Years of Visibility and Hard Work Continue To Benefit Unborn Children and Their Mothers

By Marjorie D. Higgins

Editor's note. The regular, ongoing work of National Right to Life chapters around the nation is often complemented by the loving contributions of church-based pro-life organizations. Often these faith-based groups are known as "Respect Life Committees." The following is a bird's-eye view of the year-round work of one such group, written by a member of NRLC's State Organizational development department who liasons with her church's Respect Life Committee.

As you will see, the key to success is having a functioning structure that keeps the work going even when there is the inevitable turnover.

The work of protecting innocent human life can and must go on, in season and out. But how can that take place, especially in today's mobile society which places such demands on all of us?

If we take the St. Catherine's Respect Life Committee, in Orange Park, Florida, as one example, this invaluable work goes on precisely because, in addition to dedication and unswerving faithfulness, we are organized, visible, and a source from which the public can expect an accurate, prompt response. Over the past couple of years, in spite of life changes for its committee members (many major), the daily work has gone on faithfully.

And you simply never know what--or when--a request will pop up. Take the Wednesday afternoon just before this past Thanksgiving Day.

I'm in my glory, preparing the holiday feast when the phone rings. It's a University of North Florida student, who tells me she is writing a "persuasive paper" on the topic, "Why We Should Oppose Partial-Birth Abortions."

Which would be great, except the paper is due on the Monday after Thanksgiving! Down goes the Turkey stuffing.

A quick wash of the hands later, I'm pulling together a file complete with the line drawings of the horrific abortion procedure, the latest analysis and talking points from NRLC's Federal Legislation Department, and an article from the source-- NRL News--about Wisconsin's success in court defending its law.

On second thought I add the testimony from anesthesiologists that dispatch the pro-abortion lie that anesthesia kills the baby before her brains are sucked out, an article by a local Ob- Gyn stating that a partial-birth abortion is never needed to save the mother's life, and a Bergen County Record (New Jersey) newspaper story documenting that far from being "rare," a single abortion clinic had performed 1,500 partial-birth abortions!

Bless her heart, when the young lady arrives a few hours later for the documentation and materials she needs for her class, I'm in the middle of making Thanksgiving pies and stuffing. But, as would any pro-lifer, I am pleased to be of help.

So, how did this young lady wind up calling me? Because St. Catherine's Respect Life Committee is visible. People know we exist and what we do.

When the college student contacted my church, she was immediately directed to the Respect Life Committee Chairman, Mary Hartwell, who in turn handed the request off to me. Thanks to years of patient work, people know to come to National Right to Life and its affiliates and chapters for accurate pro-life information.

Consequently, 16 university students (plus the professor) were going to become educated about the humanity of the unborn baby, learn the gruesome nature of partial-birth abortions, and hear persuasive evidence why we, as a compassionate society, should oppose the killing of innocent unborn babies.*

An important illustration, but only one of hundreds. Another example: Dr. Steve Poff, a parishioner and the chairman of the Northeast Florida Ethics Forum, contacted Mary Hartwell when he needed a panel member who could speak for the rights of the unborn.

But our job includes much more than providing information and talented pro-life professionals. Consider:

In the last couple of years there has been an ongoing debate over Florida's efforts to authorize "Choose Life" license plates. When the tags were finally approved by the state legislature, our Respect Life Committee followed up with e-mail and church bulletin notices. The tags sold out almost as quickly as the Tag Agencies could get them in.

The results of years of providing local education with bumper stickers are measurable in our county just by counting cars with pro-life bumper stickers and Choose Life tags. Families who have adopted children are just delighted with the tags.

I had a particularly telling experience one Sunday morning. I was in the parking lot when I did a double take. There were seven cars with the happy yellow tags sequentially numbered CAB1A through CAB7A.

Even in church, it's not uncommon to have minimal notice of pro- life opportunities. For instance, some months passed after Mary requested permission to do something purely educational in church. Then, one Friday afternoon, she unexpectedly learned that the committee could have two minutes to speak at the end of the weekend's Masses.

Most committee members were out of town. But between Mary and myself we quickly worked up a two-minute presentation.

Youth

No one knows that young people represent the future better than pro-lifers. Since 1992 the committee has provided a modest stipend for teens connected with the committee to travel to the annual NRL Convention to work as volunteers.

The teens are known as the "Florida Teens." With the advent of e- mail it has been possible for the teens themselves to network year round and encourage others to go to the convention.

Last June at the Charlotte, North Carolina, convention, friends of the Florida Teens from Alabama and Ohio linked up with them for a wonderful convention. The next generation of pro-lifers are already networked and working.

4,000 Crosses

Once a year, usually in February or March the committee volunteers with many other pro-lifers to place 4,000 crosses on the Mission Grounds in St. Augustine to show how many abortions take place in a single day and to pray for an end to abortion. It is an awesome sight to arrive at 8:45 on a Saturday morning, see just a few hardy souls putting the first crosses into the ground, and within a couple of hours witness the completion of the entire job because so many volunteers have come to work and to witness.

One year, after seeing the crosses, an intrigued tourist asked a series of questions. The very next year he started the project in his hometown.

Every year people ask of the crosses, "Does this number represent the total for a whole year?" Every year we have the opportunity to explain (with compassion and, hopefully, insight) that this represents the death toll for a single day!

Last year a teenaged boy who was helping with the project asked that same question. I tried to convey the significance of the deaths of thousands of babies each day, every single day - - the terrible damage to women, men, and families.

His silence seemed to go on forever. Then he replied quietly, "My aunt had an abortion two weeks ago. Her abortion was one of these four thousand."

Prayer/Life Chain

The committee's work is grounded in both individual and institutional prayer. At different times during the year the committee organizes prayer services on behalf of the unborn and their mothers, their families, and for all who have suffered from the effects of abortion.

Our little committee also spearheads the Life Chain event in October for our county. Again, the idea is to keep the abortion issue visible and our opposition to it well known.

In the fall of the year a Baptist pastor and a Catholic pastor co-sign a letter announcing the Life Chain. They invite all to spend an hour praying and witnessing for the unborn, even as Jesus asked his followers to keep watch with him for one hour in prayer.

That letter is sent to a list of about 150 churches in time to allow for deadlines for bulletin notices. The committee also places a modest ad in the local section of the newspaper to alert the general public. Members of the committee hand out signs in English and in Spanish to participants.

Some participants come every year, while some are newcomers. Others come pushing babies in strollers while many elderly come equipped with their lawn chairs.

Supporters honk their car horns as they drive by. Camaraderie and cheerfulness along with prayer are characteristic of the day. Inevitably we are thanked by different participants for organizing the event to provide an opportunity to witness and to speak out in a public way on behalf of the unborn.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Supporting the work of crisis pregnancy centers is also a priority for our Respect Life Committee. Since 1998 a Father- Daughter Valentine's Dance has been sponsored by the committee. All proceeds go to a local crisis pregnancy center.

One dad was blessed to dance with his grown daughter and his granddaughter. Another dad's three grown daughters came from near and far to celebrate with him.

Why is the Father-Daughter Valentine's Dance important to what we do? Because it provides a way for fathers to publicly honor their daughters and to demonstrate how they should be treated with respect. The dance is a wonderful event that dads and daughters recall with happy memories.

Ours is only one busy respect life committee. We look at what we try to do in this way.

The committee is organized to do the pro-life work that must be done. It is visible because it is organized.

And our little committee is a very valuable resource to the cause of unborn babies and their mothers because it is organized and visible.

*Later the young lady returned the fetal models and the file of documents to me. She assured me that she had gotten an "A" on her persuasive presentation.

She had become a little nervous as she watched the faces of her classmates register shock and horror as she described the procedure. The young men, especially the young married men who were fathers, could not believe that partial-birth abortions could possibly be legal.

Several days after the class a few of her classmates were still talking about her presentation and told her that they had talked to other friends about what they had learned in class from her.