I’m happy to say that yesterday the charges against Joe Holland of disorderly conduct under the Chicago Bubble Zone law were dropped!  Thank you for everyone who called the Mayor and prayed for Joe! Click here to read the TMS press release.

Check out this great article by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign senior Stephanie:

Champaign’s spring 40 Days for Life resulted in two known saves! God is indeed good! Colleen, a senior at U of I, was responsible for one of the saves. Joy Pace, Champaign’s veteran sidewalk councilor, witnessed the other save.

Students and Champaign-Urbana community members prayed in front of Planned Parenthood from 7 am to 7 pm every day from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday. Countless people saw our fervor and faith for life. These lives saved and the visible witness, however, only show the beginning of the impact the campaign.

Standing outside Planned Parenthood with a sign saying “Pray to End Abortion” isn’t exactly a typical college student activity. For many of us, going out to Planned Parenthood gives us that stifling feeling of awkwardness and anxiety. We fear the labels our society will put on us and the consequences of taking that next step in our faith. Each and every time we go out to pray, our conversion to the Lord is deepened. We learn how to be witnesses, how to stand up for the Truth, and how to be Christ to other people. It truly forces us to live out our call to teach others “to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).

This spring’s 40 Days was one of the first ways several of my friends who have recently made big steps in their faith were able to be witnesses outside of the Newman center. 40 Days is a wonderful opportunity to learn how to be vulnerable within a somewhat controlled setting. Courage to preach the gospel of life gained during a scheduled hour of prayer can overflow into everyday conversations with friends, family members, and even professors.

During the last two hours of the campaign, participants had the opportunity to share their experiences. Experiences included people that said their first rosary while out at Planned Parenthood, friendships made between those sharing hour shifts, and true appreciation for the scope of the abortion problem in the United States.

Being out at Planned Parenthood puts faces to the statistics and understanding of the deeper problem. Seeing the individuals go into the clinic heightens the humanity of the issue and the complexity of the causes. And, most importantly, forces the realization that the fight for life is also the fight for our society’s morality.

The two lives saved were just the beginning. Not only did 40 Days make a difference now, but what was learned will continue to bear fruit far into the future. Who knows how many souls will be converted through the individuals who gained courage from participating in 40 Days!

For Immediate Release

April 12, 2010

Contact: Peggy Hamill, State Director, (262) 796-1111, cell (414) 416-0489

Virginia Zignego, Communications Director, 262-796-1111, cell (262) 370-3993

Undercover investigation of Milwaukee Planned Parenthood reveals medical lies and manipulative counseling

Today, Live Action Films revealed an undercover Planned Parenthood video taken at the 5380 W. Fond du Lac Avenue, Milwaukee, location. In this video, the counselor can be seen and heard telling a woman who is reportedly 6 to 8 weeks pregnant that her developing baby has “no arms, no legs, no heart, no head, no brain.” The counselor encourages abortion for economic reasons and downplays adoption.

“Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is our state’s number one abortion provider, both surgical and chemical. Planned Parenthood has proven they do not know, or they care to ignore, basic facts about human development,” said Virginia Zignego, communications director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. “This is the third video showing Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin affiliates violating state law.”

Wisconsin law requires women to receive medically accurate information before obtaining an abortion.

To view the undercover video, go to Live Action’s Web site, http://www.liveaction.org/.

“As a sidewalk counselor at Milwaukee Planned Parenthoods, I have had post-abortion women fall apart in my arms, sobbing, immediately regretting their abortions. Nothing can prepare a woman for an abortion,” said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. “This new footage reconfirms that Planned Parenthood is not providing women with complete, accurate medical information about their developing baby, much less the after effects of the abortion ‘procedure.’”

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Milwaukee received $1,064,574.28 in 2007 under Wisconsin’s Family Planning Waiver Program. Through this federal/state program, minors as young as 15 receive free birth control, without their parents’ knowledge or consent. In total, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin received more than $12 million in federal and state taxpayer funding last year.

The one thing that seems to be clear about the recently passed healthcare legislation is this: what a complicated bill!  We hope that the following news articles and statements will provide you with some additional clarity regarding this massive reformative action.

Pro-Life Groups Blast Executive Order Deal Between Stupak, Barack Obama from LifeNews.com

This article briefly explains the Executive Order and highlights opinions from many national pro-life organizations, nearly all of which have issued a statement expressing their frustration with this legislation’s failure to uphold the fundamental right to life.

Planned Parenthood: Healthcare passage will “significantly increase access to reproductive health care”; exec order “a symbolic gesture” from JillStanek.com

Pro-Life blogger Jill Stanek provides snippets of Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richard’s statement regarding the healthcare reform bill and the Executive Order.  Read the full PP statement here.  Planned Parenthood was extremely anti-Stupak and worked very hard to stop the Stupak Amendment. If the Executive Order were as good as the amendment, PP would no doubt be condemning it rather than brushing it off as a mere gesture.

Legal Analysis of the Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Corresponding Executive Order Regarding Abortion Funding and Conscience Protection from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ General Counsel

In this analysis, the USCCB legal counsel supports the same conclusion that both pro-life and pro-abortion advocates have reached: the Executive Order fails to effectively prevent federal funding of abortion.  See an article from LifeNews.com on this memo here.