Life Chain events across Louisiana are only 15 days away!
Please make plans to attend a Life Chain near you!
As Julie Hanks shares in the article below to the right, Life Chains are a great way to present the pro-life message together with others. The evil of abortion thrives when it is in the dark, when people are acting like it never happens. The Life Chain shines light on the reality of abortion and calls people to confront this injustice.
Check out the Life Chain article below and be sure you attend one near you on Oct. 1 or 2!
For a Pro-Life Louisiana,
Benjamin Clapper
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Court Forces Planned Parenthood Funding
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that blocked the state's effort to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood.
Deanna Wallace, Louisiana Right to Life Legislative Director, said,
"It's disappointing that federal judges are interfering with Louisiana's ability to determine what ethical standards they require of those who contract with the state. Planned Parenthood has proven over and over again that they put profit above all else, as shown by the myriad of scandals over the years such as Medicaid fraud in Texas, selling baby parts, and even covering up the rape of underage girls.
"Beyond that, there's no mention in the 5th Circuit's opinion of the hundreds of other healthcare options Louisiana women can rely on to provide them services, nor does the court acknowledge that Planned Parenthood wants to sell the New Orleans community 2,844 abortions each year.
Louisiana should be able to say that Planned Parenthood is not someone they want to do business with."
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40 Days for Life
Planning Continues;
BR Event Cancelled
Stand with us Sept. 28 through Nov. 6 during 40 Days for Life campaign in New Orleans and Shreveport-Bossier to protect women and unborn children from abortion through inter-denominational prayer, peaceful vigil, and community activism.
Because of the devastating flooding in the Baton Rouge area in August, the 2016 Baton Rouge campaign has been cancelled.
Click here to read a message from campaign co-chairs Charlotte Bergeron and Danielle Van Haute.
Keep up with the latest events scheduled for your area online. You can also sign up for prayer times at the New Orleans site by clicking the links below. More information on both events will be posted as it becomes available.
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Sponsors, Table Hosts Needed for Event
Acadiana and Louisiana Right to Life will host the third annual Chers Bébés: Acadiana's Soirée For Life, on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. The Most
Reverend J. Douglas Deshotel, newly installed Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, will be the keynote speaker.
Event organizers are seeking sponsors and table hosts. Contact Ryan Verret at 337-524-0044 or email rverret @prolifelouisiana.org for more information or to become a sponsor or table host.
Click Here to Complete
a Sponsorship Online
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Clare Lavergne, left, and Grace Fontenot talk about abortion with students at Wichita State.
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JFI Interns Conducting Outreach Events
Clare Lavergne, 19, and Grace Fontenot, 20, both longtime participants in Louisiana Right to Life youth programs, are in Kansas for a semester internship with Justice for All. Below is an update from the Acadiana students:
While it was difficult to leave our beloved state of Louisiana in August during this time of hardship, we were blessed to be able to get on the road and begin our internships with Justice For All. JFA's mission is "training thousands to make abortion unthinkable for millions, one person at a time." JFA accomplishes this by seeking to create a loving dialogue about abortion with those who disagree.
During our first week at JFA, we gained an in-depth understanding of pro-life apologetics while growing in sincere compassion for the pro-choice advocate. We have learned that this compassion is necessary because in our defense of the value of the unborn we must not forget to value the person in front of us.
The staff of JFA has made us feel welcome while challenging us to step out of our comfort zones. Since beginning our internships one month ago, we've conducted two outreach events per week. During a poll table outreach at Wichita State University, for example, we connected at a heart level with many pro-life and pro-choice advocates. These have been our first dialogue experiences apart from PULSE Leadership Institute.
Attending PULSE during the past few years gave us a head start in our roles in the pro-life movement, and we would not be here without the encouragement of Louisiana Right To Life and its supporters. We look forward to the challenges and blessings to come as we spread la joie de vivre and continue to serve as interns with JFA.
- Clare and Grace
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Protecting Lives
Like Mine
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Senate Needs to Pass Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
By Sarah Zagorski
If a baby is born alive, even during an abortion, he or she should be protected by law. Can't we all agree on this?
Judging by my own life, I know it would save lives.
On Sept. 18, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a simple bill that requires that a baby born alive during an abortion must be afforded "the same degree" of care that would apply "to any other child born alive at the same gestational age," including transportation to a hospital.
Now, we need the Senate to act on its version, S. 2066, sponsored by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE). Thankfully, our two Senators, David Vitter and Bill Cassidy, are already co-sponsors. Of course we want to protect every baby, both born and unborn. But doesn't it seem that all people, both pro-life and pro-choice, should be able to come together to support a bill like this?
If enacted, the legislation would protect babies from the fate of thousands of children who have survived abortion but been left to die or killed by an abortion practitioner. The law would make failure to provide standard medical care to children born alive during an abortion a federal crime, which makes it unique from a similar law, the 2002 Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. That law extends legal protection to an infant born alive after a failed attempt at induced abortion. While the 2002 law was a good step forward, it did not have the "teeth" needed for proper enforcement.
For some of us legislation like this may be hard to get excited about because it's not going to end abortion tomorrow or stop Planned Parenthood from performing its nearly 324,000 abortions each year. However, we should be 100 percent behind this bill because it saves babies from death and protects lives like mine.
Twenty-six years ago an infamous New Orleans abortionist told my birth mother she should let me die on the table after he delivered me breech at 26 1/2 weeks. I wasn't breathing when I was born, and to him, my life was meaningless and wouldn't amount to anything.
The abortionist was so certain of my worthlessness that he told my mother I would be a mental vegetable and incapable of having a normal life. Thankfully, she didn't listen, and I'm here today to tell you this story. But what if my birth mother didn't have the courage to fight for my life, what would have happened then?
The odds are I would have died on that table, and the life I know now would be non-existent. The people I love would have never known me. I would have joined the list of babies who have had their lives snuffed out after an abortionist convinced their mothers, or medical professionals, that they were better off dead.
If we do not put these abortionists on notice with real penalties in law, they will not stop their destructive actions. It is time to act!
Sadly, it doesn't seem everyone is willing to protect babies like me. At the same time the House passed the legislation last year, President Obama issued a statement that he would veto the bill if it arrived on his desk since, in his opinion, it would have a "chilling effect, reducing access to care." Likely at the insistence of Planned Parenthood, Obama feels that by truly protecting babies outside of the womb we would somehow be hindering the ability to kill the baby in the womb, up until the moments before birth. Talk about abortion-on-demand.
Interestingly, as a senator in 2002 Hillary Clinton supported the former version of this legislation. Would she be willing to support this new version with real protections today?
We talk in our nation often about the value of finding common ground. Now is the chance. Join me in asking the U.S. Senate to step up to the plate, find unity, and truly protect those babies born alive after an abortion. Babies like me.
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Take Part in a Life Chain!
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My name is Julie Hanks, and I am your state Life Chain coordinator. I live in the small town of Ponchatoula, where we have held a local Life Chain for more than 6 years. We don't have a local abortion facility but are almost equally distant from the abortion facilities in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
So why have a Life Chain or get involved? What difference can you make? You would be surprised what an impact a local Life Chain can have.
During the hour and a half that we stand along the street we are changing opinions and making people who drive by think about abortion. When people have to think about abortion, then it makes it a reality. We often get honks and thumbs up, and unfortunately sometimes negative reactions, but a reaction means something. Often, as I see people drive by who turn away or react in anger, I take that opportunity to pray for them. Maybe they have witnessed or participated in an abortion and desperately need our prayers.
That is why we are out there standing along busy roads, witnessing for life. As newly canonized Saint Mother Teresa said,
"God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful."
If you are interested in starting a Life Chain in your community, contact me at 985-351-3143 and I will help get you started. You can also visit ProLifeLouisiana.org/LifeChain for updated locations where you can join a Life Chain. Finally, lifechain.net has all state listings and contacts for each location.
Please consider getting involved, you can make a difference in your community! Thank You, Lord, for all lives saved!
- Julie Hanks
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Are You an Attorney or Louisiana Law Student?
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40 Days for Life
La. Life March
South
Jan. 28, 2017:
La. Life March North
Feb. 4, 2017:
La. Life March Central
Feb. 10-12, 2017:
PULSE Immersion Weekend, BR
April 28-30, 2017:
PULSE Immersion Weekend, Cov.
May 11, 2017:
Bowties for Babies
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