file: /pub/resources/text/ProLife.News/1993: PLN-0302.TXT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life Communications - Volume 3, No. 2 January, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This newsletter is intended to provide articles and news information to those interested in Pro-Life Issues. All submissions should be sent to the editor, Steve (frezza@ee.pitt.edu). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) ROE VERSUS WADE: 20 YEARS To commemorate twenty years since the legalization of abortion in these United States, the 21st March for Life will be held in Washington DC. Similar demon- strations will be held throughout the US, noting the 27-30 Million children who have been legally killed since the 22nd of January, 1973. To add to the immensity of the crime, estimates show that roughly one out of every three pregnancies in this country end in abortion, and that presently one of every four women of child-bearing age have already had an abortion. Imagine - how many of these women are now suffering from the loss of their child? Joseph Stalin, leader of the now-defunct Soviet Union was responsible for the deaths of something like 30 Million ukrainians in the 1930's. He is reported to have commented that "one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." May we who commemorate the 22nd of January with sadness realize that we do not just commemorate 27-30 Million deaths, we commemorate 27-30 million tragedies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) POST ABORTION SYNDROME - THINGS TO LOOK FOR Dr. Susan Stanford-Rue is a doctor of psychology and a victim of abortion who spoke at the Ivy League Coalition for life's conference in October of 1992. She is the co-director for the institute of Pregnancy Loss in Portsmouth, NH, and discussed the diagnostic criteria of someone with post-abortion syndrome. These criteria are very similar to those for post-traumatic stress syndrome, which her husband, Dr. Vincent M. Rue is a recognized authority on. The stressor is of course the abortion experience; this is the cause of painful and significant symptoms, such as: RE-EXPERIENCE, in which the abortion is relived through recurrent re- collections, or dreams about the abortion or the unborn child. Re-experience also occurs when there is psychological distress at exposure to events that somehow resemble the abortion experience, such as being with a pregnant mother, the victim's own subsequent pregnancy, or intense grieving on the anniversary of the event or projected birthday of the child. AVOIDANCE, where the victim attempts to avoid any of the above experiences that might bring back memories of the abortion. These can include efforts to deny thoughts or feelings associated with the act; psychogenic amnesia, where the victim is actually unable to recall the abortion experience. Avoidance behavior can also be marked by withdrawal from relationships, reduced commun- ication, marked disinterest in activities that she previously enjoyed, or a shortened sense of the future, such as not expecting to have a career, marriage, children, or a long life. Some persistent symptoms may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability, outbursts of anger, or difficulty concentrating. Other symptoms often include an inability to forgive oneself, drug use, depression, and suicidal notions. Dr. Stanford-Rue also stressed the disenfranchised grief that ensues when the woman victimized by abortion does not deal with her pain, and the complicated mourning that develops when she does not seek out help but attempts to deal with it non her own. Dr. Stanford-Rue, like many victims of abortion, explained how she only found hope of healing of her wound through faith in Jesus Christ. Through a gradual step-by-step process, she was able to be healed of post-abortion syndrome, and now dedicates her life to helping other women do the same. Dr. Stanford-Rue has a powerful message to send out to all: That there are millions of women in our country who have had abortions and are now suffering depression and despondency as a result. Her message of trauma is accompanied by by a strong message of hope, that the victims of abortion are not alone in their pain, and that ther is a way to be healed and freed from the guilt and grief of abortion forever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) SOME FOLLOWUP NEWS: ILCL CONFERENCE ATTACKED In response to the Ivy League Coalition for Life's inter-college conference (Oct. 17th, 1992), the school's Reproductive Right's alliance teamed up with pro-abortion groups outside of Cornell, including WHAM of Ithica, NY and the National Women's Rights Organization Coalition of Albany, NY - with the sole intention of stopping the conference and preventing freedom of speech. After disrupting the conference and preventing attendees from entering for over an hour, the protestors exited under threats of arrest by the campus and local constabulary. None of the scheduled speakers were prevented from speaking, and although several pro-life attendees and three public safety officers were assaulted, fortunately no one was seriously injured. One police officer was knocked down when a protestor jumped on her back and then ran away. The protestor, a SUNY Cortland student, was apprehended later and charged with assulting an officer and possession of mace. Another student from Michigan was also arrested, and faced misdemeanor charges. Since i won't distribute profanity, i cannot reproduce most of the reported statements of the rioters. One statement that the Cornell Review writer Jane Elwood found particularly interesting was the pro-abort's response to calls to allow free speech - some of which came from their own ranks: "No, you can't have free speech because you are trying to organize against us and recruit other people to your side". As Ms. Elwood commented, "Ah, Hypocrisy in its unadulterated form." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) SOCIAL GATHERING FOLLOWING MARCH FOR LIFE IN DC I have received a few replies to my suggestion that prolifers on the net who plan to attend the March for Life use the opportunity to meet face to face. Apparently most people are traveling by bus and returning home Friday night, precluding much chance for a gathering. However, a few of us will meet, and any prolifers who did not respond are welcome to attend. I have a reservation at the Hyatt Regency, where the March for Life Convention will be held. I plan to attend the Keynote program item Friday evening, which begins at 7:30. As soon as it is over I will be in my room and ready to admit visitors. (Sorry, no smoking) If you do not see an @ sign with a room number posted somewhere, pick up a house phone and ask for Martin Helgesen. The switchboard will connect you and I will tell you the room number. - Marty Helgesen [If you are going to the march, please drop a line to the editor, steve] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) READER QUESTIONS The one part of ProLife News that I dislike reading in nearly every issue is the Quote of the Month. I understand that the motive for the chosen quotations is to be provocative, but the main-stream media is full of provocative statements due to their overwhelming pro-abortion bias. How about using the Quote of the Month for life-affirming statements? What do you other readers think? - Dean Schulze [I'm always open to more positive statements - unfortunately, they are harder to find. If you have any good ones, please send them this way, along with a source... Ed.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) ON-LINE RESOURCES: (80-column ASCII format) This is a list of the on-line resources that have been compiled to date. Many of these have been donated by readers of the newsletter, to whom many thanks are owed. If anyone has interesting resources that they would like to make available, please send them to the editor. If you care for a copy of a particular article (or a back issue), please notify the editor. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- "Sex Education that Really Works" - from a 1991 ALL About Issues submission by Edward Gehringer. PhD. Describes the successes of abstinence-based sex education, the relevant and recent studies, and the difficulties that promoters of abstinence-based curricula face. Easy reading, with great references. [Ask for "AbstinenceWorks".] "New American Compact - Caring About Women, Caring for the Unborn" - from a statement that appeared as a full-page advertisement in the New York Times during the Democratic Convention in July 1992. It is a well thought-out and well written statement of the Pro-Life position. [Ask for "NewAmericanCompact".] "Planned Parenthood Corporate Supporters" - listing of the known corporate supporters of the nations leading abortion promoter, The Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Published at the 1992 Arizona RTL Convention. [ Ask for "PPContributors".] (Updates are always welcome.) "The Durham Declaration: To United Methodists on Our Church and Abortion" - issued February, 1990 [ask for "DuramDeclaration".] "Why Christians Oppose Abortion" - A Scriptural approach to why Christians oppose the destruction of the unborn child. [ Ask for "WhyChristians".] "The Courage to Oppose Abortion" - Text of a speech delivered at the American Collegians for Life 1992 Leadership Conference Banquet. [Ask for "CourageToOppose".] "Public Square Speech" - Text of a speech given by Feminists For Life member Jean Graham in Cleveland in April of 1992. A solid talk on why true feminists are _FOR_ life. [Ask for "PublicSquare".] "Casey speaks" - The pitch Governor Robert Casey of Pennsylvania made to the Democratic Committee platform hearings in May, 1992. He was the only pro-life speaker at the hearings; his call was rejected by the Committee out of hand. [Ask for "CaseySpeaks92".] "Pro-Life Video Lending Library" - A listing of over 20 current and classic pro-life videos available for loan from the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Federation for Life. [Ask for "VideoLibrary".] "Casey vs Planned Parenthood of SE Pennsylvania Summary" - brief summary of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act (1990) and what the resulting Supreme Court decision left intact. [ Ask for "PaAbortionControl".] "Media Addresses" - Lists the addresses for 32 major radio and television news/ talk shows, as well as 24 mainstream newspapers. The address and phone number are listed, however they are from 1991, so they might be dated. [ Ask for "MediaAddresses".] "Heritage Home" - Tells the story of Heritage Home, a non-profit support home for mothers in San Jose, California. [ Ask for "HeritageHome".] "v1Topics" - Listing (similar to this) of all topics covered in volume 1 (v1) of the ProLife News. Covers issues from January through December 1991. [Ask for "v1Topics".] "v2Topics" - Listing (similar to this) of all topics covered in volume 2 (v2) of the ProLife News. Covers issues from January through December 1992. [Ask for "v2Topics".] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Month: "Post-abortion syndrome ...long term research is clearly required. It is not promoted by the professional organizations, because the must maintain their political stance that Post-Abortion Syndrome could not possibly exist, and defend their pro-abortion stance at all costs, even if intellectual integrity suffers." - Dr. Wanda Franz, Professor of Psychology at West Virginia University. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Credits: | | 2 - from the "Cornell Coalition for Life News" Vol 7, No 1 November, 1992, | | page 4 by Nikki Tiedemann. Many thanks to reader Sanjay Hiranandani. | | 3 - taken from the headline article of the Oct. 22 issue of "The Cornell | | Review" PO Box 6561 Ithica, NY 14851, and from the "Cornell Coalition | | for Life News" Vol 7, No 1 November, 1992. Many thanks to reader Sanjay| | Hiranandani. | |QOM- from p. 3 of the "UFL Pro Vita", newsletter of University Faculty for | | Life, vol. III, no. I - November 20, 1992. To contact UFL, write: | | University Faculty for Life, Box 2273 Georgetown, Univ. Washington, DC | | 20057. Membership is $25 per year. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Anyone desiring information on specific prolife groups, literature, tapes, or help with problems is encouraged to contact the editor.