Action Alert
ALL Affiliate Announces Second Annual Prayer for Life Kansas
Right to Life of Kansas, an affiliate group of American Life League, has invited pro-lifers to attend its second annual Prayer for Life Kansas event on April 26. The event will include Mass and a rosary procession and end with an event in front of the capitol building.
The group writes:
The Kansas Constitution begins by giving thanks to “Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges.” It then says: “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” On April 26, 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court held in Hodes & Nauser MDs v. Schmidt that these words protect a supposed natural right to abortion. We believe only hardened hearts could read the words in this way. We therefore gather on the anniversary of Hodes & Nauser to ask God to send His grace upon the people and government of Kansas so that all may be affirmed in their natural right to life.”
For more information on how to participate, visit the group’s website at pflkansas.online.
Week in Review
American Life League Names Katie Brown as National Director
American Life League’s newly named national director, Katie Brown, is a natural in her new role. Having been raised in the fight for life, Brown marks the third generation of her family to lead the 45-year-old pro-life organization and carries a full complement of experience into the position.
Katie Brown has previously served as the organization’s director of communications, stepping into a public role at American Life League after several years in publishing. She has an established media presence, having been featured by One America News Network, Catholic World Report, Radiant Magazine, and LifeSiteNews. Living on a small farm in Virginia with her dog, Katie has a great passion for working with and mentoring young women. She has also coached women’s high school volleyball for the past three years and is engaged to be married.
“With a passion for what my grandmother founded 45 years ago, I have made it my mission to defend the vulnerable,” explained Brown. “My career at American Life League has been one that grew on the job. I started as a college intern under Jim Sedlak almost 10 years ago and worked as an intern, then led communication efforts, and am now the national director.” She added that the work and responsibility have grown, but the mission is the same. “Everything I do is in honor of my grandmother, and as she says often, for the babies.”
As Brown dons the mantle of national director, she takes the position held by the late Jim Sedlak, who passed away in 2022.
“I have filled some of Jim Sedlak’s former position, but not all, as that is an impossible role to fill,” Brown shared. “As national director, I will assume the task of program direction and policy creation for American Life League.”
With “humble pride and joy,” American Life League president Judie Brown announced her granddaughter’s new position after Easter.
“The heritage is obvious,” said Judie Brown, who spoke of her granddaughter’s “total competence to address the task before her and make it her own. Katie is articulate, intelligent, and committed.”
No less proud to welcome the younger Brown’s official appointment, Katie’s father, Hugh Brown—American Life League’s vice president—said, “The heroic battle, waged by my mother, Judie Brown, for the last 50 years is one that has inspired our family beyond measure, saved countless lives, and helped to mold Katie Brown as a champion for life. Her passion, kindness, intelligence, love of family, and devotion to our Catholic faith will inspire the next generations of Americans to truly build a culture of life as intended by almighty God.”
Hugh Brown observed, “Katie grew up in the fight for life. As her family, we have dedicated our lives to fighting for the least of these. Saint John Paul II wrote in Evangelium Vitae, ‘We are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the culture of death and the culture of life. We find ourselves not only faced with but necessarily in the midst of this conflict: we are all involved, and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.’”
Hugh, along with his mother Judie Brown, the cofounder of American Life League, is confident that Katie Brown is up to the task.
“I am proud to proclaim that Katie is my potential successor, and I’m grateful to God for her willingness to give it a go. Please pray for her and praise God for her as well,” stated Judie Brown.
Planned Parenthood’s Annual Report Proves Abortion Is on the Rise
In its 2022-2023 annual report, Planned Parenthood asserts that it goes “above and beyond.” Yet a close reading of the annual report reveals that Planned Parenthood appears to go above and beyond the law.
As STOPP has warned previously, Planned Parenthood brags about pursuing abortion near or across state lines. Planned Parenthood asserts that its lawyers are attempting to change laws in its favor through litigation and that the organization uses its nearly $3 billion in assets for influencing political activity.
This report should be the centerpiece of criminal investigations into misconduct by Planned Parenthood and its board. You cannot mix, mingle, and misuse nonprofit money for improper purposes, and Planned Parenthood continues to do so to the tune of nearly $1 billion in donations and another $700 million in taxpayer money.
Abortions are up, with 392,715 babies killed in the last year. Meanwhile, the average American’s annual income is down. We can barely afford necessities, and what is our government’s answer? Funnel $700 million to the elite baby killers. STOPP’s latest CEO report showed that nearly $20 million of this income is dedicated solely to lining the pockets of its own affiliate CEOs.
The message to the American people is clear: The answer to a bad economy isn’t swift action from our leaders, it’s murdering future taxpayers and cashing checks for blood money.
A full breakdown of the annual report will be featured in next week’s Wednesday STOPP Report.
ALL in the News
ALL’s comments on the Planned Parenthood annual report were the first of any pro-life group to be sent to the media. ALL’s comments appeared in several articles, including in LifeSiteNews, The Patriot Post, LifeNews, and American Family News. ALL and STOPP spokespeople have interviews scheduled on the subject for the next few weeks. Check back next week for more links.
Hugh Brown, ALL executive vice president, was invited back on Relevant Radio’s show Trending with Timmerie to discuss the current abortion landscape in ALL’s home state of Virginia. List to the show here.
Susan Ciancio, editor of Celebrate Life Magazine and director of the Culture of Life Studies Program (a pro-life pre-K-12 education program), writes weekly commentaries on timely pro-life topics. This week, she introduced us to St. Agnes of Montepulciano, whose feast day we celebrate tomorrow. In addition, she wrote about how prayer can help build a culture of life. This article was posted in the Catholic World Report.
Twice a week, Judie’s commentaries are distributed to an expansive media list. The list contains over 100 media outlets such as Fox News, The Federalist, Breitbart, and The Daily Caller, among others. Judie’s commentaries are each featured on the front page of ALL.org.
Pro-Life Education
Culture of Life Studies Program
Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger? Produced as a three-lesson unit study and video set for high school students, Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger? exposes the truth about the founder of the largest abortion provider in the United States. The first video introduces students to Margaret Sanger and the conditions in society that led her to campaign for birth control. The second video in the series unmasks Margaret Sanger’s twisted ideas of birth control as a method of creating a “better breed” of humanity—an idea which was praised by the Nazis. In the final video, students learn the impact of Sanger’s ideas on society and what they can do to build a culture of life. ORDER HERE
ALL’s Education Materials
Planned Parenthood Exploits Teens: This brochure explains the lies repeatedly told by Planned Parenthood and its supporters in order to increase its revenue. It is imperative that teens understand the truth about PP’s selfish and hedonistic motives and the reasons why they should not believe these lies. SHOP NOW
Pro-Life Social Media
From the Median: The Charity Watchlist Is Back!
Liberalism and Marxist ideology have found a way to infect nearly every facet of American exceptionalism. Academia, healthcare, legacy media, and military services are obvious examples. Nonprofits are no different. Charities created to better society undermine it with anti-life, anti-biblical principles, and they do it in a way that isn’t so transparent to their supporters.
American Life League has updated its Charity Watchlist so that benefactors are better informed of the organizations they might be supporting. Katie Brown, national director of ALL, visits Molly Smith on From the Median to explain what makes the Charity Watchlist a valuable resource.