by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• NARAL will be hosting an event where comedians make fun of pro-life pregnancy resource centers:
  

  There’s no shortage of these laughably absurd anecdotes, and NARAL is now hoping to shed light on the manipulative tactics and misinformation of crisis pregnancy centers through an unconventional advocacy event this week in Oakland: a comedy show….

  On April 16 at the New Parkway (474 24th St., Oakland), four comedians will speak out about crisis pregnancy centers as part of a comedy event NARAL is organizing called Stand Up for Choice. The show will feature Kurt Braunohler, a Los Angeles-based comedian and the event’s headliner; Nato Green, a San Francisco-based comic and San Francisco Examiner columnist; Aparna Nancherla, a New York-based comic and former writer for W. Kamau Bell’s show Totally Biased; and Eliza Skinner, an LA-based comic and Funny or Die writer. Their stand-up routines will touch on CPCs and other topics….

  A majority of the centers — some licensed as community clinics by the state, others unlicensed — referred to fetuses as “babies” and told the women they were “already a mother,” NARAL reported.

  Perhaps NARAL’s next move will be to make fun of baby showers and anyone who uses the term “baby bump.”

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

• Wesley J. Smith says the bioethics community is finally beginning to criticize artificial reproduction techniques like IVF – but not for the reasons you might think:
  

  But now, in the ever more radical Journal of Medical Ethics, Cristina Richie, of Boston College’s Department of Theology, argues that these technologies should be regulated to limit the number of children – called “carbon legacies,” as a means of fighting climate change.

  Smith opines:
  

  I don’t know if Richie coined the term, but it is ridiculous. Children are children, not bundles of carbon producers…. No, grim is the exploitation of surrogates in biological colonialism and the eugenic impetus that has sunk its fangs deep into the heart of the industry. In the face of such human objectification, sorry, I can’t get upset about global warming.

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

• Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life says Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton appears to value dogs and cats more than the women of his state who procure abortions:
  

  A measure to license and inspect commercial dog and cat breeders — passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton earlier this year — went into effect on July 1. The new regulations throw into sharp relief Dayton’s refusal to accept any state licensing or inspection of abortion facilities, which perform thousands of surgical procedures on Minnesota women each year.

by Carder The show follows Jessica Beth Giffords, a 15-year-old girl who is equal parts Justin Bieber superfan and aspiring pro-life celebrity, as she attends the Students for Life of America Conference. Throughout the hour-long solo performance, Jessica interacts with six other characters based on real-life pro-life activists, from crisis pregnancy center directors to ministers to self-described […]

For 28 years Chris Slattery (pictured right), founder of Expectant Mother Care Frontline Pregnancy Centers, has focused on helping pregnant mothers in crisis in the New York City area, where 40% of all babies are killed by abortion, and worse, 60% of all black babies.

EMC now operates in 12 locations in four NYC boroughs.

But this summer Slattery plans to exponentially expand EMC’s urban outreach to 10 other major U.S. cities with high abortion rates and underrepresented crisis pregnancy outreach – Austin, Baltimore, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C.

UPDATE 10p: I couldn’t put this any better than did Vanessa on Facebook:

Hey BIEBER Fans!!!! Great recommendation from a woman who knows what it is to be a young pregnant single parent. It goes to show that you cant do away with a life that will change your world and can potentially change many worlds. Thank you Pattie Mallette.

Indeed! Thank you, Pattie. Here’s Pattie’s special message to pregnancy care center directors, a fundraising promo for a screening of Crescendo…

Have you heard of the new short film, Crescendo?

Winner of 16 International film awards, including the Best Short Film at the Hollywood Film Festival, Crescendo was produced by Eduardo Verástegui, Jason Jones, Leo Severino, and Alejandro Monteverde – the team that brought us Bella.

Set in the 18th-century Holy Roman Empire, Crescendo tells the true, life-affirming story of a famous historical figure.

I got to screen this 12-minute film last week and it was great – four stars. Here’s the trailer…

For the fifth year in a row, the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization of Catholic men, delivered laundry baskets filled to the brim with pie, green beans, dinner rolls, frozen turkeys and pans, to the 75 families in the Colorado Springs Pregnancy Center’s LifeSteps Program. The program provides education, support, and practical assistance for […]