Hatred & Water-Balloon-Condoms Thrown at March For Lifers in Berlin

Bryan Kemper writes on his blog of his experience at the March for Life in Berlin on September 18. Unless you read this post, you're really not going to be able to comprehend the nature of the pro-abortion lobby in Germany, and the kind of thing we're going to be up against here in New Zealand if we continue to attempt to "take away women's reproductive rights"...

Bryan writes,

Besides the 1,800 pro-lifers in attendance; there were hundreds of riot police to protect us from the over 500 pro-abortion protesters who came to interrupt and attempt to attack us.

Our team went early to the site of the march to witness to the pro-abortion protestors and share the Gospel with them. We stood right in the middle of their gathering and just began talking to many of the young people there who seemed to hate us so much.

As the time for the march came closer we made our way to the stage to get prepared for Michel and me to give our talks. I was getting so excited as I was meeting young people from all over the world gathered there to jump start a youth pro-life revolution in Europe.

I was so impressed by the resolve of the pro-lifers as the pro-abortion protesters started to mix into our crowd and begin screaming vulgarities at us. Two lesbians walked to the front of the stage and began to make out in an attempt to shock us; they were just ignored as we kept on with the program.

Police hold the counter-protesters at bay

When I got up to speak the pro-abortion protesters were enraged as they announced an American coming up to speak. When they saw that I looked more like them then the rest of the pro-lifers I think it made them angrier. I shared my testimony about coming to Christ and then an encouraging pro-life message. I fired up the young people, challenging them to make sure that we always have the courage to stand up for Christ and for life.

As the organizers began to pass out white crosses to the pro-life marchers, many on the other side began to steal crosses so they could hold them upside down. As we took formation in the street, the pro-aborts were lining up beside us screaming the most foul and sexual things at the pro-lifers. They were holding the crosses upside down, waving rubber sexual organs and throwing condoms filled with water at us...

Read the full article here.

Family Planning Association Comes Under Fire in Wellington Pro-Life March

On Friday Stop Family Planning held their third march expressing opposition to the Abortion Supervisory Committee granting the Family Planning Association an abortion licence. The march was supported by Family First, Right to Life, Family Life International and Prolife NZ.

click here for more photos of the march

Accompanied by two police cars and two policemen on motorbikes the crowd of around 200 marchers made their way slowly from Civic Square to the steps of Parliament. The march was held at lunchtime, with thousands of workers in the CBD walking past the protest on their lunch-breaks. Several passers-by joined in the march and were given one of the many placards we had available. The rain eventually set in, however we pressed on - Simeon and I took turns on our new megaphone, informing observers of the purpose of our march and general information about abortion in New Zealand. We made such statements as,

"New Zealand already has an unacceptably high abortion rate; 18,000 abortions every year, and the Family Planning Association wants to commit even more... is that ok?"

"Did you know, under New Zealand's abortion law, a child has to have a permission slip from their parents for the school nurse to give them a panadol, however that same child can have an abortion without their parents' notification, or consent... is that ok?"

The marchers left no doubt in anyone's minds, with their vocal response, "NO!"

It was great to see such a big turnout, in particular with young people joining in the protest against the FPA's attempts at expanding abortion coverage and availability to young women throughout New Zealand. We are now gearing up for two more marches, details will be available soon on the Stop Family Planning website.

Meantime, the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand's spokesperson Dame Margaret Sparrow speaks for her dwindling and ageing membership (of under 200), where she incorrectly states that,

"...many of the ideas (and probably a lot of the money) come from the U.S., where Stop Planned Parenthood looks a lot like Stop Family Planning."

Naturally, we are building on the work STOPP has been involved in in the States, however we are an entirely grassroots-based campaign, with no money or advice coming in from the States at this time.

What's wrong with the FPA getting the license? Women and girls of any age, with or without their parent's knowledge or consent would be able to go into an FPA abortion clinic and receive counselling on their crisis pregnancy. Since the FPA is pro-abortion and has a vested interest in women choosing abortion as they will gain financially, there will be a strong emphasis on the benefits of going ahead with an abortion. (read more)

March For Democracy Hijacked

Children's author reporter David Gadd writes for Fairfax owned Stuff.co.nz, putting forward his version of what took place at the March for Democracy in Auckland earlier today. "Hundreds march over government inaction" reads the headline, immediately followed by the opening statement, "Up to 5,000 people marched up Auckland's Queen Street today..." Technically a gathering of this number can be referred to as hundreds, i.e. fifty hundreds, but that's just preposterous, it is a well-recognised convention that such a figure is referred to as thousands. Meanwhile at the Government radio station website, Radio New Zealand, the wordy headline makes the following fallacious claim, "About 1,000 protesters called on the Government to make referendums binding at a march in central Auckland on Saturday afternoon." The clearly disingenuous attempt to lie about the actual turnout at the march is quickly followed with the claim that the purpose of the march was to call for binding referendums. This false claim was also voiced by the news reader on TV3 as the first line in their opening story on the march. The stated purpose of the march has always been to stand up for democracy - think of that what you will, however it is ridiculous to twist a side issue that only some of the protesters may themselves espouse into the primary purpose of the march. The same pathetic attempt to rewrite events in such a blatantly simple way took place following the Christchurch march against the Anti-Smacking bill in March 2007.

The Herald and TV3 (both non-government funded) to their credit, managed to get at least the headlines of their stories correct.

Christchurch Protest Against Family Planning Abortion Bid

Peter Coleman (Right to Life President) and me

Today I took part in my first anti-abortion protest march. Right to Life hosted a march in opposition to the Family Planning Association's (FPA) application to the Abortion Supervisory Committee for a licence to commit abortions on foetuses up to 9 weeks at their Hamilton centre. The protest went well as we walked from Cathedral Square to the Family Planning Centre. The FPA has stated that they wish to convert their 30 branches throughout New Zealand into abortion clinics, and so their recent application signals the catalyst for a slew of brand new abortion clinics up and down our country.

What's wrong with the FPA getting the license? Women and girls of any age, with or without their parent's knowledge or consent would be able to go into an FPA abortion clinic and receive counselling on their crisis pregnancy. Since the FPA is

foetus, 7wks from conception

pro-abortion and has a vested interest in women choosing abortion as they will gain financially, there will be a strong emphasis on the benefits of going ahead with an abortion. A certifying consultant will likely be present at the clinic, and able to sign off the form. Two certifying consultants are requried to approve abortions, and so a second consultant may be called by phone and asked "to approve an abortion for Jane". Of course this won't be an issue. In 2007 one certifying consultant approved 1,000 abortions and declined none. The task of certifying consultants to determine if a woman's situation justifies her having an abortion is nothing more than a farce, with 98.7% of abortions being granted on the mental health grounds of the mother in 2007. This is one thing that pro-abortion and pro-life advocates are quick to agree upon. Once the certifying consultants are out of the way, the woman can be given the first dose of the two-part deadly, and expensive drug. The drugs required for an RU486 abortion cost approximately $600. The first dose will starve the baby of essential nutrients while the second dose initiates contractions, resulting in the birth of the baby - usually dead, but occasionally alive, dying minutes afterwards. The Most Tranquil blog has a good post with the low down on RU486. It would also mean that towns currently without an abortion clinic - but that have a local Family Planning branch will have much easier access to abortions.

More photos from the march are at the Stop Family Planning website.

Pro-Lifers Shut Down: US, Australia

In Australia, attempts to stop pro-lifers from approaching women going into abortion clinics are heightened, with a proposed new law that would create a 50-metre no-go area surrounding Australia's largest abortion mill.

"The Victorian Government has been asked to create a 50m protest-free "bubble zone" around the entrance of Australia's largest provider of abortion services...
The zone... would effectively end a 16-year campaign by anti-abortion groups to dissuade women from entering the Fertility Control Clinic in East Melbourne..
Protester Dave Forster said such a zone would prevent protesters approaching women seeking abortion. "There would be a minimum distance that we would be required to stay outside of, and I guess it would mean that we are not allowed within 50 metres of the clinic," he said." - The Australian (2 September 2008)

The Constant Joy blog covered this travesty of freedom of speech a couple of days ago,

"By placing a bubble zone around the Fertility Control Clinic, the government would be limiting the protesters' democratic rights. One of the principles of democracy allows all individuals the freedom of speech, so both the abortion clinic and the protesters should therefore be able to have their say - but neither should be able to stop the other from voicing their views. As Voltaire said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.'" - Constant Joy

What we have here, is a petty little bylaw being put forward, which if it came into law, would specify a 50metre perimeter of public land surrounding an abortion mill as being a restricted-access area - but only to such people as disagreed with what terrible attrocities were being carried out inside it's walls.  This is a contemporary example of discrimination against citizens of a country on the basis of personal belief.  Does this remind you of anything?

Are you annoyed yet?  We haven't even got started. A month ago (1 August) in the town of Bel Air, Maryland, a dozen or more police officers broke up a peaceful protest staged by members of Defend Life.

"The allegations in the case sound like a 3rd World dictatorship: Police officers talk over before the arrests what charges they'll use, there are no explanations when the arrests are made, the suspects are denied access to legal counsel while in custody, and cops subject suspects to semi-public strip-searches."...
The truth of the matter is that our clients were heckled, arrested, imprisoned, shackled, and strip-searched twice for exercising their First Amendment rights," said attorney Daniel Cox, who is allied with the Alliance Defense Fund is serving as local counsel. "No excuse exists for how our young clients were treated."...
The officers had ordered them off of county property because they did not have a permit to engage in free speech, the report said. And after the arrests, "Three young female participants – including teenagers – were subjected to two rounds of strip-searches," the lawsuit said." - WND

"What happened on August 1st is almost unbelievable, that 18 persons who were peaceably assembled on public property out of harm's way were arrested without any warning and without being told what the charges against them were. None of those arrested were read their rights. Only a few were allowed to make a single phone call.
This decision by the State of Maryland to drop the charges shows that our side of the story was the true story. There were no traffic jams. There were no people running in and out of traffic. There was no refusal to disperse. They plainly and simply violated our First Amendment rights!" - Defend Life Blog

And at the Phatmass blog, a friend of the young people reports,

"The officer followed them, and once they had set up, he came and arrested my friend. He said nothing except for "Turn around, you're under arrest." When she asked why she was under arrest and what her rights were, he ignored her. Then they arrested everyone who was there. It took all night for them to be processed. They were all relased by around 9:30am-- some on bail (out of staters), others just released." - Phatmass Blog

"It's a woman's choice" they tell us.  But as abortion-survivor Gianna Jessen says so aptly, "if abortion is merely about women's rights, then what were mine?"  Consider the young women shown in the photos being handcuffed and carted off to jail; where was their choice?

Is abortion so sacred to the state that they are prepared to illegally arrest and detain citizens who are merely voicing their opinion?  The answer is glaringly obvious, and it is Yes.

Largest Protest Sign in History

Congratulations to the American Right to Life action group who have unfurled the largest protest sign in history (Guiness Book of World Records confirmation pending). This is a fantastic example of a group of people putting in a lot of time and working together to raise awareness of a social injustice, in this case, abortion. Below is a time-lapse video of the construction of the sign.

The sign was 530-feet tall and 666-feet wide, weighed more than 2,700 pounds and was sewn together with more than 4 miles of seams connecting 2,400 twin sheets.

This photo was taken 2 miles away from the sign. "To give you an idea how big those letters are, one letter takes up the space of a junior high school gym" - Jill Stanek

"The tiniest boys and girls should be loved and protected," said American RTL Action president Steve Curtis, "but as nominating Barack Obama emphasizes, the DNC [Democratic National Convention] even supports killing kids in the womb old enough to know their mother's voice, sleep and dream, suck their thumbs, and play with their toes." - ARTL

The Day of Silence Walkout

My sincere commendation to the thousands of brave students who took a stand against a pro-homosexual campaign in the USA.

On April 25, adult homosexual activists with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network held their annual "Day of Silence," or DOS, propaganda push. During DOS, teachers and students in roughly 3,000 middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country are cynically used as culture-war pawns in an effort to legitimize conventionally immoral, objectively deviant and demonstrably high-risk sexual behaviors.

Kids and teachers are encouraged on DOS to disrupt the school day by refusing to speak in class as a show of support to students who self-identify as "GLBT." (No, GLBT has nothing to do with bacon, lettuce and tomato; it's liberalese for "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender.")

DOS purports to confront the alleged systematic harassment and bullying of sexually confused students who consider themselves "GLBT." Naturally, where there is actual bullying, anywhere, anytime, for any reason, those responsible should be firmly disciplined. However, the reality is that DOS has very little to do with "bullying" and has everything to do with pro-homosexual, anti-Christian indoctrination.

Consider that during DOS, many kids who hold time-honored traditional values relative to sexual morality (i.e., that human sexuality is a gift from God to be shared between husband and wife within the bonds of marriage) are frequently and ironically tagged as "hateful," "bigoted" and "homophobic." (Who's doing the bullying?)

But this year, something extraordinary happened on the way to the brainwashing. Kids at schools all over the country stood tall and said, "Enough is enough!" Untold thousands of students participated in a peaceful, pro-family counter effort called the "Day of Silence Walkout."...

from WorldNetDaily.com 2 May 2008

Click here to read the entire article.

mention in the house

On Wednesday 21 November, I was in Wellington for the day, to attend the protest march against the Electoral Finance Bill . Also on the agenda, was collecting signatures for the petition for a referendum on the Anti-Smacking law, and to touch base with some team-members of the "feet on footpaths" group, Unity for Liberty. The next day, the bill passed it's second reading, 65 for, 54 against.

Following the march, I was looking forward to going up to the gallery for an hour or two, to observe the house in session. The security guards at the metal-detector turned me away saying that I was not allowed in due to having taken part in a protest march. I rang Larry Baldock and he gave Gordon Copeland, co-leader of the new Future New Zealand party a call. Thanks to Simeon Brown of nzdebate.blogspot.com for bringing this excerpt of Hansard to my attention.

Thursday 22 November 07 - Points of Order - Parliament Buildings - Public Access

GORDON COPELAND (Independent): I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. On returning to my office yesterday immediately after question time, I discovered that a young man from Christchurch, who is known to me, had been in touch to say that he had been denied access to the parliamentary complex and therefore to the gallery to observe question time. Security had intervened to prevent his entering the parliamentary complex, on the basis that he had participated in yesterday's march in opposition to the Electoral Finance Bill, and because of a ruling from your office, which stipulates that people in that situation are denied entry to the parliamentary complex for 24 hours. I was able to vouch for the young man so that following contact with your office he was eventually admitted to Parliament Buildings and to the gallery late in the afternoon.

However, I found through this incident yesterday that I would like to ask you to reconsider your ruling in regard to that matter—or the ruling of your office, because I am not sure whether it is your ruling or one by one of the former Speakers of the House. I want to suggest to you some reasons why the reconsideration should happen. Firstly, the security arrangements for Parliament Buildings are now far more stringent than was the case, say, 12 months ago. Secondly, I think the application of the ruling is very arbitrary. I had to ask that young man how parliamentary security knew he had been in yesterday's march. He said that he guessed they must have recognised him. You will appreciate that there are sometimes hundreds—if not thousands—of people on such marches. Therefore, a blanket ban of that sort must always be arbitrary in its application. Thirdly, I hold the view that, subject to normal security checks, etc., access to Parliament Buildings should be the right of all New Zealand citizens as part of the fundamental freedom that is a cornerstone of our democracy.

Madam SPEAKER: I would just note that this is a matter that I am prepared to look at. It is not normally a matter for this Chamber. It is not appropriate to bring it up here, but I can indicate that, yes, I am happy to look at the matter, and to get back to both members.

KEITH LOCKE (Green): Madam Speaker, you will remember that I sent you a note on this issue months ago. There is a problem, I think—

Madam SPEAKER: As I indicated to the member, we are taking time from the House at the moment. I have already indicated I am happy to look at the issue. If any other member would like to make a representation on it to me in writing, would he or she please do so, so it can be thoroughly looked at.

From the Hansard.