2008 L.I.F.E. Dinner Report

Last night DBQ Co Right to Life held its annual L.I.F.E. Dinner. It was held at the Grand River Center in DBQ. There were about 280 in attendance. The dinner is a chance for local Pro-Lifers from the area to gather together & to hear a national speaker. It is also a fund raiser for DCRTL. This year about 280 people from the Tri-State area were in attendance.

The keynote speaker this year was Allan Parker J.D., president of The Justice Foundation. Mr. Parker serves as the lead legal counsel for Norma McCorvey, who was “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, and Sandra Cano, who was “Mary Doe” of Doe v. Bolton, in the legal effort to overturn their landmark Supreme Court rulings that brought legalized abortion on demand in America.

In his talk Mr. Parker shared how The Justice Foundation is working to overturn Roe v Wade & Doe v Bolton. They are working with what he calls a 1-2 punch. 1. Refute the great lie that says the unborn child is not human. 2. Refute the lie that abortion is good & safe for women. To do that they have been gathering testimonies of women who have been harmed by abortion through Operation Outcry. Many of these testimonies were used in an amicus brief filed with the US Supreme Court for Gonzales v Carhart. Their brief was cited by the Court in its ruling to uphold the US ban on partial birth abortion.

Through Operation Outcry they hope to gather 1 million declarations from women about how abortion harmed them that can be used in various court cases. But the organization is doing more. It is trying to bring a message of healing to the men & women hurt by abortion. Their message is not one of condemnation but the Gospel message of forgiveness.

He went on to remind us that not all abortions are surgical. IntraUterine Devices (IUDs) can also cause abortion. He shared his story of how his wife & him lost their son Matthew A. Parker due to their using a IUD that caused his death in the womb.

He went on to remind us that the work his organization is doing is simply to get America back to its foundation. That foundation is found in this line from teh Declaration of Independence: "All men are created equal" with certain God given rights including the right to life. (Natural law)

Part of the talk included a video with testimonies of various women hurt by abortion as well as Norma McCorvey sharing some of her story of how she was duped.

After the talk there was a short program honoring Ellen Markham, exective director of DCRTL, who will be retiring this Summer.