Tuesday, November 29, 2016

December 10th is Human Rights Day

The United Nations created Human Rights Day in 1950 after World War II. They wanted to prevent the killing of millions of innocent people from happening again. Therefore, they created a day to remind us that a right is something that belongs to every person.

All human beings have the inalienable right to life. This right is innate to individuals, rather than a privilege granted by governments or those in political office. Unfortunately, this is not a right that has been universally applied to the unborn child, who is undeniably a member of our human family.

Since 1973, in the United States alone, more than 57 million abortions have taken place. The basic human rights of 57 million have been violated through the violence of abortion.

Did you know that a heart of an unborn child starts beating at just 21 days old? Did you know that at 16 weeks a child can suck her thumb? It has been more than four decades since Roe v. Wade, yet many are still unaware of the amazing development of unborn children in the womb. While it can be easy to close our eyes and plug our ears because we do not want to hear about the awful ways so many children are killed, we must be aware that this is happening daily in our country, thousands of times.

If it counted, abortion would be the leading cause of death in America.

It is important that we take the time to remember those poor innocents who lives were taken from them—those who did not get a chance to enjoy those basic human rights.

Right to Life of Michigan has created a new resource that educates people on both the value of children in the womb, and the ways abortion cruelly violates their human dignity. Cruel and Usual Punishment is a free PowerPoint presentation you can download and use in any setting for older students and adults. While the presentation does include accurate descriptions of abortion techniques, it does not include graphic pictures of abortion.

Cruel and Usual Punishment Presentation
Presentation script

Monday, November 28, 2016

Abortions down 5% nationally in latest CDC report

Encouraging news came the day after Thanksgiving: the Centers for Disease Control released their annual report on abortion numbers, showing a 5% decrease. The numbers come from state abortion reports.

Before getting into the details, it’s important to note that three states refuse to collect and report abortion statistics: California, Maryland, and New Hampshire. While the overall abortion numbers are therefore much higher than reported by the CDC, we can still see the overall trends clearly from the 47 states we do have reports from.

Abortions continue to decline in America 
A total of 664,435 abortions were reported to CDC in 2013. The reported abortion rate was 12.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years. The reported abortion ratio was 200 abortions per 1,000 live births. All three measures were 5% decreases from 2012, so there were fewer abortions and a higher percentage of women chose life for their children.

The latest national estimate by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute was 1,085,800 abortions in 2011. Both the Guttmacher and CDC numbers show a long-term decline.

Abortion is aging 
Trends continue to show that more abortions are being performed on older women. Teens had 17.4% of abortions in 2004, compared to 11.7% in 2013. Women in the post-college age bracket of 25-34 had 37.9% of the abortions in 2004, but had 42.7% in 2013. The abortion ratios declined in all age groups, however, so both younger and older women are more likely to choose life in 2013 than in 2004. Older women also have much lower abortion ratios than younger women. A dramatic decline in teen abortions is part of the reason for the aging of abortion, but there’s a lot more to the story.

Just 1% are late-term abortions? That’s a lot of late-term abortions!
How many times have you seen politicians or abortion supporters dismiss late-term abortions as “rare” or not worth even discussing?

In the 2013 CDC report there are 40 reporting areas that collected information on how old the child is at the time he or she is aborted. The report showed 5,770 late-term abortions after 20 weeks, or 1.3% of all abortions. A good estimate for the entire nation is about 10,000 abortions every year given the roughly 1 million total abortions. Let’s just look at that reported figure though. How many is 5,770 late-term abortions? It’s 5,770 too many, especially when a large majority of Americans oppose late-term abortions. Compare that to other causes of death nationally, however. The latest CDC numbers showed 4,605 deaths from influenza in 2014. Are deaths from the flu so rare they are not worth addressing?

Just that “small” amount of late-term abortions should highlight the gut-wrenching numbers when looking at overall abortions. Why can’t our public health system devote as much attention to abortion as it does the seasonal flu? The dreaded Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 is estimated to have killed 50-100 million people globally in three years. In the three years from 2010-2013 there have been an estimated 168 million abortions globally. Abortion is not a once-in-a-century pandemic; it takes life on the scale of a permanent pandemic.

Don’t let someone dismiss abortion or late-term abortions as a side-issue; help them learn the facts.

Abortion has a disparate impact on the Black Community 
The good news is abortion ratios dropped in every racial and ethnic category in 2013. The bad news is the ratio is much higher in the Black community and it’s not dropping as quickly as other groups. The 2013 abortion ratio per 1,000 live births for non-Hispanic White women was 121, it was 178 for Hispanic women of any race and 420 for non-Hispanic Black women. The drops in abortion ratios from 2007 to 2013 were 23% for non-Hispanic Whites, 17% for non-Hispanic Blacks, and 13% for Hispanics.

Abortion is a cyclical problem that’s not being addressed 
Contrary to popular thought, abortion is not a one-time occurrence for most women. Nearly half of abortions are repeat abortions. Of women who had abortions in 2013, 55% were having their first abortion, and 45% were having their second abortion or more. Serial abortion is a serious problem, because 20% of women having abortions in 2013 were having their third abortion or more, and 9% were having their fourth abortion or more. If there are 1 million abortions in the U.S., then 90,000 women every year are having at least the fourth abortion in their lifetime.

Another tragic number is that of women who had abortions in 2013, 60% had already given birth to a child. These are women who probably already sat through an ultrasound with their first child as part of the birth process.

Conclusion? Celebrate more lives saved, but much more effort is still needed!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Year-end online contributions doubled

https://secure.rtl.org/apps/donations/donate

We just finished a historic election, especially in the state of Michigan.

Two roads were placed before us. One would have involved facing the stunning reality of a presidential administration and judges absolutely hostile to our core value that human life has intrinsic value.

Instead we're facing a road that could involve overturning Roe v. Wade in the near future. How near? We're potentially two U.S. Supreme Court justice appointments away, and one is already in the process of being filled.

What would our country look like without Roe v. Wade? What about Michigan? These questions in a few short years could consume the national conversation. People will be clamoring for a roadmap to make sense of these potential changes.

Once again generous prolife donors have provided a matching grant opportunity at the end of the year. All online gifts to the Right to Life of Michigan Educational Fund through December 31, 2016 will be matched up to $50,000.

 Just like an online map you've probably used, our educational materials and messages are available to everyone for free. Without your dedicated support, we can neither create these materials or get them out into the public square.

Please join us as our nation embarks on this historic journey. We must be able to provide the answer when people ask: "What happens when Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land?"

DONATE

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Mail order abortions

Abortion by mail is a new way to bring abortions to states where they are "hard to find."  The latest push by the abortion industry is truly creating abortion-on-demand with the idea that a simple phone call can allow abortion pills to arrive straight to your mailbox.

Currently Hawaii, New York, Oregon and Washington are participating in an experimental trial which literally hands over an abortion pill with few questions asked. Currently this practice is not approved in the U.S. by the FDA.  However, in Australia and in the Canadian province of British Columbia, this has become a common practice. All it takes is a quick call or Internet chat with an abortionist and you can receive the RU-486 abortion pills through the mail.

After these countries have begun to pioneer the way for this new practice, there is now an experimental push in the United States to look into an American version of this practice.

This push is being organized by Gynuity Health Projects, the abortion pill has long been a top priority for them. On their own website they boast of organizing abortion trade convention workshops entitled, “Medical abortion service provision: How low can we go?” and “Can we omit the screening ultrasound before medical abortion?”

Even though the experiments are said to be closely watched, there are countless complications that can come with taking the abortion pill. Not having an actual medical professional examine you doesn’t rule out other potentially dangerous complications that could arise, like an ectopic pregnancy.  It is also important to note that medical abortions often fail, leaving the woman to have an additional surgical abortion.

This experiment is yet another attempt by the abortion industry to dehumanize the unborn and cut corners. Rather than benefiting women, these rules are convenient for the abortion industry: how low can they go? These practices are unacceptable and creating an environment of abuse for women.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Prolife opportunities in wake of Trump win

President-elect Donald Trump’s win means the prolife movement has some critical opportunities in the days and years ahead to expand protections for human life.

The most important development involves the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court. Before the death of Antonin Scalia, any potential prolife law depended on the personal opinion of Justice Anthony Kennedy as the Court’s swing vote. A Scalia replacement with similar judicial philosophies would restore that balance.

If one of the four justices who consistently vote in favor of abortion leaves during a Trump administration, there is an opportunity for Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton to be overturned.

What would happen then? The issue of abortion would return to the voters and their representatives. For the first time since soundly rejecting abortion at the ballot box in 1972, Michigan voters would have a say. If Michigan’s pre-Roe abortion law is restored, abortion in Michigan would once again be banned, except in the rare cases to save the life of the mother.

As advocates for doctor-prescribed suicide continue efforts to legalize the practice state-by-state, a balanced or rule-of-law Supreme Court protects against a Roe v. Wade for suicide and euthanasia.

Those decisions depend on a President Trump and the U.S. Senate appointing and approving justices who recognize that abortion is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution and voters should have a say in the matter.

Many legislative changes are also possible. Immediately the Mexico City Policy, which prevents U.S. tax dollars from providing or promoting abortion overseas, could be restored by a President Trump through an executive order.

President-elect Trump promised to defund Planned Parenthood as long as they continue providing abortions and a Republican Congress could finally clear a path for that change. A federal effort to ban late-term abortions after 20 weeks could be passed, and it may have a chance to clear a Supreme Court challenge, even if Anthony Kennedy is still the swing vote.

Another critical priority is repealing Obamacare. Troubling provisions regarding abortion funding would be gone, and the HHS Mandate could be rescinded, allowing groups that object to drugs that may cause abortions to be free from being coerced to purchase them.

America is undeniably a divided nation moving forward, but a Trump administration offers a crucial opportunity to restore the ability of American voters to grapple with the issues of human life.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Decisive prolife victory

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your election efforts!

Donald J. Trump, who campaigned as a prolife candidate and suggested in the third debate that his Supreme Court nominees could overturn Roe v. Wade, is America’s president-elect. Trump won Michigan by just 13,225 votes, the first time a prolife presidential candidate has carried the state since 1988. Your efforts made an astounding difference!

Last night was a positive first step, but the real battle for prolifers is at the U.S. Supreme Court. Antonin Scalia’s seat still needs to be filled, and that justice must recognize the plain fact that abortion is mentioned nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. A Republican U.S. Senate must thoroughly participate in the process to ensure non-biased rule of law justices are picked for the Supreme Court and other court vacancies throughout the country.

All of the congressional candidates endorsed by the RLM-PAC won last night, including the critical races featuring Jack Bergman in the Upper Peninsula/Northern Michigan and Rep. Tim Walberg from mid-Michigan.

Statewide results show a strong prolife performance. All but one priority Michigan House races were won by RLM-PAC endorsed candidates. The Michigan Legislature retains large prolife majorities. The Michigan Supreme Court candidates both won. Four of seven prolife candidates to state education boards won as well.

RLM-PAC-endorsed statewide and judicial candidates won 90.8% of their races last night. We’re still counting up the local races.

The only troubling result was doctor-prescribed suicide winning in Colorado. The culture of death had a large defeat last night, but it will not simply go away. More effort is needed.

Right to Life of Michigan is unique, because our strength is in our local, grassroots volunteers. You are the finest prolife volunteers in the nation and the entire world. Your grassroots reach is unmatched in Michigan.

These victories belong to you. Thank you!