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May 7, 2013
Dear Friends,
I have some
tremendous news to give you … and
an urgent request for
help.
Let me deal with the urgent request first.
Funds here at Priests for Life are at an all time low.
The combination of a weak economy and an emotionally draining loss in
the 2012 elections has slowed donations to a trickle.
In order for Priests for Life to
continue to play a leading role in bringing about the great news I’m
about to tell you ...
... it’s critically important
that you
click here and make as large a contribution to Priests for Life as
you can.
Please do this right now if at
all possible.
Your dollars are desperately needed so that our priests and Pastoral
Associates can continue to crisscross America preaching the Gospel of
Life, energizing the People of Life, and leading the pro-life movement
to victory over abortion.
Let me assure you that your
sacrifices are making a huge
difference.
Thanks to you and committed pro-life champions like you, we are
closer to the day when abortion is not only illegal, but also
unthinkable. All signs point to that.
One of those signs is the murder trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell in
Philadelphia. Priests for Life and other pro-life groups have made
the case that rather than being the exception,
Kermit Gosnell is the
face of the abortion industry.
This trial is opening the eyes of millions to the brutality and
inhumanity of abortion.
According to a Gallup poll, the vast majority of
all
Americans – including
those who identify themselves as “pro-choice” – agree
that, with some exceptions ...
...
abortions should be prohibited
after the first trimester.
That’s a huge first step for us.
It shows that people are coming around to the fact that the child in the
womb does have rights and that “choice” must yield to life. And
because they are ...
… more and more Americans are
calling on their state representatives to enact laws that increase
protection for the youngest members of our human family.
And that’s exactly what’s happening all across the country!
Take a look. And as you read over this lengthy list, keep this
fact in mind:
YOU and Priests for
Life have had a major impact on helping win these legislative victories!
That’s why I’m counting on you to
click here and make a much-needed contribution to our work here at
Priests for Life.
The pro-life leaders and activists in all fifty states look to us to
help inform and rally the public … to get the churches involved … and to
defend the victories that have been won; as I just did in North Dakota.
I was asked to speak on the steps of the capitol in Bismarck at a “Thank
Your Legislators Day” that was held to help build public awareness and
support for the set of pro-life laws the Governor just signed.
Of course we were not the only ones who helped make all the state
victories you’re about to read possible. We join hands with many
other effective pro-life groups.
That said, here’s the list. Get ready because it’s a LONG one:
- Two states – Arkansas and North Dakota – have passed
groundbreaking “heartbeat bills” this year. These laws bar almost
every abortion of a baby with a beating heart. In Arkansas, only
abdominal ultrasound equipment may be used to detect heartbeats,
resulting in babies 12 weeks old or older being protected. In
North Dakota, any type of ultrasound technology may be used to detect
heartbeats, meaning that babies as young as six weeks would be saved
from abortion!
- Ten states – Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas,
Louisiana, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Oklahoma – have passed laws
banning almost all abortions on unborn children who have reached 20
weeks of development because of the terrible pain inflicted on them
during the abortion.
- Nine states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arizona, Florida,
Kansas, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia require that ultrasound
examinations be performed on women prior to an abortion.
- Texas’ law, which has been upheld by a federal appeals court –
requires the abortionist to describe the physical appearance of the baby
to his mother, even if the mother does not wish to view her child on the
ultrasound screen.
- At least 14 other states have various pre-abortion ultrasound
requirements.
- 24 states now require a “waiting period” from the time a woman
receives information on abortion’s risks (as well as information on
alternatives to abortion) and the time she has the abortion.
- South Dakota and Utah have extended their pre-abortion waiting
periods to 72 hours – and in South Dakota, weekends and holidays cannot
be counted as part of the 72 hours.
- Eight states – Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North
Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee – passed laws requiring that physicians
be physically present when women are given RU-486 – the chemical
compound used to kill children in the womb. Louisiana and Missouri
may soon enact similar laws. In Arizona, Planned Parenthood
ordered five of its “clinics” to stop performing RU-486 abortions after
the law passed because they couldn’t find doctors to do them.
- Nine states – Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, North
Dakota, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia – have taken action to regulate
abortion clinics more tightly. And Illinois began inspecting
abortion mills for the first time in years – resulting in two clinics
closing!
- Kansas, Alaska, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas have passed laws
mandating that women be informed of the link between abortion and breast
cancer.
- In Louisiana abortion clinics must post signs stating that women
cannot be coerced into having abortions.
- Two states – Kansas and Michigan – passed bans on partial-birth
abortion and three – Kansas, Missouri, and Ohio – outlawed the abortion
of babies who can survive outside the womb.
- Florida has enacted a law that will require abortionists to provide
medical care to babies who survive abortions.
- Two states – Kansas and North Dakota – outlawed sex selection
abortions. North Dakota also banned the abortion of babies
diagnosed with conditions like Down syndrome.
- North Dakota placed a personhood referendum on the 2014 ballot that
would protect all unborn babies.
- Tennessee placed a referendum on the 2014 ballot to overturn a state
Supreme Court decision that “discovered” a right to abortion in the
state constitution.
- Seven states – Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee,
Arizona, Kansas and Utah require abortionists to have local hospital
admitting privileges in case their patients have complications.
In all 42 states
have introduced legislation to protect the youngest members of our human
family from being willfully and maliciously killed in abortions. I
hope yours is one of them.
But we’re not finished!
Many 2013 state legislative sessions are still going on and committed
pro-life lawmakers are still busy. I am confident that more laws
to protect the child in the womb are not only possible but likely!
And that doesn’t even take into account the fact that, as we continue to
shine the light of truth on the appalling conditions inside abortion
mills – as we did throughout the trial of Kermit Gosnell – more and more
of these killing chambers are being shut down.
In 1991 there were over 2,176 surgical abortion clinics in America.
Today there are 663. That’s a shutdown rate of 70% ... and we’re
not finished!
THESE ARE TREMENDOUS PRO-LIFE
VICTORIES!
But they do not get the attention
they deserve!
That’s why I’m telling you.
It’s critically important that you
KNOW
and BELIEVE WITH ALL
YOUR HEART that ...
We are
WINNING the fight to
end legalized abortion-on-demand in America!
There’s not a shadow of doubt about that in my mind.
And you know what? Even those who promote abortion and the wanton
killing of innocent children
AGREE that we’re winning. Here are just two
of them:
• Frances Kissling – the former head of “Catholics” for Choice –
admitted as much in an article she wrote for the Washington Post.
• Kate Pickert wrote the TIME Magazine cover story “What Choice?” and in
her article she admitted that “the pro-choice cause is in crisis.”
It is!
Thanks to you and pro-life champions like you
we have the abortion
industry on the ropes.
Make no mistake:
A pro-life revolution is
sweeping across the country!
And you and Priests for Life are
part of that revolution and playing a leading role in fanning its
flames!
As I told you a moment ago, we are closer now to winning our fight to
end legalized abortion in America than we’ve ever been before.
We are changing minds.
Softening hearts.
And opening eyes.
But we still have a LOT of work to do.
Abortion-on-demand is still the law of the land. Innocent children
are still be killed by the thousands every day ...
eight of them in the
time it took you to read this letter. And those
who promote this unjust killing are still in control of the powers of
government.
So in spite of the accomplishments you’ve done so much to help make
happen …
… we cannot rest until we’ve
written the Gospel of Life on the hearts and minds of literally tens of
millions of our fellow Americans.
That is what your support has enabled Priests for Life to do for
nearly twenty years now.
And that is what your continued support today will enable us to do
tomorrow ... next week ... next month ... and for as long as it takes us
to win victory over abortion.
So please
click here and do whatever is necessary to make a contribution that
will help fund all of our life-saving work here at Priests for Life.
Working with you and pro-life champions like you, we have organized
massive prayer efforts, preached tens of thousands of sermons, and
generated the kind of support at the parish level that has helped
generate the legislative achievements I told you about in this letter.
These are the kinds of successes the pro-life movement needs in order to
bring about the end of legalized abortion in America.
Make no mistake:
Your sacrifice, your commitment and your dedication are bringing about
the changes in attitude that will one day lead to the end of legalized
abortion-on-demand here in America.
The polls prove this.
As does the drive to enact pro-life legislation in states all across the
country.
But it’s not enough. The killing continues. Every day.
Every hour of every day.
And that’s why I’ve sent you this urgent appeal for help.
As I told you at the beginning of this letter, our funds here at Priests
for Life are at an all time low.
Your dollars are desperately needed so that our priests and Pastoral
Associates can fan the pro-life passion bursting forth in states and
cities all across the country.
Using the dollars you so generously provide, our pro-life missionaries
are on the road …
… preaching the Gospel of Life in churches and in the media
… winning people over to the cause of life
… affirming pro-life convictions
… energizing pro-life activists
… encouraging the clergy to speak out against abortion
… providing guidance to pro-life leaders
… distributing pro-life materials
… and rallying the People of Life to rise up and fight to end abortion!
All of that is the unique mission of Priests for Life …
and you!
For while it is we who do the preaching ...
...
it is you who makes our preaching possible.
So please
click here and be as generous as you possibly can.
We need every dollar you can give.
No gift is too small and certainly none too large.
All I ask is that you do as you always do and give as much as you can.
Thank you. I know you are sacrificing much in order to support our
work. You have my word that each dollar you entrust to us is put
to work to stop the killing.
And know that in heartfelt appreciation for your support, I remember you
at each Mass I offer; and so do all the priests of Priests for Life.
May God bless you.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director
Priests for Life
P.S. The battles taking place in individual states are key because it is
victories at the local level that will pave the way for:
1. The inevitable overthrow of Roe v Wade.
2. The restoration of laws that protect all innocent human life from
conception to natural death. And ...
3. The end of legalized abortion-on-demand in America.
SO KEEP UP THE
FIGHT!!! DON’T DESPAIR!!! DON’T LOSE HEART!!!
YOU ARE WINNING!!!
God bless you!
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