Pro-abort pressure fails: Lilith Fair keeps pregnancy care centers on list of charities
First, what is the Lilith Fair? From its Facebook page…
From 1997 through 1999, Lilith Fair was one of the highest grossing touring festivals in the world, with over 1.5 million fans in attendance and raising over $10 million dollars for national and local charities…. [f]ounded by Grammy-award winning artist Sarah McLachlan… a celebration of women in music….
[T]he all-female festival is making its return in Summer 2010.
Yesterday the Lilith Tour team announced the “Choose Your Charity” campaign, encouraging Facebook users to vote from a group of preselected women’s charities to help decide which will get $1 for every ticket sold in each concert city.
To the surprise to everyone, including me, several pregnancy care centers were included on the list. A surprise because back in the day Lilith Fair had the reputation of being a feminist and lesbian magnet, both groups being pro-abortion. Sarah McLachlan is also a pro-abort (ironically having previously performed in Rock for Choice concerts).
Not to mention the fact “Lilith” in folklore is a barren demon “of disease, illness, and death,” according to Wikipedia.
The word “Lilith” is also mentioned once in the Bible in Isaiah 34:14 – if you’re reading the NRSV or a few other versions. That same Hebrew word is also translated “screech owl” (KJV) “night creature,” (NIV), and “night hag” (RSV)
Back to the charities, Lilith preselected both pccs and abortion mills as voting options.
According to the Chicago Reader:
When asked to comment about this apparent change in tack for the historically pro-choice Lilith Fair, the festival organizers had this to say….
“The seeding at the start was done with a basic digital search in each market of woman’s charities,” [Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride] said….
The “seeding” he refers to, aka the initial vetting step, consisted of looking online for woman-focused organizations with federal tax ID numbers. He claims no other criteria were employed….
PCCs/maternity homes I found:
A Beacon of Hope Women’s Center, Atlanta, GA
Life Centers, Indianapolis, IN
Maggie’s Place (maternity home), Phoenix, AZ
Metro Women’s Center, Minneapolis, IN
Mother’s Refuge (maternity home), Kansas City, MO
New Beginnings Home (maternity home/adoption ministry), Seattle, WA
Our Lady’s Inn (maternity home/children’s shelter), St. Louis, MO (UPDATED 4/1)
The Haven of Grace (maternity home), St. Louis, MO
Abortion mills/organizations I found:
Feminist Women’s Health Center, Atlanta, GA
(NARAL) Pro Choice North Carolina, Raleigh, NC
So on Monday the “Lilith Fair: No money for crisis pregnancy centers!” Facebook page popped up, and pro-aborts started attacking the Lilith Tour’s inclusion of PCCs as prospective charities to fund. So much for choice, but we knew that.
For awhile yesterday Lilith Tour’s charity page was taken down. I fully expected the site to go live with PCCs scrubbed.
But they weren’t. Last night Lilith Tour reposted the list with PCCs still included along with a vague statement saying organizers would open the selection process up to public suggestions.
Ultimately, the deck is stacked against the PCCs. According to Lilith Tour’s press release:
The Lilith founders – Sarah McLachlan, Terry McBride, Dan Fraser and Marty Diamond – will hand pick the local charity winners from the top 3 charities with the most votes in each city.
But there is hope these pro-“choice” people will opt to support maternity homes.
All that said, pro-lifers sure can vote. Go here, click on the city, and vote for the pro-life organization.
And pro-lifers can add their life-affirming comments at Lilith Tour’s Facebook page.
I found it interesting that no Planned Parenthoods were on the list.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Another mystery of iniquity. (2 Thessalonians 2:7)
I’ve actually always thought that Lilith Fair would be neat to see (okay, well, not always…for as long as I’ve known about it, though). :)
I’m glad that they’re including groups which work for choices for low income women. That’s awesome. :)
That’s because Planned Parenthood is not exactly a charity.
NARAL “Pro-Choice” North Carolina is not particularly charitable either, certainly showing no charity to the unborn.
I am very surprised that they let this slip through. I hope it continues.
A screech owl-how appropriate.
There’s also Good Counsel and Rachel’s Vineyard, too…
Don’t even bother with Lilith Fair or any of the musicians involved.
They run a doppelganger operation intended to suck money away from people who hold pro-life principles. This happens over an over again in the culture.
Unless they come forward with statements that show their true intentions (and to which they can be held publicly accountable) the wisest course would be avoidance.
I just signed up and voted for my city, Atlanta.
Among the list of 7 Atlanta chairities, there is one pregnancy care center (A Beacon of Hope), and one abortion mill (Feminist Women’s Health Center).
After I voted for the pro-life center, a voting tally popped up which showed that the abortion mill is overwhelmingly “winning” with 49% of the vote. A domestic violence shelter is a distant second place at 15%, and the pro-life center is tied for 5th place (out of 7) with only 6%.
Looks like there’s not a lot of pro-lifers voting.
“Screech owl.”
Don’t use owls as insults. Owls are extraordinary and wonderful creatures. :)
Oh, wait- I need to add: today is Cesar Chavez Day! Woot woot!
Happy Cesar Chavez Day everybody!
Kristi, I hadn’t voted yet and just did for A Beacon of Hope. It’s now at 7%.
A screech owl-how appropriate.
Posted by: Jill Guidry at March 31, 2010 12:31 PM
“Night hag” – even MORE appropriate! :-p
Though Lilith is not comming to my state (much less the nearest big city) I looked in on the Boston stop as that would be the nearest one. No PP’s nor CPC’s to vote for. After carefully looking over the list, i chose to support the local soup kitchen for the homeless. Having a CPC to support would have been nice, but i’m not gonna cry over it.
And Please…. Lesbian no more means “pro-abort” than white person = pro-life
And Please…. Lesbian no more means “pro-abort” than white person = pro-life
Posted by: Maria Krasinski at March 31, 2010 2:22 PM
Very true.
“Screech owl.”
Don’t use owls as insults. Owls are extraordinary and wonderful creatures. :)
Posted by: Vannah at March 31, 2010 12:54 PM
I couldn’t agree more. I love hearing screech owls when I go walking at the local nature trail :)
Maria,
I love PLAGAL. :D
“And Please…. Lesbian no more means “pro-abort” than white person = pro-life”
That’s what I was going to say. Every time I see someone making a sweeping statement like that, I worry that some on-the-fence member of the group they mention is going to take it as fact and figure they’re not welcome in the pro-life movement.
I wrote the following comment on Lilith Fair’s wall. Please go like it:
“Choice” isn’t synonymous with “abortion.” Many pregnancy centers and clinics are a vital resource for women who want to keep or adopt their children, but lack the resources to do so. I’m glad Lilith is offering them as a CHOICE among many fine charities. If you don’t like pregnancy centers, don’t vote for them!
Sarah McLachlan is a big animal rights activist. I don’t have a problem with this, but I am constantly amazed by people who have such compassion for dogs, cats, and whales, but not for their own unborn children. Sad.
Phylimiss, couldn’t agree more. I always see these liberals asking for money for animal rescue. However, do any of them ever ask us to help to save just one woman/kid from abortion? Furthermore, after legalized abortion on demand, All acts of violence have escalated!! Violence against children, women, animals, murder rates have gone up, incest. It will continue to do so. once we began accepting legalized killing of children, the only thing we ought to ask ourselves is, what next?? Then when they show the animals all battered and sad, the caption reads “Why did they hurt me, why did they abandon me’???? What about a baby directing that to mom or the abortionist???
I’ll donate money to the animal shelter as soon as the abortion industry stops aborting babies. This money could be donated to women’s crisis pregnancy centers. How many people have we aborted who could have been a great help to animal rescue??? Vets, vet techs, groomers, animal advocates? What a shame we can’t see what we’ve done. Especially by killing off our own population!!
oh, and don’t forget, more people would be around to give an animal a happy home. How many would be animal lovers have we aborted over the last 40 years???
Posted by: Phillymiss at March 31, 2010 3:56 PM
and
“Then when they show the animals all battered and sad, the caption reads “Why did they hurt me, why did they abandon me’???? What about a baby directing that to mom or the abortionist??? ”
Posted by: Heather at March 31, 2010 5:28 PM
My sentiments exactly.
Let’s stop killing both animals and unborn children. After all, we can do without the cancer and heart disease, the arthritis and osteoporosis that we get from eating an unhealthy and unnatural cooked meat and animal fat diet.
The abortion industry will not stop killing unborn children until we give them all life in prison for their crimes against human beings. Then and only then will they stop.
Agreed Joe. We need to recriminalize abortion. Women will still have abortions, but this would be at their own risk. Besides, without the option of abortion on demand, men and women might make a better plan before having intercourse.
No one has yet mentioned that in the Jewish Talmud, Lilith is Adam’s first wife, and causes a lot of erm… problems. Let’s just say she um, doesn’t like children? yeah.
And her own “children” are demons. Fun. -___-
See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith#Folk_tradition
I pray the PCC’s garner a lot of support!
Atlanta’s “Beacon of Hope” is now in second place at 16%.
The godless “charity” is at 44%.
I just voted for in Indianapolis, IN for Life Centers. They are currently in 3rd at 17%, with Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 2nd with 22% of votes, and Coburn Place, a domestic violence and crisis shelter in 1st with 30% of votes. While I would like to see Life Centers win, if they don’t win and one of the other three in the top running does, that’s ok, as they’re all worthwhile organizations.
I was so excited to see Saint Claire’s Home on their list for San Diego! They help battered women and children in the area, and are AWESOME! They helped my aunt, too, so I REALLY hope they win. When I went to the site, they were tied for lead. If you’re from the San Diego area, PLEASE vote for them!
Oh, Jill, another pro-choice charity is on the list: YWCA.
This is what’s wrong with the world. Someone does something wonderful and is proactive in returning money to a wide variety of charitable organizations in communities across the country and people like you lie in wait to throw out the anti-liberal, anti-gay rhetoric.
What do abortion supporters have against PRC’s the simple fact to them the only choice is abortion. If you are down on your luck ie having financial difficulties you shouldnt bring a child into the world, doesnt matter if its only temporary. A baby should only be born in a perfect situation, there is NO perfect situation, life is not a piece of cake. What should women do now I mean there is millions of people out of work & dont have money. should they kill their born children because they cant afford them NO, its stupid to use that excuse for killing the unborn!
Some ideas to help these and other Pregnancy Resouce Centers. Good Search is having a $5,000 GoodSearch Giveaway!!
GoodSearch is giving away $5,000 between April 6th at 9am EST and April 9th at 9am EST!
We will donate $1 for each toolbar that is downloaded during that time period to the user’s designated nonprofit or school up to $5,000! Simply spread the word and get your supporters to add your toolbar to their browser and for each download, we’ll donate a dollar to your cause! It’s that simple! Keep in mind, there’s a $5,000 limit, so make sure your supporters are some of the first 5,000 people to get to the site… http://bit.ly/9b7POM
I use Good Search to donate, when I search for information online to the nearest Hope Pregnancy Center to me.
Have a The Baby Bottle Fundraiser ‘Change for Life’ http://bit.ly/aERRlZ
*If you dont have Sienna as your cell phone provider when your time is up please change it to Sienna, 5% of your monthly plan price goes to your favorite Catholic or Pro-Life charity. (even Pregnancy Centers), check it out:
http://www.sienna-group.com/
Check to make sure your area is covered. http://www.sienna-group.com/coverage.html
I wrote the following comment at the Lilith Fair Facebook page:
To those who oppose CPCs or stand on the fence, please do your own research and don’t believe political organizations or political activists unless they actually have some hard evidence to back themselves up. There is political opposition to pregnancy resource centers by pro-choice groups, but opposing these centers, who’s primary services, include support programs for pregnant and parenting women, seems the anti-thesis of choice and removing these programs does a disservice the clients served and the community. Continued…
For example, the Earn While You Learn program enables low-income residents earn the ability to “purchase” supplemental pregnancy and parenting items by attending classes which teach parenting and life skills. Not only does this program provide clients with the material things they need to care for their children, but also teaches them valuable life skills which can help them break the cycle of poverty and gives them independence and a sense of self-worth. In the interest of providing a differing perspective and more balanced view on CPCs, I’ve written an article: Questions and Answers About Pregnancy Resource Centers
Also, I replied to a fan comment claiming, CPC’s are FAKE clinics. They DO NOT provide health care and often have no medical staff.
I wrote in reply: CPCs are generally social service organizations, although there are some which in do in fact offer limited medical services and professional counseling services: primarily pregnancy testing and limited ultrasound; STD prevention and testing, and limited pre-natal care. According to NIFLA, who heads up the changes of a pregnancy resource center to become a medical clinic, ‘To do so, the center must be a licensed medical clinic under the laws of the state in which it operates. Unless dictated otherwise by state statutory regulations, a “medical clinic” is defined as a facility which provides medical services under the supervision and direction of a licensed physician.'(6) “50 percent of the 1,800 centers that are affiliated with Heartbeat International are licensed through a physician or by the state where it operates and that medical professionals conduct ultrasounds, if a client signs paperwork to confirm she voluntarily agrees to the procedure.” says Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, a network of Christian pro-life pregnancy resource centers(12). The sonographers are trained medical professionals operating under the standing orders of a physician and the scans are read by qualified physicians. Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, also a Christian pro-life organization that supports a network of more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers across the country, said that Care Net has a national medical director and a medical advisory board made up of obstetricians and other health care professionals.(12)
Sources:
6)National Institute of Life and Family Advocates
http://www.nifla.org/faqs.asp
12) Cybercast News Service: Pro-Abortion Activists Renew Attacks on Pregnancy Resource Centers
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=43363
Wednesday, February 11, 2009. By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer
I got into a pretty hot discussion on CPCs with a rabid pro-choicer there, but instead of providing proof for her claims, she laughed at my sources when I refuted her claims and made wild assumptions and lies about who I am and who I represent, siderailing the discussion with ad hominem and character attacks, and she still failed to provide proof for her original claim. You can see the trainwreck, at Lilith Fair’s Facebook page, under Just Fans. Also, now at the “Lilith Fair: No money for crisis pregnancy centers!” Facebook group, she’s making up wild assumptions about me based on the fan pages on my Facebook profile, without any actual truth to her claims, all the while condescendingly calling me a “girl” :P Geez, some people.
To the LF organizers:
Fact: PCC’s are not-for-profit.
Q. What do they have to gain by lying to women?
A. Nothing, really.
Fact: Abortion clinics make profits (although some like to call themselves “not for profit” even when they aren’t).
Q. What do they have to gain by lying to women?
A. $$MONEY$$ and job security for the abortion industry.
Q. So, to women who need REAL help, who are you going to trust to be in YOUR corner for the long haul? The answer should be obvious.
First off I want to say it is so great that CPC are on the list and hopefully some will stay. Amazing how the politcially motivated are so against these centers that they have painted with a broad brush. Looking the list, most are maternity homes for women and girls who have found themselves pregnant and no place to live and know that they don’t want an abortion. I know many Planned Parenthood type places who do not give women all their choices and push towards abortion and yes I know of some CPC’s who are deceptive BUT the many I know are loving, caring places. Most women who go to these centers know exactly what they are and already know they don’t want want an abortion. Some go to these centers and still walk away and have an abortion. It’s time to educate. I know many in the pro-choice movement don’t want to listen to us, I know I was one of them many years ago. But with an educated and unjudgemental tone, we can get through to some. To Heather: Sorry to say but you need some education yourself. Go to Rachel’s Vineyards’ site and Silent No More Awareness, read the stories of women AND men and you will discover that they regret their abortions and are not worthy of a jail sentence nor your condemnation and/or judgement. Many live their lives in pain afterwards and can’t forgive themselves but find forgiveness from Jesus. Remember “He who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Noreen, I actually sidewalk talk at 3 abortion clinics with several women from Silent No More. So, I am aware of that group as well as the others you mentioned.
Heather-That is great that you do that and are aware of this group. It is just your comments seemed punitive and judgmental of women who have had abortions. From personal experience as a post-abortive woman and a active member in Rachel’s Vineyard, I feel trying to make abortion illegal is not the way to reduce the numbers. Trying to change hearts and minds is a better way to go. Listening to mine and other women’s stories is very powerful. I was on the other side for many decades and so I can understand the pro-“choice” political group’s reactions. Some will be angry and some of those are angry because they have not dealt with their own feelings about their abortion/s. I am on your side just disagree with how we make a change in reducing abortions.
Noreen, I really am not judging anyone. I used to be PC myself, and I used to be a Planned Parenthood patient for many years.
Heather-I don’t want to get into such a discussion, but you have to understand my reaction after your comment “Women will still have abortions, but this would be at their own risk.” I am curious what risk would that be? Jail time? It caused me great concern to read your comment. Putting the women in jail will not solve the problem.
Have you actually spoken with these groups you say are aware of? Have you heard the women’s stories?
Noreen, I cannot be any more direct than I’ve been. Perhaps this will help…Recriminalize abortion!
Heather-I guess we will just end this with both of strongly disagreeing on how we can reduce the number of abortions. You obviously are not open to other points of view. I feel we will never recriminalize abortions in this country. I hope you speak or continue to speak to the post-abortive women you stand next to outside the clinics. The end and God Bless.
“I feel trying to make abortion illegal is not the way to reduce the numbers.”
Then you are pro-choice, you are not pro-life if you not commited to making all murder illegal.
Jasper-It looks like you did not read all of my comments or misunderstood them. The quote you copied is my reflection on reality for me and many other people I know in the Pro-Life movement. I feel spending so much energy on trying to recriminalize is not the best use of our energy. After many years of working with post-abortive women AND men, I can tell you that their stories are so powerful and can help change hearts and minds, it did that for me. Also this is a virtual anonymous site to post, so it’s hard to have a clear discussion with people you don’t really know or know you. Plus this issue gets very emotional and politicized. I hope you too will seek out stories from women who have gone through much physical & emotional pain and have found forgiveness from God/Jesus. As I told Heather earlier He who is without since cast the first stone. I am NOT pro-choice but I guess you are entitled to your opinion based on a few comments on this site. Happy Easter.
“I feel spending so much energy on trying to recriminalize is not the best use of our energy.”
We can do both, help post-abortion women and re-criminalize abortion. I know post-abortive women who wish abortion was illegal when the had their abortion.
Nobody is judging or casting stones. Their needs to be laws to protect the unborn though.