May 17, 2012

Issue

News Conference to Introduce Legislation to Defund Planned Parenthood

Details

Next Wednesday May 23 the AFA of PA will be participating in a news conference introducing Representative Daryl Metcalfe’s bill to defund Planned Parenthood.  It will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the Media Center in the State Capitol.

Are you interested in attending?  The Planned Parenthood crowd is sure to be out in force expressing their thoughts on this effort “to take away a woman’s right to comprehensive health care”  and her “right to do with her on body what she pleases.”  This is the real ‘war on women’!

Action Steps

1.)  If you would like to attend the 10:00 a.m. news conference, please let Representative Metcalfe’s district office know by calling (724) 772-3110.

2.)  Ask you State Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor of this bill.  Key in your zip code here to find your State Representative.   Contact your State Rep with this message, “Please sign onto Representative Daryl Metcalfe’s bill to defund Planned Parenthood.”

Babette Josephs Continues to Misrepresent and Distort the Facts

(Harrisburg) — State Representative Babette Josephs does not like those who hold views different from her own.  This time she has attacked the female state legislators who support HB 1077 , a bill that would require a woman contemplating an abortion to not only get an ultrasound, but  to see it.  The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a past target of Josephs, is appalled by Josephs attack on her colleagues and calls on her to immediately apologize for calling them “men with breasts” during her comments at a Capitol Rally sponsored by the Lancaster County Democratic Committee on March 26th.

“This is yet another example of Babette Josephs intolerance and hate towards those who do not side with her on an issue.  Two years ago the AFA of PA was her target after we issued a news release  during the so-called “Freedom to Marry” week and in response to another Capitol Rally, this one in support of a same-sex “marriage” bill which had been introduced in Harrisburg.   She did not like us pointing out the dangers of engaging in homosexual acts or the dangers to society through legalizing so-called same-sex marriage.  Now Josephs is attacking her fellow legislators — is it because she doesn’t want to think about the real consequences of abortion — a dead baby?” questioned Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.

Interesting that the day before Josephs’ name-calling her hometown paper The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story saying laws to restrict abortions are constitutional.   The article notes, “Under the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, states have a right “to ensure that a woman apprehend the full consequences of her decision” and can require physicians to provide “truthful and not misleading” information about the abortion procedure and the development of the fetus.”

Opponents of HB 1077, such as State Representative Josephs ignore the fact that ultrasounds are almost always used by abortionists to determine the age of their victim, but they never permit the mother to see them.   On March 1st Carole Joffe, a professor emerita at the University of California-Davis, noted in a Slate.com article, “The reality is that most abortion patients do receive an ultrasound to date their pregnancies.”

“Josephs’ words on Monday are attacking the women legislators who are showing compassion to the mother contemplating an abortion.  It is compassionate to make sure an expectant mother fully understands the consequences of her decision.  To mislead them by giving inaccurate or misleading medical advice or not allowing them to see their ultrasound is a total lack of compassion.  We are calling on Representative Josephs to publicly apologize to her female colleagues for her name-calling.  Unfortunately, so-called pro-choice women are not known for real compassion and are prone to name-calling, so we are not expecting her to acknowledge her mistake,” Gramley concluded.

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AFA of PA ACTION ALERT

March 1, 2012

Issues

HB 1077 — The Women’s Right to Know Act

Details

Abortion supporters are mounting an all out assault on HB 1077, the Women’s Right to Know Act,   a bill which will require a mother considering abortion to view an ultrasound of her baby before an abortion can be performed.  In so doing so can give informed consent to the procedure.

Members of the House are being bombarded with emails asking them to vote ‘no’ on the bill.   There were over 100 co-sponsors listed on this bill when it was introduced in October, others may have signed on since.

We can only guess who is behind this assault on HB 1077 which is designed to provide women with the information they need to make this life changing decision.  Planned Parenthood knows that in many cases if a woman sees an ultrasound image of her unborn child she will choose not to end the baby’s life.

Action Steps

Contact your State House member, click here for contact info, and

1.)  If he or she is a co-sponsor as listed at the top of the bill, thank them for their sponsorship.  Encourage them to stand strong of this issue — future Pennsylvanians are depending on them.

2.)  If your State House member is not a sponsor, ask them why and encourage him or her to support HB 1077.

February 15, 2012

Issue

Blunt Amendment to Protect the Rights of Conscience of Religious Employers

Details

Remember Obama’s compromise on the Health and Human Services mandate to cover abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception is not a compromise!  This is what he said in a statement on Friday:  Women will have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services, but if a women’s employer objects to birth control for religious reasons “the insurance company will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge.”

Yesterday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised Senator Blunt of Missouri that he would allow his Respect for Rights of Conscience Amendment to the Transportation bill to be brought up for a vote. The Blunt Amendment would let employers opt out of any coverage mandates they find immoral, affirming the constitutional right to freedom of religion. Reid allowed other amendments to be voted on today, but ‘somehow’ forgot to allow Senator Blunt to bring his up!  In fact, Senator Blunt’s amendment is not even on the Senate calendar for a vote!

Action Steps

1.)  Contact your US Senators — Bob Casey, Jr. and Pat Toomey — and ask them to put pressure on Senator Harry Reid to bring the Respect for Rights of Conscience Amendment up for a vote before the full Senate.  Please call AND email both Senators, click here for contact info.

2.)  Ask Senators Casey and Toomey to vote ‘yea’ on Senator Blunt’s amendment — Amendment Number 1520 to S 1813.

Shippensburg University Sends Wrong Message to Students

(Harrisburg)  It was revealed yesterday that Shippensburg University, a state school in Shippensburg Borough which is divided between Franklin and Cumberland Counties has begun making the so-called morning after pill available to students through a vending machine.  The American Family Association of Pennsylvania, an organization advocating for women and their unborn babies, is appalled that a school of higher education would make such a life destroying pill available to their students.   The AFA of PA is calling on the State Legislature to investigate the legality of Shippensburg University’s offering of the morning after pill through an unsupervised vending machine.

“So, now instead of going to a vending machine to get a candy bar or soda young women can throw in $25 to get a pill to try to help them forget what happened the night before or if they may be pregnant due to those activities to prevent the implantation of the fertilized egg, in essence killing their unborn baby.  How many have been told what the morning after pill really does?   Also, how many students actually responded to the survey that was taken several years ago?”  questioned Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.

Another question that arises is whether Shippensburg University is ready to be held liable for the adverse affects the morning after pill can have on the women taking it.  In 2005 the parents of a 16 year old girl sued Philadelphia Health Care Center No. 10 because they wrote a prescription for their daughter without examining her.  Additionally, she suffered severe stomach pains, vomiting, a rash and a swollen face in January 2004 after taking the pills. The suit also alleges that Melissa was treated “under the false pretense that the pills will not terminate a pregnancy,” only prevent pregnancy.

“The AFA of PA is asking the mature adults at Shippensburg University to do the right thing and step forward to protect the female students at their school.  They may pay the $25 to end the possibility of pregnancy, but that will not protect them from STDs which the number of cases have risen since the morning after pill has become more available.  The school should do what is best for their students and providing a vending machine with the morning after pill does not send the message that they care about the well being of the student population,” Gramley concluded.

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January 23, 2012

Issues

1.) Is Your Child’s School Participating In This?

2.)  President Obama’s Statement on the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade -Click here.

Details

1.)  This is “No Name Calling Week” (NNCW)   in our nation’s schools!  Sounds good until you realize it is the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) who is behind it.  GLSEN’s ultimate goal is to normalize the homosexual lifestyle – telling kids that ‘It’s okay to be gay.’  Last week they released a 68-page elementary toolkit called “Ready, Set, Respect

Here are some statements from that publication’s introduction:

[E]lementary school children are bombarded every day with messages about different groups of people in our society, many of which portray these groups in a negative, socially undesirable way. Those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) are often among these groups. In addition to influencing attitudes, the messages children receive about these people also influences (sic) how they will make sense of gender and inform how they think about their own identity… without intentional guidance, the messages children receive about groups of people, as well as various identities and gender roles can complicate this process and contribute to bullying, prejudice and bias.

While most elementary educators have embraced this work and construct and conduct lessons focused on diversity, recent research suggests that intentional efforts to include explicit lessons that foster respect for differences in gender identity or gender expression or that include families with LGBT parents/caregiver, siblings, or other individuals significant in our student’s lives, are less frequent. As a result, many students go through their elementary school years without positive mentions of families that include LGBT persons or friends or people who may be gender non-conforming.

The elementary school years offer a wonderful and important opportunity to instill and/or nurture positive attitudes and respect for individual, family and cultural differences, including diversity related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

More specific instructions include the following:

• Make sure the analogies you use when teaching don’t rely on hetero-normative or gender-normative images or viewpoints. A hetero-normative viewpoint is one that expresses heterosexuality as a given instead of being one of many possibilities. Such a viewpoint can translate into the development of all kinds of images that reinforce the view. The assumption (reinforced by imagery and practice) that a boy will grow up and marry a woman is based on such a viewpoint. A gender-normative image, on the other hand is one that delimits the possibilities for children of either gender by reinforcing stereotyped expectations.
• Find ways of grouping and lining up students other than “boys here, girls there” or “boys do this, girls do that.” While some students may enjoy these ways of separating the class, they can isolate other students who may feel uncomfortable conforming to gender-based stereotypes.
• Monitor choice activity time to ensure that students are not segregating themselves by gender.
• Become more aware of the ways that you support gender stereotypes in your expectations of students and their work and intervene when you hear students making genderbased assumptions.
• Write math problems with contexts that include a variety of family structures and gender-expressions. For example, “Rosa and her dads were at the store and wanted to buy three boxes of pasta. If each costs $.75, how much will all three boxes cost?”(emphasis added)

Now you see where GLSEN is coming from and such thinking will be reflected in this week’s NNCW lessons.

Action Steps

1.)  Call your child’s school and see if they are participating in ‘No Name Calling Week.”

2.)  Share this information with others who are concerned with what is going on in our schools.

Pennsylvania Makes Great Pro-Life Decisions This Week

(Harrisburg) –The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) commends the Pennsylvania legislature for taking steps this week to protect the most vulnerable of Pennsylvanians — the unborn.

• On Monday HB 1977  passed in the House.   This bill prohibits coverage for abortions in state health plans, unless the abortion is performed to prevent the death of the mother or if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.  These exchanges are required if Obamacare takes effect in 2014.  It now goes to the Senate

• A similar bill SB 3  passed in the Senate on September 21st,  went to the House, passed on first consideration and was “Laid on the Table” on October 17th and is awaiting further action.
•  Yesterday the Pennsylvania Senate passed SB 732  with the House amendments by a vote of 32-18.  This bill requires abortion clinics to follow the same regulations as ambulatory surgical facilities.   One day earlier it overwhelmingly passed in the House.  The bill now goes to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

“Opponents of SB 732 argued that the bill would greatly increase costs for abortions at the 20 abortion clinics statewide.  The opponents have apparently forgotten about the babies and women killed in Kermit Gosnell’s Philadelphia House of Horrors.   That is the case that exposed the flaws in Pennsylvania’s law and led to these bills being introduced.  Instead Planned Parenthood, the League of Women Voters and legislators like Dan Frankel and Babette Josephs are concerned about ‘taking away a woman’s right to choose.’   What about the baby’s right to life,” remarked Diane Gramley, President of the AFA of PA.

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Casey Again Proves That “Pro-Life” is Not a Label He Deserves

(Harrisburg) — Today the United States Senate unsuccessfully voted on cloture for the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, considered the second highest court in the land.   Even though both of Pennsylvania’s US Senators claim to be pro-life, only one voted to reflect that label.  The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) is appalled that once again Senator Bob Casey, Jr., who campaigned and continues to label himself as pro-life, voted to confirm pro-abortion Caitlin Halligan.

“Senator Casey’s pro-life mantel has become simply a very tarnished veneer he continues to try to hide behind.   It is apparent that Senator Casey did not do his homework on this nominee very well .  One example of how radical Halligan is –  as New York Solicitor General,  she targeted pro-life groups by arguing that protestors should face extortion and racketeering charges under a wild interpretation of the Hobbs Act,” noted Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.

Senator Casey should have also noted that the National Rifle Association opposed her nomination — only the second time in the NRA’s history that they opposed the nomination of a circuit court judge!  Their opposition centered around Halligan’s efforts to sue gun manufacturers for crimes committed with guns.   If Senator Casey missed the gun issue, he should have caught her radical position on same-sex marriage.   As New York Solicitor General  Halligan had argued for same-sex marriage, even though the state’s domestic law required that marriage licenses only be issued to opposite sex couples.  Then there’s the War on Terror where Halligan, as a member of a bar committee, joined other members in issuing a report claiming it is unconstitutional for the United States to detain enemy combatants.  The DC Court of Appeals is too important a court for someone as radical as Caitlin Halligan.  The court plays a critical role in national security matters, has considerable regulatory review authority, and is frequently a springboard for judges that are later nominated to the Supreme Court.

“Pro-family, pro-life and pro-Second Amendment Americans are very glad the US Senate fell short of the 60 votes needed on the cloture vote for Caitlin Halligan for the DC Court of Appeals.  However, as Pennsylvanians, we are very disturbed that the 54 votes for cloture included our so-called ‘pro-life’ Senator Bob Casey, Jr.  It’s time he packed away his pro-life label because his voting record since he’s been in office does not reflect it,” Gramley concluded.

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