Understanding the Marriage Debate
If you’ve ever stood for anything in your life, then at some point, you’ve probably debated a hot-button social issue. In America, abortion and gay marriage are the perennial controversial topics on which people refuse to agree to disagree—which is good, because they’re important. Debating and discussing these issues, however, is intellectually tiring and emotionally draining.
A successful conversation requires that both sides communicate effectively not only by means of solid evidence and logic, but also with mutual respect and understanding. Unfortunately, widespread ignorance and emphasis on rhetoric have made a challenging task considerably more daunting, especially in the case of the current marriage debate.
Fellow youth and talented blogger Marc Barnes provides remarkable insight on these challenges in a recent post titled “4 Ways the Gay Marriage Debate Has Been Rigged.” It’s a must-read for anyone who has felt overwhelmed trying to defend marriage between one man and one woman, since understanding the characteristics of the marriage debate can help one see things from a fresh perspective. Barnes regularly writes about social issues, and I highly recommend his blog to our American and international readers alike.
Live Action Exposes Planned Parenthood’s Cooperation with Sex-Selective Abortion
Live Action has done it again.
Today, the youth-led pro-life group best known for going undercover to Planned Parenthood clinics and exposing Planned Parenthood’s troubling and often illegal actions released a new exposé video. In the video, an actress goes to a clinic in Austin, Texas and discusses sex-selective abortion with a counselor. The actress explicitly tells the clinic worker that she will terminate the pregnancy if she finds out that the child is a girl. The counselor is unfazed and explains to the “patient” that she can find out the sex of the baby at four or five months, then obtain a late-term abortion. She also advises the patient not to inform the doctor of her intent to terminate if the child is a girl. The counselor continues that the patient can get Medicaid to pay for the ultrasound that will detect the sex of the child, at which point the patient would decide how to proceed. At the end of the session, after the patient expresses her gratitude, the counselor remarks rather flippantly, “Well, good luck, and I do hope that you get your boy.”
Planned Parenthood already issued a statement on the matter last month, when it suspected that Live Action had just organized another investigation. While leadership claimed that Planned Parenthood “finds the concept of sex selection deeply unsettling,” the organization has vehemently opposed legislation that would prohibit sex-selective abortions. As hard as Planned Parenthood will try to dismiss Live Action’s exposé as a hoax, the evidence is damning.
To anyone still under the delusion that Planned Parenthood promotes a culture that empowers women, this video should raise serious questions about the organization’s priorities.
Record-Low Pro-Choice Identification in the United States
A new Gallup Poll shows that more Americans identify with the pro-life position than they do with the pro-choice stance. I cannot help but remember my experience at the United Nation’s High Level Meeting on Youth last summer. There was a significant pro-life prescence at the conference which left many of us with renewed hope and vigor. Despite all of the effort that is put into making today’s youth seem like a pro-choice generation, a majority of us are pro-life.
More light was shed on the subject by Nancy Keenan, the head of National Abortion Rights Action League. In an excellent post, LifeSiteNews reports that Keenan recently expressed her concern at the overwhelming strength of the pro-life movement among the youth. Even though they are better funded than their pro-life counterparts, pro-choice student groups struggle to keep active memberships on campus. We must keep up the good work!
The Power of Pictures
I am sharing with you all a following article, put forth by www.lifenews.com. I applaud American Airlines for the stance they have taken.
Pro-abortion advocates are up in arms over a story claiming an abortion advocate was rejected from an American Airlines flight because she wore a graphic t-shirt with profanity and a pro-abortion message.
Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief of the often-discredited pro-abortion blog RH Reality Check, talks about attending a meeting in which she heard the story of a young woman supposedly at the center of the controversy.
I received an email from one of those colleagues, detailing the ordeal through which she was put by American Airlines on her flights home. They actually forced her to miss her connecting flight and demanded she change her top. The reason? Her politically salient pro-choice t-shirt was offensive to the flight crew.
The unnamed woman wore a t-shirt version of a controversial sign held by Oklahoma state senator Judy McIntyre (D) at a pro-abortion rally in March to oppose pro-life legislation at the state capital that would protect women and unborn children. The sign, “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d F— a senator” was employed to protest legislation that would acknowledge the scientific fact that human life begins at conception.
The pro-abortion blog cites the pro-abortion activist, called O. for short, recounting the story with American and her t-shirt.
[O]n the plane of the first leg of my flight home, I spent the majority of [time] sleeping, using my shawl as a blanket. Right before we were set to land the flight attendant from first class approaches me and asks if I had a connecting flight? We were running a bit behind schedule, so I figured I was being asked this to be sure I would make my connecting flight. She then proceeded to tell me that I needed to speak with the captain before disembarking the plane and that the shirt I was wearing was offensive.
The shirt was gray with the wording, “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d f— a senator.” I must also mention that when I boarded the plane, I was one of the first groups to board (did not pass by many folks). I was wearing my shawl just loosely around my neck and upon sitting down in my seat the lady next to me, who was already seated, praised me for wearing the shirt.
When I was leaving the plane the captain stepped off with me and told me I should not have been allowed to board the plane in DC and needed to change before boarding my next flight. This conversation led to me missing my connecting flight. I assumed that because I was held up by the captain, they would have called ahead to let the connecting flight know I was in route. Well, upon my hastened arrival at the gate of the connecting flight, it was discovered that they did indeed call ahead but not to hold the flight, only to tell them I needed to change my shirt. I was given a seat on the next flight and told to change shirts.
Due to the fact that my luggage was checked, changing shirts without spending money wasn’t an option. I consulted a friend with a law background who told me covering with my shawl would suffice. Upon boarding the now rescheduled flight with shawl covering my shirt, my ticket dinged invalid. I was pulled to the side while the gentleman entered some codes into the computer and then told, “it was all good.” I did finally arrive home to pick up my daughter an hour and a half later than scheduled.
LifeNews contacted American Airlines about the claims and has not heard back by press time. However, American has sent a similar tweet in response to complaints from abortion advocates on Twitter.
“Many consider the “F-word” offensive. Our crew members are aware of the comfort of others on the aircraft,” it said.
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