|
Republican Club Hosts Anti-Abortion Panel
By Robin Frankel
License to Kill: The Abortion Scourge event drew an impressive audience of at least
100 people ranging in age from teen to senior citizen with views ranging along the
entire political spectrum.
Despite its title the views of the majority of the speakers were that abortion should
be legal for victims of incest or rape and for women whose pregnancy puts their life
in danger. The speakers messages concentrated on women and teenagers who had an unplanned
pregnancy who did not want to raise a child.
Stephen Christopher, an evangelical Christian pastor, was the first speaker. He asked,
When does life begin? and Does a mother have a right to kill her infant? He answered
the first question with At conception is the bible-based Christian belief, being careful
to add that he was asked specifically to talk from that point of view and that he
was tolerant of other religions which might not share that specific belief. He brought
up the second question in reference to a case in Virginia where a mother had killed
her newborn and it was ruled a legal abortion, because the infant was still attached
to her body by the umbilical cord.
The host of the event, Joseph Hayon, then offered up the Jewish viewpoint, which is
that life begins 40 days after conception adding that it's still a sin in his religion
to get an abortion before that, because it's the equivalent of chopping off your finger.
Even though you're not killing anybody; you're not supposed to do anything to any
part of the body that God gave you.
The next speaker was Robert H. Turner who had run for Congress and talked about the
government's efforts to legislate abortion. He said, The funding of abortion can not
come directly from taxpayer dollars, but indirectly through Title X. About $200 million
goes indirectly to abortion services. He went on to talk about a great culture war
and said, The dividing line is whether you believe in a man-centered universe or a
God-centered universe.
The next speaker was Gregory Webb who works for EMC crisis pregnancy centers. He talked
about his experience working directly with women who had unplanned pregnancies and
were considering abortion. He said, Ninety-five percent of the women I talk to believe
that they are carrying life within them. They are taught that adoption is the worst
thing possible and that abortion [is okay because] everybody's doing it These women
are in despair because they know that abortion is killing a baby. I help them make
a decision [to keep the baby] that their conscience already knows is right.
The next speaker was Sharon Long who works for the crisis pregnancy center Bridge
to Life and is a former resident nurse. She talked about the biological part of abortion
including the stages of fetal development, such as by week seven basically everything
is in place in the fetus and all it has to do is grow, and the techniques of abortion,
such as suction abortion, and RU-486. She also said that infants don t develop a sense
of self until four or five months after birth so any good argument for abortion is
also an argument for infanticide.
The next speaker was Robin Gaither who spoke from experience as someone who had two
abortions when she was twenty-five and twenty-eight and how pain and regret crept
up on her until she was numbing the pain with alcohol and other substances. She started
her journey of healing working at Bridge to Life helping women make the decision to
keep the baby so they can avoid undergoing the pain that she went through.
The last speaker, Farouk Samaroo, co-president of the Southwest Queens Democratic
Club, spoke about his experiences as the child of teenage parents who became a teenage
parent himself. He spoke about the pain he felt about his paternal grandmother wanting
his mother to abort and how that strengthened his decision to keep his own baby sixteen
years later.
The speakers were followed by a brief question and answer session with the audience.
Many people had questions to ask and after the session was over most of the audience
stayed around talked to the speakers personally and enjoyed the free refreshments.
The event was a huge success. Audience members had to sign in with the Republican
Club in order to get their refreshments and many signatures included the optional
contact information to learn more about the Republican Party.
|
