Week in Review
Planned Parenthood Obtains New Real Estate for Its Third Abortion Clinic in Virginia to Open
As reported in this week’s STOPP report, the Richmond City Council in Virginia was set to vote on a proposal that would demolish a former school building owned by the city and sell the property to Planned Parenthood for its third clinic in Virginia’s state capital. Unfortunately, despite efforts by pro-lifers and concerned citizens, the city made the unanimous decision this week to approve selling the property to the abortion giant for a measly $10!
This news follows Virginia League of Planned Parenthood’s announcement in May that it expected to see an increase in out-of-state abortion referrals due to Florida’s six-week abortion restriction. According to a local ABC news outlet in Richmond, Virginia, Planned Parenthood was after the city-owned school building, which once served as a school for students with Cerebral palsy, so that the structure can be demolished due to its current unhabitable state, and a third Planned Parenthood abortion clinic could be built in its place.
The city’s decision to sell the property to Planned Parenthood for just $10 is a clear political maneuver by the pro-abortion politicians who run the city. In an interview with a local Richmond radio station this week, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney echoed Planned Parenthood’s claim that Virginia needs Planned Parenthood: “Because of the state and national concerns, the city had to come up with a creative way to support reproductive healthcare. . . . This is one of the ways we’ve done that.” According to Richmond city, VLPP is marketing its new facility as creating jobs and providing “family planning, primary care and gender-affirming care with subsidized fees to make care affordable to city residents who do not have insurance or whose insurance doesn’t cover the care they need or have high deductible plans.”
However, this decision was hardly met without opposition. Family Foundation of Virginia’s Victoria Cobb and Josh Hetzler were among many who spoke at the public comment forum against this deal. According to Radio IQ, Hetzler criticized this politicized verdict and said, “You can’t give a sweetheart deal to a billion-dollar corporation just because you like them,” while Cobb said, “Richmond City Council is essentially gifting the establishment of a fifth abortion center within city limits is appalling.” Even a Richmond councilman asked, “You’re giving away a building for $10? . . . This makes no sense.”
While the city has approved this horrible measure, STOPP will continue our fight against Planned Parenthood by praying, taking action, and educating. We ask that you do the same by joining us in prayer and sharing this story with others.
Action Alert
Marian Blue Wave Asks You to Continue to ‘Pray for Florida’
At the start of July, Marian Blue Wave director Katie Brown invited 10,000+ prayer partners to join her in a Summer Prayer Challenge to pray for individual states faced with ballot measures that seek to enshrine abortion into their state constitution this November.
As July comes to a close, MBW members continue to pray for Florida and will begin praying for another state facing a pro-abortion ballot amendment in August. In case you are just joining MBW for this prayer challenge, here is what Florida’s Amendment 4 is trying to do:
Florida Amendment 4, The Right to Abortion Initiative, seeks to “provide a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability (estimated to be around 24 weeks) or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
The response has been an overwhelming success, with hundreds of people pledging their steadfast prayers for the citizens of Florida. We ask that if you haven’t done so already, please join us in prayer for the people of Florida to vote against the murder of innocent babies in the womb. Please also invite others to join us!
The other states faced with these ballot measures that we will be praying for next are:
- Maryland
- South Dakota
- Colorado
- New York
We will make each of these states a monthly intention throughout the summer and fall months.
Join us and pray for Florida!
ALL in the News
The latest STOPP report was published this week. Access the information and articles here.
Susan Ciancio, editor of Celebrate Life Magazine and director of the Culture of Life Studies Program, wrote an article about Ascension’s new middle school program teaching St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. It was published by the Catholic World Report. She also wrote a blog for CLSP entitled “The Heart of St. Charbel Draws Us Closer to the Heart of Christ.” Read the blog here.
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? This one-class lesson and video set exposes the truth about the founder of the largest abortion provider in the United States. The first video introduces participants 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 that was praised by the Nazis. In the final video, participants learn the impact of Sanger’s ideas on society and what they can do to build a culture of life. Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger? is the perfect presentation for high school youth groups and adult groups. ORDER HERE
ALL’s Education Materials
Pray to End Abortion! Your message to the world via these stickers will not only show your love for preborn babies but will encourage the world to pray as well. We offer 6″ x 4″ oval stickers and 6″ x 4″ oval car magnets. Or purchase both to share your pro-life beliefs wherever you go! SHOP NOW
Pro-Life Social Media
Social Media Observes ‘World IVF Day’
On July 25, World IVF Day is observed to memorialize the world’s first IVF baby, Louise Brown, born on this day in 1978. Republicans and Democrats took to social media to celebrate IVF, which so happens to exceed the number of murdered human beings far more than the abortion industry.
People – not politicians – should have the freedom to make their own health care decisions and decide how, when, and if to build their family.
— Congresswoman Julia Brownley (@RepBrownley) July 25, 2024
On #WorldIVFDay, I am proud to join the @DemWomenCaucus and @ProChoiceCaucus in support of reproductive freedom, including the right to… pic.twitter.com/OHsE4KPL7Q
What’s sad is that only a handful of pro-life organizations will take a position condemning IVF. Why the silence? It could be that influential pro-life groups don’t want to sour their relationships with powerful people in Washington.
But we here at American Life League give #1 priority to our most vulnerable neighbors—born and preborn. Even though the fruits of IVF can be a beautiful baby, the ends don’t justify the means. It isn’t moral to kill a dozen embryonic children in order to accomplish the birth of one.
IVF is the nation’s #1 killer. https://t.co/4WR8gzwKuM pic.twitter.com/IxmCP1lsB9
— American Life League (@AmerLifeLeague) July 22, 2024
To help our followers understand the grave nature of the IVF, we explain the process in the following video:
We need you to share this video and help others understand why IVF violates human dignity. It violates the rights of children to be procreated the way God designed it. It violates the marriage covenant by delegating the cooperation of parents in the marital bond to the technical abilities of IVF engineers. And IVF kills millions of embryonic human beings every single year.
