Pro-Life Action League

. . . because action speaks louder than words.

League history, NOW v. Scheidler, Action News, Joe Scheidler, League staff

Q & A on abortion, the unborn child, where we stand on the issues and more

Helping abortion-bound women choose life for their babies

Unmasking the truth about abortion in the public square

Our youth outreach, raising up a new generation of pro-life leaders

Abortion industry converts tell the inside story

News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League

News and commentary from the Pro-Life Action League

Home Hotline Blog Archives

Hotline Author Archive

Stand Up Rallies to Be Held in 140 Cities June 8

Posted by John Jansen (May 29, 2012 at 1:55 pm)

Stand Up Rally locationsThe next Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally is 10 days away, and today our list of cities taking part just reached 140!

The number of cities on board for June 8 shows that the massive turnout seen at the first Nationwide Rally on March 23 was hardly a one-time phenomenon.

Opposition among the American people to the HHS Mandate’s assault on religious freedom is intense—and getting stronger!

From Augusta, Maine to Miami, Florida to Fairbanks, Alaska to Honolulu, Hawaii the American people are sending a message that we will not stand idly by while the federal government forces all employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of any moral or religious objections.

Check out the Locations Page to see all the cities taking part and find a Rally near you.

Don’t see one in your area? June 8 is fast approaching, but there is still time to organize one!

You can find out what it takes to be a local Rally Captain here.

Posted in General, Pro-Life Activism | 0 Comments »

Order Your Stand Up for Religious Freedom Buttons Today

Posted by John Jansen (May 29, 2012 at 8:42 am)

Stand Up buttonWe’ve received numerous requests the past few days from people across the country asking if they can get “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” buttons.

The answer is yes.

We’ve partnered with our friends at ChristianShirts.net to offer these great buttons (see left) as well as bumper stickers (see below).

Buttons are available for only $.35 each, and bumper stickers are available for only $.79 each.

These buttons and bumper stickers are a great way to send the message that you’re not going to stand idly by while our federal government takes away our First Amendment rights—and they’re sure to be a conversation starter.

Order yours today by calling 301-384-1422.

Posted in General | 0 Comments »

Why the Bishops’ Lawsuits Are Necessary

Posted by John Jansen (May 22, 2012 at 2:44 pm)

Participants at the March 23 Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally in Philadelphia

Yesterday, 43 Catholic institutions filed suit against the Obama Administration over the HHS Mandate.

News of these lawsuits shouldn’t come as a surprise. Since early March, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been all but guaranteeing that lawsuits would be filed.

A few weeks later, Dolan, appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, said, “We didn’t ask for this fight, but we won’t back away from it.”

Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon points out in the Wall Street Journal how it’s come to this in an op-ed appropriately titled, “Why the Bishops Are Suing the U.S. Government” that is accompanied by a picture of some of the 2,300 participants at the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally in Philadelphia on March 23 (see above, right).

Professor Glendon writes:

The main goal of the mandate is not, as HHS claimed, to protect women’s health. It is rather a move to conscript religious organizations into a political agenda, forcing them to facilitate and fund services that violate their beliefs, within their own institutions. [Continue reading ...]

Tags: , , , , . Posted in Law and Politics, The Church, The Culture War | 0 Comments »

BREAKING: 43 Catholic Institutions File Suit over HHS Mandate

Posted by John Jansen (May 21, 2012 at 12:15 pm)

Stop the HHS MandateLawsuits were filed by 43 Catholic institutions in federal court today against the Obama Administration over the HHS Mandate.

Among the plaintiffs, the University of Notre Dame is the most significant.

In announcing its lawsuit, Notre Dame’s president, Father John Jenkins, CSC, sent an email to university employees in which he wrote:

Today the University of Notre Dame filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana regarding a recent mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). That mandate requires Notre Dame and similar religious organizations to provide in their insurance plans abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures, which are contrary to Catholic teaching. The decision to file this lawsuit came after much deliberation, discussion and efforts to find a solution acceptable to the various parties.

Let me say very clearly what this lawsuit is not about: it is not about preventing women from having access to contraception, nor even about preventing the Government from providing such services. [Continue reading ...]

Tags: , , , . Posted in Law and Politics, The Culture War | 1 Comment »

Kathleen Sebelius, JFK, and the HHS Mandate

Posted by John Jansen (May 18, 2012 at 3:57 pm)

Despite a strong rebuke delivered to Georgetown University by the Archdiocese of Washington, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed the graduates of the school’s Public Policy Institute this morning.

In her remarks, Sebelius couldn’t resist wading into the area of church/state relations. Toward the end of her speech, she said the following:

Ultimately, public policy is about making difficult choices. Today, there are serious debates underway about the direction of our country – debates about the size and role of government, about America’s role as a global economic and military leader, about the moral and economic imperative of providing health care to all our citizens. People have deeply-held beliefs on all sides of these discussions, and you, as public policy leaders, will be called on to help move these debates forward.

These are not questions with quick and easy answers. When I was in junior high, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was running for president. I wasn’t old enough to vote, but it was the first national campaign I really remember. Some of then-Senator Kennedy’s opponents attacked him for his religion, suggesting that electing the first Catholic president would undermine the separation of church and state, a fundamental principle of our democracy. The furor grew so loud that Kennedy chose to deliver a speech about his beliefs just seven weeks before the election. [Continue reading ...]

Posted in Law and Politics, The Church, The Culture War | 0 Comments »

Washington Archdiocese Slams Georgetown for Honoring Sebelius

Posted by John Jansen (May 15, 2012 at 3:44 pm)

Kathleen SebeliusThe Archdiocese of Washington has sharply criticized Georgetown University’s decision to invite HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to address its School of Public Policy’s upcoming diploma ceremony.

A recent the editorial in Catholic Standard, the Archdiocese of Washington’s official newspaper, notes:

Founded in 1789 by John Carroll, a Jesuit priest, Georgetown University has, historically speaking, religious roots. So, too, do Harvard, Princeton and Brown. Over time, though, as has happened with these Ivy League institutions, Georgetown has undergone a secularization, due in no small part to the fact that much of its leadership and faculty find their inspiration in sources other than the Gospel and Catholic teaching. Many are quite clear that they reflect the values of the secular culture of our age. Thus the selection of Secretary Sebelius for special recognition, while disappointing, is not surprising.

Monsignor Charles Pope, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, comments thusly on the importance of the preceding paragraph: [Continue reading ...]

Tags: , , . Posted in The Church, The Culture War | 1 Comment »

Nancy Keenan to Step Down from NARAL

Posted by John Jansen (May 11, 2012 at 3:47 pm)

Nancy Keenan announced this week that she will step down as president of NARAL at the end of this year.

According to the Washington Post, “Keenan said she is leaving out of concern for the future of the pro-choice movement – and thinks she could be holding it back.”

In other words, Keenan has become a liability.

The WaPo article goes on say:

In recent years, Keenan has worried about an “intensity gap” on abortion rights among millennials, which the group considers to be the generation of Americans born between 1980 and 1991. While most young, antiabortion voters see abortion as a crucial political issue, NARAL’s own internal research does not find similar passion among abortion-rights supporters. If the pro-choice movement is to successfully defend abortion rights, Keenan contends, it needs more young people in leadership roles, including hers.

“There’s an opportunity for a new and younger leader,” Keenan said during a Wednesday interview in her downtown Washington office. “Roe v. Wade is 40 in January. It’s time for a new leader to come in and, basically, be the person for the next 40 years of protecting reproductive choice.”

A bit optimistic, don’t you think?

League Confronts NARAL on Multiple Occasions

The Pro-Life Action League has directly engaged with Keenan and NARAL on multiple occasions over the past few years. [Continue reading ...]

Tags: , . Posted in Our Opposition | 0 Comments »

Honoring Kathleen Sebelius: Georgetown Does the Unthinkable

Posted by John Jansen (May 7, 2012 at 3:38 pm)

Kathleen SebeliusIt’s hard to not sound over-the-top in describing how much of an outrage it is that the speaker at Georgetown University’s School of Public Policy diploma ceremony on May 18 will be none other than Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The fact that the nominally Catholic architect of the HHS Mandate — which has been publicly denounced by every single bishop who leads a diocese in the U.S. — is being granted this honor by America’s oldest Catholic university is hard to believe.

Yet at the same time, given the history of the choice of commencement speakers at some other reputable Catholic universities in recent years, it isn’t hard to believe at all.

A “Direct Challenge” to the U.S. Bishops

Clearly, as the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) observes, Georgetown’s invitation to Sebelius “can only be interpreted as a direct challenge to America’s Catholic bishops.” [Continue reading ...]

Tags: , , , , . Posted in Law and Politics, The Culture War | 2 Comments »

Over 100 Cities to Rally against HHS Mandate on June 8

Posted by John Jansen (May 3, 2012 at 3:11 pm)

Stand Up Rally locationsThe next Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally is still more than a month away, and today our list of cities taking part just reached 101!

The number of cities already on board for June 8 shows that the massive turnout seen at the first Nationwide Rally on March 23 was hardly a one-time phenomenon.

Opposition among the American people to the HHS Mandate’s assault on religious freedom is intense—and getting stronger!

From Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon and all the way out to Honolulu, Hawaii the American people are sending a message that we will not stand idly by while the federal government forces all employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of any moral or religious objections.

Check out the Locations Page to see all the cities taking part and find a Rally near you.

Don’t see one in your area? Organize one!

You can find out what it takes to be a local Rally Captain here.

Posted in Law and Politics | 0 Comments »

Boycott Prompts Pepsi to Change Policy on Aborted Fetal Cell Lines

Posted by John Jansen (April 30, 2012 at 10:10 am)

Children of God for Life (COGFL) announced today that PepsiCo will no longer use aborted fetal cell lines in their agreement with Senomyx to develop flavor enhancers for their products.

COGFL called for a boycott of PepsiCo last May, and the Pro-Life Action League signed on immediately.

Clearly, PepsiCo’s decision to stop using aborted fetal cell lines was in response to the thousands of complaints lodged by pro-lifers in the past year.

Via LifeSite:

“We are absolutely thrilled with PepsiCo’s decision,” stated [COGFL Executive Director Debbie] Vinnedge. “They have listened to their customers and have made both a wise and profound statement of corporate integrity that deserves the utmost respect, admiration and support of the public.” [Continue reading ...]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Posted in Abortion, Stem Cell Research, The Culture War | 2 Comments »