Editor: Janine Hansen
Vol. 38 No. 1
This year’s full-page ad will appear in the Reno Gazette Journal, Reno News and Review and the Elko Daily Free Press on and around January 22, 2012 which marks the 38th anniversary of the horrendous Roe v Wade Supreme Court Decision. It will be a full-page color ad including sponsor names. See sample ad in this Newsletter.
The cost of the full-page ad this year will be over $6,000. Your support is vital to the success of the advertisement. In past years the Choose Life Coalition, including Nevada Families/Eagle Forum, has published the names of over 400 supporters in the advertisement. This is an opportunity to show our state and federal elected officials that there is a vital, active, and committed pro-life movement in Nevada. It is always a huge challenge to get enough sponsors to pay for the ad. This is particularly true since the economy is down.
Please fill out and mail, fax, phone or email the Sponsorship Form in this Newsletter, or contribute on line. Deadline January 17th, mailing deadline January 13th.
No Pro-Life Rally will be held this year. Other organizations we worked with decided not to have the Rally.
“Personhood Initiative Threatens Pro-Life Future”
Last week Nevada District Court Judge James Wilson ruled that one of two “personhood” initiatives could begin collecting signatures in Nevada to qualify for the November 2012 ballot. These petitions are similar to the “Personhood” initiative in 2009 that failed to pass the single subject rule scrutiny, so it was not circulated.
Judge Wilson ruled Nevada’s 2012 Personhood initiative to be vague, just as another judge ruled two years ago and as we predicted.
Judge Wilson allowed a previously unknown group, the “Nevada Pro-life Coalition,” permission to start collecting signatures for their “Nevada Pro-life Coalition Amendment” personhood initiative.
We oppose this so-called “Nevada Pro-Life Coalition Amendment” and encourage you not to sign the petition.
We remain totally committed to the Right to Life of the innocent unborn however, Nevada’s long- standing coalition of pro-life organizations and leaders are not involved with or support this Amendment for the following reasons.
1. The petition, rewritten by Judge Wilson, expresses the anti-life position of the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, hence no Pro-Lifer should support this amendment. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood argued against the original amendment in court and considered the rewrite of the explanation by the judge to be a victory for them and indeed it was. The petition will not mean what the authors of the original Amendment wrote in their petition, but what the judge mandated in his interpretation. His rewrite of the initiative guarantees its defeat and will seriously damage Pro-Life efforts.
Judge Wilson wrote in part, “The initiative would protect a prenatal person regardless of whether or not the prenatal person would live, grow or develop in the womb or survive birth; prevent all abortions even in the case of rape, incest, or serious threats to the woman’s health or life, or when a woman is suffering from a miscarriage, or as an emergency treatment for an ectopic pregnancy. The initiative will impact some right Nevada women currently have to utilize some forms of birth control, including the ‘pill;’ and to access certain fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization. The initiative will affect embryonic stem cell research, which offers potential for treating diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, and others.” p 10.
Although we disagree with almost all the interpretations of Judge Wilson’s rewrite, we would particularly like to point out that embryonic stem cell research has not been successful in treating any disease. All successful treatments have utilized ethical adult stem cell research.
2. It would be a legal catastrophe. This initiative would not stop a single abortion and would be immediately overturned. It would give the Supreme Court another chance to reaffirm Roe v. Wade, strengthen abortion law and possibly declare abortion a fundamental right. That would eliminate numerous pro-life protections for both mother and child which have saved millions of lives. The court could also uphold it without applying it to abortion, making the initiative meaningless.
3. These so-called “Personhood” initiatives have been financial and political windfalls for “abortion advocates, abortion leaders, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU”. Just last month, a “Personhood” initiative suffered a devastating defeat in Mississippi, one of the most pro-life states in the nation, where it was trounced 42% to 58%. Even more devastating were the losses in Colorado in 2008 and 2010, where it lost by more than 30% to 70%.
Pro-abortion advocates have used these initiatives as fund raising tools with great success to pour money into campaigns of pro-abortion candidates. These produce catastrophic results for the Pro-Life Cause and pro-life candidates. This pro-abortion funding boon is why only four pro-life initiatives have ever succeeded in America since Roe v Wade. Significantly, these initiatives were very limited in scope and included only parental involvement and taxpayer funding of abortion.
4. This initiative is a serious threat to the dramatic pro-life gains and efforts made over many years. Similar “Personhood” petitions have led to no victories but only catastrophic losses for the Pro-Life Cause and absolutely no reduction in the numbers of abortions. In addition, these initiatives are a futile waste of valuable pro-life resources while saving no lives. Pro-life voters should not sign this dangerous petition. We call on the petitioners to immediately withdraw their petition.
We as dedicated Pro-Lifers, who have worked long and hard to effect meaningful legislation which would protect all human life from conception, through birth until natural death, are committed to electing Pro-Life legislators who will sponsor and pass legislation which would reasonably and successfully protect human life from beginning to end.
Nevada Eagle Forum, President Janine Hansen,
Nevada Right to Life & Pro Life League, President Melissa Clement
Nevada Life, President Don Nelson
Nevada Families Association, Vice Chairman Lynn Chapman
Independent American Party, State Chairman John Wagner Other Organizations will be added.
PRO-LIFE AD SPONSORSHIP FORM (click Here)
The ad will appear on or near Sunday, Jan. 22ndin the various newspapers. The cost of the full- page color ad in the various Nevada newspapers will be over $6,000. Your donations above the $25 are greatly appreciated and will help with additional costs.
“Choose Life--that you and your descendants may live.”
Nevada Families Eagle Forum Newsletter is published 12 times a year. The Subscription price is $25.00.