervix. This STD is the #1
cause of cervical cancer. 99.7% of cervical cancer cases worldwide
are caused by HPV-cervical cancer kills 7000 women a year!!!.
· Bacterial STDs-gonorrhea,
syphilis & chlamydia are cured with antibiotics
· Viral STDs- HIV, Hepatitis
B and herpes are incurable and last a lifetime!· You
could be legally liable if you infect someone!!
· STDs can lead to Pelvic
Inflammatory Disease (PID), which can lead to infertility-you
may not know until you are married and trying to conceive!!
· STD infections increase
the possibility of contracting AIDS!!
Interesting Story: A dad had
herpes and passed it on to his baby. The baby had a 50% chance
of dying or having severe brain damage. Herpes caused the
baby's brain to look like swiss cheese. The baby lived but
has severe brain damage.
It is so important for us to
teach our children that our bodies are temples of God - your
body, your health, and sexuality are gifts from God. God gave
us our bodies to keep them pure. Tell your teen to think of
this question before deciding to become sexually active -
Is one orgasm worth dying for?
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