F&L Project Report

09.06.2023

Washington DC Pro-Life Delegation:

I am extremely proud to say that our interns have received an overwhelming amount of praise, and I hope it brings you a sense of great hope to see the impact that our intern programme at Family & Life made, not just in Ireland, but also in the United States and at the UN in Geneva and New York.

Tom McClusky, the Director of Politics at the US March for Life, helped me arrange many of the pro-life meetings on Capitol Hill this past March, including with Congressman Chris Smith and Senator Cindy Hyde Smith, the first woman senator from Mississippi.

Tom’s call was a true testament to the impact of our pro-life delegation on the members of Congress. As Tom expressed his gratitude, his words painted a vivid picture of how our interns left the lawmakers impressed and inspired. “Articulate”, “deep knowledge”, “compelling” and “persuasive” were some of the qualities Tom used to describe this year’s delegation. Hearing such high praise should make us immensely proud of the work we do to develop young leaders who will champion Faith, Life and Family.

Pro-Life Public Meetings:

Family & Life held information meetings to highlight the barbarity of late-term abortions and encourage volunteers to distribute our late-term abortion leaflet in their areas. Our most recent meetings were in Dun Laoghaire, Limerick and Roscommon. The attendees were very encouraged and determined to continue the fight for the unborn, particularly against the cruel late-term abortion practice.

Introduce the Personal Update to a Friend or Parish: If you enjoy reading the Personal Update and can think of someone who would enjoy receiving it, please ask them to contact us at: info@familyandlife.org with their name and contact number, and we will make sure they receive a free copy. If you are interested in distributing copies at your church (and with your Parish Priest’s permission), just call the Dublin office or email me at the address above.

Breaking the Consensus:

Over the past year we have interviewed some great speakers with a vital message, and their interviews remain online doing good long after the event. Some of the most popular events include Ted McClusky, a Leading US Pro-Life activist, Peter D Williams of the Anscombe Bioethical Centre on the dangers of legalised euthanasia, Pro-Life activist, Vicky Wall of Every Life Counts on the challenges facing the pro-life movement in Ireland, Headmaster Richard Casey on setting up an independent Catholic Primary School in Limerick, and humanitarian, Alexandre Goodarzy who was kidnapped by Islamic extremists in Iraq. They can be viewed on our Facebook pages, or on our YouTube channel.

One recent worry is an extreme abortion bill sponsored by People Before Profit, which passed the first stage of voting in the Dáil. It removes all restrictions on abortion so that it can be obtained at any time for any reason. The Bill expands a diagnosis of “fatal foetal abnormality” from 28 days to a full year. We are currently working with our volunteers around the country to organise opposition with local TD’s.

Webinars:

Just the past month, we've had some fascinating guests to show our audience:

An Interview with Isabel Vaughan-Spruce who was criminally charged for "praying in her mind" in front of an abortion centre, later found Not Guilty.

Fr Sean Gough, a Priest from Wolverhampton, England, that was charged after holding a “praying for free speech” sign near an abortion centre censorship zone. He was later found NOT GUILTY on all charges.

Prof Gerard Casey, a well renowned and respected academic on the government's so called ‘Hate Bill’ which is a severe threat to free speech.

A webinar with Alan Hynes of the Catholic Education Partnership on forcing gender ideology onto school and what parents can do to stop it.

Exorcist Priest, Fr Sean Mannion on the topic of exorcisms and spirituality in contrast to media and Hollywood deceptions.

We also have a very anticipated interview with Nigerian Bishop, Maigida Nzukwein on the deadly persecution suffered by Christians at the hands of terrorist fundamentalists in North Nigeria.

Social Media:

We have had an incredible response since mid-November, when millions of people viewed our posts. In a two-week period in early December, three million people viewed our Facebook pages. This is incredible! 200,000 people reacted to one post alone, which was copied to the profiles of 31,000 people, thereby reaching a further audience of 1.3 million and receiving 90,000 “likes” with a total of 18,500 people posting comments. This high engagement trend has so far continued in the months following.

Throughout, we had a number of posts that went viral; the pro-life celebrity, Joy Villa’s story of choosing life for her child was liked 43,000 times on our Protect Life page, and shared 7,000 times with 3,000 comments, many of whom had a similar experience.

These are incredible numbers and a good indication that the pro-life movement is growing, and that our arguments create debate and change of heart and mind. As we’ve mentioned before, each social media post is uniquely designed to show the reality and dangers of abortion. We regularly receive comments from young women who were contemplating abortion but changed their minds after viewing our message. Others have shared it with their friends and family who were once pro-abortion.

Other Media and Our Pro-life Videos:

Just like Facebook, other social media platforms like Instagram are useful tools in spreading the pro-life message. They tend to cater to a younger audience.

Twitter has long suppressed the pro-life message and has favoured pro-abortion activism for over a decade. The recent change in ownership has presented us with a chance to give the unborn a voice on the platform and hopefully save babies’ lives.

Our pages can be found on:

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Here are a few of the comments that we recently received:

Back in 2001 my girlfriend had an abortion, and what makes it even worse, it was my idea. Living with it every day, every moment, is a hardship I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy—Tom

I had something similar to this beautiful child who has defied all the odds to live 27 years—Orla was told that her baby would die at birth.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I took 13 years away from my job to be at home with my kids. It was a financial sacrifice, but absolutely no regrets—Mary

As an adopting parent, I cannot express my constant gratitude to my child’s biological parents—Barb

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LifeZine: Don’t forget to sign up for the very popular LifeZine, our email news bulletin. When you sign up for LifeZine, you will be kept up to date on life and family news at home and abroad on a regular basis. We will also update you on coming events such as webinars, public meetings, petitions and lobbying campaigns.

F&L Project Report

09.06.2023

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