Today! Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rallies in 140 cities
UPDATE 1:30p: Victoria Jackson at rally in Ft. Lauderdale!
9:07a: Today pro-lifers in 140 cities from coast to coast will Stand Up for Religious Freedom to protest President Obama’s healthcare mandate, which will force religious entities to provide contraceptive, abortion drug, and sterilization coverage in their insurance plans. All rallies will be held at noon local time.
Quoting one of the organizers, Eric Scheidler of Pro-Life Action League:
This Rally has exploded into what may well be the single largest nationwide pro-life event in history. You’ll be telling your
grandchildren about it one day!
Click link above for locations. I’ll be attending the rally in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
If you can’t attend, you can participate by helping underwrite the significant cost of putting these rallies together, including the production of thousands of signs, to PLAL.
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.
While I support these rallies, I find it very distressing that they are even necessary. I thought the First Amendment had guaranteed this freedom for the past several hundred years.
Nothing will change until this Hugo Chavez wannabe president of ours is sent packing in November. Sorry folks, but that is our only and last hope where this issue is concerned.
I am concerned! Secular media managed to avoid the March For Life, with over 400,000 people attending from around the world, even during hard economic times. WHERE IN THE WORLD is the media going to hide to avoid reporting on over 140 (registered) cities holding huge rallies??!!
Im on my way to the one being held in Philadelphia, the BIRTHPLACE of our Constitution and the rights guaranteed to us under the first amendment. I will exercise my right to peaceably assemble, petition the government to redress my grievances, and demand that the government keep its promise in allowing all of us as Americans to exercise our religions freely. Give ’em hell, everyone. :)
Elizabeth Mills said “WHERE IN THE WORLD is the media going to hide to avoid reporting on over 140 (registered) cities holding huge rallies??!! ”
You are right Elizabeth, the “lame”media is probably going to ignore or misrepresent the rallies and emphisize the “war on women” gatherings instead, but it doesn’t really matter.
Jesus told us that we would get the hate of the world.
Look, Obama is LOVED by the media and that is enough to convince us that is better to do the right thing and being hated instead of doing wrong and being liked!
I had to leave the Philly rally early because I have to work at a CPC. I can attest to the fact that there was NO mainstream media presence. They want to believe that we don’t exist. They want everyone else to think we don’t exist, too. The whole lawn was covered, at independence hall, with people willing to fight for our freedoms. It was awesome. Even though I had to leave early, I got to see my current hero, Cathy Ruse, speak at the rally and shook her hand. I talked with her for a short time. She is one of the prettiest ladies! As a law student at a Catholic university, I thought her response to Sandra Fluke was great! There were about seven or eight people on the fringe ‘counter protesting’ but they were mostly men or old women who were holding clothes hangers and pitiful signs. Only two were women near child-bearing age. It was sad. One was a grizzled old woman who had to be at least 75 holding a sign saying ‘keep your religion out of my uterus!’ I almost burst out laughing… Like she’s worried about birth control or the Church at this point in her life. Silly, really.
“There were about seven or eight people on the fringe ‘counter protesting’ but they were mostly men or old women who were holding clothes hangers and pitiful signs. Only two were women near child-bearing age. It was sad. One was a grizzled old woman who had to be at least 75 holding a sign saying ‘keep your religion out of my uterus!’ I almost burst out laughing… Like she’s worried about birth control or the Church at this point in her life. Silly, really.”
So, uh, this is a valid criticism because? There’s an age limit to protesting?
If that’s valid, then I’d like to see the elimination of any pro-life protesters unable to bear children from outside my clinic. That would be about 90% of them, as the bulk are either men or women well past childbearing age. Silly, really.
“One was a grizzled old woman who had to be at least 75 holding a sign saying ‘keep your religion out of my uterus!’ I almost burst out laughing… Like she’s worried about birth control or the Church at this point in her life. Silly, really.”
Some of us fight for the rights of others. Our children and grandchildren. Our friends and neighbors.
Yeah, prolifers fight for the rights of others. Prochoicers fight to violate the rights of others.
Lyssie, I swung by the rally in Philly just to check it out. I did see a reporter from the big news radio station there.
The issue here is whether or not the government can force an institution to provide or pay for contraceptive coverage against its conscience. “Keep your religion out of my uterus”? Keep your uterus out of their collection plate.
Hal at 2:25 p.m. says:
“One was a grizzled old woman who had to be at least 75 holding a sign saying ‘keep your religion out of my uterus!’ I almost burst out laughing… Like she’s worried about birth control or the Church at this point in her life. Silly, really.”
Some of us fight for the rights of others. Our children and grandchildren. Our friends and neighbors.
*******
THIS COMMENT JUST BROKE MY IRONYMETER. Like you fought for the two children you and your wife had killed at the hands of an abortionist, Hal? JDC, you said it.
I’m here to please.
“Keep your uterus out of their collection plate – churches and other entities that exist solely for the purpose of fostering a religion are exempt. Hospitals and Universities do not come under that rubric and that’s why they get government funds (Medicaid, Medicare, and federal grants). If they don’t want to obey the law, they should refuse any and all government funds. They should also stop with the hypocrisy about how birth control is an intrinsic evil when a bunch of Catholic universities (DePaul for one) already cover birth control for their employees.
But Victoria Jackson as a spokesperson for right to life – Way to make yourself more fringier than you already are! Seriously, the conspiratorial Jackson (who was once funny) would appear to be in need of a mental health evaluation as she seems totally incoherent.
And Deathscort is right. The small crew that chant their rosary out in front of our Planned Parenthood are long past childbearing years.
“Prochoicers fight to violate the rights of others”
Hate to break it to ya, but abortion is legal.
CC: “If they don’t want to obey the law, they should refuse any and all government funds.”
Some suspect that the goal of this mandate is to force Catholic hospitals to close, effectively putting about 1/6 of all American hospital patients out in the street, so the Administration can swoop in and “save the day” by taking over those hospitals. If people fall through the cracks in the meantime, CC, can we point the finger at you?
By the way, what other people who receive government funds can we tell what to do? Medicare recipients? Welfare? Unemployment?
“Hate to break it to ya, but abortion is legal.”
Same old circular argument.
There’s a communist living in the White House?
I thought the accusations were that Obama is a socialist. He can’t be both a socialist and a communist, can he?
Victoria Jackson often comes across as callous and uncaring in her interviews, but here she is coming across as just plain dumb.
The old lady’s sign said ‘my uterus’… Had it said ‘women’s’ uteruses it would have been MUCH less ludicrous. That’s why it was silly. and when it’s a guy with a clothes hanger saying ‘we won’t go back’, who’s ‘we’? If it had been actual women, with signs that made sense, I wouldn’t have commented. Otherwise, seven or eight people holding signs that don’t make sense is ridiculous. There were a few that did make sense, and they don’t stick out in my mind. Besides, since there’s no actual attack on women going on anywhere, none of the signs made sense in the end, anyway. It was pitiful, when all was said and done.
Bmmg: where was the news van or reporter? I was only there for about 45 minutes to an hour, because I had to work, but I couldn’t see through the whole crowd. I saw cameras but they looked to be for local groups or the pro-life and pro-freedom groups themselves.
Closest to the intersection of 5th and Market, but in a ways.
In the meantime, I’m gonna go back to sorting maternity clothes at the CPC I work for… You know, CC, Hal, and Deathscort… One of those places that supports women through unplanned pregnancies instead of scraping out their children. There’s an absolute TRUCKLOAD of brand new clothes here, and I can’t wait to see the smiling faces of the women helped by them. Toodles. <3
“He can’t be both a socialist and a communist, can he?”
Economically, communism is considered a form of socialism. Both involve community ownership — usually via the government — of economic assets, vice private ownership.
Thanks, bmmg! Good to know that there are more of us around Philly. Which news station was it, if you don’t mind me asking?
The “lame media” and pro-abortion folks have been re-framing the HHS mandate as a “birth-control” issue.
That is only a distraction!
The real issue which should concern everybody, pro-life and pro-abortion alike is first and foremost the Government infringement on personal conscience. The faithful are not saying “artificial contraception is not good for you”, but “the Government cannot force people to go against their conscience”. That is tyranny and I am sure that even the pro-abortion people on this blog wouldn’t want tyranny.
If we fail to recognize the real issue here, we are 100% blind.
Please, open up your eyes and ears and dear pro-abortion friends, please stop trying to make this an issue of birth control.
By the way, the rally here in Houston was great, Praise God!
The first day my fiance and I went to protest outside our local clinic, there were a TON of kids 5-10 years younger than us already out there praying. It was really encouraging.
and yeah, no law anywhere has ever violated the rights of any “people”-because you just get the judiciary to declare a targeted group to be “not people” first.
Lyssie: KYW 1060.
Just drove past a small number of Fairbanks locals doing this. I’m proud to live in a small town who rally together like this, I just wish I would’ve known about the rally so I could dress for this 0° weather and stand out there with them.
That’s OK ak krystal. You’re not too late.
You can still call your representatives and senators and tell them to oppose the HHS mandate and pray and fast to ask God to deliver us.
Chicago had a great rally today! The pouring rain and some yahoo in the Federal Building turning off the power in the Plaza where everyone was gathered couldn’t dampen our spirits. So many young people were there! Such a joyful and passionate crowd!
The importance of the election in November cannot be overstated.
“The real issue which should concern everybody, pro-life and pro-abortion alike is first and foremost the Government infringement on personal conscience. The faithful are not saying “artificial contraception is not good for you”, but “the Government cannot force people to go against their conscience”.
Hmm, yeah, actually it can.
There’s a such thing called generally applicable laws. Laws dictating how businesses are run, for example, apply to everyone and mostly the skirt of “religion” does not shield you from having to obey these laws, reason being is that they were not enacted specifically to hinder religion, ergo they’re perfectly lawful. For example, if the Catholic church wanted to start dumping toxic waste and asking for a “conscience exemption” they can fully expect to be told NO. Religion and “conscience” are not a “do whatever you want whenever you want however you want” card. Never have been. “Rights” are not and never have been absolute. This is why the government can still draft people, to provide another example.
So when the government gets involved in protecting workers rights, the most basic being that employers have to PAY their employees for labor and are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of gender, the Catholic church and other religious entities do not get to be exempt from basic labor laws under the guise of “conscience” if the labor laws are universal to all business. So says the SCOTUS. The government right now is being far TOO tolerant of religion, as basically what the church is asking for is the right not to pay it’s workers because they object to the worker’s lifestyle. After all, how does the Church know what evils it’s employees are doing with their cash paychecks? (BTW I thought the church taught that the root of all evil was money. Apparently I missed the verse that said the root of all evil was the birth control pill.) I suppose withholding pay is the next “objection.” Or, maybe the church should just engage in blatant gender discrimination and stop hiring “sluts” altogether.
If you wanna roll like a business, you get to roll with the laws that govern business and that means you have to pay your workers, and they have the right to negotiate what currency they will accept, up to and including healthcare, and that you’re not allowed to treat your female employees differently than the male ones.
Thank you, drive thru.
law, there’s so much wrong in your post that I don’t have time to address, but since this is the second time I’ve caught you trying a “gotcha!” with this particular misquote of the Bible, let me clarify this:
In 1 Tim 6:10, Paul writes [emphasis mine] “the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil”
NOT money itself. Do you see the difference?
My parents attended one in an Indiana city (after the likes of Ted Schulman, i’m a little hesitant to say where) & said there was around 150 people there.
About 1,500 in San Diego. All ages, all races, lotsa families. Great speakers. It was inspiring!
The love of money is the root of all evil. Americans and their leaders fiddle while Rome burns. According to a recent article in the Orange County Register by Mark Steyn, “Gradual insolvency [is] about to speed up.” Including the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare, the United States owes 911 percent of gross domestic product, more than even Greece.
I’m not saying that the state-sanctioned violence (abortion’s legal) in the United States isn’t a big problem. I’m just saying that perhaps a more urgent matter for Americans to press their government on is the state of their national finances, the black hole of the “treasury.”
I’m just saying that perhaps a more urgent matter for Americans to press their government on is the state of their national finances, the black hole of the “treasury.”
That’s what proaborts have been saying for almost 40 years. If there are more urgent matters, what are you doing on a prolife blog? Feeling threatened?
“NOT money itself. Do you see the difference?”
We ARE talking about the church, no? If you try to argue that the American religious establishment doesn’t in fact love money I’d laugh straight in your face.
As far as generally applicable laws go, I keep waiting for churches to object to workplace sexual harassment laws (since women are generally considered chattel) or to be religiously exempt from laws against child molestation (sex with little boys does make effective birth control I guess), after all, they’re RELIGIOUS and it’s part of their “conscience” ergo they should be able to do whatever they want since conscience and religion overrides rational law, right?
Right?
I Timothy 6: 10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” Source
Come on, guys.
Hal says:
Some of us fight for the rights of others. Our children and grandchildren. Our friends and neighbors.
Indeed, SOME of us do. If only you would join us in seeking to stop the brutal killing of innocent unborn children!
Hey law! Did you get to any Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rallies today?
You would have had a great time.
If you couldn’t make it, no worries. There will be more prolife events in your area soon.
law, I am sorry, but I believe your blogs are 99% off topic and I sense a lot confusion regarding the concept of “conscience”.
However, here’s the simple basic idea. God endowed us with the gift of conscience, which guides us according to universal, moral principles. It’s what you called “rational law”.
Acting against conscience will always have grave consequences that you can choose to ignore, but nevertheless exist.
In the case of the HHS mandate, the State has decided it is superior to the moral law and therefore it demands subordination of all citizens to itself against the dictates of the moral law.
This is de facto a tyrannical State.
law, think.
After this mandate there will be another mandate, and another mandate, and another…
“Mala tempora currunt”
Law, if the church doesn’t want to provide contraceptives to anyone, then it is treating men and women the same.
Now buy me a sandwich, or you’ll be guilty of forcing your views on me and denying me my Constitutional right to eat a sandwich.
Praxedes asked me, “If there are more urgent matters, what are you doing on a prolife blog?”
Well, I did use the word perhaps. I’m not sure that I’m right. And it is possible to be concerned with more than one thing, even while concentrating one’s energies on one thing. I’ve said before that I’m a Christian before I’m a pro-lifer. Abortion is immoral and evil, but so is a ridiculously huge national deficit and debt. We have the responsibility to care for our children both before and after birth. While we’re not personally responsible for bankrupting the United States and failing on its commitments to the creditors, neither are we personally responsible for killing young Americans. They’re both wrong.
Liberal progressives, the ones who claim to be “investing in the future” with Obamacare, education, and environmentally friendly alternatives–and impossible amounts of legislation with all that–claim that conservatives only care about children before they’re born. Of course, they’re the ones who are bankrupting us. And I’ll bet that the conservatives are the ones with the multi-children, two-parent families–which are the best kind for the future of the nation.
Praxedes wrote, “Proaborts have been saying for almost 40 years [that perhaps a more urgent matter for Americans to press their government on is the state of their national finances].”
Forty years ago the state of the national finances was relatively excellent. We’re much nearer the edge of the cliff now. That’s the reason that I used the word urgent in my comment. Mark Steyn speaks of “stopping the spendaholism, closing federal agencies, privatizing departments, block-granting to the states – not in 2040 (a reference to Paul Ryan’s plan), but now.”
Praxedes asked me, “If there are more urgent matters, what are you doing on a prolife blog? Feeling threatened?”
Actually, I am feeling threatened, though I do believe I have a Father in heaven. The United States is deteriorating so fast, but it is the last remaining bit of Western civilization. It seems there will be nothing left. The Church will continue, however, and that’s what I must remember and believe.
I’m writing a lot now, but I don’t intend to get involved in a discussion. I probably shouldn’t have written my comment on March 23 at 8:43 pm–as Praxedes intimated.
Sorry, but I just have to add this. By protesting Obamacare (and its impossibly huge economy-wasting regulatory burden) for a different reason (freedom of conscience), pro-lifers are in fact doing something to press American leaders on getting serious about trillions and billions (and dollars and cents). Cultural conservatives very often–though not always, as I find out on this blog–are financial conservatives too.
Alice quoted 1 Timothy 6:10 as saying (emphasis mine), “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”
Thanks, Alice! I hadn’t realized that many Bible versions don’t even say the as I did. The King James version uses the, but obviously there’s some question as to whether a or the is correct.
There were only about 40 people here in Jackson MS. The local TV station gave us 45 seconds of fair enough coverage. I just wish it had been better advertised. I didn’t know about it until this past Wednesday and had to juggle my schedule to attend. I think I will have to help organize the next one, because I’m sure there will be another one :)
law says: So when the government gets involved in protecting workers rights, the most basic being that employers have to PAY their employees for labor and are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of gender, the Catholic church and other religious entities do not get to be exempt from basic labor laws under the guise of “conscience” if the labor laws are universal to all business.
What on earth are you babbling on about? No one is saying employees shouldn’t be paid for their labor. So now the Affordable Care Act is a basic labor law? Pfft.
Death’s cortigiana says: March 23, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Grizzled old women may not be able to bear children, but they are not beyond baring their tired old slogans.
Try this one on for size [xxxlg]
Your body, your responsibility.
Your choice, you pay.
Keep your uteri out of my wallet.
Hal says: March 23, 2012 at 2:25 pm
‘Some of us fight for the rights of others [to murder] Our children and grandchildren. Our friends and neighbors.’
As far as generally applicable laws go, I keep waiting for churches to object to workplace sexual harassment laws (since women are generally considered chattel) or to be religiously exempt from laws against child molestation (sex with little boys does make effective birth control I guess), after all, they’re RELIGIOUS and it’s part of their “conscience” ergo they should be able to do whatever they want since conscience and religion overrides rational law, right?
All this shows is how ignorant and disrespectful you are when it comes to religion and other people’s rights to practice theirs. Please shut up. You’re making non-religious people like myself look bad.
You know why you have been told not to discuss politics and religion?
If you do, you will soon realize there is very little difference between the two.
I’ve always liked that old saying, “Don’t discuss religion and politics”. Because they are the two greatest questions, and naturally lead to heated arguments.
Is there a God?
If so, then how are we to behave?
Is there a God?
–Nobody really knows. No proof of gods, nor is there any proof of no gods.
If so, then how are we to behave?
–The “if” is really what the individual thinks, whether or not the belief in a particular god, gods, or no gods is there. First and foremost, religious freedom is on an individual basis, so there definitely should be some controls on employers, for example, letting the individual employee be free in their choices, rather than the employer’s preference being forced on them.
If you can, please, go to http://www.stophhs.com and sign the petition to stop the HHS mandate.