Vote No To Chicago Bubble Zone Law

In a direct attack on 40 Days for Life and the rights of local pro-life sidewalk counselors, the Chicago City Council on Wednesday passed a new ordinance intended to cripple 40 Days for Life and silence pro-life free speech within a 50 foot “Bubble Zone” around abortion facilities.

The new city ordinance will not only block sidewalk counseling and pro-life signs within 50 feet of all entrances to an abortion facility, it would also prevent any pro-lifer from being within eight feet of an abortion customer without getting that person’s permission. Anyone found in violation could be fined up to $500.

The law is such a clear violation of First Amendment Constitutional rights that even the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — no friend of the pro-life movement — sided with local pro-life interests in opposing aspects of the ordinance.

According to observers at the council meetings, a Planned Parenthood representative testified that pro-
life vigils make it difficult for women to reach their “services,” while a representative from a local
late-term abortion facility (that has seen business detrimentally affected by 40 Days for Life) directly mentioned the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil as reason to pass the ordinance.

While this is a setback for the Chicago 40 Days for Life, I want to emphasize that this is NOT merely a Chicago issue. Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry are working aggressively to implement Bubble Zone laws like this across the country.

That’s the bad news. But here’s the good news: ** WE CAN STILL DEFEAT THIS BUBBLE ZONE **

Before this bad law goes into effect, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has to approve it. We have a narrow
window of time to convince the mayor to VETO the Bubble Zone ordinance.

PLEASE call Mayor Daley’s office immediately at 312- 744-3300 to say: “Mayor Daley, please don’t restrict
freedom of speech in Chicago. VETO the Bubble Zone ordinance!”

So many calls have already been flooding into the mayor’s office that they’ve set up an automated
system for the public to speak out on the Bubble Zone. If you get the automated system, here are the
steps to follow:

1.) CALL Mayor Daley’s office at 312-744-3300

2.) PRESS 1 to submit your opinion on the Bubble Zone ordinance

3.) Then PRESS 2 to vote NO on the Bubble Zone

To send the mayor a fax instead: 312-744-8045

If we don’t push back hard against this clearly unconstitutional law, Planned Parenthood and the rest of the abortion industry will feel empowered to
trample on the rights of pro-life free speech all across the country.

Please act now — while there’s still time!

Red Cross in Window for Pro-Life

As you know, in the first week of April, the White House received more than 2.25 million empty red envelopes. All together the number of envelopes have surpassed 3 million. Washington insiders consider this one of the largest mail campaigns in our nation’s history.

One week after the red envelopes reached Washington, the Department of Homeland Security issued a document outlining the potential threat “right wing extremists” pose to our country. Without giving examples, the document singled out those who were pro-life, as well as a number of other mainstream points of view, as possible threats to national security. I believe this was the first step toward marginalizing mainstream opposition.

I have received a lot of feedback from men and women who participated in the red envelope movement, asking me what we should do next. A great idea was presented to me, by a man named Jeff. He suggested that we put wooden red crosses on our front lawns to signify our stand as pro-life Americans. I have simplified Jeff’s idea, and I think it is easy for you to do.

At the bottom of this email is a red cross with the word LIFE on it.
1. Right click on it, and copy it into a new document. It should paste to fill the page.
2. Print it out in color.
3. Post it in a prominent window in your home, as a sign of your commitment to LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Pass this on to all of those in your circle of friends who sent the red letters, and let’s stand together.

It will be a statement that you will not be marginalized, and that you are still committed to the unborn. You are not alone, and you can make a difference.

Thanks for your help!

Warmly,

Christ Otto

I have also created bumper stickers and t-shirts at cafepress. Sale proceeds go to support the Red Envelope and other projects.

–
Christ Otto, founder
of the Red Envelope Project

Jesus, I plead your blood over my sin and the sin of my nation. God end abortion and send revival to America.

This is post quoted in its entirety from Chris Otto email.

Red Envelope Day Follow Up

Red Envelope Day was a huge success! Well done! Here’s the email I received from the founder. Please note that there were probably millions of other envelopes that were not tracked.

Dear Friends:

Thank you for your feedback and your help in sending red envelopes to the White House. Because of this grassroots effort, 2.25 million empty red envelopes were put in the mail on Tuesday, March 31. This number does not include those sent before or those sent after. Although we may never hear about how the President responded to this effort, I know that this movement has been a success. Here are a few examples:

The director of one of the largest Pro-Life organizations in the country told me that the red envelope movement has done more to unite and encourage Pro-Life organizations than anything he has seen in his experience.
Thousands of young people, including many children, learned about the value of life, and their right and responsibility to speak to elected officials.
Churches from across the denominational spectrum joined hands in prayer and action.
Hundreds of women who have suffered because of an abortion were given a voice.
The faith of thousands was encouraged as they saw God provide funds for envelopes and stamps. Several organizations printed envelopes, and all of them report that they needed to continue to order more.

So what’s next for this movement?

It is important to continue to be LIFE focused. Two great ways are through education and action. I recommend contacting the Life Issues Institute at [email protected]. I also strongly recommend the work of Bound4LIFE under the direction of Matt Lockhart at [email protected].

And most important of all, pray. Pray that God brings more creative, witty, unusual ideas to promote life. From the pro-abortion emails I have received, it is clear that there isn’t much creativity in their movement. With God’s help, we can win in the realm of ideas.

I will be returning to my main mission in the coming days. For the past year I have been laying the ground work for a center of prayer in Boston, Massachusetts. My mission is to create an interdenominational prayer center that will contend for the spiritual heritage of our nation.

In addition to this, I am partnering with a group committed to obtaining the Northfield School, founded by Dwight L. Moody. Northfield was once a center for the Student Volunteer Movement, a movement of young people who committed themselves to foreign missions. The goal is to create ministry base that will care for orphans, be a training center, and be a center for prayer.

If you would like to know more about this, please send a reply to this email with “YES, I WANT TO KNOW MORE” in the subject.

Brian Potter is going to continue with the red envelope idea and he does this with my blessings. If you sent an email though the Redenvelopeday.com site, Brian will be contacting you with future events related to the red envelope project.

Thanks so much.

Warmly,

Christ Otto

–
Christ Otto, founder
of the Red Envelope Project

Jesus, I plead your blood over my sin and the sin of my nation. God end abortion and send revival to America.

Check out my blog for more information:
belonginghouse.org/wordpress

Petition Notre Dame to Remain Pro-life

Notre Dame is one of the premier Catholic universities in America and the world. The Catholic church’s official position is profoundly pro-life. Yet Notre Dame has again decided it prefers prestige over principle. It has extended an invitation to president Barack Obama to speak at it commencement and to offer him honorary doctorate degrees. President Obama has accepted and will be delivering the commencement address in Notre Dame’s 164th graduation on May 17, 2009.

President Obama has sparked a nationwide fury in a church that is taking it’s pro-life mandate more seriously with each passing day. Some students vow to recite the rosary during the president’s speech. Others vow to boycott their own graduation all together.

And now we have an opportunity to support our brothers and sisters in their stand for life. We can join with hundreds of thousands already standing up and sign the petition to tell the university president that his actions are outrageous and scandalous.

The official petition states:

Dear Father Jenkins:

It has come to our attention that the University of Notre Dame will honor President Barack Obama as its commencement speaker on May 17.

It is an outrage and a scandal that “Our Lady’s University,” one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage.

This nation has many thousands of accomplished leaders in the Catholic Church, in business, in law, in education, in politics, in medicine, in social services, and in many other fields who would be far more appropriate choices to receive such an honor from the University of Notre Dame.

Instead Notre Dame has chosen prestige over principles, popularity over morality. Whatever may be President Obama’s admirable qualities, this honor comes on the heels of some of the most anti-life actions of any American president, including expanding federal funding for abortions and inviting taxpayer-funded research on stem cells from human embryos.

The honor also comes amid great concern among Catholics nationwide about President Obama’s future impact on American society, the family, and the Catholic Church on issues such as traditional marriage, conscience protections for Catholic doctors and nurses, and expansion of abortion “rights.”

This honor is clearly a direct violation of the U.S. bishops’ 2004 mandate in “Catholics in Political Life”: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”

We prayerfully implore you to halt this travesty immediately. We do so with the hope that Catholics nationwide will likewise call on you to uphold the sacred mission of your Catholic university. May God grant you the courage and wisdom to do what is right.

If the servers are overloaded or you wish to write you own words you can email Father Jenkins directly at [email protected], call him at 574.631.5000, fax him at 574.631.2770 or write him at 317 Main Building, Notre Dame, IN 46556

Red Envelope Day

Here’s a very easy pro-life thing you can do in 5 minutes.

“Join us on March 31, 2009 in sending Red Envelopes from all over the nation to the White House. We ask that you write on the back of the envelope: “This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken in now unable to be part of our world.” http://www.redenvelopeday.com/

Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington , D.C. 20500

Pray that God will move on the president’s heart to see the wretched nature of his pro-abortion stance.