Pro-Lifers Make Impact at NEA Teacher Convention

Out of Philidelphia:

Seventy-five pro-life teachers, parents/taxpayers and children/students successfully picketed the NEA convention in Philadelphia on Sunday, July 1. Aged eight to eighty, they took positions on all four corners of Arch & 11th Streets, displaying high-visibility signs and posters easily seen by thousands of NEA Delegates disembarking from shuttle buses or entering and leaving the Convention Center's doorways.

Pro-lifers and delegates were interviewed by reporters and photojournalists from FOX, Philadelphia Bulletin, Washington Times, Catholic Standard & Times, etc.

Many delegates openly expressed disbelief, skepticism, and even shock, at the revelation that NEA was involved in abortion at all – much less in an advocacy role – much less pro-abortion. They were totally unaware of NEA's long-standing "Family Planning Resolution" supporting "reproductive freedom" and "all methods of family planning" – including abortion. Some refused to accept the well-documented fact that NEA is one of Planned Parenthood's primary advocates and actually co-sponsored huge pro-abortion rallies in Washington in April 2004, April 1992, and November 1989.

A few belligerent delegates verbally berated the pro-lifers, accusing them of "lying". Others thanked pro-lifers for bringing NEA's abortion activism into sharp focus. Some said they would raise the issue on the Convention Floor and attempt to have NEA totally abandon its pro-abortion agenda and activism.

Bob Pawson, National Coordinator of PLEAS and NJEA member, said, "We joined NEA for collective bargaining representation; not to be misrepresented on socio-political or moral issues like abortion, homosexuality, or who to vote for. Respect the diversity of 3.2 million members. Totally disengage NEA from the abortion issue. Become truly neutral and completely non-involved."

"The NEA leadership's pro-abortion agenda is a perverse way of supposedly protecting our jobs. Babies are our business; our only business. For NEA to condone, much less promote, killing babies in their wombs is not only a moral outrage; it's economic suicide. Abortion costs us our jobs."

NEA wants us unified for contract negotiations every few years, yet simultaneously divides us with radical, far left, extremist positions on issues like abortion. News flash: We don't feel unified. We feel betrayed. We resent having our dues monies used to subvert our personal moral values, and then being offered "thirty pieces of silver."

Some Problems with Society

In many ways, I am a typical guy. Typical guys think things like baby showers are boring. Apparently, they are not. At least, in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the mother-to-be was beaten, one man was shot and three men were arrested.

How did the altercation start? The AP reports that an argument escalated into a brawl when Aristotle Garcia (sidenote: very cool first name) got into a fight with Antonio Santiago, who is now dating his ex-girlfriend. Sounds like a standard issue thing, doesn't it? No one likes the guy who is going out with their ex. Yet this gets better - the argument was over whether the ex-girlfriend let their 5-year-old daughter drink beer.

The shower's hostess attempted to put a stop to the fight when another man, Jazz Rivas took a large stick and starting hitting some of the guests, including the seven months pregnant mother-to-be.

Then another man, named Juan Velazquez, fired a gun into the party crowd and hit Garcia in the stomach.

According to the Springfield Police Department,

It was a baby shower gone bad.-
Springfield Police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney

Wow - that is an understatement.

The legal stuff:
Velazquez - arrested and charged with assault and battery
with a dangerous weapon and armed assault with intent to murder. Plead not
guilty. Held on $100,000 bail.

Santiago - arrested on same
charges. Plead not guilty. Held on $50,000 bail.

Rivas -
arrested and charged with three counts of assault and battery with a
dangerous weapon and one count of assault and battery on a pregnant
female. Plead not guilty. Held on $10,000 bail.

How have we come to the point where this junk seems common? I have a couple observations, although they are certainly not exhaustive.

First, we as a society tolerate crap like this. Sure, most of us who read such an article and shake our heads in condemnation. Yet, as a whole, there is not any widespread outrage.

Second, anti-gunners will look at this and say things like, "well, this wouldn't have happened if guns were banned," totally forgetting that it is illegal to shoot people out of the bounds of self-defense, and it is illegal to beat people up - including a special crime when pregnant women are beaten. It will soon be the "fault" of the gun - even though a stick was used to beat the woman. Personal responsibility will be thrown out. Guns will be demonized. The politicians will do their thing in front of a camera.

Third, laws are in a state of disarray. On one hand, we have abortion laws that, in effect, say that a fetus isn't a human. Then we have laws when dealing with abuse of pregnant women that say a fetus is a human and protected. Don't see a correlation? There is. We can't have it both ways.

This is nowhere near exhaustive, but the same problems are at the root of a lot of common lawlessness getting the press these days.

Michigan to Add Abortion Regulations

According to the Detroit Free Press, Governor Jennifer Granholm is going to sign into law a bill requiring Michigan abortion providers to give a pregnant woman the option of viewing ultrasound images of her fetus before performing an abortion.

This is significant because it is the first time Granholm has agreed with the Legislature's anti-abortion majority on a measure to regulate abortion.

Kary Moss, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said the ultrasound bill is another in a line of "small, incremental steps... all designed to put up barriers" to legal abortion.

Yep. That's the point. And it is about time.

Granholm, a Catholic facing re-election this fall, has faced strong criticism from abortion opponents, including some who picketed outside her parish during her 2002 campaign for governor. She was endorsed by and received hefty contributions from the national abortion-rights group Emily's List.

In 2004, Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference collected signatures for a successful legislative initiative to restrict so-called partial birth abortion to override a Granholm veto. That law was challenged and won't be implemented before a final judicial outcome.

Based on my observation of Michigan politics, it looks like Governor Granholm is worried about the election in November. Her likely Republican challenger, Dick DeVos is a pretty hard-core anti-abortion guy. With Michigan's economy flushing down the toilet at an increasingly fast pace, and (wrongly, in my opinion) Governor Granholm catching the blame, she may have to really go "middle-of-the-road" in this upcoming election.

Abortion

South Dakota Prohibits Abortion

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed legislation today banning abortion in all cases unless the mother's life is in danger.

It is about time.

We've seen the slaughter of more than 40 million Americans since 1973. No, not the discard of 40 million+ clumps of cells. Adolph Hitler, in his evil campaign against the Jewish people, only managed 6 million murders. America has put him to shame. We've slaughtered 40 million... and the numbers are growing.

Rounds said in a written statement he expects the law will be tied up in court for years and will not be enacted unless upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society," Rounds said. "The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them. - Gov. Rounds

We Americans started with the weakest group of all, the baby. We bought into the lie that "it isn't really a baby until it is born."

Now we are moving into the new realm of euthanasia. Let's knock off the next level of weak people - the sick.

At least the people of South Dakota are willing to put their foot down and say, "enough." I hope more states will follow their example.

Last week, Rounds was in Washington for a National Governors Association meeting where he found more pledges of donations and the support of some of his colleagues across the nation.

"There is a lot of interest in it here," Rounds said, according to the Associated Press. "And there are a number of states that have similar legislation. A lot of governors expressing support and wishing us good luck and suggesting that they will have similar types of proposals that may very well be favorably looked upon across the United States."

State lawmakers in Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Indiana also are considering legislation that would heavily restrict abortions.

abortion , South Dakota

Facts About Abortion

Is it a clump of cells? Is it a human life? Still undecided? Check out some facts about abortion.

Please be warned, there is some graphic material that will be disturbing, but there are sufficient warnings before you get to any such material. You will not stumble upon something graphically disturbing.

Tags: Abortion