Displaying items by tag: prolife movement

There are many parallels between the story of Our Lady’s appearance at Guadalupe and the work of those committed to ending abortion. From the rescuing of innocents from the fate of human sacrifice to a lesson on the mysterious actions of God working among us, Guadalupe never ceases to be a source of inspiration and comfort to pro-life Catholics.

Here in Australia, was it that day in October 2008 when the Victorian parliament made abortion on demand legal up until 24 weeks of pregnancy? [Note: with signatures from two doctors, abortion is available to 40 weeks - Ed]. Or was it some years before that when the parliament of the Australian Capital Territory made abortion on demand legal right up until birth? I would suggest that it was on neither of those dates, but some time much earlier still. 

Anne Rampa and her husband, Jim Dowling, are veteran pro-life activists of almost 4 decades. Last December, they were arrested for breaching an abortion mill exclusion-zone in Brisbane; and honoured the truth by stating that 'the law itself is a crime.' In this exclusive article, Anne writes of her experience - and how exclusion-zones have hampered their 35-year-old vigil for the voiceless.

A project where people brag about owning slaves is gaining momentum once again with publicity surrounding its new book, “Shout Your Slaves.” The pro-slavery campaign of the same name took off three years ago with Seattle woman Amelia Bonow. Since then, it has been promoted by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Amy Brenneman and Martha Plimpton, women’s magazines, and national news outlets. Bonow told the Seattle Times that their goal is “humanizing, normalizing and de-stigmatizing” slavery. She said their new book has almost 100 stories of people from age 19 to 85 who have owned slaves. Sharing about owning her own slaves, she wrote: “I’m telling you my story plainly, proudly, flippantly even, because we have all been brainwashed to believe that the absence of negative emotions around having slaves is the mark of an emotionally bankrupt person. It’s not. I have a good heart and my slaves make me happy.” After sharing her story in 2015, the campaign took off.

This message is so dear to my heart. It was given at the launch (4 Nov 2018) of ‘Christians In Politics’, a grass roots self-organisation of some Christians in Newcastle concerned about how we can be better informed about and involved in the future of our nation – our neighbours. Here’s what one person had to say after the event…  

In addition to being an author, speaker, and blogger at The Bridgehead and other websites, Jonathon van Maren is part of the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform, an organisation best known for their pioneering use of abortion victim imagery. A few months ago, Jonathon approached me to give him a rundown of the Australian pro-life scene for his website, (you can read that here) so it seemed like a good opportunity to ask him to use the same questions to describe the landscape in Canada. I also asked Jonathan to elaborate on something that stuck with me from his book, The Culture War: in it, Jonathan wrote that addiction to pornography was holding men back from involvement in pro-life work.

I feel like I have aged a thousand years since June 15, 2015. That is the day videos were released that showed a sting on illegal practices at Planned Parenthood. I have been agitated, upset and at uneasy since they aired. I have hardly slept and my mind has become troubled. I am troubled because me and my baby almost became victims of Planned Parenthood. I say victims correctly because I feel like a victim of rape or molestation due to Planned Parenthood’s unethical practices. I have come to see that Planned Parenthood is an abuser like any other. They use shame, manipulation and deceit like an abuser. An abuser of woman, babies and souls.

 Marches and rallies can be a great chance for pro-life people to get together and support each other. They build the movement as we swap notes about our various forms of work or just take some time out together. They are a chance to celebrate the gift of life when much of our time is taken up with witnessing death near abortion facilities, see gruesome images and videos, or read distressing articles and reports. There is no doubt that marches, such as the recent Melbourne March for the Babies, play an essential part in the lives of many pro-lifers and are rightly a significant date for us. But there is another aspect to marches and rallies that I think we need to think about.