Week in Review – Title X, Daleiden’s court case, and The Church at Planned Parenthood
Here we go again! Just this week, US District Judge Michael J. McShane decided to issue a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration changes to the Title X regulations. The injunction will temporarily prevent the rule from going into effect while it’s challenged in court. The rule was set to take effect next week on May 3. The really outrageous part of this injunction is that we have been through this all before. Back in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan tried to implement these same rules and Planned Parenthood, and their friends, filed suit and got an injunction. The case wallowed in the courts for years until the United States Supreme Court ruled (Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991)) the Title X rules were constitutional and all the lawsuits were without merit. Of course, by then, Reagan was out of office, Bush was near the end of his term and nothing was done about implementing the regulations as Clinton took office. There is no basis for these lawsuits. The only purpose is to delay implementation until a Planned Parenthood-friendly president is in office.
David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the two undercover journalists who broke the news about Planned Parenthood’s baby body parts business, continue to be harassed in civil and criminal lawsuits in California. This last week, according to The Thomas More Society (Daleiden’s lawyers):
The preliminary hearing in their California criminal jury trial, set to begin on April 22, was vacated on April 19 (Good Friday), by California Superior Court Judge Christopher Hite. The hearing, scheduled to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial, has now been delayed indefinitely. This surprising step was taken shortly after an order was handed down by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, suspending “all further proceedings” in the criminal prosecution of Daleiden and his co-investigator, Sandra Merritt. This now will “permit consideration” by the California Supreme Court of a petition for review filed on April 19 by Merritt’s attorneys.
This development seems to be yet another delay in the unjust prosecution of these two pro-life heroes. Please pray that all these charges will be dropped by the state.
Once a month, a unique event in the pro-life movement takes place at 123 East Indiana Avenue in Spokane, Washington. The event is called The Church at Planned Parenthood. If you go to that address for the church service, you will find yourself outside the Planned Parenthood building. An article this week in The Spokesman-Reviewsought to report on the service attended by over 400 people and, at the same time, try to do everything it could to discredit the effort and try to sow seeds of discontent over Christian support of this fantastic effort. In one section, it highlighted the differing beliefs among speakers at the church services. In response, Pastor Ken Peters, Covenant Church Spokane, said, “… the way I look at it is the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so if you’re fighting against abortion and you believe in Christ, then that’s all the requirement I need as far as me fighting together with you against this evil.” BRAVO, Ken!
The Church at Planned Parenthood website lists nine churches and 13 pastors who support this effort. The website also lists, along with maps, upcoming church services at Planned Parenthood locations in Spokane, Yakima, and Everett in Washington, another outside Planned Parenthood in Chicago, IL, and a service outside Planned Parenthood in Indianapolis, IN.
UNPLANNED—a final tally. The movie has been in the theaters for four weeks. The first two weeks, it ranked in the top 10 of all movies being shown. Week three saw it drop to number 11. As of this writing, the total gross at the box office is $17,538,220. The movie reportedly cost $6 million to make. According to insiders, film studios receive about 55 percent of the gross revenue (that’s about $9.6 million). A movie that has changed many hearts, converted a number of people, and saved an unknown number of babies—all done while being a financially successful film. God is good—all the time.
ALL in the News – Convert Cuomo, Organ transplants, PAS, fighting Planned Parenthood
American Life League’s video about the nine-year-old who started an online effort to pray for the conversion of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo was picked-up this week by a website in Poland.
Judie Brown was also quoted in a Life Site News article about organ donation and brain death. Brown compared the carefully worded statements from Pope John Paul II in contrast to the statements from the current pontiff.
Judie Brown issued a statement critical of New Jersey governor Phil Murphy’s decision to sign medically assisted suicide into state law.
Jim Sedlak traveled to New York State this week and gave talks in Merrick and Amityville on fighting Planned Parenthood. Both cities are in Nassau County where Planned Parenthood operates three facilities. It also operates two facilities in neighboring Suffolk County.
Jim Sedlak’s Pro-Life Activism from Creation to Deathis a weekly talk-radio program on the Radio Maria USA network. The show can be heard live every Friday at noon (Eastern Time) and is repeated on Saturdays (10 PM) and Mondays (10 PM).
Jim’s April 12 show with guest BJ Garrett, pro-life convert and author of Unwanted No More, can be heard on YouTube.
Video of the Week – Abortion lobbyists like to claim that abortionists aren’t killing babies born alive, but former employees say otherwise.
A state representative in North Carolina provided chilling testimony during debate of a proposed born-alive bill. She used to work for an abortionist who killed second and third trimester babies and said what he did is nothing short of demonic.
Action Item of the Week – National Day of Prayer—May 2, 2019
HERE COMES NDP.
In 1988, Ronald Reagan signed into law Public Law 100-307, the designation of the first Thursday in May as the annual observance for the National Day of Prayer. This coming Thursday is the first Thursday of the month and is the National Day of Prayer for 2019. The theme for this year is LOVE ONE ANOTHER (John 13:34).
This theme, of course, is perfect for all those who pray daily for the lives of preborn babies and their parents. Pro-lifers should never pass up any opportunity to bring the community together and demonstrate the love we have for the preborn and their parents.
The NDP is not exclusively a pro-life event. Christians, and people of all faiths, are asked to join together in prayer for a multitude of reasons.
But for us, it is only natural that next Thursday we gather together in our churches, in the town square, and in our homes to pray that the very fabric of our nation will be transformed into one that Loves One Another—born and preborn!
Make this National Day of Prayer a very special one for every preborn child in America. Although these children do not have a voice that can be heard, they have us. It is a fact that preborn children can feel what is happening around them. They can identify their mother’s heartbeat and her voice. They respond to music—especially when the same songs are repeated often during their time in the womb. They develop a sense of the world around them.
Can you imagine the impact on every preborn child if, next Thursday, they become aware of the prayers of their entire family, church, and town for their safety and well-being? And they feel the love that is poured out, asking God to guide them through their entire lives in His love and the love of all they will come to know?
DO NOT LET THIS YEAR’S DAY OF PRAYER GO BY WITHOUT LEADING OR JOINING AN ACTIVITY IN YOUR AREA. “LOVE ONE ANOTHER” ESPECIALLY APPLIES TO THE PREBORN CHILDREN WHO HAVE THEIR LIVES CONTINUALLY THREATENED BY OUR SOCIETY.
MAY 2—THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER
Pro-life Social Media – Nine-year-old New Yorker launches prayer campaign to convert NY governor
When New York expanded access to abortion to all nine months of pregnancy for any reason, nine-year-old Jack knew Governor Cuomo, a Catholic, needed prayers desperately. So he took to social media and launched a prayer campaign for the governor.
Jack’s first goal was to acquire 1000 commitments to prayer prior to this Sunday. He reached that goal yesterday and is well on his way to his second goal of 2000 commitments before Ascension Thursday.
Please visit https://convertcuomo.pagexl.com/ and join Jack’s prayer campaign.