Through Jimmy's Eyes

J.M.J.+
I am posting in regards to our next peaceful prayer vigil which will take place on Saturday, the 28th of June outside Planned Parenthood (345 Whitney Avenue New Haven) from 8am until 12 pm noon, the hours which the babies are scheduled to be killed by abortion.

I came across an article which I found disheartening as a woman and a mother. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20031222/ayrey
Along with the technological and medical advancements of Obstetrics seems to come a daunting dark shadow clouding the minds and hearts of pregnant women everywhere. I do not dispute that medical intervention is and can be a very necessary and life saving measure, however what benefit can come of prenatal labs seeking to narrow down the mother’s odds of having a “normal” baby or a second trimester ultrasound given to anatomically dissect and scrutinize the growing fetus in the womb created to point out chromosomal anomalies such as Down syndrome and Trisomy 18? Many women are unaware that these tests are not being done to benefit them or their babies, but to protect Obstetricians from being liable for not letting a woman know her odds. Bottom line is OB’s do not want to get sued. Sure there are some women who might choose to know this information to better prepare the family to lovingly accept a special needs child or a baby who has a terminal diagnosis, but for the most part this is not the case and many of these tests are inaccurate to say the least, leading women to further interventions such as Amniocentesis which can increase the risk of miscarriage. I know women who have sought abortion as their option to deal with what Obstetricians are providing as a “possible” less than perfect baby in our modern world. I cannot help but to think how truly special most children with Down syndrome are. I have a friend who had a son with Down syndrome named Jimmy. He has since passed away and she refers to him as her angel in heaven. I have learned a lot from hearing her speak about Jimmy and how he understood what life really was all about. When it was time for him to make his first Holy Communion, my friend Esther told me that there was not any Catechism for special needs kids to prepare him for the Sacrament. Esther and a few others with special needs children created a course with their priest and the children went on to make their first Holy Communion. On Jimmy’s special day he was so excited and Esther said when Jimmy went up and the priest said “The Body of Christ” Jimmy answered enthusiastically Jesus! So Esther whispered to Jimmy to say amen. After Mass the priest took Esther aside and asked her why she told Jimmy not to say Jesus but to say amen. Esther just shrugged her shoulders and said because that is how we taught him. The priest said do not worry about Jimmy, you let him say Jesus because he really understands unlike so many others who he is receiving.

Esther said that Jimmy had the utmost reverence for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In his simple mind he grasped what so many of us can forget, that Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist, something to be awed to which we can take for granted. One day at Mass a boy who went up for Holy Communion did not consume the Eucharist and Jimmy watched him throw Our Lord on the floor. Esther saw Jimmy jump over the people in the pew to pick up the Eucharist he then held it up to the boy and said “Jesus, this is Jesus! No throw Jesus on the floor!” He then explained to the boy he must consume the Blessed Sacrament.

Jimmy got it. He understood things most people miss because we simply “think” too much. We scrutinize, we worry, we try to play God. Esther told me when Jimmy was born she was very angry. She did not understand what she could have done to be punished with such a sick and frail baby who needed open heart surgery and special care. Esther today says Jimmy was a gift that God sent to save her family. It restored her faith bringing her closer to God as well as restored the family unit in a special way. She now understands Jimmy’s purpose was very real and his life was never a “chromosomal mistake” or in vain. Jimmy has shown us God does not make mistakes.
Let us pray for all the Jimmys in the wombs of their mothers and for a medical model which views them as disposable accidents. Hearing Jimmy’s story has helped me to see that perhaps we are the ones with “something” wrong and kids like Jimmy are the perfect ones.
Jesus please help us.
May God bless you,
Mike and Kerry

The Numbers Don't Lie

J.M.J. +
I am posting in regards to our next peaceful prayer vigil which will take place on Saturday, the 21st of June outside Planned Parenthood (345 Whitney Avenue New Haven) from 8am until 12 pm noon, the hours which the babies are scheduled to be killed by abortion.

Below is an interesting article which debunks the myth that legalized abortion is safer for women and protects their lives. We shall continue to pray for true protection of women, as well as respect for their dignity, through life affirming medical and spiritual support enabling the choice of life for their babies and for themselves.
We look forward to praying with you on Saturday.

God bless you,
Mike and Kerry

Spirit & Life®
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63)Human Life International e-NewsletterVolume 03, Number 23 Friday, June 06, 2008
..................................................................................
www.hli.org
Maternal Deaths Down In Nicaragua Once Abortion Is Eliminated
Unsuspecting pro-life cultures are regularly assaulted by the “logic” of the international abortion promoters who push their anti-life agenda into every culture that will cave in to the pressure. Their main argument goes roughly like this: “When abortion is not legal, women have abortions anyway but in unsafe conditions and back-alley clinics with untrained people who injure and kill them. All this death and injury is totally unnecessary and we could just solve the problem overnight by legalizing abortion to make it safe and keep all these poor women from dying.”
That’s the main argument which, in one form or another, is repeated ad nauseam by the abortion lobby to sympathetic healthcare providers, social workers, government leaders and the media. It can be an effective argument for legalized abortion because people are generally more willing to sacrifice the rights of the unseen child for the immediate perceived needs of the suffering woman. However, that argument is a ruse. Abortion doesn’t work the way they say it does. In reality, legalized abortion, besides killing babies, creates a climate of disrespect for women’s health that leads to a greater number of maternal deaths. Let’s take another look at the most fascinating and heroic case study in the abortion wars that our modern age has seen: Nicaragua.
That marvelous little pro-life country in Central America is a good example of what happens when a country chooses a culture of life. Remember that Nicaragua made abortion completely illegal in 2006 and then reaffirmed that prohibition in 2007. The overall positive results for Nicaraguan women have been just amazing. The abortion promoters screamed that making abortion illegal would cause women to die in droves because of more back-alley abortions, but that didn’t happen. In fact, the opposite is true—fewer women are dying now! A recent publication by Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health noted that the overall maternal mortality rate decreased by 58% in the year that abortion has been made totally illegal. There were 21 maternal deaths for 2007 compared to 50 maternal deaths the year before. This is a stunning reversal!
The lie that women will die from back-alley, “unsafe,” abortions is nothing but a scare tactic to coerce pro-life cultures into compliance with abortion. The truth is that abortion-free cultures have a greater respect for women and babies and are not subject to that degrading pall of killing that lies over the medical profession. In the case of Nicaragua, their rejection of abortion in 2006/2007 coincided—not surprisingly—with a greater provision of basic pre-natal services for pregnant women and accompaniment in childbirth which is what led to the surprising turn-around in the maternal death rate. Even aside from legal protection of babies, pro-life cultures just protect women better, it’s that simple.
We don’t have to listen to the liars who tell us that legalized abortion is “safe.” Women are much safer in countries where abortion is not legal. Abortion enthusiasts were never able to use the maternal death argument in abortion-free Ireland which has the lowest rate of maternal deaths in the world. They are also confounded by pro-life cultures like Poland that restricted abortion in 1993 and has seen a phenomenal increase in maternal wellbeing ever since.
The abortion promoters tell us that certain abortions are unsafe. They’re half right. Actually, all abortions are unsafe. The numbers don’t lie.

God's Precious Child

J.M.J. +

I am posting in regards to our next peaceful prayer vigil which will take place on Saturday, the 14th of June outside Planned Parenthood (345 Whitney Avenue New Haven) from 8am until 12 pm noon, the hours which the babies are scheduled to be killed by abortion. Saturday is the large monthly Helpers of God’s Precious Infants prayer vigil. If you have not already joined us for this please do. The details are below.

On Saturday I have the privilege of speaking with a young mother who had her 5 year old boy with her in front of PP. I began speaking to her offering her our assistance and literature when she assured me she was not coming for an abortion. She wanted me to meet her son who was almost aborted 5 years back when they did abortion at the State street women's center location. She told me that those who were out there praying that day helped her from allowing them to kill her son who she loves more than anything. The boy was smiling and joyful. I watched in great thanksgiving to Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother as I watched the two of them walk away into the busy world. For a moment looking into that little boys eyes, time truly stood still. Never underestimate what your prayers and presence can do for these mothers and babies and especially for Our Lord to whom these children belong. Come out and pray with us, these mothers and babies need you.

May God bless you,
Mike and Kerry

Dear Fellow Helpers of God's Precious Infants,

The Monthly Prayer Vigil for June will be held this coming Saturday, June 14th, outside Planned Parenthood’s state Headquarters at 345 Whitney Ave in New Haven. The Prayer Vigil will begin with the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at 7:30 AM at Saint Mary's Church in New Haven on Hillhouse Ave. It will be followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for half of an hour and concluded with a send off Benediction at approximately 8:30 am. We will leave Saint Mary's Church in complete silence directly after the send off Benediction (no announcement will be made) and reassemble at the parking lot of Saint Joseph’s Church at 129 Edwards Street. As soon as we arrive in the parking lot we will exit our vehicles in silence and line up to begin the Rosary and prayerful procession which will be lead by the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Msgr. Reilly has asked that no talking be permitted as we should be focused in prayer. We will then process on foot to Planned Parenthood where God’s precious infants are scheduled to be killed. This is the last month we will be processing on the sidewalk as in the future we will be escorted by the New Haven Police who will close off the roads so we can safely process in the street. At approximately 10:15 am, while still in prayer, we will process back to Saint Joseph’s church for a closing Benediction followed by light refreshments in the church hall.

With Mary At The Foot Of The Cross

J.M.J.+
I am emailing in regards to our next peaceful prayer vigil which will take place on Saturday, the 7th of June outside Planned Parenthood (345 Whitney Avenue New Haven) from 8am until 12 pm noon, the hours which the babies are scheduled to be killed by abortion.


I have included an article which quotes the Community Organizer of Planned Parenthood New Haven, Gretchen Raffa, who is responsible for recruiting college students as escorts. I thought all of those who come out to pray might find her perception of us very interesting. Her quote is in response to those of us who come out to pray each week as well as how PP has decided to try to counteract our prayerful presence which has brought peace to women and saved infants lives. The one thing I found uncharacteristic of her description of us was her label. We do not seek to be protesters, only prayers and Helpers of God’s precious infants and their mothers. We seek this through the powerful intercession of Our Blessed Mother while standing along with her at the foot of her Son’s Cross.

May God bless you,
Mike and Kerry



Planned Parenthood seeks to forge Yale alliance
BY LAURA YAO
On any given Saturday morning, there are a couple of people milling about the corner of Whitney and Edwards streets. They’re not unruly, though they’re generally quite conspicuous as they hand out fliers to women passing through the gate to Planned Parenthood. A few—the less well-mannered ones—hold signs with pictures of mangled fetuses. On Saturday mornings, Planned Parenthood provides abortions.
This is the scene that greets patients and volunteers alike as they walk up the path to the clinic’s entrance. Gretchen Raffa, a community organizer who has worked at Planned Parenthood for seven years, called the protestors a “thoughtful, prayerful” group of people. “This is not the anti-choice movement of the early ’80s and ’90s where they believed in violence, wanted to harm patients, wanted to kill doctors,” she said. “They’re actually very nice, welcoming protestors.” But still, their polite entreaties and their suggestions that a woman entering the clinic to get an abortion might go to hell were, to say the least, unwelcome.
And since protestor presence has increased inexplicably over the past seven months or so—from one or two people a day to as many as 20 during religiously significant times of the year—Raffa thought to look to Yale for more volunteers, because more friendly faces inside the clinic might make patients less anxious about the less friendly ones outside.
Last Tuesday night, a group of nearly 20 students gathered in the Women’s Center to hear Raffa speak about ways to support the Planned Parenthood volunteer program. Since only one Yale undergraduate currently volunteers in the health center this year, the turnout surpassed everyone’s expectations, said Sara Rahman, TC ’09, co-president of the Reproductive Rights Action League of Yale (RALY). Raffa spoke about the possibility of assembling a “welcome crew” of volunteers, who would serve to “keep an eye on protestors, keep them quiet, and make sure they’re not breaking the rules.”
“When there aren’t volunteers out there, the protestors might get a little more comfortable,” Raffa said. “They won’t cross the line—we have security cameras out there and they know that, they aren’t stupid—but they might knock on a couple of extra windows.”
But there was no gender diversity among the group, which Alice Buttrick, JE ’10, identified as a reason many pro-choice people, both male and female, don’t take action. “The fact that we’re lumped into ‘feminism’ is very frustrating to me, because feminism has this kind of man-hating connotation,” said Buttrick, who is the other president of RALY and an intern at Planned Parenthood. “But it’s not true, because if we hated men, we wouldn’t need reproductive rights. It’s not a women’s issue, it’s just an issue—the whole idea of reproductive rights requires two genders, or there would be no reproducing.”
And the fact that RALY meetings take place in the Women’s Center, she said, might discourage males from coming out. “Often people ask me ‘Are boys allowed?’ And of course they are, but there are paintings of the board members’ vaginas on the back wall, so I understand the hesitation.”
While Buttrick is involved with administrative aspects like organizing events and demonstrations, Kenya Lyons, JE ’08, took an entirely different route. The only Yale undergraduate volunteering in the actual health center, Lyons said her time at the clinic was an enjoyable way to further her medical training as an obstetrician/gynecologist. She interacts with patients by preparing procedure rooms, taking blood pressures, and often holding their hands afterward. “It’s the best part of my week,” she said. “It’s very hands-on, it’s a great opportunity. I’d expect dozens of volunteers, but I may be the only undergraduate here, which makes me sad.”
A possible rationale for the lack of participation and activism amongst Yale students is that “once you get to a certain point of privilege and education, people tend to ignore this issue, and that’s damaging,” Buttrick said. “There’s a very pro-choice feeling here, so nobody feels like they need to do anything about it. All these issues are neglected after a certain point of acceptance, and I think it’s somewhat offensive.”
Lyons would like to see more student involvement on the health side. “If you’re pro-choice and interested in medicine, it’s a good idea to see an abortion being performed. A lot of people don’t have a good idea of what it involves,” she said. “There are a lot of misconceptions: They think of women who are very young, who have no kids. They also tend to think they’re irresponsible, or that they are making a split-second decision. But actually a lot of the women we see are married, in their thirties, and can’t have more kids for health or financial reasons.”
But she also echoed the need for volunteers to keep the protestors quiet. “I walk to the clinic, and even though I’ve been volunteering for a couple of months they still think I’m a patient, they still give me flyers, which makes me very sensitive to what patients go through,” she said. “I understand abortion is very controversial, but it comes down to the fact that an abortion is a medical procedure, and it’s no one else’s business. It’s just inappropriate to ask about someone else’s medical procedure.”
http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=6363