I’ve gone from never participating in a pro-life bus tour to traveling with two tours for a total of three weeks over a span of six weeks, oy!

I’ve also gone from not understanding the concept of bus tours to thinking it’s pretty ingenious. Bus tours not only attract local support and thanks, they also attract “earned” or free media and thereby increase public wareness, making the tours well worth the financial and time investment.

The first tour I traveled with was the Susan B. Anthony List “Women Speak Out: Abortion Is NOT Health Care” a few weeks back.

Today I begin the weeklong Students for Life of America “I Vote Pro-Life Campus Tour.”

Students for Life will be encouraging college students to sign its I Vote Pro-Life First pledge. It will also register students to vote.

My part in the tour is to highlight the importance of electing pro-life public officials to state and national governments by telling my story, which loops in former state Senator Barack Obama, who kept the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act from being enacted into law during his tenure.

Also on the tour will be Erik Whittington of Rock for Life, and his band.

(I asked SFLA’s ED Kristan Hawkins if her bus was going to look anything like the Partridge Family’s, and she said she didn’t know what I was talking about. Am I that old? Whatever, I feel like I’ll be playing the role of Shirley Jones!)

The SFLA Campus tour will cover nine college campuses in four states:

Monday, September 17:
University of Michigan, MI
Michigan State University, MI

Tuesday, September 18:
Purdue University, IN

Wednesday, September 19:
Ball State University, IN
University of Cincinnati, OH

Thursday, September 20:
Ohio State University, OH
University of Akron, OH

Friday, September 21:
Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH
Clarion University, PA

SFLA’s goal is to recruit 1,200+ Get Out The Vote pro-life youth and educate 300,000+ voter households before Election Day. I’m happy and honored to help.

I guess I come down on the side of “Cheap pregnancy tests for everyone! Everywhere and not just in bars! Put them in malls and at rest stops and in fast food joints and in restaurants and in workplaces! And put condom dispensers right next to ‘em! And put info about pregnancy health care and options right next to ‘em too! But stop saying it’s just to protect potential babies and to stop women from making bad choices!”

Also: All exclamation points, everywhere.

~ Jill at Feministe, reacting to the New York Times report about the installation of pregnancy test dispensers in bars, September 14

[T]hey do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.

~ Hosea 7:2, New International Version

[Photos via Saint James’ Kids]

My top favorite favorite cartoons for the week…

by Steve Breen at Townhall.com…

 by Glenn McCoy at Townhall.com…

 by Lisa Benson at Townhall.com…

 by Michael Ramirez at Townhall.com…

 by Eric Allie at Townhall.com…

On September 6 Yahoo News reported on, “‘Sluts vote’: the unlikeliest DNC flair”:

A member of the Illinois delegation has sold out of a batch of pins she made that say “Sluts vote.”

The pins, which cost 2 for $5, reference radio host Rush Limbaugh’s attack on women’s activist Sandra Fluke (he called her a “slut” for advocating that insurance plans fully cover contraceptives). We spotted several delegates on Thursday sporting the pins….

“I think ‘slut’ is offensive, that’s why we’re trying to own it and make it ours,” said Debra Shore, an Illinois delegate from Chicago.

Makes total sense. Ok, done. Democrat feminists can own the term “sluts.”

In its piece, “Sluts and condoms for Obama,” The Examiner noted that Planned Parenthood reps were giving away slutty Democrat must-haves at the DNC:

As the crowds stroll by, they yell out “Get your ‘Protect yourself from Romney and Ryan condom,'” as they hand out pink condom packages with a single condom appropriately dyed blue….

Abortion is also a big topic with convention goers, especially those who supported Sandra Fluke….

Aspen, Colorado delegate Blanca O’Leary, for example, sported a “Sluts Vote,” button….

The website “A Is For” is another liberal feminist endeavor seeking to own a traditional slur as a badge of honor, explaining:

The scarlet letter “A” is an instantly recognizable symbol of excoriation and shame.

A is For is a campaign challenging the traditional meaning of the scarlet letter by encouraging women, and the men who support them, to wear the A proudly. We are taking back the A by re-appropriating its meaning to one of dignity, defiance, and autonomy.

We take our inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional heroine of 17th century Puritan Boston, Hester Prynne, a woman branded by her fellows for daring to live a life according to her own conscience. We are refusing to be shamed into silence.

Hawthorne, of course, penned The Scarlet Letter, Prynne was forced to publicly wear the letter “A” for committing adultery.

As The Blaze notes, “A” in this context would obviously appear to stand for “a proud symbol for ‘abortion.'” But the site says not to assume the obvious:

We are taking back our A’s. The A is for Autonomy. It’s for Allegiance. It’s for Action.

Another suggestion via The Blaze:

Glee actress Jane Lynch also made a video in support of the campaign, saying:

“A” is for adamant…  utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals, or urgings, or a**holes.  There’s another “A” word for ya!  A**holes.

The website asks:

What does your “A” mean to you?

Well?

“We’re all in this together” – it has a nice ring. For everyone who loves this country, it is not only true but obvious. Yet how hollow it sounds coming from a politician who has never once lifted a hand to defend the most helpless and innocent of all human beings, the child waiting to be born.

Giving up any further pretense of moderation on this issue, and in complete disregard of millions of pro-life Democrats, President Obama has chosen to pander to the most extreme elements of his party.

In the Clinton years, the stated goal was to make abortion “safe, legal and rare.” But that was a different time, and a different president. Now, apparently, the Obama-Biden ticket stands for an absolute, unqualified right to abortion – at any time, under any circumstances, and even at taxpayer expense.

~ Republican pro-life Congressman and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, speaking at Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit, September 14. See video and read full transcript here.

by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN and Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

• Sharp eyes at Moral Outcry found, while doing research on the release of former Susan G. Komen employee Karen Handel’s new book, Planned Bullyhood, that the pink Komen bibles marketed (and then removed) by LifeWay last year were mistakenly on sale again. LifeWay has been notified and has corrected this error.

  Susan Tyrrell also details how the explosive news about Komen’s attempt to cease funding for Planned Parenthood was discovered last year.

• Pro-Life Action League discusses some tragic findings in the autopsy of Tonya Reaves (pictured far left), who died this summer due to a botched abortion and the negligence of a Chicago Planned Parenthood (which advertises that they only do birth control and chemical abortions). Reaves received an incomplete second trimester abortion and was transported to the hospital 5 1/2 hours later, suffering from uncontrollable bleeding.
• Right to Life of Michigan shares an article describing how hardened the Democratic Party is on the issue of abortion – so much so, that even measures to protect women seeking abortions are considered too extreme for their support.
• ProLifeBlogs links to an article on an intimidation attempt by UK abortion giant, Marie Stopes International, to silence pro-lifers who give women information on abortion and mental health.
• Mommy Life links to new mom Cassy Fiano’s list of reasons why a child’s diagnosis of Down syndrome “won’t ruin your life.”
• Women of Faith in Culture takes exception to the religious left’s sentiments that the Democrats’ off-again, on-again mention of God in their party platform was really no big deal and we should get over it:
  

  Platforms say a lot, especially when they say nothing at all. And being casual about the removal of God’s name says a lot about the culture we live in and the work the Church has before her.

[Reaves photo via inquisitr.com]

by Hans Johnson
During the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, The Blaze interviewed delegates. One response from Julia Rodriguez, however, took them aback.

George Ogilvie, a spokesman for the Secret Service, told The Blaze of the video: “We are aware of it and we will conduct the appropriate follow-up.”
Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT:Jill]