This summer in North Dakota 66,000 small pink and blue flags appeared in various cities. The flags could be seen planted on the capitol grounds in Bismarck, near Mill Hill in Jamestown, and in many different sites around Minot. Maria and Eric Wanchic, founders of the flag campaign named '66K Since Roe v. Wade', purchased the flags with their own money, as well as contributions from friends and family.
$66,000 would be a nice chunk of change in the bank. 66,000 pounds of flour would make a lot of cake. 66,000 miles would be far away from Fargo, North Dakota. What about 66,000 people? That is a lot of people: approximately one tenth of the population of our state. 66,000 babies have been aborted in North Dakota since it became legal on January 22, 1973. That puts a new context to that big number, doesn't it?
So, what's the big deal; abortion is legal, right? I know that this analogy has been used before, but slavery in the United States was legal. Slavery and abortion could both be described as cheap, easy, and convenient for people. The people who sold and owned slaves made a lot of money, and protested ending it. People who run abortion clinics make a lot of money, and will fight any legislation that threatens their business. Pro-slavery advocates helped push through laws that upheld slavery, with one example being a statute that imposed a five year prison sentence for questioning slavery in Kansas.
How can I draw an equal sign between slavery and abortion? They both involve people who were denied the basic human right to life through dehumanization, for
the purpose of making money. If your skin were black, others decided where you lived, what you did, what you wore, how you behaved, and even your name. You could be sold or killed at the discretion of your owner, because due to your skin color you were not considered fully human.
The dehumanization of unborn babies does not involve skin color, but age. Pro-abortion advocates argue that a baby is not a baby until a certain point in gestation, or even until after birth. They rename the unborn baby a fetus, tissue, a blob of cells, a fish, animalistic, a parasite, a fertilized egg, a burden, and a disease in order remove its humanity, opening up the option of 'choice'.
So let's follow the money for the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. At the top of the organization the CEO of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, draws a $400,000 dollar annual salary. According to the Chiaroscuro Foundation Report, "Does Planned Parenthood Need or Deserve Federal Funds?" March, 2011, Planned Parenthood has nearly 1 billion dollars in assets. Life Issues Institute published the "Planned Parenthood Fact Page", 2011, which lists $500 million in profits for the entity in the last nine years. On top of this, they received half a billion dollars from the federal government.
If you looked at this from a financial perspective, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers will lose a lot of money if abortion is banned after a fetal heartbeat is detected. It is only logical that they will fight to prevent any changes to a very profitable law via any means necessary. For example, North Dakota passed HB 1456, or the Heartbeat Bill, which would ban abortions after a heartbeat is detected. Also passed were SB 2368 that bans abortion after a period that the baby in utero can feel pain, SCR 4009 which protects human life at every stage of development; and HB 1305 bans abortions based on sex or genetic abnormalities. The pro-abortion juggernaut immediately rolled into action, first condemning HB 1456 in the media for not providing exception to allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, or maternal health issues. Second, the Center for Reproductive Rights based in New York, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the only abortion clinic in the state, the Red River Valley Women's Clinic. The lawsuit succeeded in temporarily blocking the bill in July, but has failed in blocking the other legislation.
To recap, 66,000 babies have been aborted in North Dakota since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973. Abortion violates the most basic human right, the right to life. Abortion clinics are 'for profit' enterprises. North Dakota has introduced legislation to limit abortion. North Dakota is now being sued by representatives of the abortion industry, in order to remove the legislation.
I am a woman; I am pro-life. I believe that life starts at conception. I believe that even the tiniest of unborn babies have a right to life. I support any legislation that eliminates the legality of abortion. I support any law that helps mothers to deliver their babies, instead of aborting them. Supporting organizations and events that value life is something that I want to do, and model for my children.
The flag campaign that Maria and Eric Wanchic founded eventually reached Fargo, and the flags flew brightly from the lawn in front of St. Mary's Cathedral. When it was time for the display to come down and travel on, my girls and I were among the volunteers. I watched as my precious children gathered in their hands the flags that represented other children, who would never have a chance to live. That was a hard moment for me because there were so many flags, and it brought home exactly how many had died, and who had died, in one vivid picture.
-Crystal Knecht
$66,000 would be a nice chunk of change in the bank. 66,000 pounds of flour would make a lot of cake. 66,000 miles would be far away from Fargo, North Dakota. What about 66,000 people? That is a lot of people: approximately one tenth of the population of our state. 66,000 babies have been aborted in North Dakota since it became legal on January 22, 1973. That puts a new context to that big number, doesn't it?
So, what's the big deal; abortion is legal, right? I know that this analogy has been used before, but slavery in the United States was legal. Slavery and abortion could both be described as cheap, easy, and convenient for people. The people who sold and owned slaves made a lot of money, and protested ending it. People who run abortion clinics make a lot of money, and will fight any legislation that threatens their business. Pro-slavery advocates helped push through laws that upheld slavery, with one example being a statute that imposed a five year prison sentence for questioning slavery in Kansas.
How can I draw an equal sign between slavery and abortion? They both involve people who were denied the basic human right to life through dehumanization, for
the purpose of making money. If your skin were black, others decided where you lived, what you did, what you wore, how you behaved, and even your name. You could be sold or killed at the discretion of your owner, because due to your skin color you were not considered fully human.
The dehumanization of unborn babies does not involve skin color, but age. Pro-abortion advocates argue that a baby is not a baby until a certain point in gestation, or even until after birth. They rename the unborn baby a fetus, tissue, a blob of cells, a fish, animalistic, a parasite, a fertilized egg, a burden, and a disease in order remove its humanity, opening up the option of 'choice'.
So let's follow the money for the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. At the top of the organization the CEO of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, draws a $400,000 dollar annual salary. According to the Chiaroscuro Foundation Report, "Does Planned Parenthood Need or Deserve Federal Funds?" March, 2011, Planned Parenthood has nearly 1 billion dollars in assets. Life Issues Institute published the "Planned Parenthood Fact Page", 2011, which lists $500 million in profits for the entity in the last nine years. On top of this, they received half a billion dollars from the federal government.
If you looked at this from a financial perspective, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers will lose a lot of money if abortion is banned after a fetal heartbeat is detected. It is only logical that they will fight to prevent any changes to a very profitable law via any means necessary. For example, North Dakota passed HB 1456, or the Heartbeat Bill, which would ban abortions after a heartbeat is detected. Also passed were SB 2368 that bans abortion after a period that the baby in utero can feel pain, SCR 4009 which protects human life at every stage of development; and HB 1305 bans abortions based on sex or genetic abnormalities. The pro-abortion juggernaut immediately rolled into action, first condemning HB 1456 in the media for not providing exception to allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, or maternal health issues. Second, the Center for Reproductive Rights based in New York, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the only abortion clinic in the state, the Red River Valley Women's Clinic. The lawsuit succeeded in temporarily blocking the bill in July, but has failed in blocking the other legislation.
To recap, 66,000 babies have been aborted in North Dakota since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973. Abortion violates the most basic human right, the right to life. Abortion clinics are 'for profit' enterprises. North Dakota has introduced legislation to limit abortion. North Dakota is now being sued by representatives of the abortion industry, in order to remove the legislation.
I am a woman; I am pro-life. I believe that life starts at conception. I believe that even the tiniest of unborn babies have a right to life. I support any legislation that eliminates the legality of abortion. I support any law that helps mothers to deliver their babies, instead of aborting them. Supporting organizations and events that value life is something that I want to do, and model for my children.
The flag campaign that Maria and Eric Wanchic founded eventually reached Fargo, and the flags flew brightly from the lawn in front of St. Mary's Cathedral. When it was time for the display to come down and travel on, my girls and I were among the volunteers. I watched as my precious children gathered in their hands the flags that represented other children, who would never have a chance to live. That was a hard moment for me because there were so many flags, and it brought home exactly how many had died, and who had died, in one vivid picture.
-Crystal Knecht