I finished Part 1 last week informing you that in just a single year, from 2008-09, Planned Parenthood received $363.2 million in government grants and contracts, a $13.6 million increase from the previous year, which resulted in 324,800 abortions. I then left you to ponder this question, which Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asked more than a year ago: "Why should people of conscience be forced to participate in any aspect of abortion?"
That is exactly where Washington is leading us unless this 112th Congress detours from forcing pro-life citizens to pay for abortions via Obamacare or the passing of some legislation like the Freedom of Choice Act.
Thank God the pro-life cavalry has come to Washington. But it needs our help to rally our representatives.
Given that the 112th Congress is the most pro-life Congress in recent history, now is the time to act and stop government subsidies killing innocent unborn life. I'd even challenge tea parties across our country to fight for the unborn as hard as we do for fiscal frugalness and the Constitution.
In our passionate pursuit to cure our economy, are we abandoning those who one day will run it? We must fight equally for freedom fighters within the womb and those outside of it. Abortion isn't health care!
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation establishing National Sanctity of Human Life Day, which also was issued by Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. It is held on the Sunday in January that falls closest to the day (Jan. 22) on which the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions were handed down by the Supreme Court in 1973.
This year, tens of millions will commemorate another Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (Jan. 23) in tens of thousands of churches across America. If you want to make a difference this year, here are eight excellent action items:
--Encourage your church's leaders to join the throng of others in commemorating Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Send them this article, along with your thoughts and the contact information for the official Sanctity of Human Life Sunday website (http://www.sohls.org, 205-979-7909), so they can find out different ways they can highlight the fight for life on Jan. 23.
--Sign the Family Research Council's latest petition to Congress. Go to http://www.frc.org, and click on "action." Then click on "Help American taxpayers get out of the abortion business."
--Personally contact your representative and senators at 202-224-3121 or http://www.house.gov and http://www.senate.gov, and then contact the White House (202-456-2111, fax: 202-456-2461). Tell them that as an American citizen, you demand them to fight for the rights of the unborn. Ask them to join Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., and Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., in their legislation, the Protect Life Act, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., in his reintroduction of the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, as well as Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Lipinski in their reintroduction of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.
--Oppose the work and government financing of Planned Parenthood, which has just filed a restraining order trying to keep you from discovering information from a former Planned Parenthood director (Bryan, Texas) and "Employee of the Year," Abby Johnson. There's no doubt why; Abby already has helped to expose the multibillion-dollar marketing of abortion, in the fifth episode of the Emmy-winning series "Facing Life Head-On," available to watch online. She also is blowing the whistle on her former employer and telling the shocking truth about everything that she saw inside the abortion industry -- and why she resigned her job to join the pro-life movement -- in her brand-new book, "Unplanned." (You can get a free chapter of it at http://UnplannedWebcast.com.)
--Join the 40 Days for Life campaign at http://40DaysForLife.com. It runs from March 9 to April 17.
--Read the article "50 Ways To Help Unborn Babies and Their Mothers," by my friend and prolific author Randy Alcorn. It's one of a host of great resources at his website, http://www.epm.org.
--Get involved supporting and fighting for the future generations in your local community -- for example, in your schools, in your churches or through nonprofit children's foundations, such as mine, KickStart Kids.
--And to give you hope, my wife, Gena, and I would also encourage you to visit the website http://www.IAmSecond.com, started by our dear friends Norm and Anne Miller. In particular, please listen there to the powerful testimony of Lisa Luby Ryan. It is well worth the short time it takes to view.
Washington and America don't need to "turn the page" on culture wars such as abortion. Rather, we need to reopen the pages of our history to our Founders' elevated views of and rights for all human beings (including those in the womb), as documented in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. We need to revive and re-instill their value of humanity back into society, our children and our children's children.
Fifty-six Founders signed the Declaration of Independence to testify that all human life is "created equal, that (all humans) are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."
That is exactly why Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1809 at the end of his presidency, "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."
Washington, could wording be any clearer?
