In This Issue...
From Our Director...
BCLast week after the election, I had the opportunity to meet with Senator-elect Bill Cassidy in his new Washington D.C. office. It is certainly a breath of fresh air as both our U.S. Senators welcome the pro-life cause into their work! Senator-elect Cassidy reiterated his firm desire to protect unborn children. We look forward to working with him over these next six years!

We also congratulate Sen. David Vitter for being named to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a critical post in the U.S. Senate. 

We have been blessed to hold THEIR future in our hands over the past year, and we are excited to defend the defenseless with you in 2015. Please spread the word about the Louisiana Life March events this January. Let's make them the best yet!

For a Pro-Life Louisiana,   
Abortion Lawsuit Update

2 Abortion Facilities Drop Suit Against State

 

U.S. District Court Judge John deGravelles has granted a motion by Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge, Women's Health Care Center in New Orleans and a doctor at each facility to dismiss their lawsuits challenging Louisiana's newest abortion law. An earlier lawsuit, filed on behalf of the abortion facilities in Shreveport, Bossier City and Metairie, and their doctors, remains intact.

 

The law in question, approved during the 2014 Louisiana Legislative session and signed in by Gov. Bobby Jindal, requires doctors who perform abortions to be able to admit patients to a hospital within 30 miles.

 

deGravelles has scheduled a trial to begin March 30. Until then, a temporary restraining order bars the state health department from penalizing doctors who are applying for admitting privileges.

 

Attorney Ellie Schilling said cost is the only reason for the request for dismissal.

Louisiana Life March
Planning Continues
for Life March Events

 

Will you march with us to
DEFEND THE DEFENSELESS?

 

The pro-life movement in Louisiana will reflect on 42 years of Roe v. Wade and remember the thousands of lives lost to abortion in our state with two Louisiana Life March events on consecutive Saturdays in January.

   

The LLM North, (CLICK HERE to download flyer) in its second year, begins at 10 AM on Saturday, January 17, at Bossier City's Louisiana Boardwalk, travels across the Texas Street bridge, and ends at Shreveport's Festival Plaza, where speakers and musicians will lead in prayer and presentation.

 

The LLM South is changing locations to LSU for just this year due to construction at the Capitol and to partner with "The Response Louisiana," a large prayer gathering to be held at LSU on January 24, the same day as the LLM South.  

 

Activities connected with Life March South ( CLICK HERE to download flyer) will begin at the outdoor LSU Greek Theatre located on Dalrymple Drive. The Life Ministry Mobilization area opens at 9:45 AM, the rally will begin at 10 AM, and at 11 AM the march will begin, concluding at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Participants will then march into the Maravich Center, and Life March South will merge with "The Response Louisiana" to begin a time of prayer for life.

 

If you would like to request materials for your group, please contact our office at 1.866.463.5433 or info@prolifelouisiana.org to schedule a pickup time or to give us your mailing address so we can ship supplies to you.  

 

We have posters and flyers available!

Proudly Pro-Life Dinner
Archbishop Aymond Being Honored at Dinner

Archbishop of New Orleans Gregory Aymond will be honored with the Proudly Pro-Life Award at the 16th annual New Orleans Proudly Pro-Life Dinner on Thursday, January 8, 2015.

The Archbishop has been a strong advocate on behalf of the unborn, aged, and the terminally ill. Over the past two years he has led the way in boldly denouncing Planned Parenthood and its plan to build an abortion facility on Claiborne Avenue.

The dinner will be held at Chateau Country Club in Kenner. Tickets are $100 per person (not available at the door), and sponsorships of a student, seminarian, or pastor are an additional $50 donation.

News Around the Nation...
Pro-Life Related Stories  Trending Around Nation
(Click on blue to read more) 

* The parents of children at a San Francisco high school are outraged because Planned Parenthood employees are teaching their kids in public school about sex. The students, 13- and 14-year-olds, are being taught by the abortion business without their parents' consent or even prior knowledge.

According to Fox News, the students were handed worksheets that include a checklist titled, "Sex Check! Are You Ready For Sex?" The worksheet asks the students if they have water-based lubricants and condoms; and of course on their materials the abortion giant inquires if the children know how to handle a possible venereal infection or pregnancy.

 

Fortunately, Louisiana recently passed a law prohibiting employees or representatives of organizations that perform abortions from providing education in public schools. This issue should not arise in Louisiana! 

 

* On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Arizona from enforcing a state law that restricts access to abortion-inducing drugs by prohibiting off-label uses of RU-486, the so-called "abortion pill."

 

The high court refused to hear the state's appeal of an April ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prevented the law from going into effect while litigation continues. That ruling will remain intact.

 

The Arizona law would prevent women from using the drug between the seventh and ninth week of pregnancy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 2000 approval of the drug applied only up to the seventh week.

 

* Planned Parenthood recently dropped a federal lawsuit challenging a requirement in Kansas for abortion providers to have a link on their websites' home pages to state materials about fetal development and terminating pregnancies.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil issued a one-page order closing the lawsuit, saying the parties had "settled" the claims, without providing details. A trial had been scheduled to begin last week in Kansas City, Kansas.

Their Future STILL in Our Hands

Election Was A Success, But We Must Continue to Defend the Defenseless

By Ryan Verret, Assistant Director
 
Thank you Their Future As 2014 comes to a close and we prepare for 2015, we are reflecting on the motto for 2014 that we adopted many months ago: THEIR future is in OUR hands.

 

For Louisiana Right to Life, this theme pivoted around the 2014 U.S. Senate election. As we have discussed, after the Supreme Court and the Presidency, there is no entity of elected officials more critical than the U.S. Senate for the pro-life cause. The Senate holds in its hand the confirmation of Supreme Court justices and is often the final say about the success or demise of important pro-life legislation.

 

Since Louisiana does not substantially factor into the presidential election equation, and Supreme Court justices are not elected, it could be said that the most basic role of the Louisiana pro-life movement is to assure that its two sitting U.S. Senators vote pro-life. There are certainly many more responsibilities for our cause, but you can make the argument that this is the most essential.

 

With that, we knew that come election day the people of our state would hold the future of innocent human lives in their hands as they cast their votes. And from our vantage point, it appears they did.

 

The election of Bill Cassidy now means that Louisiana is represented by TWO pro-life U.S. Senators, David Vitter and Bill Cassidy. Louisiana is a pro-life state, and it is about time both our U.S. Senators represented that reality.

 

We cannot underestimate how important this reality is for our cause and for Louisiana. Even though most pundits painted the election as a forgone conclusion in the last two months, it is a significant milestone. The Louisiana pro-life cause has addressed its most basic responsibility.

 

The outcome on December 6 bolstered the pro-life advantage in the Senate, strengthening hope for progress on life-saving legislation and hopefully a more pro-life Supreme Court in the future. We look forward to a vote in the Senate this year on the legislation to protect unborn babies in the fifth month of pregnancy who can feel pain.

 

Now, don't get us wrong, we know the election of pro-life Bill Cassidy is not the end-all and be-all of pro-life success. President Obama will likely veto pro-life legislation that arrives on his desk, and babies are still dying from abortion. Not to mention, we could lose a pro-life majority in the Senate in as few as two years.

 

But the U.S. Senate is a game of 100. Each state has the job of electing two Senators. Louisiana's two are now pro-life. This is worth celebrating!

 

But the future of unborn children has not only resided in the hands that cast votes in 2014, but also in the hands that offered resources to pregnant women considering abortion, hands that prayed outside abortion facilities, hands that educated young people on the value of life, hands that lobbied our legislators, and so much more. We have seen a strong increase in people getting involved in the pro-life cause in 2014, and our team educated thousands of young people in Louisiana. By our account, 2014 has been a positive pro-life year.

 

As we look forward to 2015, we are embracing the theme for our Life Marches of "Defend the Defenseless." We are inspired by the powerful scripture of Isaiah 1:17 that tells us the following...

 

Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

 

Without a doubt, there is no one in our society more oppressed and innocent than the unborn child. We are confident that as we move into 2015 we have an opportunity to make real progress in our continued fight for the restoration of the right to life of our poorest and most vulnerable neighbors, unborn children. We can begin to defend life in 2015 by uniting at the Louisiana Life Marches planned for Shreveport (Jan. 17) and Baton Rouge (Jan. 24).

 

We want to thank you for all did for life in 2014. We are extremely grateful for all the time, talent, and treasure you spent to advance the pro-life movement in Louisiana during 2014! 

 

Let us never forget that the future of our nation and the human race lies in our hands. Our actions protect human life. We pray that future generations will look back on this day in time as the moment we took individual initiative to bring an end to the horror of abortion.


Group Targeting High Abortion Rate Among Black Women 
La. Black Advocates for Life Begins Work 

By Sandy Cunningham, Communications Director
 
 

Louisiana Black Advocates for Life, a new pro-life effort formed to address the unacceptably high rate of abortion in Louisiana's black community, just completed a radio campaign on stations throughout Louisiana to begin to bring attention to this serious problem.

 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO RADIO SPOT 

 

Kathy Allen
Kathy Allen, Ph.D

The spots focus on the high rate of abortion among black women - one in every five black babies was killed by abortion in 2013 - and urge citizens to become knowledgeable about the problem and get involved in the quest for change.

 

Dr. Kathy Allen, director of Louisiana Black Advocates for Life, said the effort was formed to provide information, conduct outreach throughout the state, identify challenges for women in crisis pregnancy situations, help strengthen support networks and work with local and state lawmakers to produce policies that protect life.

 

"We believe that given the tools to make life-affirming choices, women and men around our state will choose life for their unborn babies," she said. "Our primary goal is to reduce, and ultimately end, abortion in the black community."

 

In 2013, 60 percent of all abortions in Louisiana (5,999 out of 9,976) were performed on black women. But black people make up just 32 percent of Louisiana's population, making those numbers extremely worrisome.

 

"This is an alarming trend that threatens the long-term survival of the black population in the state of Louisiana," Allen said.

 

The rate of abortion among black women was extremely high for unmarried women (85 percent) and highest among women 20-29 years of age (63 percent). These realities exist in spite of a robust and nationally-recognized pro-life movement in Louisiana.

 

Allen said: "Louisiana Black Advocates for Life recognizes that the problem of abortion in the black community has complex roots. We acknowledge that oppression and discrimination are inextricable parts of black consciousness and current life options. But despite the social, historical and political realities of the lives of black people, we must embrace the fundamental belief that all life begins at conception."

 

Black Advocates for Life is working to build partnerships with churches, schools, community groups and citizens to further the pro-life movement in the black community. These partnerships are needed so that education initiatives and strategies to save black babies can succeed, Allen said.

 

If you would like to work with Dr. Allen to further the educational initiatives of Louisiana Black Advocates for Life, you can reach her at kathy@prolifelouisiana.org or 337.290.9595

 

***

 

Louisiana Black Advocates for Life recently commissioned a poll of the state's black community to gauge attitudes about abortion. The automated poll, conducted by JMC Analytics and Polling, registered 605 completed responses to 10 poll questions with respondents from throughout the state.

 

The poll found:

  • Black people are generally pro-life, but that sentiment is not overwhelming. It also found that the pro-life sentiment is higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas.
  • A high percentage of respondents were undecided on the issue of abortion, showing that there is great opportunity to change hearts and minds on the issue.
  • Attitudes on abortion are closely tied to the respondent's frequency of church attendance.
  • Of those respondents who said they are pro-life, 60 percent favor one or more exceptions, i.e. legal only for rape, incest or to save the mother's life.
  • Of those respondents who said they are pro-choice, 60 percent said abortion should be legal only up to a certain point, with most favoring abortion for just the first three months of a woman's pregnancy.  

CLICK HERE TO VIEW POLL RESULTS 

Upcoming Events

Jan. 17, 2015: Life March Shreveport 

Jan. 21: Geaux Forth Youth Rally, Washington DC  

Jan. 24: Life March Baton Rouge

June 28 - July 2: Joshua Leadership Institute 

July 9-11, 2015: Nat'l Right to Life Convention, NOLA  

Teens: Mark Your Calendars!


NRL Convention in July!
NRL Convention
 
Louisiana Right to Life | Lighting the Way to a Pro-Life Louisiana Since 1970
www.ProLifeLouisiana.org | 1.866.463.5433 | info@prolifelouisiana.org

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