As part of a new ProWomanProLife series, yesterday we posted part 1 of our interview with Rebecca Richmond, who is the Executive Director of the National Campus Life Network. She shared that her earliest nickname was “Gaga” and we learned about her organization, the National Campus Life Network. You can check out yesterday’s interview here. Below is part 2 of that interview. Visit PWPL tomorrow for the final segment of the interview.

Faye: Welcome back Gaga…er, Rebecca. Let’s jump right in. What is one fact most people don’t know about NCLN?

Rebecca: Some people think that campus clubs are chapters of NCLN or something like that. But they aren’t. NCLN exists to serve clubs and students, not the other way around. In fact, the entire structure of NCLN is based around service. The board provide the staff with support and service; the staff equip and empower the student leaders they work with; and the student leaders, then, serve the target group – their peers – by reaching out with their life-affirming and life-saving message.

Faye: I thought NCLN only worked on the abortion issue. Does NCLN also work on the euthanasia and assisted suicide file? How so?

Rebecca: Yes we do. Abortion is a bigger focus, both for us and the clubs we work with, simply because so many university students are facing the issue so directly. But euthanasia and assisted suicide are also incredibly important issues that pro-life students need to be educated on themselves and then, in turn, educate their campuses on.

We keep students updated on these issues and encourage them to educate themselves and their peers. Pro-life clubs will bring speakers, host debates, and distribute resources on this issue and we’re here to support them in that.

Faye: What can NCLN student mentoring look like?

Rebecca: We know – because we’ve all been there ourselves – that it’s a challenge to be leading a pro-life club on top of all the other commitments that university students have. So we’re available to students on phone/text/Facebook/Skype/email and, whenever possible, in person. With regular contact we can help the leaders stay on top of the goals they’ve made, address obstacles, and develop their own leadership abilities.

When I was a student I really benefited from this kind of support as well as getting to know Theresa Gilbert, who was the Executive Director of NCLN at the time. All of us on staff love to spend time with students, to share our experiences with them and learn from them as well.

Faye: What kind of challenges are pro-life students facing on campus?

Rebecca: What kind of challenges aren’t they facing?

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I am impressed with what CCBR is doing here. I’m also impressed with this coverage. From May 2013.

Not a link to the group, sorry. Rather, this is a link to my friend Jasbir’s new blog, in which he discusses a recent Ted Talk about masculinity. The Ted Talk is posted on his blog too. Interesting stuff.

This week, we’re launching a new series at ProWomanProLife. Over the next year, through a series of interviews, we’ll be introducing you to a number of bright, witty and funny pro-life women. They’ll be sharing stories and facts about themselves and the great work they do.

We kick off the series this week with a three part interview with Rebecca Richmond, who is the Executive Director of National Campus Life Network (NCLN). Check back tomorrow and Thursday for parts two and three of the interview.

Faye: Thanks for the interview Rebecca. Why don’t we get to know you a little before we jump into the nitty gritty? We’ve decided to ask all the women we interview a few get-to-know-you questions so readers can get a peek into your fabulous lives.

How do you spend your time?

Rebecca: Pro-life would definitely be at the top of the list. Working with NCLN goes far beyond a 9-5 job and I also like to be involved with pro-life events or projects occurring in the community.

[Read more…]

Interesting look at one Dr. Horatio Robinson Storer.

Dr. Storer was a Boston physician who lived from 1830 to 1922. He obtained his M.D. from Harvard in 1853 and studied in Scotland for more than a year with Dr. (later Sir) James Young Simpson. He began practicing medicine in 1855 and found that the medical problems of his married Protestant women patients frequently were related to their having had abortions. He learned that many other physicians were experiencing the same phenomenon. He carried out extensive research and concluded in the 1859 American Medical Association Report that “thousands and hundreds of thousands of lives are… directly at stake, and are annually sacrificed” as a result of abortion.

A story of redemption told in a three minute ad.

Linda Gibbons was sentenced yesterday. (Linda protests inside injunction zones around particular abortion clinics in Toronto.)

It appears the judge sentenced her more harshly based on a personal bias against her:

She has indicated no remorse to the court,” Bhabha said angrily. “She believes in the rightness of her cause … (but) abortions are legal. Miss Gibbons does not appreciate that it’s a legal right.”

Of course she’s not remorseful. And of course she doesn’t appreciate that it is a “legal right.”

The bubble zone laws, protecting a couple of clinics in Toronto from peaceful protestors and sidewalk counselors are unjust, and I’m grateful to Linda Gibbons for being willing to go to jail for this.

You might like to get your speakers going and play this song while reading this post.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9bRmuP-kQY]

I am generally against taking every issue and making it about abortion.

But someone sent me this short piece about how a man’s life was changed by 9/11. And yes, his personal story has to do with abortion. The abortion he wanted. The abortion his girlfriend did not have.

The year prior to 9/11, when word was received of the pending birth of my first child, my reaction, much like the autumn breeze, was a bit chilly. I went so far as to heavily promote the idea of an abortion to my girlfriend. I had failed to recognize the value of life, and though my girlfriend fortunately had, she was unable to instill this in me.

9/11 caused him to reconsider.

On September 11th, I drove home from work, having been released early due to the attack and subsequent security concerns. While driving home on the highway, mind numb in trying to process the day’s events, I passed under a bridge. Looking up, there was a man who looked more than a bit ragged, as if he had just awakened to hear the news of the attacks, and walked out of his house. Wearing disheveled clothes and a weary face, he somehow found himself standing on this bridge, arms raised skyward, holding the American flag.

Nearly four hours later, needing to clear my head, I decided to get back in my car and take a drive. My route brought me to that same highway, with that same bridge. Four hours later, the same man was still standing there, holding the flag up as high as he possibly could.

He decided to meet his daughter:

Shortly afterward, I brought my daughter home for the first time. I sat alone with her in a recliner in my apartment, when she began to cry. Her father was truly petrified, as nothing was putting this baby at ease. Thinking back to the man on the bridge once more, I knew that I had to do something.

Just then, a frightened man with a wretched voice began to sing. The song was The Luckiest, by Ben Folds, and it meant the world to this little girl. If the song stopped for even an instant, she would begin to cry again. She needed me to sing that song for her in that moment. She needed me to embrace her, but nowhere near as much as her father needed the same. The ‘culture of life’ had found us both. And on that day, I had become – The Luckiest.

A nice reflection on how great things can arise from tragedy.

Why read Anna Karenina when you can learn to Enjoy the Decline? Although this book is focused on America, I do believe it could be useful here, too.

The “End of America?” Most likely. The “Demise of liberty?” You betcha! The “Destruction of Western Civilization?” Of course! But why let all of the above get you down? Learn to “Enjoy the Decline!” “Enjoy the Decline” is mandatory reading for all conservatives, libertarians, Americans, and lovers of freedom who are mourning the slow, but sure death of their culture and their country….Dark, macabre, and morose, but truthful, helpful, and practical all the same, it is guaranteed to make you happier than your socialist counterparts even though they have everything they want.

From Janet:

I just wanted to tell you about my exciting day yesterday (I actually want to tell everyone, everywhere because I am so excited).

First, a little history…. In 1960, years before I was born, my mother was a scared, single, twenty year old Irish woman, who was pregnant. Her family sent her off to England to a maternity home, where she gave birth that September to a boy whom she called David. She stayed with him for six weeks or so, until he was turned over to his adoptive parents.

My Mom went on to marry and have three more children, and moved the family to Canada. In the late 1990’s, she told me about David. I hugged her and told her how proud I was of her! She had decided to contact the adoption register to try and find her son, hoping that he had also made contact and that they would be “matched”. She had always worried about him, even in her knowledge that she had made the right decision for him.

As it turned out, Mom lost her nerve and couldn’t make the contact. She never even managed to share her news with my sister and brother. Mom passed away on August 21, 2007, which was also her 67th birthday. After the initial shock of her death wore off, my Dad gave me the photos of David that Mom had carried with her til the day she died, and also the forms she had filled in (but never sent) to make contact. I shared the information with my sister and brother, and it was agreed that I would eventually apply to the British Adoption Registry and start the search.

Surprisingly, it took me a while to get up the nerve! I was afraid he might be dead, or maybe autistic (as my son is), or a hundred other things that would make the reunion impossible. I did send the info in, and was notified that “David” had not applied at that end, so no match was made.

About two years ago, “David” did apply, and I received a letter that had me in tears from the moment I started to read. He was well, had a wife and daughter, was prosperous and had enjoyed a lovely childhood with caring parents and an adopted sister! He also took the time to tell me that he understood why Mom did what she did, as times were different then, and that she had done him no harm. He had also found out that Mom had passed away, and saved me the sadness of having to relay that information to him. He offered the chance of corresponding, but kindly said that he would understand if I chose not to, realizing that not all family members might know of his existence, or want to know about him now.

We have emailed and sent photos back and forth, and yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of meeting John “David” (his adoptive parents honoured Mom by giving him David as a middle name!) when he brought his beautiful wife and adorable daughter to Canada to meet our family. While I am saddened that Mom never got this chance, I know she knows all about it now as she watches us.

This has been one of the most exciting weeks of my life as I welcomed my brother as the family he is. What a brilliant ending to the journey Mom started 53 years ago, and how different it could have been if abortion were readily available and advocated for back then.