Apparently, the effort to keep Tennessee from funding the abortion industry is not yet complete.  I don’t really understand the details.  Last week, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Speaker of the House Beth Harwell issued this press release:

The confusion surrounding the language in the budget regarding Planned Parenthood has been unfortunate. The Office of Legal Services advised House and Senate leadership that it is unconstitutional to amend general law through the appropriations bill (Article II, Section 17), an interpretation which would have put the entire budget document in jeopardy. It was not our intent to allow funding for Planned Parenthood. Our majority in the General Assembly clearly meant to defund them. We are currently working with pro-life activists to resolve this issue with legislation and we will put it to rest immediately upon the legislature’s return in January.

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey and Speaker Beth Harwell

CBR supporter Danny Bullington wrote Gov. Haslam and received this reply:

June 3, 2011

Dear Danny:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about Planned Parenthood. Listening to and learning from Tennesseans is very important to me, and I am committed to better understanding your concerns.

I am pro-life. I believe in the sanctity of every human life from the moment of conception. I am committed to protecting our traditional values, especially the rights of the unborn, and as Governor I am working to protect those rights.

No state tax dollars go to Planned Parenthood in the budget passed by the legislature this year. The current issue surrounds federal money passing through the state. I do have a line-item veto to reduce or disapprove a sum of money, but removing legal language – which is at the heart of this matter – would require the budget to be re-approved by the legislature, which has already gone out of session.

I am against tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood, and I am disappointed that the circumstances surrounding the state budget do not allow us to prevent this from happening this year. But I am already working with Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Speaker Harwell to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not go to Planned Parenthood in future budgets.

Again, thank you for contacting my office with your concerns, I look forward to working with you and all Tennesseans to make our state an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.

Warmest regards,
Bill Haslam

So, that’s all I’ve got.  But if you need more, try Google; they’ve got a search motor that’s catching on real big.  (Seriously, I think they’re going to make a go of it!)

One of the rising stars in the pro-life movement is Kelsey Hazzard, a law student at the U of Virginia.  She is also the founder and President of Secular Pro-Life.  Her latest project is a new website, AbortionSafety.com, which will target abortion-minded women with malpractice data and other information related to the “safety” of abortion.  Here’s the latest from Secular Pro-Life:

AbortionSafety.com

Secular Pro-Life announces a new women’s health website that will catalogue malpractice complaints against abortionists, and inform women about abortion’s risks and alternatives.  The website, AbortionSafety.com, has already garnered support from key pro-life leaders.

Secular Pro-Life, which encourages cooperation among pro-life people of all faith backgrounds, is organizing the project.

“There is a wealth of information in the public record about abortion providers who have injured or killed women,” said Kelsey Hazzard, the president of Secular Pro-Life.  “But the vast majority of women in crisis pregnancies simply don’t have the time or resources to go digging for that information themselves.  AbortionSafety.com will centralize the data and make it freely available.”

A team of volunteers, primarily students, is working with local advocates to gather information on abortion providers across the country.  AbortionSafety.com is set to go live in November 2011.  Fundraising is underway to cover the cost of advertisements, which will be tied to Google searches for terms like “abortion clinic” and “safe abortion.”

The site has been endorsed by Kristan Hawkins, the executive director of Students for Life of America and Pro-Life Action League president Eric Scheidler, among others.

“AbortionSafety.com is going to be a unique project and tool for the pro-life movement, because it will enable us to save thousands of preborn lives and prevent women from experiencing the trauma of abortion,” Hawkins said.

The project was inspired by the “Chicago Method,” a type of sidewalk counseling developed by the Pro-Life Action League, in which sidewalk counselors distribute copies of malpractice complaints to women entering the abortion facility.

To learn more about how you can support the project, visit AbortionSafety.com.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UOJ-rObuQ8

As Tennessee Right to Life and pro-lifers in Tennessee (including myself) were celebrating the victories won in the most recent Legislature, some in our movement were saying, “Wait a minute; not so fast!”

Many people, notably those involved in a number of Personhood campaigns all over the country, believe that laws restricting abortion actually help to enshrine abortion in the law.  Or that it has the effect of legitimizing abortion by implying it is acceptable as long as it is properly regulated.

J.D. Ellis, Tennessee Vice-Chairman of the America’s Independent Party (AIP) articulated the views of many:

… according to Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, the purpose behind SJR 127 is to, “restore common sense restrictions” on abortion, such as a 48-hour waiting period, parental consent, and a requirement that abortions be performed in a hospital after the second trimester. In other words, our “pro-life” leaders want to use this amendment to enact laws defining the conditions under which the murder of unborn children will be accepted. Is this a truly pro-life position? Does this really acknowledge the personhood, and equality under the law, of the unborn? What other group of living human beings would we treat this way?

After World War II, should America have demanded that Germany “restore common sense restrictions” on the murder of Jews? Would we permit the killing of, say, high school teachers, as long as the murderer first waited 48 hours? Or how about the murder of blondes, provided the murder was committed at a hospital? Or the slaughter of 5-year-olds, so long as we first notified the victims’ grandparents? “Common sense restrictions”? On murder? No, when we really view the unborn as persons, and abortion as murder, then such regulations are not “common sense”, but complete nonsense!

Aside from all this, the supporters of SJR 127 also seem to lack the foresight to perceive what would happen next time the Democrats regain control under a Constitution that gives them the power to “enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion”. This amendment would give a Democrat-controlled General Assembly the power to make abortion on demand completely legal in Tennessee, with absolutely no restrictions. Some “pro-life” amendment this is!

What do you think?  Is Mr. Ellis right or wrong to oppose these measures?

For more information on Personhood, click here and/or here.  One of our favorite people in the whole pro-life movement is Dan Becker, President of Georgia Right to Life and a leader in the Personhood movement.  Order his new book Personhood here or here.

Here’s the FAB view.  We will never change public policy unless and until we change public opinion.  And we will never change public opinion until we show people pictures of abortion, because only pictures will make people see that (1) the preborn child is really a baby, even in the first trimester of pregnancy, and (2) abortion is a horrifying act of violence.

Unless and until we show large numbers of voters the truth, then we will never win the legislative battle to change the laws, neither by the Legislature nor by passing Personhood amendments at the state level.

Having said that, we believe there is value in both protective legislation and in Personhood, and we pledge to do whatever we can to support both.

Legislation now saves babies now.  We rejoice over each life saved.  If a building is burning and 100 people are trapped inside, shouldn’t we save 10, 20, or 50, even if that’s all we can do?  And didn’t the abolition of slavery begin with restrictions on the practice?  To win those legislative battles, we must display abortion pictures so that voters can know what abortion is and does.  Even small changes in voting behavior will have a huge impact on the makeup of our legislative bodies.

Speaking of education, many in the Personhood movement believe that ballot initiatives are an excellent teaching tool for educating people about the evil of abortion.  Absolutely!  And to accomplish the education that is necessary to win this nationally, we must include abortion pictures in our voter education efforts.  Otherwise, the public will not apply the kind of pressure necessary to first overturn Roe v Wade and then outlaw abortion nationally.

At FAB, we are much like Billy Martin in some of those Miller Lite commercials from the 1980s.  We feel strongly both ways.  What do you think?  Please comment!

Tennessee Right to Life (TRL) is announcing major legislative victories in the most recent Legislature.  From TRL (edited by FAB for space):

Unprecedented Pro-Life Victories:  SJR 127 Wins Place on 2014 Ballot, Public Gets Vote on Radical Pro-Abortion Ruling

More than a decade after the Tennessee Supreme Court issued a wrong and radical ruling claiming a ‘fundamental’ right to abortion in the Tennessee Constitution, bi-partisan super majorities in the General Assembly have sent the matter for Tennesseans to decide in a public vote during the next governor’s election in 2014.  “At long last the people of Tennessee will have their say in this matter of life and death,” said Brian Harris, president of Tennessee Right to Life.  “Should a handful of activist judges make Tennessee’s laws on abortion or should it be the people acting through their elected representatives in the state Legislature?  We are confident that when it’s all said and done, the power for deciding such questions will be returned to the people,” Harris said.

As required for every proposed amendment to the state Constitution, SJR 127 passed for the first time in 2009 by votes of 77-21 in the state House and 23-9 in the state Senate.  Requirement for super-majority during second passage was achieved in 2011 by votes of 76-18 in the state House and 24-8 in the state Senate.

SJR 127 calls for a public voters to approve inclusion of the following language in the Tennessee Constitution:

Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.

As written the proposed amendment does not criminalize abortion but overturns the Court’s pro-abortion ruling, returns the Tennessee Constitution to a position of neutrality on abortion and allows the people of the state and their elected legislators to again enact meaningful protections for women and unborn children in our state.

While the Court’s 2000 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist makes it impossible to enforceprotections that violate the state’s newly discovered ‘right to abortion,’ Tennessee Right to Life has encouraged passage of policies which do not directly challenge the Court’s holding. Several such pro-life protections were passed by overwhelming bi-partisan majorities in the final days of the legislative session including:

• State Budget Amendment to Bar Funding for Planned Parenthood.  Further tightens 2009 effort by requiring that federal Title X family planning funds shall be used fully by local, county or municipal health departments and that no funds shall be disbursed to private non-profit organizations or agencies.  Diverts $1.2 million tax dollars from Planned Parenthood affiliates in Nashville and Memphis. Passed unanimously as part of final budget approval.
• Expansion of Tennessee’s Unborn Victims of Violence Act.  Extends current state law to include unborn children prior to viability as victims of assault or homicide.  Previous statute was only enforceable following establishment of child’s viability.  Passed House 80-0 and Senate 26-0.

[Note: if you wish to read the remainder of the TRL announcement, click here.]

Hats off to TRL for their tireless work on behalf of these legislative victories.  And hats off to pro-life people all over Tennessee who worked to elect pro-life candidates.

But some in the pro-life movement are not convinced that victories such as these are really a good thing.  More about that later!

Pro Life on Campus at the University of Delaware

Here is the media coverage from our recent GAP excursion to Maryland and Delaware.

GAP at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins News-Letter

• Pro-life activists stage protest (4-page item)
• Freedom of speech and expression (2-page item)

True Blue Conservative

• Pro-life activists stage protest

GAP at the University of Delaware

• Abortion protest to return to The Green
• Group’s comparison of abortion, genocide draws ire
• Pushing one’s ideas will never initiate logical debate
• Abortion display is misleading

Shirley Moore models the sign she held at the Planned Parenthood Framing Choice event.

Chris Lefebvre was among the pro-life crowd that attended the Planned Parenthood fundraiser at Market Square on May 6.  Here’s her story.

Hope for the Future

Seven bright-eyed high school students stood in Market Square on a recent Friday night.  Some of them held colorful hand-made signs defending life; others held signs exposing death.  They came to stand with a small group of adults, including at least one post abortive woman.  Together they formed a solemn semi-circle facing the stage where Planned Parenthood was holding its youth photo fundraiser called Framing Choice: What Choice Means to Me.

This small group had made the decision that Planned Parenthood would be confronted wherever they tried to promote their deadly deceptions.  It wasn’t easy to devote a Friday night to standing vigil; some of the folks who passed by made hostile remarks and some gave us disgusted looks.  Many more stopped to inquire and some even thanked us for being there.  Some of the people who browsed the display told us afterward that they had no idea it was a Planned Parenthood event; there were no signs indicating the name of the organization and they were surprised to learn the name from us!

Many of us who were there on Friday night face these kinds of events with a certain degree of trepidation, but it never fails that, when all is said and done, we find abundant blessings in being willing to take a stand.  This event was no different; the questions we were able to answer, the truth that was told about life and death and the seeds planted by that truth will bear fruit in uncountable ways.  The most wonderful blessing of all was the presence of those seven courageous young people.  They give us great hope for the future.

Please pray that God will guard them and add to their number.  Pray also that Planned Parenthood will not go unchallenged whenever and wherever they try to promote their deadly work in our city.

GAP photo in the Eastern Progress

Check out the media coverage at Eastern Kentukcy and the Univesity of Kentucky.  You think they knew we were there?

The Eastern Progress at Eastern Kentucky University:

• Abortion murals met with mixed reactions
• Debate looks into legality of abortion
• Abortion debate is a stalemate

The Kentucky Kernel at the University of Kentucky:

• Abortion display fuels debate
• Letter: Signs present inaccurate information
• Abortion signs depict genocide, breast cancer in false light
• Letter: In response to ..
• Offending social justice with social justice
• GAP uses shock tactics to effectively achieve goal
• Letter from Daniel Sparks

Blue Coast Live:

• CBR brings graphic pictures to UK campus
• Planned Parenthood support group VOX combats graphic display at UK

It’s one of the biggest obstacles to effective pro-life activism.

Perhaps the most important task for any pro-life campus group is choosing projects that are both strategic and effective.  Unwise choices leave the most important work undone.

But the transition of leadership from one group of leaders to the next is also very big.  In fact, we frequently encounter groups who have suffered greatly because the former leaders did not effectively pass the mantle of leadership on to the current crop.  Poor project selection and poor execution have been the inevitable result.

But we aren’t doing nothing to help the current leaders identify and train the next crop of leaders.  Each year, we co-host, along with the Students for Life of America (SFLA), our annual Pro-Life Student Leadership Conference.

SFLA has also been working very hard to improve the transition of pro-life leadership on campus.  Here is a video by SFLA’s Mary Kate Cavazos:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXQZRc_TmBE

In Walter Hoye’s weekly column, he quotes from Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, in which President Lincoln talked about the cost of victory:

The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!”

If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope–fervently do we pray–that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”

(As an aside, notice that Lincoln was completely ignorant of “separation of church and state,” but that’s another topic for another day.)

Anyway, Rev. Hoye went on to apply this principle to present-day abortion in America:

If a conclusion is the best explanation one can come up with at a given time to account for a collection of observations, events, and/or other kinds of data, then as I consider the abortion battle raging in our country, the “wealth piled” by the shed blood of the most vulnerable members of our country and that is to say our women and children, how over the last thirty-eight (38) years both the Democratic and Republican parties have repeatedly failed to end abortion, how “we the people” have failed to hold each other accountable for the lost lives of over 53 million babies by legally induced taxpayer funded abortion alone, how Christians have failed to stand boldly, unapologetically and without exceptions and/or compromises on clearly biblical values, I wrestle with the question asked by the “Angel of the LORD” (i.e., the Pre-Incarnate Christ.) in Judges 2:2 (AMP), “Why Have You Done This?” and physically shudder as I inevitably come to the following unavoidable conclusions …

1. Victory over abortion will come by the hands, feet and voices of those most devastated by abortion.
2. The Cost of ending abortion will not be less than the price paid by the victims of abortion.
3. The healing from the ravages of a rabid abortion industry will come by the heart of Christ in those most hurt by abortion.

Brothers, we really need to talk.

What do you think?  Is Rev. Hoye correct?  If so, how shall we respond?

This is too funny.  Check out his website.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0

Earlier today, Gallup published the results of their latest poll on abortion.  What does it all mean?

The Good

1. When given choices between none, few, most, and any circumstances, 61% said abortion should be legal only in a few or no circumstances, whereas 37% say it should be legal under any or most circumstances.  These numbers are very much opposed to the status quo (i.e., abortion legal under any and all circumstances).
2. Only 40% of younger people (18 – 34 years) believe that abortion should be legal under any/most circumstances, whereas 59% believe it should be legal under few/no circumstances.  This is almost identical to the opinions of those in the 35 – 54 age group and the population at large.  Again, a resounding defeat for the status quo.
3. Most people believe aborton to be morally wrong (51%) as opposed to morally acceptable (39%).  This is a 12% margin of victory for our side, but it is also puzzling.  Apparently, there are many people out there, maybe 10%, who won’t say abortion is morally wrong, but still believe it should be generally restricted (i.e., available only under a few or no circumstances).

The Bad

1. The numbers aren’t changing much.  On the main question (whether you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life), the results were 49% pro-choice and 45% pro-life.  This isn’t radically different from the 1998 results, which were 48% pro-choice to 45% pro-life.  Yes, the numbers bounce around, but it is hard to assert there are any consistent trends.
2. Despite a lot of conflicting data that others have touted, this poll shows that younger people (18 – 34 years) are pro-choice by a margin of 51% pro-choice to 42% pro-life, almost the same as the 35 – 54 age group, but more pro-choice than the overall population (49% pro-choice to 45% pro-life).  [Yet, as was detailed in item 2 under The Good, young people also believe abortion should be legal under only a few or no restrictions.]

The Ugly

1. The poll did not differentiate between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimester abortions.  Attitudes change dramatically based on the age of the baby.
2. People’s attitudes are inconsistent because most people simply don’t know much about it.  You could see that in the 1998 Wirthlin poll, which found that 61% of the people said abortion should be legal in the 1st trimester, but also found that 58% oppose abortion after the onset of the heartbeat.
3. Since 1998, the numbers have bounced around, with both sides claiming “trends” that could be expected to continue into the future.  The latest data suggest no such trends, only sampling noise.
4. Not much difference between genders, except that women tend to be more polarized.  More women than men thought abortion should be illegal under all circumstances (24% of women vs 19% of men).  But the women’s strong views also are evident at the other end of the spectrum, where more women than men also thought abortion should be legal under any circumstance (29% of women vs 24% of men).  Looking at it another way, 53% of women held one of the two polar opposite opinions, whereas only 43% of men held one of them.

So, is this good news or bad news?  Please comment!

We promised a detailed analysis of Harold Camping’s complex calculations that led him to declare that the world would end on May 21.

At FAB, we keep our promises.  See if you can follow the logic here:

1. Camping’s calculations were wrong.

There it is.  Did we lose anybody?

We love this story that aired on Mark Crutcher’s LifeTalk show.  In this interview, “Rachel” described how she has saved nearly 40 babies, and 40 moms, just in the last few months.

In this interview, she also describes how the clinics sometimes try to sell abortions to Rachel, even though she’s not pregnant, in order to defraud her insurance company.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtXIc1kq3Us

Darius Hardwick speaking with a student at one of CBR's Genocide Awareness Projects (GAPs)

CBR is pleased to announce the appointment of Darius Hardwick as the Regional Director for its Midwest Operations, based in Columbus, Ohio.  Darius has been on the CBR staff for more than 6 years, having previously served as the Director of CBR’s Northwest Operations.

Darius and his wife Janet were first exposed to CBR’s abortion imagery 7 years ago.  They were both nominally pro-life but not actively participating in the struggle for life.

Then they saw the pictures.

They could not sleep.  Abortion pictures were all they thought of for weeks.  They became monthly financial supporters and began to volunteer at GAPs.

The more he volunteered, the more he knew that he must make saving babies his full-time profession.  The other side has made killing babies a full-time profession, but we have made saving them a part-time hobby.  This is a huge problem, and Darius knew he had to be part of the solution.

Darius had owned his own construction business in Oregon for 10 years.  He had a substantial client base and was always busy, regardless of economic conditions.  But he was not at peace laying beautiful wood flooring, while babies were being killed every day.  After serving in the Northwest for a time, he moved his family of to Columbus, Ohio, to serve as a Project Director in CBR’s Midwest Operations.

Having previously served as the Northwest Operations Director, Darius brings outstanding leadership skills to his new role in CBR.  He has directed CBR’s Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) at some of America’s largest and most influential universities.  

Darius and his family are dedicated to showing people the truth of abortion and are excited for the future and all that God has for them.  We are excited that Darius and his family are on our team.

The Hardwick Family

It has come to our attention that the world is set to end on May 21, only 2 days from now.   This is based on a complex set of calulations that we will review on May 22 right here at FAB!

Read the San Francisco Appeal report here.  Until the big day arrives, you can keep up with the countdown here.

Apparently, there’s big money in predicting the end of the world.  KGO-TV reports that Family Radio has spent million$ on their campaign.  Does that mean they’ve raised millions as well?  If their prediction doesn’t pan out, will they give refunds?

Hey, whatever works.  If FAB predicts the world will end on August 15, you reckon we could raise million$ for our Fall GAP tour?  Let’s get started!