May 24, 2010
In This Issue:
|
|
Contact
Us
|
|
Donate
by the Web
or Call (877) GOD'S-WILL
|
|
Victory for life, but boycott of UW
continues
The following editorial was in the Thursday, May 20
edition of the Madison Catholic
Herald. It outlines the Madison Surgery Center victory, our
continuing boycott of the University of Wisconsin (UW) and what we are
doing.
Victory for life, but
boycott of UW continues
By Virginia Zignego
The Wisconsin Attorney General's office confirmed last week that the
Madison Surgery Center (MSC) will not be providing late-term abortions.
Thank God! For that reason, we are happy to announce that the boycott
of the Madison Surgery Center has ended.
The University of Wisconsin, however, continues to insist it is
committed to providing late-term abortions in the Madison area. There
is no chosen location as yet to replace the Madison Surgery Center, and
the UW is cloaking their search in secrecy.
Pro-Life Wisconsin's Matt Sande told LifeSiteNews, "While UW Health may
be committed to this procedure in general, somewhere, sometime, that's
one thing -- but that doesn't say where you're doing it. It's a way for
them to save face. They didn't want to say that, 'yes, we've abandoned
plans at the Madison Surgery Center.' They're loathe to say that."
Victory for pro-lifers
This is a victory for all those who participated in 40 Days for Life, standing at the
corner every morning at 7 a.m. with a pro-life sign as the MSC
employees came to work.
This is a victory for the volunteers who spent hours on the corner of
Park St. and Regent St., being threatened, yelled at, and given obscene
gestures. This is a victory for the thousands who signed our pro-life
petition, boycotted the MSC, and contributed to our pro-life TV
commercials.
This is a victory for the thousands who attended our pro-life rally in
February, standing in single digit temperatures to witness to life.
State director Peggy Hamill led our closing vigil at the Madison
Surgery Center on Friday, May 7.
To all of you: We salute you and may God bless you!
More UW ties to Planned
Parenthood
Earlier this year, Pro-Life Wisconsin revealed that medical residents
at the University of Wisconsin have two four-week rotations at Planned
Parenthood. An open records request confirmed that since 2007, more
than $58,878 of funds of a state agency have gone to train abortionists
at Planned Parenthood.
On behalf of Pro-Life Wisconsin, the Alliance Defense Fund filed a
formal request on April 16 with the Wisconsin Attorney General's
office. The request asks for an opinion on whether it is illegal for
the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority (UWHCA) to
pay resident physicians while they are being trained to do abortions at
Planned Parenthood in Madison.
How tied to Planned Parenthood is our taxpayer-funded University of
Wisconsin-Madison, the "flagship" of the UW System?
To read more, click
here.
|
Bishop
Olmsted
of
Phoenix excommunicates nun involved in abortion
From LifeSiteNews:
The Catholic Physicians Guild of Phoenix has come out in support of
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, who expressed outrage that a nun
administrator at a Catholic hospital in his diocese permitted a direct
abortion. The bishop said those who were formally involved in the
abortion were automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
"The Catholic Physicians Guild of Phoenix fully supports the Most Rev.
Thomas J. Olmsted with respect to matters of life of a mother pregnant
with a child in her womb," stated William H. Brophy, M.D., president of
the Guild, as published in the Arizona Republic Wednesday. "The Guild
stands by the church's teaching that is guided by the Holy Spirit in
ordering life toward truth and love."
Brophy continued: "An action which is in and of itself wrong, in that
it lacks goodness as discerned by the light of human reason, is never
justified by circumstances or intended end. Such is the case of
abortion. A medical procedure, where the direct intention is the
termination of pregnancy, is an abortion."
Echoing the sentiments of the Phoenix Bishop, Brophy reaffirmed that
"medical treatments are appropriate for the direct purpose of curing a
proportionately pathological condition of a pregnant woman, when they
cannot be safely postponed until the unborn child is viable. When an
unborn child attains viability, labor may be induced."
Olmsted had rebuked a religious sister and Catholic hospital
administrator, who condoned a 2009 abortion on an 11-week pregnant
woman suffering from pulmonary hypertension. According to the diocese,
Sr. Margaret McBride of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in
Phoenix told the bishop that she believed the abortion "was a morally
good and allowable act according to Church teaching."
However, Olmsted, in a statement provided to the Republic,
said , “An unborn child is not a disease." "While medical professionals
should certainly try to save a pregnant mother's life, the means by
which they do it can never be by directly killing her unborn child. The
end does not justify the means," he said.
Dr. Paul A. Byrne, Director of Neonatology and Pediatrics at St.
Charles Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, told LifeSiteNews he knew of no
situations when an abortion was necessary to save the life of the
mother, and "given just pulmonary hypertension, the answer is no” to
abortion.
Sr. McBride has since been demoted from her position as vice president
of mission integration.
|
Pro-life
baby
shower
Pro-Life Wisconsin, Vigil for Life of
Madison
and
the
Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe hosted a baby shower
for a couple who, due to the efforts of sidewalk counselors, did not
abort their baby. At least 75 people attended the baby shower, held
Sunday May 23 at St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison. More than 100
people sent gifts for the couple and their family. The baby shower was
a wonderful, life-affirming event. Thanks to all who attended,
contributed and prayed for the family!
Top: Laura Karlen
(left, in
blue) of Vigil for Life; Jen Dunnett (holding baby) of the Servants of
Our Lady of Guadalupe; and the family with their baby.
Bottom: Pro-Life
Wisconsin's Virginia Zignego with baby Zion. He is a very cute baby!
Back To Top
|
Griswold v. Connecticut prayer
vigils
June 7 marks the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision
Griswold v. Connecticut, which set a legal precedent by claiming the
Constitution grants women the "right to privacy" in matters of sexual
practice. This paved the way for Roe v. Wade and abortion on demand. As
in years past, Pro-Life Wisconsin affiliates will observe the day with
prayer and a community presence outside abortion mills and birth
control centers.
American Life League has taken our Griswold v. Connecticut observances
to a national level. Visit thepillskills.com
for more information. Pro-Life Wisconsin is a proud co-sponsor of
American Life League's Pill Kills nationwide events.
-Pro-Life Wisconsin Juneau County
will gather at Family Planning Health Services, 522 Hwy. 82 E in
Mauston, on June 7 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin
Winnebago/Outagamie will gather at Planned Parenthood in
Appleton, 3800 N. Gillette St., on June 8 at 10 a.m.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Milwaukee County
will gather at Planned Parenthood on Hwy. 100 and
Lincoln Ave. in West Allis, on June 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. An
ice cream social will follow.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Jefferson County
will gather at Planned Parenthood in Johnson Creek on June 7 from 7
p.m. to 7:30 p.m. An ice cream social will be held after.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Dane County
will hold a prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood on Orin Rd. in Madison
on June 7 at 10 a.m.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Walworth County will
hold
a
prayer vigil on June 8 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Planned
Parenthood in Delavan.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Kenosha will
gather
on
June 5 at 11 a.m. at Planned Parenthood on Roosevelt Rd. and
36th Ave. in Kenosha.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Rock County
will hold a vigil on June 4 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the local
abortion mill, 10th St. & Broadway, in Rockford, Ill.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Portage County
and the Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe will hold a prayer
vigil on June 7 at 4:30 p.m. at the Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin
Rapids. An additional vigil will be held June 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Stevens
Point at the Family Planning Health Services on Division St.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Marathon County will
gather
on
June 7 at 3 p.m. at the Family Planning Health Services on
719 N. 3rd Ave. in Wausau.
- Pro-Life Wisconsin Fond du Lac
will gather at Planned Parenthood, 333 N. Peters Ave, on June 5 at
10:30 a.m.
Back To Top
|
Golf
for
Life
Pro-Life Wisconsin's Annual Golf Outing
Saturday, June 26
8:30 a.m. registration
9 a.m. shotgun start
Reception and lunch to follow
Kettle Hills Golf Course
3375 Highway 167 West
Richfield, WI 53076
$50 per person
Includes 9 holes of golf (scramble format), shared cart, contests,
lunch and prizes.
To register, call Pro-Life Wisconsin at (877) 463-7945 or register
online.
|
Pro-Life
Wisconsin:
Your
first and last line of defense in Madison
Pro-Life Wisconsin (PLW) is proud to be your 100% pro-life voice at the
State Capitol during every legislative session. The 2009-2010
legislative session was the roughest in our organization’s nearly
20-year history. Pro-abortion Democrats rammed through their offensive
abortion/family planning agenda. Despite our staunch defense, we were
unsuccessful in killing their anti-life bills.
How could this happen? Regrettably, what we warned about two summers
ago in fact happened. On Election Day, November 4, 2008, pro-abortion
Democrats took over the majority in the State Assembly and retained
control of the State Senate. Together with Governor Jim Doyle,
Democrats control all of Wisconsin government – for the first time in
over two decades. These are pro-abortion/anti-life majorities, and as a
non-partisan organization, that is why PLW opposes them. As you will
see from the grim results, elections do matter.
Let’s recap what your PLW legislative affairs team worked on during the
2009-2010 session. The measures detailed below have one thing in
common: all are backed by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (the state’s
#1 abortion provider) and all forcefully push contraception on a
populace that either didn’t ask for it or is morally opposed to
it. If one doubts the link between contraception and abortion,
read on.
Forcing Contraception
Education/ Instruction into Public Schools
Pro-Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Family Action led the fight against
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s so-called Healthy Youth Act. Assembly
Bill (AB) 458 effectively prohibits local public school districts from
adopting "abstinence-only" or "abstinence-centered" human growth and
development programs - a freedom and flexibility they enjoy under
current law. Under the legislation, if a school district chooses
to adopt a human growth and development program it is forced to include
in its curriculum instruction on the "health benefits, side effects,
and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods." Governor Doyle
signed AB 458 into law as 2009 Wisconsin Act 134 on February 24,
2010.
Government-funded birth control, whether provided directly or promoted
educationally, encourages sexual promiscuity and with it a host of
social pathologies including underage pregnancies, chemical and
surgical abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases. Hormonal
contraceptives are also dangerous in their own right, posing serious
and sometimes fatal health risks to women and often causing
pre-implantation chemical abortions.
Pro-Life Wisconsin opposes the sexualization of our children! As
parents and concerned citizens, we need to fight this assault on our
youth. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect their
bodies and preserve their innocence. Pro-Life Wisconsin urges public
school districts across Wisconsin to drop their human growth and
development programs. If a school district retains or initiates a
program, we urge parents to opt their children out of the program and
either teach the subject matter themselves or find a private program
that teaches chastity/abstinence.
Biennial Budget Bill
The state biennial budget bill (Assembly Bill 75) as passed by the
Democrat-controlled Assembly and Senate and signed into law by Governor
Doyle contains three Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin legislative agenda
items. Together these items undermine parental authority, threaten the
physical and moral health of our teen children as well as violate the
lawful conscience rights of pro-life pharmacists, health insurers, and
other businesses.
Pro-Life
Wisconsin
was
the only statewide pro-life organization to oppose these
radical measures:
(1) Expanding the Medicaid Family Planning Waiver Program to men aged
15-44. This state/federal program provides free, taxpayer-funded birth
control to 15, 16 and 17-year-old girls without their parents’
knowledge or consent. This undermines parental authority and increases
underage pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
by encouraging sexual promiscuity. Expanding the program to enroll 15-,
16-, and 17-year-old boys further undermines parental authority in the
sensitive area of teen sexual health.
(2) Forcing pharmacies to dispense prescribed contraceptive drugs or
devices “without delay.” Under this item, contraceptives are defined to
include any drug or device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration that is used to “prevent pregnancy,” including those
restricted to distribution by pharmacies such as the morning-after
pill. Violators face up to $2,500 in forfeitures for each
violation.This measure is a bold attack on the lawful conscience rights
of pro-life pharmacy owners.
(3) Forcing commercial health insurance plans and self-insured
governmental health plans (state, county, town, village, or school
district) to cover contraceptive drugs and devices. Under this item,
contraceptives are defined as drugs or devices approved by the FDA to
“prevent pregnancy.” Pregnancy is not a disease. The government should
not force private and public health insurers – and the policy holders
(businesses and individuals) who will pay for this expansion through
increased premiums – to cover drugs and devices that are purely
elective and morally problematic.
These sweeping social policy items had no place in our state budget
bill. The social implications of these measures are enormous and should
have been debated in the light of day as separate legislation.
On a hopeful note, the above challenges afforded Pro-Life Wisconsin an
incredible opportunity to spread the Gospel of Life in Madison and
throughout Wisconsin. The television, radio and print media did a good
job of covering our concerns. The pro-life legislative battles we
engage in are not only to win votes on the Assembly and Senate floors.
PLW uses the legislative arena as a platform to evangelize the state,
changing hearts and minds toward a culture of life and love. As
pro-lifers, we remain confident that our efforts have a positive,
though often unseen, effect.
|
Courtesy
announcements
Holy Hour for the Unborn:
St.
John
the Evangelist Parish, 8500 W. Cold Spring Rd., Greenfield,
Wis. We come together every fourth Wednesday of the month from 7 p.m.
to 8 p.m. to pray for the end of abortion. The church has 24 hours of
Adoration seven days a week. Contact Kathy Knaack with questions,
Kathy.knaack@gmail.com.
SOUL Ride: Charity
motorcycle ride for WELS Lutherans for Life, Metro-Milwaukee will be
held on Saturday, June 12. It will start at 10 a.m. at Salem Lutheran
Church on 107th St., wind through scenic Kettle Moraine/Holy Hill area,
and end at Sam's Club on North 76th St. and Calumet. All paid
registrants will receive a T-shirt and picnic lunch. Whether you own or
ride a motorcycle or not you can join us for this event that supports
the pregnancy care centers and the sanctity of human life by providing
healthy choices. Register online at www.SOULRide.org,
call
(414)
727-8176 or office@welslflmilw.com for a registration form
or more information.
Eyewitness for Life:
You
are
invited to learn about the important lifesaving work of
Eyewitness for Life. By attending a one-hour Seeing is Believing event
you will get to tour our new facility and learn how Eyewitness for Life
utilizes the miracle of ultrasound technology to rescue the women we
serve, and the children they are carrying, from the tragedy of abortion
- thereby saving two lives at a time. The upcoming event will be held
on June 26. Our program begins at 10 a.m. Eyewitness for Life is
located at 9008 W. Burleigh St., Milwaukee. Call (414) 462-5483 or
email eyewitness@milwpc.com with questions.
St. Mary's Oratory Holy
Name Society prays the Rosary once a month on Saturday at 10:45
a.m. at Family Planning Health Services. Call Ron Putzer at (715)
842-5368 to confirm date.
Cenacles of Life
meets every Saturday morning at 6:45 a.m. to pray two Rosaries for
pro-life intentions before the 7:30 a.m. Mass at St. Mary's Catholic
Church in Pine Bluff, west of Madison.
The Servants of Our Lady
of Guadalupe has a prayer vigil every Monday at 4:30 p.m. in
Wisconsin Rapids on 8th St. by the Shopko mall to pray for the closing
of the Planned Parenthood. If you have any questions contact Will
Goodman at (608) 698-7443.
The Servants of Our Lady
of Guadalupe has a prayer vigil every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in
Stevens Point in front of the strip mall next to Family Video to pray
for the closing of Family Planning Health Services. If you have any
questions contact Jen Dunnett at (715) 340-2779.
|
|
