October 23, 2009

6:30-9:30 pm

2009 Frankford Ave (at Norris)

An evening of visual and performance art, speakers, and creative dialogue around the value of LIFE in our great city of Philadelphia.

6:45— Welcome – Leotah’s Place & Philly Voices for Life

6:50— Silent No More

6:55— Life in a Zambian Village – Katie Fourqurean

7:00— New Jerusalem – Justin Williams

7:05— Intro to Circle Venture – Jeremiah Alexander

7:10— Shalom House – Emily Kephart & Mimi Copp

7:15— Relaxation/Response – Dawn Mehan

7:20— The importance of our kids – Melissa Powell

7:25— Poetry – Blew

Break

7:50— West African drummers from Croatan Studios + dancing

8:05— Project H.O.M.E. – Brian Shingledecker

8:10— Mothers United Through Tragedy – Shirley Boggs

8:15— Heads Together Haiti – Julian &Vanessa

8:20— Human trafficking – Jessica McCann

8:25— Prison Connection Team – Katie Jo Brotherton

8:30— Hope Pregnancy Center – Jen Owens

8:35— Natural Family Planning – Jonathan & Danielle Ziegler

8:40— Beautiful words & song – Blake Austin

The past few months, we’ve seen hundreds of people engaging in direct discussion over life issues with us and dozens have changed to apro-life and pro-personhood point of view.  A few interesting interactions this past week:

• A young woman who converted from pro-choice and on the pill to pro-life/pro-personhood and expressing intent to get off the pill and using a more natural method, working with her body and not against it.
• Three teenage girls who wanted help with convincing a classmate to keep her baby, rather than abort (she was torn, they said).  They were given information and pointers, and we wish them the best in their efforts!
• A man who threatened to “bomb the pro-lifers outside Planned Parenthood” because “they are just like the Taliban, only they kill more people.”  (clearly, he’s irrational AND misinformed)
• An older woman who broke down in tears as she told her account of having an abortion decades ago while growing up in Georgia.

Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies say a pregnant Arlington woman was murdered by her boyfriend after the couple had argued about an abortion.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Mufreesboro, Tennessee, caught the man they believe is responsible for murdering the woman. Tarence Nelson, 26, is being brought to the Shelby County jail to face double murder charges.

The woman – Tonya Johnson – was found by a neighbor with gunshot wounds to the chest, back of the head and stomach.  Some have speculated that the bullet to the stomach was a deliberate attempt to kill Johnson’s baby.  Nelson is being charged with two counts of first degree murder; charges that he denies, despite a wealth of evidence linking him to the vicinity of Johnson’s house around the time of the murder.  Family and friends of Tonya Johnson also told investigators that he was angry with her for not abortion/killing the child he fathered with her.

Our hearts go out to the family members involved as they mourn the tragic murder of two loved ones – Tonya, and her baby.

The Boston Globe today asks: “When does a fertilized egg become a person?”  While that question has been debated for many, many years, they are acknowledging a major event occurring yesterday in California; pro-life advocates with the California Civil Rights Foundation launched a new campaign to establish personhood in their state.  Joining with several other states, they are going to attempt to gather the 690,000 petition signatures to get the California Human Rights Amendment on the ballot in 2010.

The amendment reads:

The term “person” applies to all living human organisms from the beginning of their biological development as human organisms — regardless of the means by which they were procreated, method of reproduction, age, race, sex, gender, physical well-being, function, or condition of physical or mental dependency and/or disability.

American Life League and Personhood USA are two organizations leading the charge on personhood, and issues this statement following a press conference Monday in Sacramento:

“The preborn, while demonstrably alive and demonstrably human, are not protected ‘persons’ under our state constitution,” said Lila Rose, the 21-year-old student pro-life activist, president of Live Action and cosponsor of the amendment. “Our laws must protect each person’s basic human right to life, from the beginning of his or her life until the end.”

The push is backed by the California Civil Rights Foundation, a coalition of pro-lifers including Rose and sponsor Walter Hoye, the pastor arrested and imprisoned in 2008 for standing in silent witness outside an abortion mill.

“The California Human Rights Amendment recognizes that valuing human life is fundamental to life itself,” Hoye said at the press conference, “and is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity for any society.”

Hoye and Rose were joined by Judie Brown, president of American Life League, and Keith Mason, founder of PersonhoodUSA.

The activists stressed that personhood fulfills the dream of the civil rights movement.

“The injustice of denying the personhood of whole classes of human beings is an injustice that cannot go unchallenged,” Brown said. “Now is the time for justice. Nothing less is acceptable in a republic based on the principle of equal justice for one and all.”

We wish the best of luck to the pro-lifers in California, as they seek to gather the hundreds of thousands of petition signatures needed to get this on the ballot!

For more reading on personhood, check out American Life League’s personhood page and Personhood.net

Our city has a reputation of being hostile towards LIFE.  Violent crime is rampant; hundreds of people are murdered every year.  Many lives are lost to poverty, abortion and other preventable assaults on LIFE.

Voices have risen up against these injustices, and we want to give them an outlet to share in their passion for LIFE.  Leotah’s Place Traveling Coffeehouse and Philly Voices for Life are holding an art show – The Life Project – on Friday, October 23 to give artists and non-artists alike an open venue to display their creative thoughts on LIFE.  We will attempt to accommodate any art media (painting, sculpture, poetry, photography, dance, music, etc).

www.LeotahsPlace.wordpress.com ♦   www.PhillyVoicesforLife.wordpress.com

This event is free and open to everyone, and children are encouraged to attend and participate.  You do not have to be a professional artist to participate – people from all backgrounds and of all ages are welcome to showcase their perspective.  Local organizations that are emphasizing LIFE are encouraged to submit art, table and speak on their issues (poverty, violence, peaceful alternatives, pro-life, food justice, etc).

If you would like to submit art or are an organization looking to table and/or speak at the event, contact Blew at 215-749-2114 or email leotahsplace@gmail.com or PhillyVoicesforLife@gmail.com.

James Pouillon, a local man known in the community for his 20-year street protests aimed at ending abortion, was shot and killed outside a high school in suburban Owosso early Friday morning while staging his usual protest involving large photos of mutilated fetuses.

Within hours police named a suspect: Harlan James Drake. Mr. Drake killed two people that day, but the death of Mr. Pouillon is drawing attention because it is the first abortion-related murder since the May shooting death of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita, Kan. physician who performed abortions, in the foyer of a Reformation Lutheran Church. A staunch anti-abortion advocate was charged.

Since news of the shootings broke Friday, national organizations representing both the anti-abortion and abortion rights movements released statements to frame the murder against data — either aborted fetuses or assassinated medical personnel — they say is essential in understanding how their side deals with violence or the threat of violence every day.

Shaun Kenney, executive director of the American Life League in Washington, one of the nation’s largest pro-life organizations, called Pouillon a “true pro-life hero” and said his murder on Sept. 11 was “a terrible irony” for bringing “to mind the 50 million innocent lives lost to abortion.”

Our hearts go out to Pouillon’s family, and we take the time to thank him posthumously for the work that he has done over the years. It may never be known how many lives he changed or how many children he saved. May his tireless dedication to the cause be an example to us all.

Check out this great 4-D Ultrasound video from American Life League called “Baby Steps.”  This version is in English, but you can find versions in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German and Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) over at www.BabyStepsDvd.com.

(this video is not graphic and is safe for children)