GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney spoke to a crowd in Ohio this week, where he made a strong statement about religious freedom and the HHS contraception mandate.

From the Family Research Council comes Romney’s statement (video via National Review Online, with quoted comments beginning just after 7:00):

Religious liberty… [is the] first freedom of those enumerated in the Bill of Rights. And the president and his administration said they are going to usurp your religious freedom by demanding that you provide products to your employees, if you’re the Catholic Church, that violates your own conscience.

And so whether it’s a Catholic businessperson or the Catholic Church itself they’re being told what they have to do that violates their religious conscience. That attack on religious freedom I think is a dangerous and unfortunate precedent. And I know we’re not all Catholic in this room. Many presumably are. But I feel that we’re all Catholic today.

In our battle to preserve religious freedom and tolerance and freedom in this country, it is essential for us to push back against that.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwSk9vlUrDc[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT: Jill]

UPDATE 7/21, 3:50a: Providing context to Scalia’s statement below helps. Here is what he said just prior:

My view is regardless of whether you think prohibiting abortion is good or whether you think prohibiting abortion is bad, regardless of how you come out on that, my only point is the Constitution does not say anything about it. It leaves it up to democratic choice.

Some states prohibited it, some states didn’t. What Roe v. Wade – Wade said was that no state can prohibit it. That is simply not in the Constitution. It was one of those many things – most things in the world – left to democratic choice. And – and the court does – does not do democracy a favor when it takes an issue out of democratic choice.

7/21 2a: Just as the pro-choice people say the Constitution prohibits the banning of abortion, so, also, the pro-life people say the opposite. They say that the Constitution requires the banning of abortion, because you’re depriving someone of life without due process of law.

I reject that argument just as I reject the other one. The Constitution in fact, says nothing at all about the subject. It is left to democratic choice.

Now, regardless of what my views as a Catholic are, the Constitution says nothing about it.

~ Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia explaining his Catholic faith and his position on the constitutionality of abortion to CNN’s Piers Morgan, via MRC TV, July 18

Given my experience at Christ Hospital, I have a particular soft spot for people with Down syndrome.

I remember meeting Emmanuel Bishop at a pro-life conference 10 years ago when he was five years old. I have enjoyed receiving periodic emails about Emmanuel’s progress from his father, Victor, ever since.

Well, I received one yesterday that blew me away. It had to do with a keynote address Emmanuel, now 15, gave at the Trisomy 21: Down Syndrome in the 21st Century Conference in Houston, Texas, in February.

Here were the stated goals and objective’s of Emmanuel’s speech:

1. Highlight the abilities, talents, skills and gifts in Down syndrome.

2. Counteract the low expectations in Down syndrome.

3. Show that the joy of living does not preclude individuals with Down syndrome.

4. Mitigate the prevalence that everything told or written about Down syndrome comes primarily from someone without Down syndrome.

Toward that end, here is Emmanuel’s incredible bio. He is obviously more on the ball than me:

Emmanuel’s first presentation was at age 3 sight-reading flashcards in French at Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, IL (March, 1999). At 6, he read a welcoming statement in three languages at the 2003 St. Louis NDSS Annual Conference Plenary Session in front of 600 people. At 12 he played a violin recital at the 10th World Down Syndrome Congress (August, 2009) in Ireland in front of 900 people and gave his PowerPoint presentation at a breakout session. This year he played the violin with the Antalya State Symphony Orchestra in Turkey for World Down Syndrome Day.

He has spoken at Down syndrome conferences (Eastern Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Center, Lincoln Land Down Syndrome Society, Down Syndrome Association of Greater Richmond, Trisomy 21: Down Syndrome in the 21st Century) and retreats (Frankie’s Fund Mother’s Weekend Conference [September, 2007]).

Emmanuel is homeschooled, is being raised bilingual English/Spanish and tutored in French and Latin. He sight-read at age 2; has studied Suzuki violin since age 6; learned to ride a bicycle at 8; was a State Special Olympics medalist in golf and aquatics: 200 and 400 freestyle at 10; and set six Junior Down Syndrome Swimming World records and became an altar server at 13 and confirmed at 14.

Emmanuel’s self-advocate presentation is targeted to parents and professionals to raise awareness of the abilities in persons with Down syndrome. The PowerPoint presentation entitled “Before and After” shows the life of a 15-year-old boy with Down syndrome: his interests and accomplishments in sports, music, academics and foreign languages. Golf, biking, violin, swimming, etc. video clips will be shown. Q&A follows the presentation.

And here are excerpts from Emmanuel’s presentation:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itEiVSM1Anw[/youtube]

Emmanuel, I’m so proud of you. You’re such a wonderful example. And your parents are awesome, too!

STOP THIS…

(Click to enlarge; graphic via Nucleus Medical Art, which owns the copyright.)

Yesterday the U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved a late term abortion ban in the nation’s capital, where abortion is legal for any reason until the moment of birth. The vote was 18-14, split on party lines.

Now we have only two weeks to pass this legislation in the full House.

The District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (HR 3803), sponsored by Congressman Trent Franks, currently has 215 House cosponsors, including six Democrats – enjoying much more bipartisan support than Obamacare ever did.

HR 3803 would ban all abortions of preborn babies who are 20 weeks gestation and older (except to save the life of the mother), such as at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, which currently kills babies up to 26 weeks old via D&E dismemberment abortions.

National Right to Life Committee just completed a nationwide poll that found “by more than a 2-to-1 margin (58-27%), American adults would be more likely to vote for lawmakers who support the bill approved by the committee,” and “by a 3-to-1 margin (63-21%), a policy of not permitting abortion anywhere ‘after the point where substantial medical evidence says that the unborn child can feel pain,’ unless it is ‘necessary to save a mother’s life.'”

So there should be no fear on the part of House Republican leadership to forward the DC fetal pain ban. But they are running out of time and need an immediate and strong push. Of course, there is strong resistance. According to NRLC:

The bill is now eligible for action by the full House of Representatives.  But this must happen fast, or it will not happen at all!  And we are encountering fierce opposition.  Well-funded pro-abortion groups such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood are mobilizing their resources to defend D.C.’s abortion-until-birth policy.  They know that if they can delay the bill for even two weeks, it will die, because only two weeks remain before Congress goes into recess.  The bill must pass the House before August 3 to have a chance of consideration by the Senate in September.

The bottom line is this:  We have the votes on the House floor to pass this bill — but it will die without a vote, unless House Leaders disregard the protests of opponents and put the bill on a fast track immediately.

NRLC is requested urgent help from the pro-life community, which will only take a few minutes of your time. (I did all three in five minutes.)

1. Call the office of your representative in the U.S. House to urge immediate action on this bill.  Click on this link to go straight to an NRLC Call Alert.  Enter your zip code, and you will see the name of your representative, the proper number to call, and short “talking points” to make about the bill to the representative’s staff person.  You can take an additional minute to use a short form to send NRLC a brief email report about how your call went.

2. Send an email to your U.S. House representative urging action on the bill.  (Please do this in addition to making the phone call.)  Click here to see a suggested message, which you can modify as you see fit.  Congressional offices only count emails such as this that come from constituents, so be sure to provide your mailing address.

3. Forward this alert to like-minded friends and family members.  Tell them that in Washington, D.C., their nation’s capital, abortion is currently legal for any reason until the moment of birth – and babies are being brutally dismembered far past the point that they are capable of experiencing excruciating pain.   The House needs to pass H.R. 3803, which would ban abortion after 20 weeks, unless the mother’s life is in danger.  For more information on this issue, click here.

I would also suggest tweeting and Facebooking the NRLC alert.

by Hans Johnson

Former girl scouts and their families, through two websites, speaknowgirlscouts.com and girlscoutswhynot.com, have co-produced a three–part series of videos detailing many connections between the Girl Scouts, U.S.A. and “pro-abortion role models and groups, as well as explicit sexual content.”

This is the first of those three videos.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/qqxLIcmmTZQ[/youtube]

You can see parts two and three of the video series here and here.

E-mail your video suggestitions to dailyvid@jillstanek.com

[HT: The Blaze]

I like to stay in the rhythm of things.

My maternity leave will be a few weeks long and I’ll work throughout it.

~ Newly-hired Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (pictured right with husband Zach Bogue), commenting on the news that she is six-months pregnant with a baby boy, as quoted by MSNBC’s Market Day, July 17

by LauraLoo

I’d like to share something weighing heavy on my heart.

I cannot get used to hearing about gang violence resulting in daily injuries or murders in Chicago.  Just several days ago this particular murder occurred.  Three teens allegedly were playing a game called “pick ’em out and knock ’em out” when Malik Jones punched Delfino Mora, 62, in his jaw, sending Mora to the ground.  The back of his head was cracked by concrete and he died.  Delfino leaves behind a wife of more than 40 years and 12 children:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G8fLWN99wI[/youtube]

What is the solution to solving the violence in Chicago when we have perpetrators who have no respect for the sanctity of human life – not just others’ lives but their own lives?  Add to this problem the Chicago Police Department, which does not have enough ”beat on the street” due to budget constraints.  This year, as compared to 2011, the murder rate in Chicago is up 39%. 

Your thoughts?  Also, please pray for the end to this senseless violence.

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

For the Republican Party to nominate someone who is pro-choice would be as much of a problem for the Democrats to nominate someone who is pro-life.

~ Former Republican primary presidential candidate Rick Santorum describing the difficulty that presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would face should he select a pro-choice Vice Presidential running mate, via ABC News/Yahoo, July 17

HT: Hot Air