Week in Review – The HALO hotline and two major stories in pro-life movement
This past Monday, the Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization (HALO) introduced a patient advocacy hotline. The 24/7 HALO Helpline (1-888-221-HALO) is live. The Helpline will expand HALO’s reach and ability to deliver on its mission: to promote, protect and advocate for the rights of the medically vulnerable. Helpline patient advocates will offer free and confidential information, support, and referrals for patients, their family members, and caregivers who have concerns about the treatment and care a patient is receiving in any healthcare setting, either at home or in a facility. HALO gave “special thanks” American Life League and the Scholl Institute of Bioethics for their sponsorship of the hotline.
News in the pro-life community has been dominated this week by two major stories:
The first story is that Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country have been caught stealing millions in Payroll Protection Program funds. The PPP was established by the CARES Act to get money into the hands of employers as quickly as possible so employees would stay on the payroll during this current pandemic. To get money out as quickly as possible, it let applicants “self-certify” that they were eligible for the funds. It was planned that all applications would be reviewed after the fact to make sure everyone who got the money was entitled to it. From the beginning, the administration made it clear that Planned Parenthood affiliates were NOT eligible.
Despite this, it has been discovered that at least 37of the 50 Planned Parenthood affiliates applied for, and received, about $80 million in PPP funds. Since the PPP funds were used up quickly, there were obviously many small-business employers who were not able to get the funds because Planned Parenthood stole them. This move by Planned Parenthood is not surprising.
As Hugh Brown, executive vice president of American Life League, told One News Now, “37 Planned Parenthood affiliates improperly took $80 million in cash intended for families that run pizzerias, that have the small shop that employs less than 500 people — printers, landscapers, and restaurants . . . people that have invested their lives in running their businesses. Do you think for one moment that (Planned Parenthood) people that go and cash their paychecks every Friday knowing that they’ve slaughtered 1,000-plus people that week, are going to have any qualms about lying, about cheating, about stealing. I mean, there is no moral parameter here. There is no barometer.”
Senator Mitch McConnell, majority leader, immediately went to the floor of the Senate and demanded that Planned Parenthood give the money back “right now.”
The second story that has garnered much interest this week was the announcement by FX that it will be showing a “documentary” about Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. The show, AKA Jane Roe, will air on FX at 9 p.m. tonight (Friday, May 22).
Advance publicity on the film says it claims the Norma never converted from pro-abortion to pro-life and her 22 years fighting for life was done because she was being paid to do it. This, of course, is a lie. Although the show has not yet aired, because of the allegations, many pro-lifers, especially those who knew Norma and worked closely with her, have released comments and statements.
On the first day this news broke, Fr. Frank Pavone, who brought Norma into the Catholic Church, and Janet Morana released a video of them discussing the topic.
In preparation for the initial showing of the documentary, pro-life leaders, who knew Norma well and worked closely with her, prepared an “open letter” to the producers of the show denying the premise of the show.
Former Planned Parenthood clinic director, Abby Johnson, posted on her Facebook page about a surprise phone conversation she had with Norma a few days before Norma’s death. In the post, Abby also talks about Fr. Pavone’s dedication to helping Norma.
CBN News reports that the attorney for Norma McCorvey—aka Jane Roe of the infamous Supreme Court abortion ruling, Roe v. Wade, has a warning for viewers of the upcoming FX documentary “AKA Jane Roe.” He says, “Don’t trust it. It’s patently false.”
Next week, we will bring you information about pro-life leaders’ reactions to the full video.
ALL in the News – American Life League VP Says “Indict Them, Prosecute Them, Convict Them”
This week, Fox News broke the news that Planned Parenthood improperly received $80 million in federal stimulus money. ALL executive vice president, Hugh Brown, was quick to respond with this statement to the press, saying, “Indict Them, Prosecute Them, Convict Them.” Brown was then interviewed by One News Now on the subject. His interview can be found in this article.
This week, American Life League president, Judie Brown, was interviewed by political commentator and former presidential candidate, Alan Keyes. The interview will appear on the show “Let’s Talk America with Alan Keyes.” Last week’s interview can be watched here.
Judie Brown’s weekly commentaries and press statements continue to be featured as a column on Renew America. This week’s Tuesday commentary, The nexus between death peddling and tepid teaching, was featured on the site’s front page.
Jim Sedlak’s Pro-Life Activism from Creation to Death is 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).
Video of the Week – Why You Need a LOVING Will
As a person who fully respects human life, you will want to ensure that your actual end-of-life wishes are understood and carried out. Therefore, you will need a truly pro-life advance directive. A number of pro-life/anti-euthanasia organizations offer directives designed to protect signers from being terminated against their wills and which are in accord with sound moral/ethical principles. One such directive is American Life League’s LOVING WILL.
Action Item of the Week – Speak out on the two major immediate concerns
In the Week In Review section of this newsletter, we let you know about two major immediate concerns in the pro-life movement this week.
First, we told you that 37 affiliates of Planned Parenthood received, illegally, a total of $80 million from the PPP government program. These 37 affiliates operate approximately 277 abortion mills. The PPP money is specifically about salaries for workers for an eight-week period. Thus, the killers and thieves at Planned Parenthood received a total of $80 million to pay the salaries of workers at 277 abortion mills that murdered 38,250 preborn children in just eight weeks.
Second, the release by FX of an untrue “documentary” reportedly claiming that Norma McCorvey was paid by the pro-life movement to pretend she was pro-life—a position she supposedly recanted “from her deathbed.”
In the Week in Review section, we provided a number of links to statements and facts that will allow you to speak out clearly on both of these concerns.
We ask you: DO NOT BE QUIET!
Speak out this week for LIFE.
Let everyone know the TRUTH about both of these concerns.
SPEAK OUT in person, on social media, letters to the editor, and anywhere you can to get the truth out in your communities.
WHAT YOU’VE HEARD IN SECRET, SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS. (Matthew 10:27)
Pro-life Social Media – Notorious Fake-Newser Thinks We Should “Recalibrate” Pro-life
Why disgraced CBS News anchor and grandfather of fake news, Dan Rather, uses Twitter is anyone’s guess. His opinions carry as much weight as head lice. This week, Rather weighed in on the pro-life label.
Maybe we can recalibrate who gets called “pro life”?
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) May 17, 2020
Why do abortion advocates think they’re in the position to define what is and what isn’t pro-life? They excuse the dismemberment and decapitation of preborn children as merely a mother’s choice. It’s like pagans deciding what is and what isn’t a Christian (or a fake newsman deciding what is or what isn’t news).
Perhaps we should recalibrate who we call "journalist"
— 🌲Northern Maine🌳❄️🥔🍁🏞️🍻🥦🤸♂ (@FishRiverArbory) May 17, 2020
Only if you recalibrate "pro choice" into "pro abortion" or "pro infanticide" or "anti life"
— gambiachuck (@gambiachuck) May 17, 2020
Dan you were really never good at being a journalist. You just did a great job of playing one on TV. https://t.co/srhFgHn4ts
— CJU (@coastiefromgpt) May 17, 2020
Prolife is those who oppose the intentional killing of an innocent unborn babies, children, people, human beings.
— Paul Schmidt (@PeacefulConserv) May 18, 2020
Any media that retires Dan Rather is pro-life. The 20th century is so over.
— PeterStill (@PeterStill11) May 18, 2020
Dan Rather is an authority on Pro Life pic.twitter.com/zHrggsswyi
— Judgmental Shoelace 🇺🇸 🇮🇪 🇭🇰 🇹🇼 (@DocKilmer) May 17, 2020
If only he’d retire from Twitter.
