President's Message: Standing Together to Protect Children

What an accomplishment! Thousands upon thousands of Michigan citizens stepped forward in the wintery Michigan weather to defend the sanctity of human life through their active participation in The People’s Override.

Ordinary citizens have stood strong to say enough is enough. A baby partially born should not be denied legal protections and the right to continue her/his life’s journey.

As I start each of my columns, I always search for a quotation to express my thoughts. This month I’ve chosen the following one because I think it applies to all of the people who participated in The People’s Override.

“Change is a pilgrimage through time. Often, it progresses slowly; occasionally, there is a champion that hurries it forward.”

During this petition drive I have come to know many individuals who are champions of life, who have become witnesses on behalf of the unborn. This column only allows me to give you a sample of these champions.

• a woman from Detroit who made crosses to sell at her church, sending us a money order to “save the children” and the eleven-year-old girl from Bad Axe who sent $5 to help in the collection of signatures
• the eleven year old boy from Farwell who, for his school project of writing a letter to the local newspaper, chose to write about partial birth abortion asking the Governor to “save and protect these little bitty gifts from God”
• the Hillsdale college students who collected signatures from 17 different counties
• the Woodhaven high school students who were not old enough to sign or circulate our petition so circulated one of their own sending a letter to members of the Michigan legislature “to encourage all of you to do whatever you can to persuade Governor Jennifer Granholm to reverse her decision in the veto of the partial birth abortion act”
• the e-mail from Eric who stated that his experience “in gathering signatures was fantastic. Finally a real reason to discuss the topic with perfect strangers. I discussed the partial birth procedure with many persons, about 98% were outraged by it”
• And, of course, the many pastors and religious leaders who preached and encouraged their congregation members to participate in this citizen effort.

The People’s Override has given us great opportunities to educate and inform our fellow citizens on what really happens in an abortion, how abortion is legal throughout the whole nine months of pregnancy, that an overwhelming majority of our state lawmakers are opposed to abortion, and that it was only the actions of one person, Governor Jennifer Granholm, that stopped the original Legal Birth Definition Act from becoming law.

Thank you all for being “champions” for life and hurrying our progress forward.

Back to the table of contents