By Brenda Steele
Lila Rose and Live Action have succeeded in getting an Alabama Planned Parenthood abortion clinic put on probation. The clinic in Montgomery, AL has one week to answer charges it has provided abortions to underage girls, as young as 13-15, without parental consent. They must come up with a plan to address these state violations in the future or risk being closed.
A member of Live Action, the pro-life, youth led movement based in California, posed as a 14 year old seeking an abortion without the consent of her parents. She was told by a clinic worker that “someone else besides a parent could give consent.” This advice and counsel were caught on an audio tape the activist participating in the sting was concealing.
Live Action, a non-profit student group, led by 21 year old president, Lila Rose, has visited dozens of abortion clinics across the country. Members pose as underage pregnant girls seeking abortion counseling.
According to Lila Rose it is “routine at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics to be told medical lies and to be subjected to manipulative counseling.”
“They will do or say anything in order to sell more abortions to more women, whether it is covering up sexual abuse or lying to women about medical facts,” says Rose. “Our team has visited dozens of Planned Parenthood clinics undercover. Planned Parenthood, while claiming to support patient self-determination, operates with an ‘abortion-first mentality.’”
Lila Rose and her youth-led movement are “dedicated to building a culture of life and ending abortion, the greatest human rights injustice of our time.” They employ sting operations at abortion clinics throughout the nation, gathering information and proof that many are providing inaccurate medical counseling and abortion services to underage girls.
Planned Parenthood take notice: Lila Rose and the pro-life youth of Live Action who work alongside her, will find you out if, in fact, you are dealing in unlawful abortion practices.
Kudos to Lila Rose, to Live Action, and to all the other young pro-lifers in America who are becoming a pro-active voice in helping to stop abortion. They have courage, conviction, and commitment, but most of all they have a strong faith, and know what they are doing is God’s work.
By Deal W. Hudson
Move over Sarah Palin – the GOP has a new star on the rise! Former speaker of the Florida house, Marco Rubio, has pulled twelve points ahead of Florida Governor Charlie Crist in the GOP senatorial race.
Although the election is not until August, some political observers are speculating Crist will pull out of the race in time to get back in it as a Democrat or an Independent. Crist’s support has fallen from 53 percent in August to 37 percent as of February 1.
Rubio’s rise has been so meteoric he was pictured on the cover of New Times Magazine (1/6/10) under the headline, “The First Senator from the Tea Party?” The answer to that question, in my opinion, is “No” for several reasons. The first being the article’s implication that Rubio’s candidacy is appealing to some sort of extreme political element, when, in fact, Rubio is a fiscal and social conservative with strong appeal to moderates and independents.
Only 38 years old, Rubio, the son of a bartender and maid, is the father of four young children. When I met him for dinner a few weeks ago in DC, Rubio left the table to call home and tell his children ‘goodnight’ just before bedtime. Rubio, from the Cuban community of Miami, obviously didn’t do this for show — he often spoke in a self-effacing way about his wife, Jeanette, who reminds him to take out the garbage and “move those boxes.”
A few days ago I caught up with Rubio as he drove from Miami to Melbourne for a series of four appearances on the Friday before the Super Bowl. Football (Dolphins & Gators), by the way, is one of Rubio’s few hobbies. A former high school and college defensive back, he would play flag football on the weekends, when he had time. “I read a lot, “ Rubio says, “Right now I am reading, Peggy Noonan’s When Character Matters.”His choice of reading didn’t surprise me.
The old-fashioned virtues are important to Marco Rubio. His home, in a working class neighborhood of West Miami, is close to the home his parent’s bought in 1984 after moving back from Las Vegas. “The neighborhood is just home, close to my family, where I grew up, and where I feel comfortable.”
Cubans are known for having close ties to their families. For Rubio, being a father is the “most important” job he has. “As my kids gets older, if I get that job wrong I will regret it the rest of my life.” His children, ages 2 through 9, are two boys and two girls. His wife, Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, a Miami Dolphins’ cheerleader in 1997, was born in Miami to Columbian parents.
Rubio doesn’t think the surge of support for his candidacy is about him personally:
“I think it’s about our message. On multiple fronts, the American people think this administration is going in the wrong direction. They want to elect people to go to Washington, stand against this agenda, and offer a clear alternative.”
The Obama administration, for Rubio, lacks a belief in what has made this country the most free and prosperous country in history, the American free enterprise system. “The White House,” he argues, “has enacted policies that hurt the environment for business. Government should help investment,” Rubio explains, “with a reasonable tax policy, predictable, without an overly burdensome regulatory system — one that ensures the public safety and welfare.”
He points out that Gov. Crist praised Obama’s stimulus package. Rubio opposed it because he doesn’t believe that government should be spending money “we don’t have,” adding, “The debt we are saddling our children with is unconscionable.”
For Rubio, Obama’s lack of awareness of how his policies are impacting individuals and families also explains the negative reaction to health care reform. “People are reacting to the notion that the state is going to be in charge of another aspect of our lives.” Everyone understands that people need broader health insurance, but they are “not prepared to turn over their liberties to get it — they don’t want to live in such a country.”
Rubio has not been shy about mentioning his Catholic faith on the campaign trail. He told me that he hasn’t met any objections: “I don’t think my views should offend anyone — you can’t force religious views on anybody, but it’s an essential part of who I am, how I view the world, how I try to live, and part of that is we are all flawed and need forgiveness.”
We talked briefly about Catholic politicians who are elected and then cave in on issues like abortion, euthanasia, and the protection of marriage. “I have a consistent record on those issues, and they are not going to change with the polls or the times. Roe is morally and constitutionally wrong and should be overturned. Marriage is between a man and woman; it is the cornerstone of society, the best way to raise children, the product of a thousand years of wisdom.”
For Rubio, his pro-life convictions are the “cornerstone” of everything else. “A society that does not respect the sanctity of life cannot make sense of anything else, and it leads to absurd and dangerous policies.” Without a belief in protecting preborn life, “the entire society is endangered, and social justice cannot be the outcome of such an unjust system.”
As the son of Cuban exiles, Rubio’s core beliefs were shaped, not just by his Catholic upbringing, but by his parents’ stories, and the stories of many in the Cuban community of Miami.
“We are not just immigrants, we are immigrants of a unique kind –- the Cuban exile community has a real passion for liberty because we know that politics matters and has consequences. This awareness runs through the veins of our community, that liberty is not something that is self-perpetuated.”
Yes, Rubio is articulate. He still has the dash and charm of a young man. But he’s a seasoned politician, having just finished eight years in the Florida legislature rising to Majority Whip, Majority Leader, and Speaker of the House.
Keep your eye on Rubio; he’s got a personality, quickness of mind, and fearlessness, not often found in politics.
This just in from CatholicVoteAction.org! There are two things you should know:
First, Thomas Peters, The American Papist, who now blogs for CatholicVote.org will be on Hannity tonight discussing Henry Knox’s verbal attacks on Pope Benedict XVI.
Second, the president of CBS received a whopping big box filled with over 50,000 signatures in support of the Tim Tebow pro-life ad to appear during Super Bowl XLIV this Sunday.
Read more of what Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org has to say:
BREAKING: CatholicVoteAction.org blogger Thomas Peters will appear on Hannity on the FOX News Channel tonight at 9 PM EST. He will discuss the anti-Catholic attacks on Pope Benedict XVI made by Henry Knox, who serves on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. TUNE IN TONIGHT!]
Dear CatholicVote Member,
The President of CBS received a surprise at 9:53 a.m. yesterday.
A large Fed Ex box filled with nearly 500 pages of signatures from over 50,000 friends of CatholicVote arrived at the office of CBS President Leslie Moonves.
Enclosed in the package was a personal letter thanking CBS for standing firm and agreeing to air the ad produced by Focus on the Family featuring Florida football star Tim Tebow and his mother.
Brad Mattes, writing for LifeNews.com has compiled a lengthy list of President Obama’s “pro-abortion accomplishments” during the past year. His research confirms what we already know: Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion president in the history of our nation.
Mattes, executive director of Life Issues Institute, a pro-life educational group, lists these “accomplishments” month by month.
Obama’s first pro-abortion maneuver came his first day in office when he rescinded the Mexico City Policy which kept U.S. money from being spent on abortion internationally. And his pro-abortion record just went downhill from there, unless you belong to Planned Parenthood and consider it going uphill.
Brad Mattes, no doubt, would like President Obama to discover what pro-lifers know by reason, the natural law, and/or by faith: America has no greater resource than ALL its people, including the preborn.
In his State of the Union speech the president said those in office shouldn’t “avoid telling hard truths.” Well, Mr. President, the hard truth is that the America you lead is predominately pro-life, a fact that you seem to have ignored at your own political peril — we won’t speak of the spiritual peril.
Here is the beginning of Mattes’s helpful account of Obama’s dismal life record thus far:
By Brad Mattes, Life Issues Institute
I promised I wouldn’t just do what was popular. I would do what was necessary. — President Obama, State of the Union 2010
Mr. President, what you’ve done has been neither popular nor necessary.
Not a word was said, during last nights State of the Union address, about the administration’s pro-abortion ‘accomplishments.’ But they are many.
In January, just days after taking office, Mr. Obama rescinded a policy to keep US money out of international clinics that promote and offer abortions. Early nominations to the administration included the attorney who fought to starve and dehydrate Terri Schindler Schiavo.
By February, Mr. Obama took away protections for healthcare workers who could not in good conscience agree to assist in abortions.
Recent Comments