MAIM Established!

MAIM, Massachusetts Against Individual Mandate, the official committee to work for the passage of the Initiative Petition to repeal RomneyCare, has filed with the state. The committee is gathering the signatures necessary for the petition to be placed on the 2012 ballot.   http://repeal-romneycare.com/     Bridget Fay will serve as Treasurer and spokesperson for MAIM. Bridget is a young lawyer who serves on the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Citizens for Life and is active in other causes.   If you want to volunteer to help in any way, especially in gathering signatures, or to mail a donation to help defeat RomneyCare, please contact:   Massachusetts Against the Individual Mandate                                                                                                                              P O Box 81188                                                                                                                                                                                        Wellesley Hills, Ma 02481-0002   When I send you emails, John Triolo at the MCFL office manages the list. I need you to know that John has volunteered to manage MAIM's list also.   Let's wish Bridget and MAIM the best in this necessary effort!   Anne        For more information about the Pro-Life cause in Massachusetts or to get involved    please visit our website at massprolife.com.

Hear MA's own Abby Johnson

CareNet of Fitchburg has invited us to hear Catherine Adair share her story - from prochoice feminist and abortion clinic worker to a committed Catholic working to end abortion. She will share the truth about what goes on behind the doors of the abortion clinic and what you can do to stop it. This looks amazing! I certainly hope to make it! Anne   Saturday, October 1st at 2:00 P.M.   St. Francis of Assisi Church Hall 63 Sheridan St. Fitchburg               DONATIONS - WE NEED AND APPRECIATE THEM!     Donate through PayPal     THANK YOU!    For more information about the Pro-Life cause in Massachusetts or to get involved    please visit our website at massprolife.com.

Reminders, Resources, and Requests

Of course, the MCFL Walk to Aid Mothers and Children is coming next Sunday. MCFL is so proud to be able to provide this opportunity to help groups to raise money for their wonderful work. If you do not have your pledge sheet, check the Walk appeal, the MCFL News, print it, http://massprolife.com/attachments/article/195/Walk%20Flyer%202011%20for%20web%20site.pdf or call the office, 617-242-4199. The Annual Dinner, Oct 15th, will be graced by G. K. Chesterton this year. I understand he will have some comments on Physician Assisted Suicide/ Doctor Prescribed Death .  I am very excited to hear him. MAIM, Massachusetts Against Individual Mandate: signature collecting is going great guns across the state. If you would like to help, please reply. And check out the very informative web-site. Partial Birth Abortion Ban. Michigan just passed overwhelmingly! The federal ban is great, but each state needs to pass its own. Hearings are Oct 5th at the State House at 1:00pm. Please plan to attend and testify. Linda Thayer, our ace education person, says the best way to educate legislators is pictures. We will have information about the procedure. We would like to show pictures of premature babies who would have been at risk for PBA. If you have pictures of a child, grandchild, etc, would you press reply and send along, please? They will help legislators to see what is happening. PAB Ban is the only law that actually outlaws abortions! 40 DAYS FOR LIFE starts this week. There are already many gracers occurring. Please check the email I sent last week for locations and contacts. THE BIG E. Our wonderful people in the Pioneer Valley have a fabulous MCFL booth and a billboard by the entrance which will be seen by, literally, millions of people. You can still visit this week. Free FAMILY MEMEBERSHIP TO MCFL. If you get your first Choose Life plate this month or next and are not currently a member, just send a picture of your new plate or a copy of registration and $40 membership is yours. I know this is a long email, but there are so many things going on. I am preparing a separate email to update you on PAS/DPD. Please watch for it. Anne       DONATIONS - WE NEED AND APPRECIATE THEM!     Donate through PayPal     THANK YOU!    For more information about the Pro-Life cause in Massachusetts or to get involved    please visit our website at massprolife.com.

Sen. Brown's bill banning embryo patenting becomes law

On Sept 16, President Obama signed the America Invents Act which restricts the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from issuing a patent on a "human organism." The new law makes permanent a ban on embryo patenting that has been approved yearly since 2004. "This law recognizes that human life is not a commodity, and that a member of the human family can never be regarded as a mere invention, or as 'intellectual property,'" said Douglas Johnson, the National Right to Life Committee's legislative director. Richard Doerflinger, pro-life specialist for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, "Unethical researchers and biotechnology companies are willing not only to create and destroy embryonic human beings for research purposes, but even to patent these fellow humans so they can license, market, buy, and sell them as mere commodities. By prohibiting patents on human organisms, Congress has helped prevent such gross abuses and has taken some of the profit motive out of the drive for human cloning." Senator Scott Brown was one of the five sponsors of this pro-life legislation. This makes the slippery slope a little less slippery. An email thank you seems well-deserved!  Thanks, Anne     DONATIONS - WE NEED AND APPRECIATE THEM!     Donate through PayPal     THANK YOU!    For more information about the Pro-Life cause in Massachusetts or to get involved    please visit our website at massprolife.com

Rod Murphy's nephew takes on pro-ab. forces in Paris

Rod's nephew, Niall, has lived in France his entire life except for the summer he spent with his uncle Rod and Aunt Jean when he was 15. That happened to be the summer we closed down Bill Baird's mill. Niall accompanied Rod to the pickets, and meetings at the Dept. of Public Health. Inspired by Rod's example and his book, Stopping Abortions at Death's Door, Niall... but let him tell you in his own words (these are the emails which he sent Rod)... Hi, Rod, How is everything?  I've done my first sidewalk counseling.  But it's French sidewalk counseling... It was yesterday in front of a hospital that just opened an abortion department in Paris.  We've declared the demonstration to the police one month ago, so everyhting was legal.  When I arrived with my car, I saw the group between 150 and 200 people already there, and therefore was happy of that success.  When I got closer, and in order to park my car nearby, I realized it was not my group, it was a group of feminist, leftist, gay, and lesbian!!!!  There was the riot police in position to stop them.  Finally I saw my group, they were approximately 15. Mostly women between 60 and 80 years old, one priest, two 20 years old students.  When I got to them, they were praying for the aborted babies occurring in the hopspital, but also for their lives because the opposing group was now marching toward us.  The anti riot police came between us and them, and advised us to hide behind their truck.  The opposing group was now throwing eggs and other stuff at us.  One small group of leftists succeeded to go through the police, and jumped on the guy in our group who was holding our flag.  They broke the flag and his glasses.  We stayed there one hour and a half and the police escorted us to the subway.  It was just prayer.  Because of the leftists we couldn't talk to anybody.    http://www.armandborlant.fr/blog/?p=1604   I'm happy for that experience, and for the first time in my life, concerning the matter of abortion, I've been able to see clearly where the real violence came from. The next step is to find a way to contact these women in distress without ourselves being attacked...   Big kiss to you and Jean,   Niall     Followed by   Hi Rod,  You say " don't give up. Keep it up". Thanks for your encouraging words.    God has hired me to do a job, it's the job of a lifetime. How could I want to quit ? I know it's going to be hard, but I also know it's going to be a fantastic adventure...so of course, I continue ! I will keep you informed, Love, Niall   Rod, being a proud uncle and being Rod, already has Jill Stanek on the case. Human Life International has called on the French government to investigate. http://www.hli.org/index.php/news/press-releases/995-press-release-92011-hli-condemns-attack-on-french-pro-lifers You will be hearing more. Meanwhile, in spite of the buffer zone, etc, 40 DAYS FOR LIFE and so many other efforts continue in peace in this country. God bless Niall, his group, and all of you who pray and counsel! Thank you, Anne         But...   DONATIONS - WE NEED AND APPRECIATE THEM!     Donate through PayPal     THANK YOU!    For more information about the Pro-Life cause in Massachusetts or to get involved    please visit our website at massprolife.com.

Partial Birth Abortion Hearings, Oct 5th and report on yesterday

When Congress passed, and the Supreme Court upheld, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, we were all grateful and relieved. Actually, that is a federal ban, so it applies to federal property, etc. It is necessary for each individual state to pass a state PBA Ban. MCFL filed the bill last winter. House 1333, An Act Relative to Banning Partial Birth Abortions, is scheduled to be heard at 1PM in Room A-1 on October 5 before the Judiciary Committee. This should be a "no-brainer". Close to 90% of people think the Ban is a good idea. If we have a large crowd at the hearings, we should have a good chance to get this bill out of committee. It will be important to bring pictures and diagrams! Please mark your calendar for 1:00 on Oct 5th. The MCFL website has background information. Other states like Michigan are working to pass the Ban also. Yesterday Linda Thayer, Eva Murphy, Elizabeth Kenney, and many others gave very convincing testimony about the problems with the Health Curriculum Frameworks. The Education Committee asked cogent questions and seemed interested. It is very important that you submit written testimony. It can be as simple as, "I oppose the Frameworks in their current form because of the sex ed. component. Please separate out the controversial parts of the Frameworks and deal with those separately". Linda has posted some excellent information. Please send a copy of your testimony to Chairman Alice Peisch, Alice.Peisch@mahouse.gov and to your own State Rep. Thank you for keeping up with legislation and making a difference! Anne     DONATIONS - WE NEED AND APPRECIATE THEM!     Donate through PayPal     THANK YOU!    For more information about the Pro-Life cause in Massachusetts or to get involved    please visit our website at massprolife.com.