Author Archives: maria

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

O magazine, the publication published by media mogul Oprah Winfrey, contains a jarring image in its latest edition. It shows a woman with a t-shirt that encourages women to “shout” their abortions.

Pro-abortion stories by the media are nothing new. But the boldness and insensitivity shown by this article are especially troubling.

Women across the country testify that they have been greatly harmed by abortion and its aftermath.

Consider the courageous women who have submitted their testimonies to the organization known as the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. Women such as Wanda from California:

“It’s (a) real LIVE human being, YOUR baby, please take it from me!  It is something you will forever regret!”

Or Erica from Hawaii:

“After the abortion, I felt humiliated.  I felt isolated and alone. Co-workers called to check on me after the procedure, but I had to lie about what it was for to protect my job. I was tired of lying and stopped taking their calls. I cried alone in my bed for days. Eventually, I had to go back to work and tried to pretend things were okay, but they weren’t.”

Or Marianne from New York:

“I want to share my story and be silent no more about all the lies that are perpetrated about abortion. They tell you that you will feel relief, but you feel terrible guilt. The pro-choice movement does a big injustice to women, feeding them lies.”

These brave women, and countless others like them, are not shouting their abortions. They are crying out in pain. Let’s respect these women by listening to them and reaching out to them in love. In this way, their wounds can heal, and they can truly be silent no more.

Sad woman at the window

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

A new book shows quite clearly how modern feminism betrayed women with its embrace of abortion on demand.

Sex Matters by Mona Charen describes quite clearly and convincingly how legal abortion has done tremendous harm to women in the U.S.

Charen writes of feminist icon Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique, “It is a deep tragedy that she never saw how cruel a thing she embraced by endorsing abortion on demand.”

Charen wisely points out that the women who lobbied for the right to vote in the early part of the 20th century “recoiled from abortion.” But that for the feminist leaders of the ’60s and ’70s abortion was a “sacrament of their secular religion.” She notes that there is a “certain brutality in the feminist approach to abortion.” This is because feminists asked women to “harden their hearts against the most vulnerable members of the human family.”

Pro-abortion forces promote a narrative that obscures certain realities. For instance, the U.S. has a waiting list of individuals who wish to adopt children. In fact, couples line up for the opportunity to adopt children who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome.

As Charen posits, the feminists’ “callousness toward the unborn is not only morally blind, but it betrays the traditional feminine sensitivity to the needs and welfare of children.”

Sex Matters is a bold treatise which demonstrates the fundamental flaws in the pro-abortion argument. That it is written by a woman shows that abortion culture does not have the appeal to many women that abortion promoters claim.

The pain of abortion is often unspeakable

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

In recent years it has become common for abortion advocates to use the phrase “reproductive rights” to describe their position.

But the phrase is incredibly misleading.

First of all, abortion is a denial of the fact of reproduction. It is a denial of the humanity of the child in the womb. It is a denial that the baby is a distinct human being with DNA separate from the mother.

Also, one can hardly say pregnant women are exercising their rights when, in as many as 60 percent of cases, women are coerced into having abortions. This means that a boyfriend, husband, parent, or even grandparent may be pressuring them to abort.

The phrase also fails to recognize the fact that a girl in the womb, once she matures, may be capable of reproduction herself. An abortion forever denies that female child the ability to have her own child when she is older.

“Reproductive rights,” when applied to abortion, is a fallacy. The truly accurate way to describe an abortion is the taking of an innocent life and the wounding of a mother. It’s that simple–and that heartbreaking.

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

gallagher@paprolife.org

As we mark the 45^th anniversary of the tragic U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, I would like to offer 45 reasons for hope for the cause of protecting innocent human life:

1. Statistics show the number of abortions in the U.S. are on the decline.
2. Polls show the Millennial Generation is more pro-life than young people of generations past.
3. President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order barring taxpayer funding of organizations that perform and promote abortions overseas.
4. The White House supports no federal funding for abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
5. Vice-President Mike Pence has been outspoken in his defense of innocent human life.
6. Strict constructionist Neil Gorsuch now sits on the U.S. Supreme Court.
7. The President has vowed to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will not legislate from the bench, hastening the day; when Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
8. The annual March for Life continues to attract huge crowds, largely made up of young people.
9. Pregnancy resource centers are reaching out to pregnant women everyday with compassion, love, and support.
10. The number of pregnancy resource centers in the U.S. far outnumber abortion facilities.
11. Abortion centers are closing all across the country.
12. Congress boasts a pro-life majority, as do many state legislatures throughout the nation.
13. 4D ultrasound technology is showing babies smiling in their mothers’ wombs.
14. Women who regret their abortions and who want to help other women avoid similar heartache have found their voice in organizations such as the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.
15. Healing retreats such as those of Rachel’s Vineyard are bringing hope to women scarred by abortion.
16. A number of Planned Parenthood workers have left their jobs in the abortion industry and have become powerful spokespeople for the pro-life cause.
17. Abortion survivors such as Melissa Ohden are speaking out about being targeted for abortion when they were preborn babies.
18. A number of men are taking responsibility for pressuring their wives and girlfriends into having abortions.
19. Scientific research supports the pro-life contention that abortion hurts women physically, mentally, and emotionally.
20. The blogosphere is filled with pro-lifers willing to share their knowledge.
21. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allow the pro-life movement to get accurate information out into cyberspace.
22. Nurses who work with premature infants are sharing their experiences about the fragility of human life.
23. A number of abortionists have stopped doing abortions and now promote life instead.
24. College students are organizing and motivating their classmates to support pregnant women on campus.
25. Teens for Life are finding innovative ways to promote life in their communities.
26. Local chapters of National Right to Life are educating people about the life issue at area fairs and festivals.
27. State affiliates of National Right to Life are passing pro-life laws and changing hearts and minds about abortion.
28. Campaigns to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide have failed much more often than they have succeeded.
29. Popular culture is recognizing the humanity of the preborn child by sharing Ultrasound  videos and praising “baby bumps.”
30. People with Down syndrome are showing why it is inhumane to abort a child diagnosed with a disability in the womb.
31. New attention is being focused on the brutal practice of dismemberment abortion, where a child is torn limb by limb from a mother’s womb.
32. An increasing number of people are questioning the practice of sex selection abortions, in which babies are aborted just because of their sex.
33. The gruesome practice of  partial-birth abortion, in which a baby is partly delivered, then killed, has been outlawed.
34. A number of members of Congress are determined to shine a spotlight on allegations of baby body part harvesting in the abortion industry.
35. Public opinion polls continue to show most people oppose most abortions.
36. Polls also indicate that the vast majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion.
37. Polls demonstrate that most Americans oppose late-term abortions.
38. A number of states have passed laws ensuring that no taxpayer funding of abortion can occur in the health insurance exchanges created by Obamacare.
39. Many Congressmen want to make the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer funding of abortion except in rare cases, permanent.
40. A distinguished counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, spoke at the March for Life.
41. Women across the country are courageously stating that Planned Parenthood does not speak for them.
42. People with disabilities are leading the fight against doctor-prescribed suicide and euthanasia.
43. Some people who joined the pro-life movement way back in 1973 continue to serve the cause with dignity and honor.
44. A number of celebrities, such as actress Patricia Heaton, are bucking the Hollywood trend and boldly proclaiming their pro-life views.
45. The end of Roe v. Wade is in sight, given anticipated changes in the makeup of the Supreme Court.