Book Lecture: Changed: Making Sense of Your Own or a Loved One's Abortion Experience-"Michaelene Fredenburg brings a unique and compassionate perspective to the abortion discussion due to her personal experience. She is a frequent guest lecturer at universities and events. In recent years Michaelene has advocated about the need for studies that evaluate the emotional and physical impact of all pregnancy outcomes. Michaelene is the creator of the Abortion Changes You outreach and author of Changed: Making Sense of Your Own or a Loved One's Abortion Experience."
Post-abortion Mental Health Effects, Awareness, and Politics-"Join leading researchers and clinicians for a discussion about abortion history and associated mental health effects. Data from numerous studies and the National Comorbidity Study, the most comprehensive national dataset on the prevalence of psychological disorders, will be analyzed to explore associations between abortion history and mental health, and substance abuse disorders. Additionally, results from a national poll conducted through the Elliot Institute examining politics and post-abortion awareness will also be presented. Join us to learn more about the body of research the American Psychological Association failed to assess in its recent report on abortion and mental health.
WHO:
Priscilla K. Coleman, Ph.D., Bowling Green State University
Catherine T. Coyle, RN, Ph.D., Alliance for Post-Abortion Research & Training
Tom McClusky, Vice President for Government Affairs, FRC
David Reardon, Ph.D., Elliot Institute
Vincent M. Rue, Ph.D., Institute for Pregnancy Loss
Martha Shuping, M.D., Shuping & Associates"
Politics and Post-Abortion Awareness Survey -Interesting findings!!!
DAY 35: Healing following abortion-Day 35 of the 40 days for life. Excellent counseling from a post abortive woman herself.
"DAY 35 INTENTION:
Pray for post-abortive women who cannot forgive themselves; may they understand that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
SCRIPTURE:
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the one to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.
– Romans 4:7-8
REFLECTION by Carmen Pate:
In the passage above, the Apostle Paul making a point about justification by faith, refers back to David’s words in Psalm 32:1-2. In spite of the enormity of David’s sin — adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband — and the utter absence of any personal merit, David in his brokenness, understood the imputed righteousness of God. David’s response was not continued guilt over his sins, but praise for his freedom from guilt, and God’s power to live life differently.
Once your relationship with God has been restored, your guilt has served its purpose and should no longer be given place in your life. This is true regardless of the sin, including the sin of abortion. As a post-abortive woman, I too struggled with this issue until I realized that punishing and hating myself after receiving God’s forgiveness was an insult to God.
It was as though I were minimizing Christ’s work on the cross as insufficient to cover my sin. I was denying Him the opportunity to bring glory to His name for the healing and restoration He wanted to do in my life. I was giving victory to the enemy who having lost the battle for my soul, was bent on destroying my testimony as I accepted the continual guilt he heaped on my mind.
It is my joy to continually sing of God’s grace rather than give the devil a foothold in my life. Don’t waste God’s mercy! Accept His forgiveness and forgive yourself as testimony of His amazing grace.
PRAYER:
Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. I come against the enemy of my soul who would have me feel cast down and dejected.
Lord, keep your children from falling prey to the accusations of the father of lies. Turn our mourning into dancing and may we bring praise to you as we give testimony of Your healing and restoration in our lives. For by His grace we are saved, Amen.
Today’s 40 Days for Life devotional can also be downloaded at: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2008day35print.pdf%22"-Amen!!!
Other Pro-Life News
Ignoring reality: NYT and other pro-abortion outlets gloat over pro-life losses-"The NY Times has this editorial titled, “Voting for Reproductive Freedom.” It gloats over pro-life losses in California, Colorado, and South Dakota. It begins : “Voters in three states did the right thing last week by defeating dangerous anti-abortion measures on their ballots.” And ends: ”. . . the fate of the three ballot initiatives is a powerful affirmation that this remains a nation that values women’s privacy and health.” This conclusion ignores reality.
In Colorado (personhood amendment) and South Dakota (measure to outlaw most abortions), pro-lifers were divided over the measures on strategic grounds. Medical News adds some context: Fractures Within Antiabortion Movement Helped Doom Ballot Initiatives. See also, Colorado Catholic Conference Does Not Support Personhood Amendment.
In California (parental notification measure), it was a common sense measure that most reasonable people would expect to win. But then again, California is not known as a bastion for the pro-life cause and pro-abortion groups heavily outspent their opponents in this contest.
The San Francisco Chronicle: “Nearly $11 million was collected for the campaign, according to the most recent campaign filing statements. Proponents raised almost $2.6 million - spending much of the money gathering petitions to get the measure on the ballot - while opponents collected approximately $8.2 million.”
In Washington (assisted suicide measure), pro-lifers were also heavily outspent in a left coast state. The WSJ Health Blog reports: ”Backers of the bill, including national right-to-die organizations and a former Democratic governor who has Parkinson’s, raised $4.9 million to support it. Opponents, including several Catholic organizations, raised $1.6 million to fund their fight, the Seattle Times reports.”
Moral to this story: Pro-lifers must be united and they must be competitive in fundraising. When those criteria are satisifed the pro-life cause can prevail even on the left coast as the California marriage amendment [Prop. 8] victory demonstrates.
Related: South Dakota Pro-Life Advocate Ready for Next Battle After Abortion Ban Loss“‘We were outspent by more than three to one,’ Unruh said. Our opponents raised over $3 million dollars and just a very minimal amount of that came from South Dakota”
