Rubio: Life is not a political issue

By Anita Crane

WASHINGTON – More than 500 people leaped from their chairs to give Sen. Marco Rubio a standing ovation at the 2012 Susan B. Anthony List Campaign for Life Gala on Wednesday. The freshman Republican senator from Florida was keynote speaker at the SBA List’s 20th anniversary dinner, where Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., also congressional freshmen, gave rousing speeches.

The Susan B. Anthony List’s primary mission is to help pro-life candidates, especially women, get elected. Twenty years ago, Marjorie Dannenfelser, a wife and mother, began this work from her home while surrounded by her children. …

Applause and cheers erupted when Ayotte said, “Here’s my point: Marco Rubio is the real deal!”

Rubio said he was honored to be serving with new leaders like Ayotte. He framed his next comments “with all due respect” because he noticed that he and Ayotte were significantly younger than the median age of most senators. The crowd laughed when Rubio said one of his older colleagues had said Susan B. Anthony was a friend of his and Rubio was no Susan B. Anthony. He also apologized for coming without speech notes, but his teleprompter broke and “someone else” in Washington was ahead of him at the repair shop.

Rubio said when he first got the Senate, he looked around and asked, “How did I get here?” Six months later he looked around and asked, “How did they get here?” All of this led up to Rubio explaining he believes God and his constituents have given him the opportunity to stand up for vulnerable persons such as the unborn, and if he doesn’t he’ll have to answer to God.

Rubio said he was “blown away” by the young leaders awarded at the gala. He said he knows it’s difficult to be pro-life because some who support his fiscal policies tell him to “tone down” his right-to-life efforts.

But Rubio has no intentions of toning down. On Jan. 31, he introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012, a bill to repeal a new Obamacare mandate that violates the religious liberties and conscience rights of faith-based institutions by forcing them to offer employees insurance coverage for contraceptives, some of which cause abortions.

Read the full story at WND: http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/rubio-life-is-not-a-political-issue/

Mark Harrington in front of his "Created Equal" video display. (Anita Crane © 2012)

WASHINGTON – Despite sleet and bitter cold, many pro-life Americans in Washington for the March for Life, as well as people from other countries, stopped to watch the video “Created Equal” as it played on a jumbo screen on Constitution Avenue near Fourth Street NW. One of the attractions was the imagery of Martin Luther King Jr. and his voice echoing a few blocks in surrounding areas.

Mark Harrington, executive director of Created Equal in Columbus, Ohio, produced the stunning video by the same name and it begins by warning viewers of graphic and disturbing images of “severe injustice.”

“Our hope is that young people will be reminded and reaffirm their commitment to defend life – why they’re at the march. In many respects, the march doesn’t represent the victims,” Harrington told WND. “If you go to the March for Life, there’s a lot of speeches, the march is good, a lot of young people, a lot of positive stuff. But, for the most part, abortion victims aren’t represented and so we’re representing the victims. People need to be reminded that violence [of abortion] is happening every day.”

A group of Catholic teens stopped to ponder the video, with one boy exclaiming, “It’s cool!” However, the youth leader from their St. Louis, Mo., parish refused to let them be interviewed.

Prior to arriving in Washington, representatives of a Catholic church in Atlanta had complained to Harrington in fear that his public display would upset children.

Jill Stanek, activist, speaker and vigilant blogger at JillStanek.com, was bundled in layers fitting of her hometown Chicago when she came upon the “Created Equal” video scene. Stanek, of course, was a registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., when she discovered abortions were being committed there and babies who survived abortion were being left to die without medical care.

She told WND, “I think this is an important movement forward. It’s just the next place that we have to go and I’m just grateful to Created Equal for the video. Some people aren’t going to like it, but it’s the truth and everybody needs to see it – you don’t forget when you see the product of an actual abortion and it changes hearts. The normal complaint is going be about kids seeing it. But in the end, I’d rather have kids see these photos than be in one of these photos.”

“I think people need to see abortion to understand what it is – even the people who are here marching. A lot of them don’t know why they’re here,” Darius Hardwick from Columbus, Ohio, told WND. “I didn’t understand abortion until I saw it. Even pro-life Christians need to see it to change their minds. This gets people’s attention like nothing else.”

Created Equal from Mark Harrington on Vimeo.

Read the rest of the story at WND: http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/this-gets-peoples-attention-like-nothing-else/

Norma McCorvey in "Doonby." (Doonby the Movie © 2012)

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Roe v. Wade opponents target Dallas for decision’s anniversary
Theme of rally: ‘It began in Dallas. Let’s end it in Dallas’
Published: Jan. 20, 2012

By Anita Crane

As hundreds of thousands prepare to march on Washington, Dallas, San Francisco and other American cities to protest the Supreme Court’s infamous Roe v. Wade decision, Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” of that case, spoke to WND about her role in history and the movie “Doonby.”

Mike Mackenzie, a producer of “Doonby” and son of the movie’s writer/director/producer Peter Mackenzie, joined the conversation. The mystical thriller stars John Schneider as American drifter Sam Doonby in a daring adventure.

“Doonby” Writer/Director/Producer Peter Mackenzie with his sons at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Dan Mackenzie (left) was a cameraman for the film and Mike Mackenzie (right) is one of the producers. (Courtesy of Doonby the Movie © 2011)

McCorvey will speak Saturday at the Dallas March for Life rally, where the theme is: “It began in Dallas. Let’s end it in Dallas.” This means marchers conclude their annual protest at the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse, which houses the district court where ambitious pro-abortion attorneys first filed the Roe case in 1970, while McCorvey was homeless, unwed, drug-addicted and pregnant with her third child.

“By casting Norma in the film, we hope to highlight the ambivalence Americans have had towards the subject of abortion,” Mike Mackenzie said. “Norma spent half her life being pro-choice, found Christ and became pro-life, and now she’s a fervent activist.”

Starting February 17, “Doonby” launches with a limited release in four Mississippi towns, then opens in Dallas movie theaters on February 24. In the spring, theater distribution will expand and WND readers will be able to find theater locations at Doonby.com.

“I just hope everybody comes out and sees ‘Doonby,’” said McCorvey. “I don’t say that because I’m in it, I say it because it’s a great flick – a great psychological thriller.”

“We hope this film highlights the social issue and really affirms the significance of every [human] life,” said Mackenzie. “What we want to do is raise awareness of the issue without trying to side one way or the other – really just trying to focus on this life issue and protecting the most sacred gift we have.”

Schneider and several of his “Doonby” co-stars, including Joe Estevez, Jennifer O’Neill, Robert Davi, Jenn Gotzon, Erin Way and Will Wallace, spoke to WND about what compelled them to do the film and why they think it deserves an audience. While the movie release date has changed, you can read interviews with Schneider, Estevez and Way and with Wallace, Davi, O’Neill and Gotzon.

Read the in-depth story on Norma and see her in “Doonby” at http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/roe-v-wade-opponents-target-dallas-for-decisions-anniversary/. Also be sure to read her gutsy congressional testimony by clicking on the word “testified” in the above article.

by Ben Johnson
Sat Jan 14, 2012 14:04 EST

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, January 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has been dogged by allegations that his shifting positions on abortion have been politically opportunistic. That perception will be bolstered by a new book that reveals Romney consulted polling data before deciding to campaign as “pro-choice” during his 1994 Senate race.

In the book Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics, Ronald Scott wrote that Romney commissioned former Reagan pollster Richard Wirthlin to survey Massachusetts voters on key issues. Wirthlin showed Romney a poll indicating any candidate describing himself as “pro-life” was unelectable in the state.

Before initiating his campaign against then-incumbent Senator Ted Kennedy, Romney informed the elders of his church about his decision to run as a supporter of abortion rights. In November 1993, Romney, Wirthlin, and Scott (all Mormons) presented their case to the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a courtesy. Romney, then a Mormon leader in his state, explained his would label himself personally opposed to abortion but would take no action to outlaw it, a view he later described as “effectively pro-choice.”

The meeting proved a contentious one. “I may not have burned bridges, but a few of them were singed and smoking,” Romney said of the exchange.

The Romney campaign has declined to comment on the book’s allegations.

Meanwhile, new information has come to light about the relative whose death from an illegal abortion Romney credited with making him pro-choice in that race. Ann Keenan’s brother, Loren, married Lynn Romney, Mitt’s sister, in the 1950s. Lynn Keenan died at Wyandotte General Hospital on October 7, 1963, when Mitt was just 16-years-old. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as a “criminal recent abortion.”

Sandra Nye, Keenan’s friend from Michigan State University, said, “It was all very hush-hush, because [Mitt’s father George] Romney was governor, and they really wanted this very quiet and to go away.”

The girl’s parents wrote in her obituary that, “Memorial tributes may be sent to the Planned Parenthood Association.”

In a 1994 debate against Kennedy, Romney alluded to Keenan as the inspiration for his first conversion, from pro-life to pro-abortion: “Many, many years ago, I had a dear, close family relative that was very close to me who passed away from an illegal abortion. It is since that time that my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter. And you will not see me wavering on that.”

He later elaborated her case “obviously makes one see that regardless of one’s beliefs about choice, that you would hope it would be safe and legal.”

It would be the first of many twists-and-turns in the governor’s abortion record. The same year, his wife, Ann Romney, made a donation to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards would later say Mitt Romney “used to come to Planned Parenthood events. He asked for our endorsement.”

Kennedy would go on to defeat Romney by 17 percent of the vote in the election that saw Republicans regain control of Congress for the first time in decades.

In 2002, Romney chose to run again, this time for governor. During the campaign, he said, “On a personal basis, I don’t favor abortion. However, as governor of the commonwealth, I will protect a woman’s right to choose under the laws of the country and the commonwealth. That’s the same position I’ve had for many years.”

After his election, however, he began to change his views again, telling reporters he had been influenced by the state’s debate over creating embryos for scientific research. He stated, “When we were studying cloning in our state, I said, ‘Look, we have gone too far.’ It’s a brave new world mentality that Roe v. Wade has given us, and I changed my mind.”

Not everyone was convinced, believing Romney told Massachusetts voters what they wanted to hear in order to get elected. His adviser, Mike Murphy, would tell National Review during the 2008 Republican primary race, “He’s been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly.”

After his most recent pro-life turn, Romney said Ann’s contributions to Planned Parenthood speak “for her and not for me…Her positions are not terribly relevant for my campaign.” His wife later made substantial donations to Massachusetts Citizens for Life, becoming its co-chair.

Romney says he now favors overturning Roe v. Wade. When asked during a 2007 debate if he would sign a bill banning all abortions, he replied, “I’d be delighted to sign that bill.” He has said at various times he believes “abortion should be limited to only instances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.”

His relationship with the pro-life movement in 2012 has at times been strained. In June he declined to sign the Susan B. Anthony List’s pro-life pledge. In October, Romney told Mike Huckabee, “I’d make sure that the progress that has been made to provide for life and to protect human life is not progress that would be reversed.” Some liken that to his pro-choice position in earlier campaigns, when he said he “was personally pro-life but that I would protect a woman’s right to choose as the law existed. ”

This has led critics in both parties to question his core convictions on the issue. Republican strategist Keith Appell stated in 2007, “It’s part of Romney’s challenge: How many epiphanies have you had?”

The statue of Bl. John Paul II that stands outside of Rome’s Termini train station

Rome, Italy, Jan 10, 2012 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- The much criticized 12-foot bronze sculpture of Blessed John Paul II that stands outside of Rome’s main train station will be revamped.

“I made a design for the sculpture that wasn’t executed well in the foundry,” explained the creator of the artwork, Italian sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi.

“It is not that we have come up with a new statue,” he told CNA on Jan. 10. “We’re correcting those details that weren’t executed well” so that “it will be more faithful to my original idea.”

The redesign will involve replacing the head, modifying the Pope’s cape and touching up the outer coating of paint, since the bronze has oxidized to a light shade of green. The statue will also be raised 15 inches on a new platform, and its lighting will be improved.

When the statue was first unveiled last May, the Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano criticized it for bearing “little resemblance’’ to Pope John Paul and described the head as being “excessively spherical.”

The President of Rome’s Cultural Commission, Federico Mollicone, went further, calling it “a permanent and sacrilegious mud stain on his memory.”

The general public also disliked the statue. A poll in the Italian La Repubblica newspaper found that 87 percent of the general public did not care for the piece.

Read the full story here: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/controversial-john-paul-ii-statue-will-get-makeover/

By Fr. C. John McCloskey III

Way back in 1989 (my, how the years fly by), I wrote an an article for the Christmas edition of the old Crisis magazine entitled “Good Guys Finish First: Ten Reasons to Smile This Christmas.” Over two decades later, I remain bullish on the Catholic Church in America for the New Year of 2012, especially if the year includes persecution and further societal decline.

That’s because the Church flourishes in bad times.

Read Father’s article here: http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/desiderata-for-2012.html

What’s so awful about the 1%?
Occupy Wall Street has said it’s the 99% of ‘us’ against the 1% of ‘them.’ But many of ‘them’ started out like ‘us’ and have brought us great innovations that we embrace.

By Bradley Schiller

The class war is on. It’s the 99% of “us” versus the 1% of “them.”

In the rhetoric of this war, we are fighting the 1% because they possess most of the nation’s wealth, bankroll their handpicked political candidates, control the banks and get million-dollar paychecks and billion-dollar bailouts; yet they don’t pay enough taxes or invest their wealth in creating American jobs. They’re the “millionaires and billionaires” President Obama has called out as needing to pony up more for progressive reforms of our healthcare, banking, tax and political systems. They are the enemy of “us” — the 99% who toil at low-wage jobs, hold underwater mortgages, face foreclosures, suffer recurrent and protracted job layoffs and plant closings, and yet pay our fair share of taxes.

But there’s a flaw in this strategy. The Occupy Wall Street movement envisions the 1% as a monolithic cadre of entrenched billionaires who have a firm and self-serving grip on all the levers of the economy. But a closer look at that elite group reveals how untrue that perspective is.

Forbes magazine compiles a list of the richest 400 Americans every year. To get on that list, you must have at least $1 billion of wealth. They are the creme de la creme of the 1% — indeed, the top 0.0000013% (!) of Americans. So who are these dastardly people?

Continue reading this op-ed in the LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/04/opinion/la-oe-schiller-who-is-the-one-percent-20111204

Top country singer: This is who I am
‘My fans have responded with great support’

Posted: December 29, 2011
12:20 am Eastern

By Anita Crane
© 2011 WND

Country music star Collin Raye doesn’t just sing his heart out, he also wears his heart on his sleeve.

As spokesman for the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, Raye boldly defends the fundamental human right to life and calls people to political action.

He recently released “His Love Remains” for the love of God and his late granddaughter, who died at the age of 10 from neurological disorders that impaired her breathing.

“I made a decision years ago, especially during Haley’s illness, to focus on what’s important and my fans responded accordingly,” Raye told WND. “This album is the first time I’ve been able to say, ‘I’m a Christian music artist and I’m lovin’ it!’

“If you take a stand on issues, some people are going to get upset. But for the most part, my fans have responded with great support because they know I’m passionate about my faith and it’s just about deciding to fight the good fight above board and in front of everybody instead of trying to do it behind the scenes.”

Read the rest of the story: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=381897#ixzz1huS5j7M6

Photo by Jonathan Fowler, courtesy of CollinRaye.com

About the least fashionable thing one can do these days is utter a kind word about the Catholic Church. The idea that the church has been an obstacle to human progress has been elevated to the level of something everybody thinks he knows. But to the contrary, it is to the Catholic Church more than to any other institution that we owe so many of the treasures of Western civilization. Knowingly or not, scholars operated for two centuries under an Enlightenment prejudice that assumes all progress to come from religious skeptics, and that whatever the church touches is backward, superstitious, even barbaric.

Since the mid-20th century, this unscholarly prejudice has thankfully begun to melt away, and professors of a variety of religious backgrounds, or none at all, increasingly acknowledge the church’s contributions.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/25/3337374/the-catholic-church-built-western.html#.Tvlr82SLQp4.facebook#storylink=cpy