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New challenges meet Catholics in pro-life fight
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
September 20, 2007
While the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in April, pro-life activists at the 29th annual Arizona Right to Life conference said they continue to face challenges.
Struggling to educate a “Roe generation,” embryonic stem cell research and end-of-life issues could muddle the pro-life fight, speakers said during the conference Sept. 7-8.
Conference guests at the Chaparral Suites Resort in Scottsdale explored just a few of the threats to a pro-life society.
Ken Blackwell, the keynote speaker Sept. 7, said turning to God brings hope to the daunting pro-life fight.
“Let God refurbish our willingness to serve in the struggle for life,” he said. Blackwell is a senior fellow for family empowerment with the Family Research Council. The organization helps form public policy that values human life.
Staying engaged with what Blackwell called “the good book” could show followers which path to take. He cited the Gospel passage in which Jesus invites burdened followers to rest in Him.
“At the moment of fatigue, we forget to call upon God to continue the struggle,” he said.
Kay Allen tries not to forget that. The executive director of First Way of Maricopa County, a pregnancy support center, said her sacramental life including daily Mass and monthly confession gives her the strength to continue the pro-life fight.
“I see miracles happen every day,” Allen said, including up to nine miracles the week of the conference. That’s the number of women she and her staff reached out to at the center.
“My thinking is, this is a divine appointment,” Allen said of each encounter.
Conference guests spent the last day of the event in a series of breakout sessions based on their area of interest. Some listened to a panel of speakers from local pregnancy resource centers while others learned about end-of-life issues.
Katherine Brind’Amour, president of Arizona State University’s Students for Life club, attended the session on Planned Parenthood presented by Mark Crutcher. His organization, Life Dynamics, launched pro-life undercover investigation into the abortion industry.
“There’s a lot of groups on campus that promote Planned Parenthood nonstop,” Brind’Amour said. She hoped to gather information to disperse from the Students for Life information table on campus.
Christopher White, who coordinated the event, said it’s usually tough to get college students to attend. He was surprised that roughly 25 of the more than 200 attendees were students.
Jason Walsh with the Center for Bioethical Reform spoke about “Generation Roe” in another breakout session. He helped conference guests understand how teens and young adults born since 1973 were trained to think with a pro-choice mentality.
Meanwhile, Joan Maloof of Silent No More moderated a panel of speakers addressing abortion alternatives and post-abortion healing.
Nearly 10,500 abortions were performed in Arizona in 2005 according to the Department of Health Services, a number it said could be underreported.
Participants spent the last part of the conference learning about how to remain active in the pro-life fight. Karen Cross, political director for National Right to Life, reminded guests to stay politically involved.
“We are so close that we can almost taste it,” Cross said of the movement to overturn Roe v. Wade.
She said five current Supreme Court justices won’t overturn it, but believes that number could easily change the next time the president appoints a justice. Cross encouraged participants to keep that in mind when they go to the polls.
Alan Sears, president of the Alliance Defense Fund, which offers funding, strategy and attorney training that supports the sanctity of human life, agreed that political involvement is important. He said there are more than 500,000 elected offices in the United States and people must stay engaged at the fundamental levels.
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