Ann and I are just back from a most exciting and educational ten days in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We spent four days in Dublin attending the Fourth International Pro-Life and Family Conference and heard unusual speakers like Dana Scallion, Dr. David Prentice, Fiona Pinto, Bernadette Smyth, Sean O’Domhnaill, Randy Pollard, Eshan Dias as well as our own Joan Appleton, Brian Kemper, Brandi Swindell, Pat Mahoney and Bobby Schindler.
Much To Learn from Irish Pro-Lifers
I gave the opening talk at the conference, on the battle for life in the United States Supreme Court. Speakers were from Ireland, Poland, Great Britain and Sri Lanka.
Possibly the most rousing pro-life activist talk I have ever heard was delivered by Owen White of Youth Defence. It was a call to dedicated activism by one of the most influential and organized young leaders in the Republic of Ireland. The entire convention was a shot in the arm and a reassurance that many great thinkers and leaders populate the pro-life movement. Abortion referral days are numbered in Ireland.
Six-hundred attended the three-day conference at the O’Reilly Theatre. While there we also picketed the Mary Scopes abortion referral center, where Irish women sign up for abortion appointments in England. Abortion is still outlawed in both the Republic and in Northern Ireland, thanks to groups like Youth Defence and Precious Life.
Although the secular press is eager to say American Pro-Lifers visit Ireland to corrupt the Irish tactics and teach them violent methods, the fact is that Americans learn much from the Irish, who have, after all, kept abortion out of their countries.
After the Dublin conference, Ann and I gave an informal talk on activism to activists in Balleymena before stetting out on a four-day tour of the Irish Northwest Counties.
Developments in Massachusetts
The legislature in Massachusetts failed to take up a bill aimed at forcing Catholic Hospitals there to dispense the morning after pill, despite Catholic morality that does not allow the risk of causing abortion. Legislators believe the bill is now dead for the rest of the legislative session.
Also in Massachusetts, the highest court in the state has ruled that city and town clerks may not issue marriage licenses to same sex couples from out of state, despite the Massachusetts law permitting same sex marriage for citizens of Massachusetts.
About 7,000 same sex couples have already “married” in Massachusetts. The court ruling is abased on a 1913 commonwealth law on the right to marry.
Michigan Ultrasound Law Weak, but May Help
Pro-abortion Republican Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, has signed a bill that allows a woman considering an abortion to view the ultrasound picture of her baby before she goes ahead with the procedure. This is a watered-down version of a bill that required the abortion clinic to show every woman an ultrasound of her baby before getting an abortion.
While it is not now required that the clinic even take an ultrasound, and the women must ask to see it, still statistics show that women overwhelmingly choose to have the baby when they have seen an ultrasound. It is surprising that Granholm, a Catholic pro-abort, signed even this weak version of the bill.
What Forty Years Have Wrought
Here’s a quick look at some changes that have taken place in our society over the past few decades, courtesy of Ron Galloy of New York: In 1960, 5.3 % of all births were out of wedlock. Today it’s 33 %. In 1960 one in four marriages ended in divorce. In 2006, it’s one in two.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases are epidemic, as 65 million Americans, that’s one in four of us, struggle with herpes, AIDS, chlamydia and a whole batch of ugly venereal diseases. Aren’t we happy?
Breast Cancer is up from 1 in 12 to 1 in 8 women. Introduction of the so called morning after pill has actually resulted in an increase in surgical abortions, not to mention the chemical abortions caused by the pill. The pill has led to more promiscuity and more abortions.
Ron is in touch with the major media moguls in New York on a regular basis. He has dedicated his life to educating and converting the media, a daunting task.
