In This Issue...
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NEXT WEEK!
From Our Director...
BC
We are 15 days away from the beginning of the implementation of HB 388, the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act.  The big question across the state is whether abortion facilities will be able to meet these common-sense standards.  If they cannot, they will be forced to close.  We do not need sub-standard facilities selling abortion to the women of Louisiana.

We also are prepared for legal challenges to HB 388, similar to what has happened in Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi.  Just yesterday, Mississippi petitioned the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals for a full hearing on their admitting privileges law. While different than the Louisiana situation, a possible decision from the entire 5th Circuit would have bearing on HB 388. 

Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter page as details unfold.

For a Pro-Life Louisiana,

Benjamin Clapper

P.S. Please join our team in Monroe this Saturday to honor our legislators, including Rep. Katrina Jackson!
Louisiana Students for Life
Casey Chance
Katie Horchoff








Bradford Jouty

Cisco Gonzales









Louisiana Students
for Life preparing for school year

The Louisiana Students for Life officers have been named for the

2014-15 school year.  They are: 

 

* President: Casey Chance, a senior at Nicholls

* Outreach Director: Katie Horchoff, a senior at UL-Lafayette
* Programs Director: Cisco

Gonzales, a sophomore at LSU

 * Development Director: Bradford Jouty, a senior at UL-L

 

"We have a lot of work to do this year, and Louisiana Students for Life is going to be leading the way on our college and university campuses," said Kandace Landreneau, Youth Programs Director for Louisiana Right to Life.

 

Louisiana Students for Life is the collegiate arm Louisiana Right to Life. Groups are active on the campuses of LSU, Southeastern, UL-L, LSU-Eunice, Nicholls, McNeese, Tulane, Loyola, Louisiana Tech, Bossier City Community College, and UNO.

 

"Our groups exist to network, educate, and activate pro-life students at all colleges and universities in the state of Louisiana," Landreneau said. "Fifty percent of all abortions are done on women between the ages 18 and 25, and we recognize our responsibility to help students who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy. We defend the defenseless, and we are doing our part to end abortion on campus."

 

To join Louisiana Students for Life's email list, to get more information on a campus organization near you or to start a campus group, email louisianastudentsforlife@gmail.com.

You can also visit the group's Facebook page and stay up-to-date on upcoming events. 

***  

Kandace Landreneau is the new Youth Programs Director for Louisiana Right to Life.

Kandace Landreneau

She is a 2014 graduate of LSU and is a past president of Louisiana Students for Life. To get more information on LRTL's youth programs, contact Kandace at 1.866.463.5433 or kandace@prolifelouisiana.org. 

40 Days for Life
Aymond at 40 Days Event
Abp. Aymond at 40 Days Event
40 Days For Life Campaign begins September 24

40 Days for Life will be held Sept. 24 to Nov. 2, with campaigns in New Orleans, Shreveport-Bossier City and Baton Rouge.

The NOLA Campaign began with a bang last night as 350 people gathered in New Orleans for the "Campaign Pre-Launch Party." 

40 Days for Life is the largest internationally coordinated pro-life mobilization in history, helping people in local communities end abortion through prayer and fasting, community outreach and peaceful vigil.  

 

We encourage you to get your church or group mobilized NOW and prepare for 40 Days for Life. 

 

For more information:

* New Orleans - Mary Nadeau Reed at 504.835.6520 or mnadeau@prolifelouisiana.org.

* Baton Rouge - Charlotte Bergeron at 225.229.7135 or 40daysforlifebr@gmail.com
* Shreveport-Bossier City
Chris Davis at 318.349.3279 or christopherpatrickdavis@gmail.com
Register for Chers Bebes
Please join us at Chers B�b�s; help preserve the pro-life legacy of Acadiana!

Registration is open for Chers B�b�s: Acadiana's Soiree for Life. The event will be held Oct. 21 at the City Club in River Ranch and benefits the Drs. Zerben Bienvenu and William Smith Education Fund.

The Smith and Bienvenu Fund aims to educate thousands of middle school and high school students across Acadiana through interactive school-based presentations and activities. Through these efforts, we can strengthen the pro-life spirit of Acadiana for generations to come!

Click here to be directed to our secure registration page.
Gov. Bobby Jindal and Rep. Katrina Jackson
Unity for Life 
How HB 388 overcame division 
to protect Louisiana women

By Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe)

 

On May 22nd, the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act (HB 388), a bill that I authored, made final passage through the Louisiana Legislature by an overwhelming bipartisan margin. In a gesture that rarely occurs on the House Floor, I called all 52 co-authors of HB 388 to stand beside me as we sent the legislation to Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk. And let me be honest. While there have been many times I haven't seen eye to eye with some of those legislators, I was honored to stand with them on that historic day. A few weeks later on June 12th, Gov. Jindal signed HB 388 into law in my hometown of Monroe.

 

Over the last few months I watched in amazement as our state came together to protect women, transcending lines of race, gender, and political affiliation. By requiring abortion physicians to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their facility, HB 388 will ensure that women who do choose abortion and experience complications, such as hemorrhage, uterine perforation, or infection from an incomplete abortion, receive the highest standard of care possible at a local hospital without any delays. If abortion facilities cannot meet these basic standards by Sept. 1, they will not be allowed to perform abortions in Louisiana. Our nation must remember: There is no constitutional right to a sub-standard abortion!

 

When it became public that I was authoring this bill at the beginning of the 2014 session, people began asking me, "Why would you, a Democrat and black woman, be the author of this legislation?"

 

The answer is simple: It is the right thing to do.

 

Standing for life and protecting women should not be a Republican stance or a Democratic stance. It should not be a black stance or a white stance. It should be a human stance. God has created each of us, and He has called me to be true to my calling as a Christian and stand for life in the Legislature.

 

Unfortunately, none of this stopped abortion advocates from decrying the legislation. The criticism I found most astounding was they called HB 388, my legislation, a "war on women." Of course, one of the first to voice this rhetoric was Cecile Richards, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the nation.

 

In a CNN Opinion article, Women Won't Stand For Abortion-Rights Roll Back, Richards claims that "extreme politicians are grandstanding at the expense of women's health and safety." Richards argues that politicians are restricting access to abortion, and women won't stand for this because these bills don't have the support of most Americans.

 

However, it looks like Richards overlooks a few very important details. HB 388 was drafted by women, authored by women, supported by women, and voted for by women. Let's take a look:

* The legislation was drafted with the expertise of Dorinda Bordlee, a female attorney with the Bioethics Defense Fund.

* The bill was supported by the testimony of Kathy Kleibert, Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.

* Along with my authorship in the House, Sen. Sharon Weston Broome carried HB 388 in the Louisiana Senate.

* Two-thirds of the female members of the Louisiana Legislature voted in favor of HB 388.

* HB 388 is modeled off a similar law in Texas that was upheld unanimously as a constitutional protection of women's health by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

 

While Richards tries to convince us that the requirements HB 388 propose are unnecessary, evidence and testimony prove otherwise. In the House Health & Welfare Committee, Cindy Collins, the founder of the Louisiana Abortion Recovery Alliance, conveyed her own experience of being injured during an abortion, only to be told by the abortion provider to "get up and get out." Cindy has since dedicated her life to counseling other women who have first-hand experience that abortion harms women both physically and psychologically and is more than the "minor surgery" asserted by abortion advocates.

 

Ultimately, when Ms. Richards says "extreme politicians are grandstanding at the expense of women's health and safety," she is referring to me as well as many others who are truly concerned with protecting women. As a woman and as a Democrat, I find this insulting and offensive. My message has been that regardless of whether someone identifies as "pro-life" or "pro-choice," we should all be able to agree that women undergoing surgical or drug-induced abortion procedures deserve better than substandard medical care.

 

As I see it, Ms. Richards is not speaking for "women;" she is speaking for the abortion industry. As the head of the largest provider of elective abortion in the nation, Richards and Planned Parenthood have a financial interest in opposing laws that require abortion providers to meet the same standard of care expected of any other surgical facility. The reality is women believe in implementing legislation that makes their health and safety the number one priority.

 

As you may know, it is rumored that abortion facilities in New Orleans and Baton Rouge will close as a result of HB 388. As of today, we have no proof to substantiate these claims. Only time will tell. 

 

But no matter what happens, I have been honored to stand with men and women, Democrats and Republicans, and both black and white legislators to pass HB 388. We have overcome the lines that divide us to protect life, and I look forward to doing just that throughout the rest of my career. 

Last Day to Register!

Monroe Proudly Pro-Life Prayer Breakfast

 

Louisiana Right to Life, Life Choices of Monroe and area churches will gather for the first-ever Monroe Proudly Pro-Life Prayer Breakfast Saturday at the Vantage ONB

Tower in downtown Monroe. The event begins at 9 a.m.

 

Northeast Louisiana legislators with a 100 percent Pro-Life voting record during the 2014 legislative session will be honored. Reps. Katrina Jackson and Frank Hoffman, who together took a bold stand for life and authored the two most important pieces of pro-life legislation in 2014, will receive special recognition.

 

Attendees will also join together to pray for a pro-life future for the nation. The group will unite across denominational lines to pray for an end to abortion, for the women hurt by abortion and for the conversion of all of those involved in abortion.


A diverse group of pastors will lead in prayer, including: Lisa Robertson, wife of Duck Commander's Alan Robertson; Rev. Michael Wood, lead pastor, First Baptist Church of West Monroe; Rev. Tom Lowe, senior pastor, Christ Church of West Monroe; Rev. Johnny Ray Turner Sr., pastor, Mt. Arack Baptist Church of Monroe; and Rev. Bobby J. Douglas, pastor, Ivory Chapel of Bastrop.

 

In addition, Ora Alise Greely of Tehilla Christian Church will sing the national anthem, and Minister Gilbert Wilson and Covenant will also perform.

 

All are welcome and admission is free, but you must RSVP online.

Email or call Pam Gras for last-minute details at 318.300.3533 or pam@prolifelouisiana.org.


SPECIAL GUESTS
Tom
Lowe
Lisa Robertson
Johnny Ray Turner Sr.
Bobby Joe Douglas
Michael
Wood
Upcoming Events

Sept. 16:NOLA/Lakeview Dinner For Life / Town Hall
Sept. 24: 40 Days for Life Begins
Oct. 27: NOLA/River Ridge Dinner for Life / Town Hall
Nov. 4: U.S. Senate/Congressional Election

Dec. 6: Possible Run-off for Senate Election

Jan. 17, 2015: Life March Shreveport

Jan. 24, 2015: Life March Baton Rouge

July 9-11, 2015: National Right to Life Convention, NOLA

Candidate Comparison
Request Free Candidate Comparison Cards!
www.ProLifeLouisiana.org/Senate

 
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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