Teachers Saving Children^® Inc. - National

As stories of heroism and self-sacrifice flow in from New York and Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood has devised its own unique way to "help."

Rather than celebrating and supporting precious life, local chapters of Planned Parenthood are offering to end the lives of unborn babies - for free. In a bid to help women affected by the World Trade Center attack, Planned Parenthood of New York City announced the offer of free "reproductive health care" services.

The news stunned Jim Sediak, of STOPP (Stop Planned Parenthood) International.

"When we saw the announcement we immediately called them and said, 'Does that include abortion?' And they said, 'Absolutely. We will give free abortions here at our clinics in New York City for the next ten days.'"

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Ali Bartolone said the public is responding.

"I can tell you that we're seeing 100 percent show rates for appointments, that our phones have been ringing off the hook," Bartolone said. "Basically, this is just our way of being able to contribute."

Rosemary Lee, who directs a crisis pregnancy center in Manhattan, sees it differently.

"In other words, we don't have enough evil with the World Trade Center with the loss of life, and they want to extend that evil?" Lee said. "I mean, it's going to take years for us to recover from the World Trade Center. And they're adding to it because they're killing, also."

Sediak said Planned Parenthood's response to calamity is, itself, a tragedy.

"For example, a few years ago when there were problems in Kosovo and there were big refugee camps, Planned Parenthood responded by sending in abortion kits to give to the women in the camps," Sediak said.

In New York, meantime, the unseen death toll now grows.

Editor's Note: "Free Abortions in NYC" by Dave Clark, Family News in Focus. Copyright ©2001, Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.

"In the vast toll of casualties wreaked September 11, one that has barely been mentioned to date is the number of babies who will be born in the coming months already having lost their fathers."

In the aftermath of the detestable, horrific terrorist attacks, it seems as if every week produces a new batch of American heroes.

We all know about the magnificently courageous acts of the hundreds of police officers, fire fighters, and emergency medical workers, many of whom lost their lives saving others. Likewise, we can only stand in awe of the sacrificial courage of passengers on a fourth highjacked airplane who evidently fought with their captors. While they gave their lives when the plane went down, there is good reason to believe that had they not bravely risen to the challenge, our nation's capitol would have been hit.

But there is still another category of heroes about whom little has been written. They are small in number but big in heart, part of a different kind of rescue operation following the atrocities of September 11. Those heroes or, more precisely, those heroines, also deserve our recognition and our gratitude.

On that terrible September day dozens of the men who died left behind widows who were pregnant. With their deaths, a new and tragic sorority of single mothers was created.

Those women, some already with other children, have been left to face an unknown future. Surely, said some people, they will want abortions. Given the circumstances, said others, those fatherless children would be better off not being born.

However, in spite of all the financial and emotional burdens, "not one of the expectant mothers interviewed by Newsday said they regretted being pregnant," Newsday's Roni Rabin wrote. "Their pregnancies harbor little nuggets of the person they loved, and they can't wait to hold their newborns."

Rabin's magnificent October 15 story begins with these extraordinary paragraphs:

"For years, Danielle Salerno and her husband, John played tug-of-war on the subject of children. He was desperate to have a baby. She wanted to travel. His career at Cantor Fitzgerald was taking off. She didn't want to be tied down. He was established; she was trying to start a handbag business.

"Last spring, Danielle Salerno had a change of heart. She got pregnant immediately and was almost four months along when John was killed in the World Trade Center attack.

"'It's a miracle,' Salerno, 30, a native of Port Washington who lives in Westfield, N.J., said of her pregnancy. 'I consider myself very lucky. I don't think I could have been able to handle all the years we've had together and having really nothing left, only photographs.'

"I just wish he'd had a chance to see his child. ... Nobody wanted a child more than John.'"

Another, whose child was born after the terrorist attack, told Rabin, "I thank God every day that I have this little girl to help me get through every day."

These gallant widows and mothers are embracing the good in life by protecting the little lives growing within them. They have protected their unborn children (and themselves), refusing to buckle under to the pressures of a culture whose "solution" to personal and economic problems so often is abortion.

September 11 has been dubbed "The Great Divide" because, it is said, life will never be the same again. Surely, it will be vastly different for these widowed moms who now face life without their loved ones and with new financial challenges.

However, it is important that another kind of "Great Divide" not be overlooked, lost in the bigger picture. That is the chasm that separates the response of pro-lifers and those who market death.

Incredibly, Planned Parenthood of New York City responded to the tragedy of September 11 by offering free abortions to these unfortunate widows. I suspect Americans of all views on abortion found it hard to imagine an organization so callous as to answer the killing of thousands of innocent Americans by offering to kill hundreds more innocent Americans. Under the guise of an act of "charity," Planned Parenthood's solution to mass destruction is more destruction.

Is it an accident that the Greek word translated "charity" in the New Testament can also be translated "love"? Of course not, for true charity is love, the giving of oneself to another without expecting anything in return.

Nothing could be more alien to an organization such as Planned Parenthood than agape love.

Pro-life President George W. Bush has been remarkably eloquent in this time of great national trial. The President recently said, "Grief, tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance and love have no end."

The courageous, heroic pregnant widows of the Trade Center attack are living proof of that reality and that historic truth.

Editor's Note: The above article by Jean Garton was originally published in the National Right to Life News, November 2001 edition. Reprinted in its entirety with permission.

We need to encourage NEA members who represent our philosophy to run for delegate; it is an unforgettable experience that every educator should have at least once in his or her career. We need delegates who believe that our dues money should not be spent to support abortion and should not be spent to support any issue that is not directly related to education.

If you have made the choice of maintaining union membership, please help us by becoming a "Voice for Life" amongst our colleagues. Now is the time to run for NEA delegate. It's so simple. Just contact your NEA State Affiliate office and/or your local association president for complete information. Don't make it complicated by campaigning, because if the Lord wants you to be a delegate, you'll win!

If you cannot attend the NEA convention, please encourage other educators who share our views to consider becoming a delegate. Get involved either as a candidate and/or educate yourself about the candidates. Then PRAY and VOTE!

Last spring individuals contributed $3941.00 towards the TSC exhibit at the NEA Expo 2001; TSC spent $3758.24 of the total amount contributed. Your generosity helped TSC pay the exhibit expenses and provide free educational materials to hundreds of teachers. Once again we are asking for your generosity so that we might expose more individuals to the "awesome" truth of a little child growing in his/her mother.

Please make checks payable to "TSC Inc. - National" and designate any amount towards this endeavor as "NEA Exhibit." Each child born into this world will thank you for your contribution, no matter how large or small, towards educating teachers about "The Wonder of Life."

On Saturday, November 17, 2001, the Teachers Saving Children^® Inc - National web site was uploaded for the first time. Please take time to check out the site. The site includes information about the national organization and the three affiliate state chapters. It also includes copies of the TSC newsletters, brochures, and other published materials. There are still some links that are "Under Construction". At the present time the site will be updated at least bi-monthly. The TSC National Board of Trustees thanks everyone for their patience; it was a 2+ year project that was entirely completed with volunteer time. A special thanks to Richard Hewer and Jay Johanson both of whom gave valuable input and assistance with the site construction and completion.