Author Archives: maria

🔊 Play By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

I recall when I first saw the movie, “Gosnell.” I cried a flood of tears as I saw the bags carrying the remains of babies who had died in abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s West Philadelphia House of Horrors.

When I viewed the movie “Unplanned,” my heart ached for the protagonist, Abby Johnson, when she witnessed a preborn baby dying before her eyes as she watched an ultrasound-guided abortion.

In both cases, the movies seared my conscience, and motivated me to redouble my efforts to stop the tragedy of abortion.

As a result, I am eagerly awaiting “Viable,” the play being streamed at watchsalemmedia.com starting on Mother’s Day. Viable is a story of redemption and forgiveness following one woman’s 30-year-old choice. It is a powerful tale of love and healing–and a marvelous gift to present to the mother in your life.

Please join me in viewing Viable.  Together, we just may be inspired to approach the issue of abortion prevention in a whole new, exciting way.

🔊 Play By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

When I worked for the mainstream media, I noticed a double standard when it came to covering the core life issues.

Planned Parenthood was considered to be the irrefutable expert in all matters related to abortion. Their assertions were seldom questioned; their pronouncements were accepted uncritically.

Pro-life advocates, on the other hand, were viewed with high skepticism. Anything they said was assumed to come from a place of religious faith and, therefore, suspect. Grilling of pro-lifers was encouraged and, in fact, expected–grilling of abortion advocates frowned upon.

Now, as a pro-life advocate, I find I wish there were questions that the news media would pose to spokespeople for the abortion industry and their allies. The answers to these questions would make for more interesting, more informative articles and broadcast news stories.

I wish reporters would ask the simple question: What is abortion? And not be willing to accept a ridiculous answer such as “the right to choose.”

It would also be helpful if reporters would ask Planned Parenthood why their abortion totals keep rising–even as overall abortion numbers are declining nationwide.

I think it would be beneficial if the media asked the abortion industry what specific help it provided to pregnant women who chose to keep their babies. In addition, inquiring minds want to know what abortion facilities are doing to facilitate adoptions.

I wish reporters would ask what abortion businesses are doing to combat domestic violence–since research shows as many as 60 percent of abortions are coerced.

I would like a reporter to ask an abortionist to describe, in detail, the process of abortion and its aftermath–and not accept euphemisms as valid responses.

A free press is a time-honored way to preserve democracy. For far too long, the free press has given a free pass to the abortion industry. Let’s challenge the news media to take on a watchdog mentality when it comes to abortion. After all, lives are at stake.

🔊 Play By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

A Philadelphia abortion facility has failed to ensure parental consent for some abortions, a clear violation of the long-standing Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act.

PA Health Department inspectors found that, in half of the ten pediatric medical records reviewed, the Philadelphia Women’s Center neglected to obtain parents’ permission before administering chemical abortions.

The RU-486 abortions took place in February, May, June, July, and November of last year, without the parental oversight required by state law.

The health inspection report states that a “request was made…on February 12, 2020, for a policy that addressed parental consent for medications that are included in the termination of a pregnancy for pediatric patients. None was provided.”

In case after case, the health department documents that “there was no parental or legal guardian consent” for the use of Mifepristone and Misoprostol, the drugs used in RU-486 abortions.

Lack of parental consent for abortions in Pennsylvania is egregious under any circumstances and violates a key provision of the 1989 Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act, which was the basis of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Other provisions of the landmark law include a 24-hour waiting period for abortions and informed consent, meaning that a woman must be told the risks of abortion and alternatives to abortion prior to an abortion taking place.

Ironically, the Health Department report also shows that the Philadelphia Women’s Center “failed to establish a patient safety committee, as required by the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act of 2002.”

In addition, Health Department inspectors found in February that the abortion center “failed to establish an infection control committee.”

Given the crisis ultimately created by the COVID-19 pandemic, this omission is all the more alarming—especially in Philadelphia, which is now considered a Coronavirus hot spot.

🔊 Play By Maria V. Gallagher, Legislative Director

 As we approach the 47^th anniversary of the tragic U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, some may be wondering why we persist to try to protect every human life, from conception to natural death. Wouldn’t it be better, these individuals say, to just draw a line at abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy?

In fact, some people wrongly believe that Roe itself bans abortions after 12 weeks gestation. But when Roe is considered with its companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the ruling actually allows for abortions for any reason or no reason during all nine months of pregnancy. That is how we have ended up with states such as New York passing bills lifting all restrictions on abortion.

There is no doubt that second and third trimester abortions are especially heinous, given what we know about the development of the preborn child. But every abortion ends an innocent, irreplaceable human life.

If we were to pass a law banning abortions after the first trimester in most of the states, chances are that that would effectively end the national dialogue on abortion. We would be closing the door to future abortion restrictions.

What’s more, the majority of preborn babies would not be protected, since most abortions occur in the first trimester. For instance, in Pennsylvania, of the 30,364 abortions which occurred in the Commonwealth in 2018, 26,404 occurred at less than 13 weeks gestation.

Imagine passing a law against abortion—and still, 26,404 children would lose their precious lives!

It is true that the pro-life movement has been successful in an incremental, or step by step, approach to restricting abortion. For instance, laws requiring informed consent, parental consent, and 24-hour-waiting periods have decreased in abortions. In Pennsylvania, the Abortion Control Act, which contained such restrictions, succeeded in cutting the abortion rate in half.

Our goal as a pro-life movement is not to end abortions after the first trimester. Our goal is to ensure that each individual child is welcomed in life and protected under the law. When it comes to common ground or consensus, the point of agreement we should be aiming for is to help people see the humanity of the preborn child at all its stages of development. We should also work to assist people to understand the vast help and resources that are available to pregnant women in difficult circumstances.

Helping all preborn children and helping all pregnant women—that’s where our consensus should lie.

🔊 Play  By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director

He might call himself a progressive, but the Governor of Pennsylvania is standing directly in the way of progress, when it comes to pro-life advances in the Commonwealth.

Democrat Tom Wolf has staked out a position at odds with the state’s mainstream, when it comes to the life issues. He opposes any and all restrictions on abortion, towing the Planned Parenthood line time and time again.

He vetoed a common sense bill that would have banned brutal dismemberment abortions, where babies are torn limb by limb from their mothers’ wombs. The former volunteer clinic escort for Planned Parenthood opposes a ban on taxpayer funding of abortion, even though such a measure is supported by the vast majority of Americans.

He has gone so far as to pledge to veto any pro-life bill that comes to his desk. Undaunted, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives this past spring passed House Bill 321, which would ban abortion for the sole reason of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The House approved the bill by a large, bipartisan majority. The measure is now awaiting action in the Pennsylvania Senate.

If the Senate follows the lead of the House and OK’s the bill, would Wolf stand in the way of people with disabilities being protected? Or would he at least acknowledge that children with special needs deserve special legal protection? Time will tell.

But all indications are that, if Wolf had his way, Pennsylvania would become another New York, legalizing abortions up to the moment of birth, while offering no care and consideration for babies born as a result of “botched” abortions.

Pennsylvania’s House and Senate retain pro-life majorities, so Wolf is clearly out of step with the state legislature. He has also distanced himself ideologically from the majority of the populace, who oppose most abortions, according to public opinion polls.

I know of people who are hoping and praying for a conversion of the Governor’s heart. Unless and until that happens, the state legislature is providing a critical firewall against radically pro-abortion policies.

But with another election, that firewall could easily melt away. That is why it is critical that, come 2020, pro-lifers become engaged and informed. Retaining pro-life majorities in the General Assembly is crucial to ensuring that Pennsylvania’s common sense limits on abortion, such as parental consent, informed consent, and 24-hour waiting periods, are maintained.

Without them, PA will lose the legislative ground we’ve gained…not to mention untold numbers of precious lives.