I Have A Say Thanks to My Mom and Dad!!!

Being the oldest of 11, I am so thankful, especially now, for my Mom and Dad saying "yes" to life! Growing up, we never had a ton of money. My Dad was a high school chemistry teacher and my parents decided from the beginning that they wanted to have one of them home with us. My mom gave up her teaching career, and raised me, followed by 10 others! My Mom also taught all 11 of us at home for part of our childhood before we would head off to Nativity Catholic Grade School. My Dad worked long hours, eventually earning other degrees so that he could first become dean, then principal, and finally, when I was a sophomore, he was named Roncalli High School's first president. My Dad and Mom both sacrificed SO MUCH for us.

I remember, even as a young person, getting stared at by people, and I remember the comments they would make. I can still hear a dental receptionist asking my Mom "Are these all yours? You know how children are made right?" followed by a real insidious but ditzy chuckle, followed by a secretarial gum crackle. My Mom and Dad were always tight budget wise, and I'm sure at times ached with a desire to not have to take bags of clothes from other families so that we could have clothes. I'm sure my Mom and Dad had desires to simply go to Nordstrom and buy us and give us all our own new clothes and Gameboys and Reebok Pumps etc. I'm sure they at times really wished they could just get a new car and not have to drive a fifteen passenger van around. I'm sure at times they wanted really badly to just go to a restaurant and sit back and enjoy a big expensive meal instead of having to cut coupons and craft together economic meals on the stove.

But they chose life for us, and they chose sacrifice for themselves.

I often think about that ditzy secretary now when our family gets together almost every weekend for dinner to laugh and hang out. Some of the siblings might be out of town or busy with other obligations, but inevitably, all weekend long, every weekend, our family gets together. Sometimes, when we're out at a restaraunt, I see the couples who are alone with each other. They hardly talk to each other and the loneliness is palpable. A part of me feels bad that we're having so much fun with our 8 tables shoved together, telling stories, laughing good hearty and healthy laughs. Sometimes I wonder if one of the couples sitting in the restaurant quietly and solemnly is that dental secretary - who now has piles of money and can eat wherever she wants, but doesn't have hardly anyone to share it with. My heart breaks for the people who are alone, especially the ones who are alone because, when they could have been having children, they instead bought into the contraception lie and lived for themselves only.

I have a say today, and so do my ten younger brothers and sisters, because my parents chose life. Mom and Dad - thanks a million!!!

Friday, June 29, 2012

A Crisis Counselor, Has a Say

I have a say because my true Father granted me one.  He has been my protector from the moment I was conceived.  He gifted me to this world 28 years ago.  I was born 4 months after a doctor refused to preform an abortion on my 15 year old mother with out parental consent.  My life is important, necessary, and not a choice.  While some would look at this situation as the potential end of a poor young girl's ability to live a full and happy life, forever burdened by a mistake, these people are short sighted and don't know the rest of the story.

I was also born 5 months after my maternal Grandparent's application to adopt a fifth child was denied.  While my mother, in her sin made a poor choice, God used the circumstances to complete a family.  Shortly after I was born, my Grandparents officially became Mom and Dad.  I was raised to follow Christ, taught the sanctity of life and the dignity of every person, and always cherished for the gift I was. 

I have never used contraception of any kind, I've only ever had sex with my husband, and only after we were married.  By abortion and contraception supporters I have been called the the following; un-evolved, lacking in life experience, "one of those girls", a fundamentalist, and brainwashed, just to name a few.  The assumption is I must be uneducated and easily swayed, a helpless woman, unenlightened, and unable to think for herself.

Nothing could be further from the truth, but my academic resume is immaterial. I am trained in Crisis Intervention and have seen  more women than I would have liked following their abortions.  It doesn't mater if it is the night of the abortion and they are being brought in after a suicide attempt, or 20 years later and they are seeking help with marriage problems, the pain is still as debilitating.

The very acts which Pro-Choice supporters claim as women's liberties and freedoms, are, in fact, prisons that these women rarely free themselves from.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Ton Alongi Has a Say

Cecile Richards, I have a say:

When I was conceived many years ago, my parents had a lot of things going against having me. They were still in college, and even with the support of their parents, they were saddled with debt, and their jobs at the time consisted of flipping burgers at fast food restaurants. By all rights, having me made no financial sense at all. But they did. They choose life for me, and therefore, I have a say.

When I was only a few years old, my parents discovered that I had a mental disorder known as Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism that manifests itself in the form of social awkwardness, intense interests and learning disabilities. And it is becoming clearer to me each day that people with mental disorders are being looked down upon, especially by Planned Parenthood, who by their own admission, consider mental disorders a factor in determining whether to get an abortion. But my parents chose life for me, and therefore, I have a say.

In college I discovered, using data from Planned Parenthood-supported Guttmacher Institute, that 13% of all abortions per year are conducted because of a perceived physical or mental defect (compared to a sum of 1.5% aborted because of rape or incest, two things you most often use to justify your position). And then I think about that wrongful life suit, about the family who claim that they would have aborted their child if they knew she had Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome, which constitutes a death sentence for an average of 93% of babies in the womb, all because they had a mental disorder. All because they weren’t the “perfect”, healthy baby.

Cecile, I am a man with a mental disorder, and I have a say. You may or may not think I am a second-class citizen. You may or may not think my parents should have aborted me because they didn’t have enough finances to support me. You may or may not think that I should have been aborted because I have a mental disorder. But Aspergers Syndrome does not prevent me from being a man, endowed with certain, inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, I have a say.

And I say I am fed up. Now many like you may say that because I am a man, abortion does not concern me, but it does. I am fed up watching many wonderful babies like myself never have a chance at life because they were not perfect in your eyes. I am fed up watching you voice your concerns over the cost of raising a mentally-disabled child. I am fed up with your advocating a preference for perfect babies.

There’s another word for that philosophy: eugenics. That’s what your own founder Margaret Sanger advocated for. That’s what tyrants throughout history have advocated for. Have you not considered the human cost? When we devalue a group of people because of their race, or gender, or even their physical and mental abilities, where does it end?

And I say I completely and utterly reject the lies you help spread and the doctrines you help push for. My parents thought I was good enough to be born, and God thought I was good enough to be conceived. Who are you to say otherwise? Who are you, to think you are an authority to speak over who should live and who should die?

You do not speak for me. You do not speak for families. And most of all, you do not speak for life. But I come from two families that do. My family, and the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. And because of their love and devotion to the truth, I have say.

God Bless.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Emily Lah's Mom Was Pregnant With Her on Her Wedding Day

I have a say because my parents choose life for me 32 years ago.  They were young and 3 months away from their big wedding day when my mom found out she was expecting a baby.  She could have chosen to save face and have the perfect wedding but instead she choose life.  That one choice has changed her life and the life of many others.  It was not easy for my parents to start a family so young and they had many struggles and trials.  They carried their crosses in away that changed my life forever.  I learned how to trust God with every cross that was mine to carry. 

If I would not have been born then...
~One less person would have helped the poor 20 hours a week for 2 years in my former college town
~One less person would have been a missionary in Haiti
~One less person would have chosen a career path to help low income families have decent and affordable housing
~One less person would give 10%+ of their income the Church and those in need of help
~One less person would have been there for a friend or neighbor in need a shoulder to cry on and a person to pray for them
~My husband would be single and still looking for his Soulmate
~Three beautiful girls who love God with their whole heart would not have been born


I have a say because EVERY LIFE has an IRREPLACEABLE ripple effect on the world.

God Bless,
Emily Lah

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Steve Keller Has a Say

I have a say because of the complete unselfishness of my two wonderful parents and because of the tender loving mercy of God.

My parents, who were both born in the time period shortly before WWII, were both victims of Polio in their childhood. They both ended up losing the use of their legs and were confined to wheelchairs. They met in college, got married, and proceeded to have and raise children. I am the youngest of five. The fourth child we never had a chance to know in this life, as it was a miscarriage. I have a say because, even after that miscarriage, even after the trials and troubles of having and caring for three children while confined to wheelchairs, my parents tried again.

I have a say because of the gentle love and care of God. I was born about two months early in October of 1977. To say I was premature is an understatement. I was nearly a miscarriage myself. They didn't expect me to live and I was baptized almost immediately. God had a plan though and cared for me and brought me through that time. Now I am married with two beautiful girls and a third child on the way. My parents unselfishly took the risk of trying a fifth time and gave me a chance. God gave me the gift of life and I intend to use this gift and this chance to have my say. I intend to have my say and to speak up for all those who may not ever have a chance to have their say.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Rose Tenney Has a Say - Abortion is NOT Health Care

How I would like to take back my stupidity and selfishness of 29 years ago – I am one of the women who foolishly believed the lie of Planned Parenthood and a woman’s health center.

My first sin was participating in sex outside of marriage. Then when I ended up pregnant, I was frightened but excited at the thought of becoming a mother. However, the father of that child insisted that I not have the baby, and even convinced me that I would never get over giving up that child for adoption. That’s when I learned he was selfish and I was a fool. In anger and in fear, I allowed him to pressure me until I gave in and went to the “health center” where for $200 a harsh and insensitive doctor cut my child into pieces and turned his back on me, asking the nurse what was wrong with me. I clung to the nurse’s hand and cried. This was not what I needed, and I realized at the moment I felt the instruments inside me that what I was doing was wrong. All I had left was a vast emptiness which quickly was filled with self-hatred.

I never saw the father again. For the next few months, I went through the motions of living and even planned my suicide because I didn’t think I deserved to live. One of my friends, an angel of the moment, realized what I was planning and convinced me that I was wrong to think I didn’t deserve life and love, even though I’d done such an awful thing. At that moment, the long path of healing began for me. Eventually, I married a man who loves me and I love him – he even accepted that I had had an abortion and not told very many people about it.

After several years of marriage, we were not getting pregnant and that was our dearest wish – to have children. I went to a mission at my parish and after several evenings of sermons and invitations to penance, I finally, after eleven years, went to confession and laid it all out to that wonderfully understanding priest. Although I was terribly distressed, he absolved me of my sin and introduced me to the graces of the Rosary.

Today, many years later, I am humbled to be the mother of four children, and you can be certain I am teaching them to value life and to love themselves enough not to indulge in selfish sins. I do not know if I will have to tell them about my past; even my mother does not know the truth about what I did so many years ago, although she may have suspected it.

I pray for all other women who went through my experiences and hope that they too will seek God’s forgiveness. Please pray for all of us.

Thank you for letting me have my say. Abortion and birth control are lies. They are not health care. They cause more trouble than they prevent.

Great Video Response: Boys Will be Boys......And Men Will be Men

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Anne Hazel Has a Say

Cecile Richards, you are right.

Not every voice is heard.

I am the youngest of eight: two boys, five girls (the oldest is a boy in Heaven…the 7 of us living were all born within 8 years, no twins). If my Mom and Dad had listened to your ideology, I would not be here because according to you they had too many children. I thank God that they had all of us and as I was growing up I wished we had a bigger family. My Mom and Dad have been married 43 years and they raised us with a lot of love and self-sacrifice and on one pay. For the nine of us we had 3 bedrooms (who says you can’t put 5 girls in one bedroom!) and one bathroom. They raised all of us Catholic and we all practice our Faith with devotion. My childhood is filled with happy memories. We have found spouses that are like ourselves, faithful Catholics as well, thank God! You don’t speak for me or for any of my brothers and sisters.

None of us have ever used contraception and we all see life as a beautiful gift. Among the five of us that are married we have 15 children (8 years old and younger) and we are not done yet, God willing! We are all raising our children in the beautiful Catholic Faith. 

I also have 2 sisters that are consecrated virgins. I doubt you would invite any of us pro-life women to have a say. Why do only women who use contraception have a say?  I have the most wonderful husband. I knew he was a gentleman the first time I saw him. I thank God every day for my husband. We have two little children and one in Heaven. I miscarried our second baby at a mere 13 weeks and he was a perfectly formed baby boy. At thirteen weeks we even knew he was a boy – go ahead and keep saying they are just a clump of cells, or a “product of conception” or whatever dehumanizing terms you give to our little ones. What my husband and I saw on that very heartrending day when I miscarried him was a baby, plain and simple.  Why is it that you think that men should not have a say? Men have no say because they are men? Men have just as much say as women because as far as I know, women are not asexual beings. All men have a say because they are our fathers, brothers and husbands. We all have a say because we are alive. How false feminism is destroying our culture! What has happened to the day in which men protected their mothers, sisters and wives? There are still many men who love women for who they are and not for what they can get from them. These men have a say and even if you don’t want to hear them, we do. Don’t speak for us.

You say women know that birth control is basic healthcare. You don’t speak for me, Cecile Richards. Count me out! I have a husband that loves me more than to reject what defines me as a woman, namely motherhood. Is rejection of motherhood basic healthcare? I love my husband more than to reject his masculinity and fatherhood by using birth control. We have never used it and we never will. Birth control is a rejection of the other. Is that basic healthcare? You call it “protected sex”…protection from what? Is it protection from the one you love? I pray every woman will come to know what real love is. Birth control prevents children. When will we stop talking about children as unloved, unintended and a burden? Is the rejection of children basic healthcare? Many times birth control aborts a tiny baby. Is murder basic healthcare? “They are going to have sex anyways” so provide our youth with birth control? How is degrading young girls basic healthcare? Birth control pills cause so many problems to the woman’s body and you call this basic healthcare?  If you were so concerned about women, why has Planned Parenthood eliminated the voice of millions of little girls who will never have a say? By the way, many abortionists are men. You let them have a say every
time they kill a little baby girl, but you will not allow true men to have a say?

The families that love life are having many children…we are growing in numbers and we love the Catholic Church and we are not going away. Cecile Richards,

HERE COMES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!
Anne Hazel