Conference 2005

Think the hot spot in Lansing Saturday, October 1, was the Michigan vs. Michigan State game? THINK AGAIN! It was the Right to Life of Michigan 32nd Annual Conference. The one-day event was lively and current with some of the most acclaimed prolife speakers in the U.S. discussing issues facing our country and the world today.

Addressing the attendees were Austin Ruse, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) President; Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Senior Fellow for Legal Studies at the Family Research Council; and Wesley J. Smith, award winning author and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute.

Ruse, who spends his days fighting for life, human rights and family issues at the United Nations, spoke to the group during the morning General Session. Ruse described the feeling that evil surrounds him and his colleagues when they enter the U.N., spurring them to work harder for every inch of ground that is gained on behalf of human life.

Keynote speaker Cathy Cleaver Ruse announced that “our time is now!” The reversal of Roe vs. Wade can happen and now is the time with the sudden shift in the U.S. Supreme Court and that most Americans are opposed to abortion.

Cleaver Ruse said she feels comfortable with the recent confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. The confirmation hearings, she explained, focused almost entirely on the abortion issue as pro-abortion Senators repeatedly used code words like “stare (pronounced starry) decisis.” Repeated references to this doctrine of precedent were failed attempts to get Roberts to promise to uphold Roe vs. Wade as the law of the land.
The final General Session brought the vision and eloquence of Wesley J. Smith. Smith provided an insider’s view to the world of biotechnology and the current state of stem cell research and human cloning. Smith said as friends, family members and neighbors we all have to talk about the great strides made with adult and umbilical cord stem cells because the mainstream media will not.

Two of Michigan’s outstanding prolifers were awarded the 2005 Life Achievement Award. Honored this year were Dr. John Barkay, a Detroit Osteopathic Family Physician, and Reverend Michael J. Shea, Director of St. Lazare’s Retreat House in Spring Lake. This distinction is awarded to individuals who have led the way with their outstanding prolife work helping women and protecting innocent human life.

Workshops held twice during the day offered topics including Hope and Healing After an Abortion with Beth Bauer, Diocese of Gaylord Social Justice Director; How a Church Can and Should Be Involved in the Prolife Movement with Rev. Joel Allen Hess, Pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chillicothe, Ohio, Responding to life And Death: Are You Prepared? with Ed Rivet, Right to Life of Michigan Legislative Director and Fact Finding Online with Pamela Sherstad, Right to Life of Michigan Public Information Director.

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