American Life League Associates Newsletter
August 6, 2007
Vol. 4, No. 30

From Associates

• Pro-Life Waco

  Pro-Life Waco held a peaceful protest of Planned Parenthood Waco’s annual “Nobody’s Fool” conference last Wednesday July 25. (See local media coverage). The protest was followed by a news conference in which Pro-Life Waco released a report outlining evidence that Planned Parenthood does not comply with Texas mandatory reporting requirements for underage sex.

  The PDF version of the report, as well as articles from the Waco Tribune Herald, can be viewed at Pro-Life Waco’s web site: http://www.prolifewaco.org/ppwaco_statutory_rape.htm.

  The four minute version of the news conference can be accessed on YouTube.

  An additional news link on World Net Daily from July 26.

• Houston Coalition for Life

  A groundbreaking, grassroots campaign has taken hold of communities throughout the United States and its mission is to storm heaven with 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion. The National 40 Days for Life prayer campaign is an intense time during which people pray, fast and spread the pro-life message throughout their community. The movement is a wakeup call, restoring a sense of urgency in the fight against the industry that claims the lives of approximately 4,000 preborn babies each day in America.

  From August 7-15 communities will be able to register for the National 40 Days for Life Campaign. Communities don't need big numbers; the event is tailor-made to the needs and resources of each. The bottom line requirement is that the effort must remain "peaceful, prayerful and legal" at all times.

  August 16 to 25 will be a period of training during which communities will receive weekly conference calls, planning guidelines, flyers and other literature. Communities will also be able to set up an interactive web presence on the 40 Days for Life web site to start networking with others. Finally, from September 26 through November 4 the actual prayer and fasting campaign will take place.

  Already 400 communities in 45 states have expressed interest in the campaign. In Wisconsin alone, the 40 Days campaign is scheduled to take place in front of every single abortion clinic in the state.

  Downloadable 40 Days for Life Report

Tip of the Month – Fundraising

Seek support from local businesses

Small businesses – many family owned – may welcome the opportunity to support your organization. Your neighborhood and your local community have a wealth of resources that, if asked, might make a donation to your organization.

Most businesses are made up of people who care about helping others and most are allowed to give away a pretty substantial amount of their pre-tax income to charitable organizations. When they make a donation it is usually because someone they know – someone who does business with them – has asked. Most frequently they give an outright donation with their pre-tax dollars. Other times, they give from their marketing (advertising) budget.

Brainstorm with staff and volunteers to identify businesses you may have overlooked in the past. Think about businesses that benefit from your work, those where your supporters work, those that travel in the same circles as your supporters as well as those you regularly patronize. Likely prospects include banks, gas stations, grocery stores, coffee shops, cleaners, insurance agents, florists, department stores and local ‘chain stores’ that are franchised.

If 50 percent of the population is pro-life then you have a 50/50 chance that the people running the business are pro-life. And if the person asking is actually buying something from that business, your chances could be even higher. Remember if you don’t ask, you won’t receive!

To qualify for an outright donation, it is likely that you will be asked for your nonprofit letter – 501(c)(3) If you do not have your 501(c)(3), a business may give you support from their marketing budget, e.g. placing an ad in your special event program, providing a sponsorship for a program, donating a piece of equipment or placing some type of signage in your office. Consider a bartering type of arrangement in these situations.

Not only are for-profit businesses potential supporters of pro-life organizations, but cultivating relationships with other members of the business community can lead to outstanding networking opportunities. Additionally, contacting local businesses may be a great way to develop a pro-life buyer’s guide and/or a local boycott list. Most importantly, however, they may be opportunities to spread the pro-life message even farther in the community.

Action Steps:

• Develop a list of potential business contacts in your area – start small and manageable
• Decide what to ask for
• Decide who should ask
• Ask!

News

• Abortion clinic owner says it's filling a need

  A lack of women's health services in the region, particularly abortion providers, prompted a full-service Planned Parenthood medical office on Aurora's far northeast side. Scheduled to open the middle of September, the medical complex will offer reproductive and women's health-care services, with an estimated 10 percent of that coming from abortions.

  STOPP’s Rapid Response Team will be participating in a community meeting organized by the Pro-Life Action League on Thursday, August 16 at 7 p.m.

• Abortion procedure fuels debate

  A drug long used to help heart disease patients live – and also to stop the heartbeat of fetuses – is moving to the center of the nation's debate over abortion.

  Providers are administering the drug, called digoxin, to more abortion patients even though they say it adds only risk, pain and inconvenience. The drug is necessary for legal reasons, they claim, because the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Act, which bans a relatively rare late-term abortion procedure.

• U.S. researchers aim to develop low-cost HPV vaccine using tobacco plant

  A team that includes two University of Louisville researchers who helped develop Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil is attempting to develop a low-cost HPV vaccine using tobacco plants. The experimental vaccine would cost about $3 for three doses, compared with about $360 for three doses of Gardasil.

• Synova launches advertising campaign for today sponge contraceptive

  Synova Healthcare recently launched a new Web site and an advertising campaign to market the Today Sponge female contraceptive in the U.S.

  The sponge was introduced in 1983, but it was discontinued in 1995 because its manufacturer, Whitehall-Robbins -- now known as Wyeth -- did not want to invest in the equipment upgrades necessary to maintain FDA approval.

• Adult Stem Cells Rebuild Alabama Woman's Heart

  Alabama event planner Carron Morrow was hanging Japanese lanterns for a wedding last summer when she suffered her fourth heart attack. A week later, the doctor told the 58-year-old mother of two she was a walking time bomb.

• Children conceived by IVF have nearly twice as many health problems

  A recent British study shows that children conceived by IVF have increased health problems and spend almost double the time in hospital than naturally conceived children. These newest findings are in accordance with past studies that have indicated that children who are conceived through IVF have a higher risk of deformity and over-all health problems.

• Radical population group suggests limiting family size to combat global warming

  Optimum Population Trust (OPT), a British population control group, suggested this month that compulsory restrictions on family size may have to be instituted to save the planet.

Closing thought

Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked; For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

—Proverbs 24:19-20