Pro Life

Baby poster

 

This section has a wide range of pro-life content, including popular culture references, basic facts and information, effective social media videos, and even references to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We hope you find these resources informative and inspiring.  

Two additional wonderful websites to reference include: www.LiveAction.org and www.StudentsForLife.org

 

OUTLINE

Click on any of the items in the table of contents to jump down to the section below:

 

 

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Positive, Inspiring Pro-life Talk form Lila Rose 

Listen to Lila's inspiring pro-life message -- this is appropriate for Junior High and Adults alike.  

Lila Rose is the founder and president of Live Action (www.LiveAction.org), a human rights organization dedicated to ending abortion and inspiring a culture that respects and protects life.  Lila founded Live Action when she was 15 years old and began her undercover investigative reporting while a freshman at UCLA.

 

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Children |  Content & Activities for Younger Children

Young children are naturally curious about newborn babies. We can encourage the same fascination toward preborn babies, as well. Help your child understand that the baby in a mom’s tummy is a real person and that God loves babies yet to born just as He loves each of us.

 

Spiritual Adoption - promoted by Holy Heroes

Spiritual adoption  Looking for a fun, engaging way to pray for the unborn, as well as teach your children about the miracle of life? Join Holy Heroes’ Spiritual Adoption Program – a 9-month prayer adventure that follows the developmental cycle of an unborn child.

Inspired by Venerable Fulton Sheen’s “Spiritual Adoption Prayer,” families and individuals who join this initiative will “adopt” and pray for an unborn child in need, receiving periodic updates throughout the “pregnancy” that provide insight into the baby’s growth and development.

This FREE online program begins right after you sign up and wraps up nine months later. Your first email will arrive shortly after signing up and you will receive a new activity email every two weeks after that for the full nine months.   --> Click Here to Sign-up and get more info

 

11 Unborn Animals In The Womb You Have To See To Believe

National geo   National Geographic producer Peter Chinn has used 3D ultrasound scans, computer graphics and small cameras to create images of unborn animals, allowing us to see what they look like in the womb. These incredible images let us observe the beauty of these unborn creatures.

Similarly, witnessing the development of the unborn human through the ultrasound reveals the humanity of the child. Prior to 3D and 4D ultrasound advancements, our understanding of the unborn baby’s development was much less clear. Now we can truly see the humanity of the unborn child, as she grows and develops. We can see unborn babies sucking their thumbs as early as 12 weeks. We can see them smiling and yawning. Ultrasound videos reveal twins interacting with each other before they are even born. These images and videos reveal that these tiny creatures are indeed valuable human beings.

Chinn’s pictures of unborn babies from different species highlight the miracle of birth and serve as a reminder of the beauty of life at all stages. 

-->  Read the article and see more beautiful high resolution images

Animals

 

 

 

 

MOVIE | Horton Hears a Who  ('A person's a person no matter how small)

Watch Original T.V. version on Youtube (25 minutes) >

Watch Movie With Jim Carey and Steve Carell on Amazon > | Watch Trailer >

The film has a great message in regards to the sanctity of life. The most famous phrase in both the book and movie adaptation is "A person's a person no matter how small". That phrase and all it implies immediately clicked with our children. In addition, the primary "bad guy" in the film is a skeptical kangaroo who insists on several occasions that "if you can't see it, touch it, or hear it, it doesn't exist.". Horton, however, suggests otherwise, even though his views earn him nothing but scorn and mockery from his peers.

Watch the clip below where Horton exclaims:  "A person's a person, no matter how small".  Notice the sense of peer pressure he has to fight through - and that by the end, his positive message (truth), loving tone and conviction wins everyone over. 

 

He's got the itty-bitty babies in His hands

IttySing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” as printed below. Repeat the third verse several times, filling in the blank with the names of people in your family, from the youngest to the oldest. After you’ve finished singing, explain that God cared for each of these people from their first moment in Mommy’s tummy.

 

1) He's got the whole world in His hands (Repeat 3 more times)

2) He's got the itty-bitty babies in His hands (Repeat 2 more times)

     He's got the whole world in His hands

3) He's got ___________ in His hands (Repeat 2 more time)

     He's got the whole world in His hands

 

Age Appropriate Pro-Life Educational Materials

Children’s Books- what a beautiful way to convey the Humanity of the Child in the Womb at a very early age!

“A Gift for Little Tree” (celebrates the love of adoption and will be dearly cherished by people of all ages)

“I Loved You Before You Were Born” (perfect book to be read on Grandparent’s’ Day)

“Mom, Do I Have Special Knees?” (celebrates children of all abilities, especially Down syndrome)

“Waiting for Baby” (very good introductory book for pre-school through 2nd grade, especially if there is a student waiting for the arrival of a baby sister/brother)

“Waiting for Baby, My New Baby” (similar to the other “Waiting for Baby”, but for a younger age and 
sturdier in construction)

“Before You Were Born” (cute book for 2-6 year olds)

“What’s Inside Your Tummy, Mommy?” (great book with drawings of fetal development of the baby’s actual size as the he/she develops in his/her mother’s womb)

 

 

 

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POP CULTURE - Movies with pro-life themes

See 7 powerful pro life movies available on Netflix. One of our favorites is Bella (see below)

Bella - A young woman facing an unexpected pregnancy is supported by a coworker who shows judgement free care. 

Bella is a true love story about how one day in New York City changed three people forever.  A young single mother has decided to abort her baby. However, a strange man named Jose convinces her to keep the child. This touching film has been acclaimed by many Pro-lifers. Its strong message and poignant tale proved that there are people fighting for the unborn. This movie looks at adoption in a whole new light.  Winner of the 2006 Toronto Film Festival’s People Choice Award.

 

MOVIE |  Gimme Shelter, with James Earl Jones and Vanessa Hudgens

After running away from her abusive mother, a streetwise teen (Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame) seeks refuge with her father  (Brendan Fraser) — but he rejects her when he learns that she’s pregnant. Also starring James Earl Jones (Star Wars). 

Themes: Beauty and struggle of pregnancy, mother-child bonds, power of true friendship

 

MOVIE | Miracles from Heaven, with Jennifer Garner

Miracles FROM HEAVEN is based on the incredible true story of the Beam family. When Christy (Jennifer Garner) discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers) has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter's healing as she searches for a solution. After Anna has a freak accident, an extraordinary miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.

At the heart of the movie is the notion of theodicy (the answer to why God permits evil and suffering).  

Watch the official trailer below and Bishop Barron's movie commentary, where he believes the movie does a nice job of 'walking around' the issue of human suffering.

  

 

MOVIE | Arrival, with Amy Adams

One of the best movies of the year, Amy Adams character is a pro-life heroine for the ages

Once or twice a year, a movie comes along that is not only an exciting piece of entertainment and a shining exemplar of cinematic craftsmanship, but also a resonant meditation on the human condition. Such a film is “Arrival,” the best movie to arrive in theaters so far in 2016.

When expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is called to communicate with aliens who are hovering menacingly over earth in several large aircraft, she coaxes from them inscrutable inkblot-like glyphs that amount to written language. Learning this language is essential to decoding the purpose of the aliens’ visit.  

Louise explains that learning a new language alters the internal architecture of the brain. In this case, the changes give her the power to foresee the feature.  Suddenly, Louise knows that she will have a child in the future and when she does, things will go awry. But instead of changing her fate and abstaining from motherhood, she goes ahead anyway. At the same time, the viewer realizes that the movie’s earlier scenes of Louise with her daughter are actually set in the future — and this is a tragic path she has chosen to take.

-->  Read the full commentary / blog post here

Watch the official trailer below:

 

 

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POP CULTURE - Music Videos with pro-life themes

 

MUSIC | There Goes My Life, by Kenny Chesney

Whether or not you like country music, you will enjoy this heart-warming music video by Kenny Chesney (see below).  Click here also for a list of some pro life songs in pop culture>

 

MUSIC | Slide, by the Goo Goo Dolls

In a performance on VH1 Storytellers, Rzeznik [the writer of the song] explained that the song refers to a teenage girl in a strict Catholic environment who has become pregnant. She and her boyfriend are debating as to the possibility of abortion or marriage."

Read lyrics  |  Excerpt:

Goo goo dolls

Don’t you love the life you killed

The priest is on the phone

…May put your arms around me

What you feel is what you are

And what you are is beautiful

May do you wanna get married

Or run away

 

Watch the movie montage (Glee, Skins, Parenthood & Friday Night Lights) about teenage pregnancy struggles set to the song Slide, by the Goo Goo Dolls

 

MUSIC |  Happy Birthday, by Flipsyde

Happy Birthday" is a song by Flipsyde - a rap/R&B band from Oakland, California.  Flipsyde's music is an unconventional, yet harmonious mix of styles. The top and bottom of their innovative sound is straight-up Hip Hop while the middle punches with Rock.

The song Happy Birthday was written as a man's apology for his involvement in an abortion.  Its first person lyrics address the child he had.  The Youtube video below has 12 million views.

Read lyrics | Excerpt

Flipsyde i     

Choosing our life over your life meant your death

And you never got a chance to even open your eyes

Sometimes I wonder as a fetus if you faught for your life?…

My vision of a family was artificial and fake

So when it came time to create I made a mistake…

And from the heavens to the womb to the heavens again

From the endin’ to the endin’, never got to begin

Maybe one day we could meet face to face?

In a place without time and space

Happy birthday…

 

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PRO-LIFE Humor

The Doritos 'ultrasound' Superbowl Commercial

Watch the cute and funny Superbowl commercial where a pregnant mother, undergoing an ultra-sound, is annoyed by her husband who is absent-mindedly munching Doritos while their baby’s image is displayed on the screen. 

And then watch Bishop Barron's commentary below about the humorous commercial and why pro choice groups, such as the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), complained (and one is compelled here to stifle laughter) that the commercial dangerously “humanized” the fetus. 

   

 

 

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PRO LIFE - Quotes

“… abortion has become the fundamental human rights issue for all men and women of good will.” ~  Saint Pope John Paul II

"Abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace"  ~ Mother Teresa

"They pulled Michael Vick's jersey from the NFL shops because he had dogs fight.. brutal, yes... but dogs are not made in His image.  Yet abortion gets covered over in so much rhetoric and we do nothing.”  ~ Father John Riccardo

"I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”  ~ Ronald Reagan

“A person is a person no matter how small”  ~ Dr. Seuss

“If a mother can kill her own child - what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me - there is nothing between.”  ~ Mother Teresa

“It seems to me clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime.”  ~ Gandhi

"They pulled Michael Vicks jersey from the NFL shops because he supported dog fighting.  But dogs are not made in His image.  Yet abortion gets covered over in so much rhetoric and yet we do nothing”.  ~ Father John Riccardo

"And I'll be quite frank: most of my abortions are elective in that 20-24 week range. . . . In my particular case, probably 20% [of this procedure] are for genetic reasons. And the other 80% are purely elective." ~Dr. Martin Haskell  (well known doctor that performed over 1,000 late term abortions).

"The ruling (Roe vs Wade) surprised me. Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion.”  ~ Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsgerb - With regards to the lack of Medicaid funding for abortions for poor women, because of a 1980 Supreme Court decision called Harris v. McRae (note that this last quote is very disturbing... see more about Justice Ginsberg below) 

 

 

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POLITICS - Planned Parenthood Exposed

 

Debunking the 3%

Watch the 3 minute video to get the facts and proper perspective with regards to Planned Parenthoods claim that abortions only account for 3% of their services.  The one statistic missing from the video is that abortion accounts for 86% of Planned Parenthoods revenue.  Read this article for more details - which includes video testimony of Cecile Richards Congressional hearing (Planned Parenthood's President)

 

 

CAUGHT: Live Action Exposes Planned Parenthood’s LIES About Prenatal Care

Though Planned Parenthood claims that women depend on them for prenatal care, Live Action investigators had an incredibly hard time finding facilities that offered it—though they found plenty offering abortions. Live Action contacted all 41 Planned Parenthood affiliates where undercover recording is permitted by state law, and only 5 facilities out of 97 said they provided prenatal care.

 

New Lies in Planned Parenthood's Sex Trafficking Cover-up

A 2017 follow-up Live Action investigation also shows Planned Parenthood didn’t report sex traffickers to authorities, as it had claimed

A new Live Action investigation shows that Planned Parenthood lied to the media after employees were caught on camera attempting to aid and abet sex traffickers prostituting 14- and 15-year-old girls. A former Planned Parenthood manager recently revealed that while the abortion giant claimed in 2011 that it was retraining thousands of staff to identify child sex traffickers, it instead trained them how to identify undercover journalists investigating its facilities.

Live Action also used public records requests to check the abortion chain’s claim that it had reported the suspected sex traffickers to authorities. The responses from law enforcement show that Planned Parenthood failed repeatedly to report the suspected crimes to local police departments, state police, or even child protective services.

 

--> Click to watch other investigative videos from Live Action - including 'Sexual Abuse Cover-Up', 'Racially-Motivated Donations', 'Inhuman: Late-Term Abortion',  and 'Mammogram Falsehoods'.

 

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Saint Teresa of Calcutta - Nobel Peace Prize Speech: 'Abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace'

A message from St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta to Hillary Clinton and the U.S.:

"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so- called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts—a child—as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered domination over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners."

Read Mother Teresa's full speech during the national prayer breakfast > 

Watch Saint Teresa of Calcutta's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.  The segment about abortion starts at the 9:06 minute mark:

 

 

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Abortion and The Civil Rights Movement

 

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. - Pro-life movement needs nonviolent 'creative radicals'

While we have come a long way in this country, we still have a ways to go. Bishop Barron recorded this video about why Dr. King still matters. And given his enduring lessons of provocative nonviolence, equality, and our individual inherent value in the eyes of God, perhaps he matters more now than ever. 

Watch below Bishop Barron's comments on Why Dr. King Still Matters and how he connects his life with the Pro-Life movement.

Dr king evilDr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not a champion of “reproductive rights”, but rather a man who believed in the human rights of all people; including the Unborn. Most (if not all) African-American civil-rights leaders in his day agreed with him.

"I am a Living Dream" - Alveda King is the niece of Rev Martin Luther King, Jr.  After having two abortions, King had a conversion experience and has become a pro-life advocate.  “Martin Luther King, Jr. said the Negro cannot win if he’s willing to sacrifice the future of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety. He said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. That led me into the beginning of where I am today.”  Read Alveda King's story by Clicking Here> 

 

Civil Rights Movement - lessons from Emmett Till's lynching

Emmett Till was a 14 year old teen who was brutally murdered in Muddy, MS.  The lynching of Emmett was a key turning point of the civil rights movement, because the outcry of injustice sparked a national movement.  

Specifically, what ignited the spark was Emmett's open casket.  Emmett's mother chose to have an open casket at his funeral services so that the nation could see how brutally beaten was her son.  When people saw that Emmett's face was beaten beyond recognition, many - including Martin Luther King, Jr - were inspired to take action.

The pro-life connection is that many feel, as Lila Rose has often said, that the pro-life movement has to 'remove the lid from the casket' on abortion, just how Emmett's mother had done at Emmett's funeral. Many people intellectually avoid the physical truth of abortion - and it is this reason that we see a lot of videos of on the science related to the development of the unborn child and abortion procedures (animated and movies) to help educate everyone.  

Watch this the two documentaries below about the brutal lynching of Emmett Till.  It is good for general education on the Civil Rights Movements... and will give you an appreciate why many feel that abortion videos (if done respectfully) are an integral part of the pro-life movement.

The first video is a mini-documentary that is just 10 minutes long.. the second video one is the special aired by PBS (1 hr).

  

 

 

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SOCIAL MEDIA - They Supported Abortion Until They Watched These (inexplicit) Animated Videos

Watch the viral videos that are changing the abortion debate

Live Action approached people on the street and asked them if they were pro-choice. To those that said yes, even up to the point of birth, they showed Dr. Levantino’s video of the procedure. After watching the video, the people who claimed to be pro-choice changed their minds on the spot. They admitted they were unaware of how developed babies are at this point in pregnancy and described the video as “inhumane.” 

See the animated (not explicit) videos of the abortion procedures for 1st term, 2nd term and 3rd term:

  

 

 

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Abortion - Basic Statistics

  • Overall, more than 1 out of 3 of all U.S. women will have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old (per planned parenthood)
  • Only 3 weeks and 1 day after fertilization - the heart begins to beat.1 By 4 weeks, the heart typically beats between 105 and 121 times per minute.
  • Estimated 954,000 abortions in the US (2014)
    • 12,000+ late-term abortions (2014)  (*)
    • 30,500+  at 18 weeks or later (2014)
    • 100,000+ performed in the 2nd or 3rd trimesters

(*) However, statistics on the number of late-term abortions are notoriously unreliable. Several former clinic workers, such as Carol Everett, have said that late-term abortions were performed in their facilities and went unreported.  http://liveactionnews.org/third-trimester-abortion-in-america/ 

Most later term abortions are not for genetic reasons -- "And I'll be quite frank: most of my abortions are elective in that 20-24 week range. . . . In my particular case, probably 20% [of this procedure] are for genetic reasons. And the other 80% are purely elective." ~Dr. Martin Haskell (well known doctor that performed over 1,000 late term abortions).

  • Doctors have learned how to save a premature baby that weighs 500 grams or more
  • 12% of abortions in the U.S. occurred in teenagers.
  • In the United States, about half of all pregnancies are unintended.  • Of all unintended pregnancies, 4 in 10 are aborted.  (CDC for 2012)
  • 32% of Abortion Facilities in the US support late-term abortions (20 weeks or later)
  • 40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion (AGI). Supreme Court ruled that minors must have the alternative of seeking a court order authorizing the procedure (AGI) 

 

 

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Abortion - Politics, the Election, and the Supreme Court

 

Jane Roe (from 'Roe vs Wade' Supreme Court ruling)

'Jane Roe' of Roe v. Wade is now a pro-life activist.  

"I am Norma McCorvey, the former Jane Roe of the Roe vs. Wade decision that brought ‘legal’ child killing to America. I was persuaded by feminist attorneys to lie; to say that I was raped, and needed an abortion. It was all a lie,” she said in the ad. “Since then, over 50 million babies have been murdered. I will take this burden to my grave. Please, don’t follow in my mistakes.  Watch her commercial about it.

 

Supreme Court Rulings and Justice Ginsberg

For many people, the past election was about the Supreme Court. 

The Constitution defines three branches of government to help ensure we have checks and balances.  The good news then who are concerned about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is that the President's power is somewhat limited and they have a 2 year term limit.  

However, justices of the Supreme Court have no term limit. And if the Supreme Court becomes politicized (which many people on both sides of the aisle believe is the case), then the balance of power is compromised. 

To put a finer point on it - the balance of the Supreme Court will now be determined by President Trump.  Hillary Clinton would have certainly appoint Justices with very aggressive pro-abortion viewpoints aligned with Justice Ruth Ginsberg (Hillary Rodman Clinton and Justice Ruth Ginsberg both support partial term abortion).  

Consider then the following:

GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL v. CARHART ET AL.

Listen to Father Riccardo's podcast where he reads the Supreme Court ruling (24 minute mark) that describes the various abortion procedures.  What is most chilling is Justice Ruth Ginsberg's dissenting opinion that discloses her support of partial birth abortion (see below).  God help us if the Supreme Court has a majority of Justices in support of partial birth abortion.

Audio PodCast - Click Here 

GinsbergSummary of Dissent Opinion - "Today's decision is alarming. It refuses to take Casey and Stenberg seriously. It tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure [partial birth abortion] .... "

READ SUPREME COURT RULING (including dissent opinion) >

  

Fetal Protection Act - one other law to consider is the Federal Protection Act - which stipulates that If you kill an unborn baby with a violent act - such as by striking a women’s belly with a bat - then you will be convicted of manslaughter (per the Fetal Protection Act, which applies in Illinois.  Yet abortion is perfectly legal.  In both cases, what is different?  Certainly not whether the fetus is a living humane being.  The only difference is intent.  Disturbing yet a legal reality in our country.