Gobble-gobble! Yes, it’s that time of year again. Oh, we know you’re excited for that delicious Thanksgiving turkey and scrumptious pumpkin pie. Believe me, we sure are too! But be prepared to get even more excited, because this year the Illinois pro-life movement has had some incredible accomplishments, for which we all can be truly thankful. Here are our top 7 pro-life reasons to give thanks in 2015:
#7. The mammosham has been officially debunked
Rest in peace mammosham! For years Planned Parenthood supporters like Whoopi Goldberg, President Obama, and Cecile Richards herself perpetuated the claim that Planned Parenthood provides life-saving mammograms.
Pro-lifers have known for years that this is a flat out lie. Even though it was debunked time and time again, pro-abortion people ignored the facts. Just this fall, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards was forced to embarrassingly and personally debunk the myth. Testifying before Congress she said,
“We do not have mammogram machines at our health centers and we’ve never stated that we did.”
This video below from Live Action News was then watched 6.9 million times. Not only do we now know Planned Parenthood doesn’t do mammograms, we know for a fact that they’ve lied to women.
I hope you’re embarrassed Planned Parenthood, because lying to women is an extremely nasty thing to do.
#6. House Bill 4013 was defeated
This nasty bill was proposed in the Illinois General Assembly this year. We estimated the number of abortions in Illinois would increase by 12,000 per year if this bill passed.It would force people like you and me to pay for abortions under Medicaid for ANY REASON through ALL NINE MONTHS of pregnancy.
This horrific bill was quickly and forcefully defeated thanks to all you cool cats who called your legislators and told them “NO WAY, not in my state.” As a result, more unborn children per year will sleep safely in their mothers’ arms because of you.
Thanks for being so dang awesome, pro-life people.
#5. #ProtestPP took the nation by storm
When videos exposing how Planned Parenthood sells aborted children’s body parts surfaced, pro-life people like you didn’t curl up on the couch and take a nap. You took to the streets to create the LARGEST protest against Planned Parenthood IN HISTORY.
On August 22, 2015, over 78,000 people joined one of the 353 locations in 49 states. Illinois led the way by being one of the states with the most protest locations – 9 locations. Protests took place in Aurora, Springfield, Champaign, Belleville, Bloomington, Decatur, Ottawa, Pekin, and Peoria. Over 2,500 Illinoisans visited one of these locations to protest – Aurora Illinois alone had 1,600 pro-life people participate!
The event’s official hashtag #ProtestPP was the top trending hashtag on Twitter AND Facebook. Hundreds of media outlets covered the events, spreading our message to hundreds of thousands of people.
While Illinois Right to Life co-sponsored the Illinois events, they were, of course, co-founded and co-hosted by Chicago’s Pro-Life Action League. Well done Illinois!
#4. The March for Life Chicago set another record
Who doesn’t love dancing in the streets of Chicago in the middle of January with 4,000 of your closest friends??
On January 18, 2015, the March for Life Chicago broke the record (set last year) for the largest attendance in the history of the March. In one year, the March for Life Chicago doubled the number of participants with 4,000 people attending.
People from every corner of Illinois traveled to Chicago along with pro-lifers from Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana. Together, we danced, we cried, we celebrated life, and we recommitted ourselves to ending abortion.
The March for Life Chicago is officially the largest pro-life event in the Midwest, and we’re dang proud of that. Not only that, but we’ve saved two babies and reached over 600,000 people with our message of life and love!
Hey Marchers, get out your shiny pen and mark January 17, 2016 (the next March for Life Chicago!) on your calendar – we’ve got another record to break!
#3. Chicago’s Notorious Late Term Abortion Clinic Closed
Hey hey hey… good bye! We’ve never been so happy to see a company go out of business like we were when we received word that Albany Abortion clinic in Chicago was closing it’s doors forever.
We’d been pressing for this clinic to be inspected by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Once it was inspected, the clinic refused to fix the problems. Fines over $50,000 proved to be too much for the clinic to handle and its owners peaced out.
Our prayers, compassion, sidewalk counseling, and education finally SHUT DOWN THIS CLINIC FOR GOOD. Chicago has looked just a wee bit brighter ever since.
#2. Center for Medical Progress (CMP) Videos blow the lid off of Planned Parenthood
Have you noticed Planned Parenthood has been doing an INCREDIBLE AMOUNT of image fixing and backtracking lately? That and a lot of squirming.
In July, CMP released a series of 10 undercover investigation videos into Planned Parenthood. What the videos uncovered was a massive black market of Planned Parenthood selling aborted children’s body parts for profit.
The abortion industry immediately tried to shut CMP down by throwing lawsuits at them. What ensued was the largest investigation and protest against Planned Parenthood in history.
After we wrote articles on these videos, spreading and educating people on them, we saw pro-choice people change their minds about Planned Parenthood and abortion. But that’s not all. 14 state and Congressional investigations into Planned Parenthood have been launched with six states defunding Planned Parenthood.
The truth about Planned Parenthood’s grisly business has finally been caught on video for the world to see. A private security firm reviewed the videos CMP released and deemed them to be 100% authentic.
Oh, and this entire investigation… was led by a 26 year-old guy. BOOM. #ProLifeGeneration
#1. Abortions in Illinois Reached the Lowest Rate of Abortion Since 1973
Our prayers, educational programs, and counseling have made an ENORMOUS impact on Illinois.
In 2013, the number of abortions in Illinois reached their lowest level since the legalization of abortion. That means more mothers were helped and more children will grace this world with their laugh and love. And it’s all because we cared.
Keep it up pro-life Illinoisans; you’re changing the course of history!